Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - July 13th
Day 88: Saturday 13th July Hat Creek – Hat Creek Rim
I left early in the morning. I passed a couple of car-campers still fast asleep, but with
their fire still burning from the previous night. It is no wonder that there are so many
forest fires in the wilderness. This was in an area where there wasn’t legal access for
cars anyway. Shortly after this I saw a Peregrine Falcon hunting in the woods.
Peregrines mainly fed off small birds, so early morning was a good time for hunting. I
arrived too early at Hat Creek store, where I had left a supply bag, and had to wait for it
to open. I had hoped to have breakfast in the café beside the store, but the previous
tenants had been evicted by the owners, because they wanted to put in their own staff
and make more money, and the café had not yet re-opened.
John and Julia had taken a room at the resort and were looking after “Iron Man”
who was suffering from food poisoning (hopefully not Giardia) and would need at least
one day off. John and Julia were also having a day off having made a bad navigational
error yesterday and done an extra 10 miles.
When it opened the store was very hiker friendly and offered free coffee as well as
generous discounts to PCT thru-hikers. The next section of the trail along Hat Creek
Rim had a reputation of being one of the hottest and driest sections on the PCT as Fire
damage and clear-cut felling had left the escarpment dry and shadeless.
Ben, from Bellingham, Washington turned up at the store. He had started at the
kick-off party and was doing about 30 miles/day, but had had 3 weeks off the trail. He
had a high metabolic rate and found he needed about 6,000 calories/day, so he was going
to spend much of the day at the store refuelling before setting off in the cool of the
evening.
By the time I left Hat Creek store at about 12am it was extremely hot. The trail
passed through managed forest and old clear-cut, with some shade, which decreased as
the Hat creek escarpment was approached. After 90 minutes I stopped at “Devil’s Half
Acre” and stripped off to dry in the shade of an isolated tree. I had iced my sore Achilles
at the store and carried some with me for more treatment. Most of the ice had already
melted, but I was able to give my heel some treatment. “Devil’s Half Acre” was a large
area of contorted lava flow, containing many cave entrances, up to 30ft deep, including
the “show cave” known as Subway Cave.
In the afternoon I climbed up to the Hat Creek Rim trailhead, where there was a
viewpoint, with magnificent views towards Lassen Peak (14 miles) and Mount Shasta (80
miles). I spent 90 minutes chatting with John at the picnic site. He was a local, who
owned 12 cars, including 3 Lotus Elan. Most of these he kept at his Arizona winter home
to avoid Californian taxes. He was a Beetles fan, who had spent five weeks touring
England in 1986 on his motorbike, visiting sites associated with them. He provided me
with a couple of bananas and refilled my water bottles. (I had carried 2 litres of orange
juice, 3 litres of water and a can of beer up from the store.)
The route along the Rim was rather stony and not very pleasant in the burnt out clear-
cut, but there were fantastic views. I camped as the sun was setting. It was still about
90ºF at 9pm!
Day 88: 15.6 miles 6.07 hours Camp: Hat Creek Rim
I left early in the morning. I passed a couple of car-campers still fast asleep, but with
their fire still burning from the previous night. It is no wonder that there are so many
forest fires in the wilderness. This was in an area where there wasn’t legal access for
cars anyway. Shortly after this I saw a Peregrine Falcon hunting in the woods.
Peregrines mainly fed off small birds, so early morning was a good time for hunting. I
arrived too early at Hat Creek store, where I had left a supply bag, and had to wait for it
to open. I had hoped to have breakfast in the café beside the store, but the previous
tenants had been evicted by the owners, because they wanted to put in their own staff
and make more money, and the café had not yet re-opened.
John and Julia had taken a room at the resort and were looking after “Iron Man”
who was suffering from food poisoning (hopefully not Giardia) and would need at least
one day off. John and Julia were also having a day off having made a bad navigational
error yesterday and done an extra 10 miles.
When it opened the store was very hiker friendly and offered free coffee as well as
generous discounts to PCT thru-hikers. The next section of the trail along Hat Creek
Rim had a reputation of being one of the hottest and driest sections on the PCT as Fire
damage and clear-cut felling had left the escarpment dry and shadeless.
Ben, from Bellingham, Washington turned up at the store. He had started at the
kick-off party and was doing about 30 miles/day, but had had 3 weeks off the trail. He
had a high metabolic rate and found he needed about 6,000 calories/day, so he was going
to spend much of the day at the store refuelling before setting off in the cool of the
evening.
By the time I left Hat Creek store at about 12am it was extremely hot. The trail
passed through managed forest and old clear-cut, with some shade, which decreased as
the Hat creek escarpment was approached. After 90 minutes I stopped at “Devil’s Half
Acre” and stripped off to dry in the shade of an isolated tree. I had iced my sore Achilles
at the store and carried some with me for more treatment. Most of the ice had already
melted, but I was able to give my heel some treatment. “Devil’s Half Acre” was a large
area of contorted lava flow, containing many cave entrances, up to 30ft deep, including
the “show cave” known as Subway Cave.
In the afternoon I climbed up to the Hat Creek Rim trailhead, where there was a
viewpoint, with magnificent views towards Lassen Peak (14 miles) and Mount Shasta (80
miles). I spent 90 minutes chatting with John at the picnic site. He was a local, who
owned 12 cars, including 3 Lotus Elan. Most of these he kept at his Arizona winter home
to avoid Californian taxes. He was a Beetles fan, who had spent five weeks touring
England in 1986 on his motorbike, visiting sites associated with them. He provided me
with a couple of bananas and refilled my water bottles. (I had carried 2 litres of orange
juice, 3 litres of water and a can of beer up from the store.)
The route along the Rim was rather stony and not very pleasant in the burnt out clear-
cut, but there were fantastic views. I camped as the sun was setting. It was still about
90ºF at 9pm!
Day 88: 15.6 miles 6.07 hours Camp: Hat Creek Rim
Lassen Peak
Ben, John and Julia
at Hat Creek Store
at Hat Creek Store
Hat Creek Rim
Lassen Peak from
Hat Creek Rim
Hat Creek Rim
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