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[pct-l] Hat Creek Rim report 6/21



Your Hat Creek report revived my fondest memory from last year's Ashland to Sierra City hike:  Hiked into Old Station after a night on the Rim and hit a firemen's benefit barbecue at Runt's - $7 cash only, which is just what I had in my pocket.  No one seemed to notice that I was clothed more by sweat and dirt than my running shorts and mesh t-shirt, and I had a pleasant conversation with an older (than me even) couple sharing the picnic table.  Then a quick wash in the roadside stream and on to Doug's resort where they discounted the motel room to $40 and insisted I go over to the store to say hello to Doug.  Doug pounds on the door of the kitchen, hollers "Hungry Hiker", and soon I'm presented with a heaping plate of ribs, corn, and potato salad, even as I protest that I'm stuffed from the fireman's benefit.  Ate it anyways.  Chatted some more, went to my room, and passed out from protein overload.  Speaking of grasses and "dart-weeds" - that drove me nuts in many parts of SoCal this summer - mini-gaiters would have been well worth it.  Chalk up one point for old leather boots - they wouldn't suck up grass seed like mesh sneakers!

-----Original Message-----
From: David Plotnikoff [mailto:dplotnikoff@sjmercury.com]
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2003 10:51 PM
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Cc: dave@emeraldlake.com
Subject: [pct-l] Hat Creek Rim report 6/21




Greetings again from a long-time list lurker.

I'm not a thru-hiker, just a humble section hiker, and the comments below
are intended primarily for other section hikers who may want to knock off
the fabled Hat Creek Rim (California section N) dry stretch before the
summer temps climb into the triple digits.

I walked the 30-mile waterless stretch from Old Station to Baum Lake
(northbound) on Saturday, 6/21, the summer solstice.

I went out at dawn (5:35 A) with eight+ liters from the Highway 44
crossing. I finished  30 miles later with 3+ liters intact. Your mileage
may vary.

Weather was moderate, light breeze, low 80s at midday on the rim. Still,
particularly as the season wears on, hikers may wish to consider starting
at the Hwy. 44 cross at 5:30 or 6 a.m. in order to have the entirely
exposed burn section behind them by midday.

Almost all of this section has been very recently cleared of blowdowns and
obstructions. Only one minor blowdown, on the rim north of Road 22, was
noted. And it was not a problem to navigate around. Overall, navigation is
pretty straightforward. I *strongly* recommend the National Geographic
TOPO! map CDs with Tom Reynolds' excellent PCT route file rather than just
the guidebook narrative. The TOPO! maps and a basic Garmin GPS unit worked
flawlessly together through a lot of territory that was unsigned and
unclear.

The volcanic tread is nasty. Expect either softball-sized volcanic rocks
(perfect for rolling out from under you and twisting an ankle) or smaller
volcanic rock overgrown with stickers and wildflowers and grasses and
dart-weeds of every description. I will be picking them out of my NB 801s
for a long time to come. Hikers may wish to consider  zip-off pants or
gaiters. My ExOfficio tropical-weight zip-off pants were fine all day. No
question I was going to keep the legs zipped on with all that vegetation to
trudge through.

 Overall, even with the nasty tread, the trail is not hard to follow.  You
will find it well-blazed in the south half before Forest Road 22. (One
notation: On the first dirt road crossing after the Highway 44 trailhead
parking area -- this is already ON the rim -- do not follow the ribbon
blazes. Turn right on the road and find the bona fide trail. I followed the
striped yellow/white ribbon blazes and ended up thrashing through for a few
hundred yards before the rogue trail recrossed the real thing.)

North of Road 22, things change markedly. Very very few diamond blazes.
Very little tread to follow at all through the shadeless grassland. You're
relying on cairns and dead reckoning more than in the south half.
Fortunately, most of this trail is *right* on the rim, so the chances of
taking a rogue spur or jeep track are slim.

The only place where the trail disappeared entirely into the weeds and I
couldn't pick it up was at the very last mile, as I crested a short rise
and got my first look at Baum Lake. I went down the fall line and ended up
bushwhacking around the lakeshore to the left. The real trail swings wide
left to connect with a small road that leads to the powerhouse. Again, it's
best shown on the TOPO! maps with Tom Reynolds' trail markings.

Amigo's family's Cache 22 is loaded. Being loaded with 8-plus liters myself
(a 34-lb daypack all together), I didn't partake. But I noted there's a
register in a large ziplock bag on top of the boxes of water. The cache is
on the south side of 22, on a very short spur west of the trail, in a tight
grove of trees. I was saddened to see the lawn chair was gone. My feet,
chewed up by the volcanic rocks could have used it about then. What Amigo's
parents are doing is a great humanitarian service up here, far away from
the southern deserts where the tradition of trail angel caching is more
established....

If anyone should need to bail out at Road 22, figure a significant six- or
seven-mile roadwalk west before reaching Highway 89. Better to bum a ride
off one of the parasailers or hang gliders using the knoll immediately
north of 22 as a launch site.

On the northern half of the 30 miles, expect swarms of tiny black flies
trying to enter every orifice. And the usual mosquitos at Baum/Crystal
Lakes. Because it was so arid, there were no mosquito problems except at
the lakes.

On lodging and such:

Old Station Resort is still good. Figure $60 a room. The nice rustic cabins
they've been pumping some significant capital improvement money into have a
two-night minimum, so I didn't get to try one out. Coyote Grill has decent
food, with Ronnie still running the show. The notorious hiker-hostile
regime at the former Indian John's seems to be long gone.

As for the rest of Old Station (remember, there's the Resort/post
office/restaurant and store compound to the south and another Old Station
about a half-mile north on 89/44),  the cafe and pub is open only until 4
each day, so I was unable to try it. Uncle Runt's, more of a roadhouse than
the other two, is  just opening up for the season as the road to Lassen NP
was closed until this weekend.

Do not plan on resupplying out of either the Old Station Resort store or
Rim Rock Resort store in the north part of Old Station. The Old Station
Resort store proprietor, Doug,  is reportedly a great friend to thru-hikers
and a saintly soul, but the current selection of foodstuffs we found there
was thin indeed.

In Burney, at the north end of this leg, the Shasta Pines Motel and the Rex
Club (dinner house) are both highly recommended. Neither is particularly
cheap, but both are a good value and the owners went out of their way to
extend very warm vibes to this hiker trash. There's a Safeway in Burney and
just about anything else you'd need to resupply before the notorious
Section O. I didn't note if the post office in Cassel was operating. I know
the store was NOT open when we rolled through...

I hope this helps someone. If anyone needs my mile-by-mile notes on the
30-mile stretch, please e-mail me off-list and I'll send them to you.

see you out there ...

DP


.

David Plotnikoff
Columnist/Asst. Business Editor
San Jose Mercury News
plotnikoff@sjmercury.com
voice: (408) 920-5867
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