Day 103 : The Hat Creek Rim

Date 31st July 2013
Mile 1368 to mile 1397 : Badger Flats to Hat Creek Rim Lookout
Mileage : 29
Average mileage since day 101 : 21.3
I started early again this morning eager to get out of the burn zone before the sun rose to high in the sky, as one obvious consequence of a forest fire is the lack of shade. By mid morning i had made it to a small RV park and store on the outskirts of Old Station, a hamlet at the southern end of Hat Creek Rim, about which more will be said shortly. I hadn't intended.to stop in Old Station at all, as i had more than enough food to get me to Burney, but a sign on a trail tempted me with words like 'milkshake' and 'cold drinks', and i was unable to resist,and as it turns out I'm very glad i didn't. Upon arrival i discovered several hikers, including Shady Acres and Busted, sitting in the shade rejoicing in having received supply boxes from the nearby post office, and examining a very well stocked hikers box. I joined in with gusto and came away with almost 5 days worth of food, and some of it even homemade! I had originally planned on doing a short stop in the next town Burned to pick up the 4 days of food i needed to get me to Mt Shasta, but now i could blaze straight through gaining at least half a hiking day and saving myself a bit of cash. I celebrated by spending some of the saved cash on a large milkshake, and assisted Shady Acres who, instead of carrying his hikers box winnings with him, had decided to eat much of it directly. To top off our collective good moods a.south bound thru-hiker informed us that a water cache halfway along the 30 mile imminent dry stretch of the Hat Creek Rim was fully stocked, meaning i wouldn't have to carry than 3 litres of water with me at any one time.  Feeling very full and pleased with myself i headed off in the midday sun toward the Hat Creek Rim.
The Hat Creek Rim is well known among thru-hikers as being  a notorious stretch of trail, and with good reason. It is dry for 30 miles, very exposed, very hot, and very rocky. At Old Station there were signs advising hikers to start late in the afternoon, hike as far as possible, sleep a few hours and then get off the rim as soon as possible the next day. Thanks to the cache knowledge, and the sparse cloud cover, i set off confidently toward the rim in good spirits making a short detour just before the start at Subway cave, a former lava tube, before ascending onto the rim. Within a couple hours my good mood had entirely been replaced by an intense anger, hatred and a sense of disbelief directed at my feet. I just could not believe how much they hurt. The only comparable foot pain I've had has been following the descent off Mt San Jacinto. This was worse, much worse. At some point i stopped and tried the pain with Iboprufren, but it didn't seem to help. Usually i hike until i lose the light, usually around 8:30, but today at around 7:30 my feet decided i could go no farther so i stopped short of the halfway cache, which had been my goal, and did my evening routine with my feet elevated as high as was feasible possible as this was the only thing hat seemed to quell the pain. I was not looking forward to continuing on the rim the next morning.



Mt Shasta appears for the first time out of the haze



The steepness of the Hat Creek Rim