July 26th, 2016
Miles Hiked: 16
Start Location: Mile 1483
End Location: Mile 1499
End Location GPS: 41.16261, -122.29725
We woke up early (4:30) and hiked out to Interstate 5 by noon to beat the worst of the heat. During our descent into town we encountered some logging activity very close to the trail. It was a bit nerve racking as trees were felled close by. The crashing and clanking of falling trunks and limbs and buzzing of chainsaws filed the air with terror. There were large cranes with wires pulling and yanking at stumps and large bull dozers laying into the dirt and rock.
At one point one of these cranes were 50 feet uphill from where the trail went. Debris was falling extremely close to us. There were no signs warning of the activities taking place so we were unsure if it was actually safe to pass underneath. We waited for a period of silence and ran for it. We saw some workers with chainsaws a hundred yards ahead. They had no idea they were actually on the PCT. “Is it okay to be here?” I asked, weary.
“Yeah, it should be,” the worker responded, unsure, not really caring. Just a worker doing what he was told and trying to get through the long and scorching day.
Further down the trail there was another large crane, this one below us, yanking and tugging and destroying the trees and stumps and earth. As we crossed a logging road a ripped out Pacific Crest Trail sign lay mangled on the side, eaten by one of these monsters. A casualty of progress and advancement for a world unconnected to this one.
The trees were thinned all around us, letting in the hot sun, baking the forest and changing its function from deep shade and soil to long grasses and heat. The hot earth permeated the straw and overheated the air just above the ground – a natural hair drier blistering the earth.
We finally got to the highway and were luckily offered a ride into Mt. Shasta almost instantly. We are staying at the Travel Inn tonight and will take a much needed zero day tommorrow to get out of the heat…at least for a little while.
