Our end-of-the-year trip was great fun and a great success. We had cool, crisp temperatures that were perfect for hiking. We got close up, amazing views of Mount Shasta (man that thing is huge). We traveled 38 more miles of the trail in three days, bringing our total mileage for 2015 to just under 310. And we reached a low elevation on our way west to I-5 which should set us up perfectly for an early (May or June) start to next year's season.
But first the "oh crap, I don't believe it" part of the story.
A week before we started, Tricia was at her class's eighth grade outdoor camp for three days. On the last day there her best friend didn't feel well. And of course, a few days later, by the Sunday before this PCT trip, Tricia didn't feel well either.
She had a fever that day, which persisted into Monday. She also commented a few times on Sunday that her feet hurt. This last comment seemed strange, but as experienced parents we chalked it up to good old "oh well." We did keep Tricia home from school on Monday though; usually a fever indicates that one is contagious. It was only when Vicki called the school to tell them that Tricia wouldn't be at school that day, that it all fell into place: apparently several of the Twain Harte Elementary school kids had "Hand, Foot and Mouth disease."
Yeah, we hadn't ever heard of it either. Apparently this virus afflicts only kids. It results in fever and in blisters on the hands, the feet and in the mouth. That evening Tricia's hands hurt. And she showed us some blisters on her feet. But by then her fever was also gone.
Fever-less for nearly 24 hours, "T" went to school on Tuesday. She definitely felt better. On Wednesday she insisted that, blistered feet or not, she was going to run in her cross country race (and she did). We stopped worrying and checking at that point; these events, up through Wednesday afternoon, led Vicki and I to assume that her small bout with what I'd jokingly called "Hoof and Mouth disease" (which I have heard of) was over.
Um, not quite.
We'd given this tough little girl the option of bailing out on this PCT trip because of her feet. She scoffed at us. I'd suggested that we could possibly start hiking on Saturday instead of Friday to give her feet another day of rest. She told me that she'd be "fine." So we went as scheduled, hiking nearly 15 miles on our first day alone.
Call it Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, or call it Hoof and Mouth disease. Call it any funny name or call it a mildly amusing little sickness. Call it only painful and annoying. Call it free range parenting. Call it what you want. Just please don't call Child Protective Services. Here's what Tricia's feet looked like two hours before we started hiking:
We'd driven up to the town of Burney the night before so we could start hiking early on Friday. We met our friends the Dawsons there. In the morning we found one of those "all American," small town diners and had a hearty breakfast:
And then it was out the dirt roads to where we'd ended our last trip, near Peavine Creek:
The first miles of hiking on this day were mostly in forest:
The PCT isn't in wilderness here. And just like it crosses roads, the trail must also cross other accoutrements of civilization (at least we got a good long-distance view):
And then, about three miles into the hike, we got our first view of Mount Shasta from the trail (wow!):
After this first view, the trail opened up nicely for most of the rest of the day:
We got a view of Castle Crags (it's on the other side of I-5 from this view-point, about 50 miles away):
Tricia had time for a few selfies (one of which Steve got to photobomb):
Alex tried to hold up Mount Shasta with a single finger (as a hiking crew, we know all the modern photo-taking tricks):
After just over 13 miles of hiking we reached a dirt road at Bartle Gap. We knew that Vicki would be waiting for us a mile down this road (she couldn't drive that mile because of a locked gate). During this mile we saw these (the first of very, very many we would see, especially on our second day):
We were happier to see her:
This last bit of road ended a wonderful day of hiking and views. One with extraordinarily clear skies and brisk Autumn temperatures that made the movement a pure joy. We then finished by piling into our cars and driving to Ash Campground over near McCloud Reservoir (we intended to finish our hike right at this campground after two more days).