Got an early start as we were trying to make it to the Drakesbad Guest Ranch by lunch time. Walked in the dark for about 15 minutes before light broke a little after 5am. Was happy to have my gear packed up in 15minutes already to roll by 5am.
The first part of the miles today was largely flat without much elevation change. Towards the end of the miles there were some steep uphills. It is nice to walk in the crisp morning air.
Today we saw a lot of hikers that I had not yet met. Snow plow, Queen of the Nile, Yardsale, Big Bird, Alice, Steve, One pole,IcemanDan, Chris, and some others that I now forget the names.
The hiking was fairly flat with some reasonable views of Mt Lassen in the distance. Towards the end of the hiking part of the day, there was a side trail to a geyser…it wasnt old faithful, but still pretty neat. It had a bunch of steam rolling out of the rocks. It was neat to see water sitting in the rocks boiling.
Ended hiking today at the Drakesbad Guest Ranch. They don’t really cater to hikers, per se, as we cannot camp there, but they offer some nice services for us. We were able to get a shower and laundry done for free….and could get the lunch and dinner left overs at half price. The dinner was stellar. We had arrived by 12, so we had a lot of relaxing time. Qball and I played some ping pong. There was a pool that was fed by hot springs…at about 100 degrees. Nice to sit in that for a bit.
At dinner, I sat next to One Pole, who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the early 70s in India. Had some great conversation with him, Pan and Big Bird.
Daily Distance: 22
Trip Distance: 1,336.4
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