Friday, July 13, 2012

Day 78-80 - Cool Cave, Hot Hiking

Friday morning I considered walking back to Drakesbad Ranch for breakfast, but decided to get started down the trail towards Old Station so I could get there before the store closed.  I got my food out of the bear box (there was one at each site at the campground) and noticed a mouse had nibbled on some of my tortillas.  So much for food being safe inside a big metal box.

I found Bird Nut and Basa at the store in Old Staion later that day.  I got a few snacks and went a bit farther on the trail to camp.  The others were taking a day off there.  The next morning I slept in a bit then hiked a couple miles to a cafe for breakfast, a huge plate of corned beef hash and 2 big pancakes.  I staggered down the highway about a half mile to Subway Cave.

The cave is an old lava tube, running horizontally for about 1/3 of a mile under 30-40 feet of rock.  It was quite a bit cooler inside, about 45 degrees, a nice change from the heat outside.
After walking through the cave I hung out in the shade near some tables until late afternoon.  Coming up on the trail was Hat Creek Rim, a dry, exposed ridge that can be as hot as the desert sections in Southern California, with no water for almost 30 miles.  I hiked until midnight and cowboy camped in the middle of an old road. The next morning I finished the rest of the ridge by noon or so but it was pretty hot with not much shade down in the valley.
I had lunch at a small creek just before a lake with a fish hatchery nearby. I didn't stay long though. Again, I wanted to get to the next store before closing, one at Burney Falls campground. Yeah, the waterfall was nice, but the store had ice cream.

3 comments:

  1. The caves remind me of the one near Bend. We all thought it was pretty funny that with such a gorgeous falls to absorb your thoughts and weariness, you were thinking about ice cream :)We have noticed that most of your comments are about food. Rachel said that at her wedding she'll be saying, "Oh yeah, that's my brother over there. He's always eating!"

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  2. Looks like you have had some awesome scenery recently! It's crazy how you go from caves to deserty ridge to huge waterfall in just a few days. Hope you enjoyed your ice cream. :P

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  3. Wow - I just realized that if I click on the picture it gets bigger and I can view all the pictures for this post as a slideshow. It's scary how 'techie' I am :P

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