Day 97: Castle Crag Wilderness

Date: Mon 7/23

PCT Start Mile: 1501.2

PCT End Mile: 1525.5

PCT Mileage for Day: 24.3

Total PCT Mileage: 1525.5

The Highlights: Castle Crag Wilderness, stupid hot temps, beautiful evening views

This morning we ate breakfast at a small coffee shop and bid the crystal shops and hippies of Mount Shasta adieu. Rather than attempt to make the difficult hitch, we caught a 10:09am (very prompt) shuttle that ran on MWF, which had a stop at Soda Creek Road near the trailhead.

Because we were getting a late start – 10:40am by the time we hit the trail – it was already blazing hot and shockingly humid. While it’s been plenty hot on the trail, humidity isn’t very common. It felt like were back in the Virginia summers, dripping with sweat.

Like seemingly every town in northern California, the trail out of town started with a giant climb… in fact we spent nearly the entire day climbing – nearly 7,000 feet for the day – some sections steeper than others. We poured sweat up the climbs, taking mini breaks in the shade and stopping at several water sources to collect and filter more water.

Early in the day, we entered Castle CragWilderness, and eventually the trail would wind its way out of the trees to expansive views along a rocky exposed ledge that hugged the mountainside. From here, we were spectators to amazing views of what we could only assume was Castle Crag.

Despite getting a late start, we still wanted to get 24-25 miles in for the day, which – at the slow uphill pace we kept most of the day, punctuated by water stops – meant hiking into the evening and night.

After 5pm, the temperature dropped considerably and the hiking was the most pleasant it had been all day. The evening hours are among our favorite for hiking – with cooler temps, gorgeous glowing skies, and stunning sunsets.

This said, we don’t usually hike that late into the evening, because we are also fans of being able set up camp relatively early and be sleeping before 9pm. This definitely wasn’t the case tonight, as we hiked until just shy of 9:30pm, watching all the light drain from the sky as we made our way toward our tent site.

Finally, after 24.3 miles of hiking, we arrived at the tent site in the dark. Two other tents were set up, and luckily the occupants were still awake and talking to each other, so we were able to avoid waking anyone up while we set up camp.

After getting all set up, we quietly ate our meals by the red lights of our headlamps. Luckily, knowing we’d be hiking late, we’d had the wherewithal to cold soak our dinners earlier so we wouldn’t need to cook when we arrived at camp.