8/20/2023
Section: Milepost 1512.2 to 1502.3
Total Trail Miles: 1437/2650
Distance: 10.33 Miles
Moving Time: 03:55
Elevation Gain: 945 ft
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Today we finished our 5 day stretch to Mt. Shasta, excited to try what some had called the best burger on trail and maybe get a new, badly needed filter.
We slept okay last night - despite it being one of our least favorite sites. The stage today makes a quick out to I-5 at exit 726, south of Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta. It continues down from where we stopped the night before, skimming below the large pinnacles that make up Castle Crags state park heading, generally, east before dropping all the way out to the highway where trail angels make the run between Mt. Ashland, Dunsmuir and the trail head.
We were up and moving just a touch earlier than the last few days, clocking a solid 7:45 am start. Baby steps, am I right? We ate a quick breakfast and had some tea before getting the hell out of our least favorite campsite on the trail so far. We descended, climbed a little bit and then started in on the long descent that would pervade through the rest of the day. The path continued down on some impressive switchbacks through oak trees that were, thankfully, snake free. Shooting off in either direction were various climber trails leading out to different craigs - another activity for another time. The trail eventually dropped to a road where California was, again, engaged in conducting some impressive fire prevention measures. The rest of today’s stage passed without incident and we eventually found ourselves on pavement, hiking out of the woods on Soda Creek Road looking up at I-5 and the cars racing by.
We picked a spot and made a call to Doc, one of the favorite trail angels of the Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta area. He said he was just finishing a run back into Dunsmuir and would be down shortly to grab us. We took a seat in the parking lot adjacent to the southbound off ramp and waited. Soon enough, an older, black Chevy Silverado showed up and we threw our backpacks in before jumping in the cab. Already inside was a fellow SOBO who had come into Dunsmuir around 1 am on Amtrak from Ashland and was jumping on the trail to continue his hike. After Doc dropped him off on the east side of I-5, he rejoined the flow of traffic headed north. On the way back to Mt. Shasta Doc gave us the run down on the area and listened to details of our trek so far. He might just have been the best driver we rode with in California.
About 20 minutes brought us up to Mt. Shasta and 10 more minutes took us downtown where we were staying at the Bianca Inn. We thanked Doc, paid him and said we would likely see him the next day. We were a little early to the Bianca Inn but, as luck would have it, our room was ready so we checked in and got settled. I ran down to the grocery store while Amanda showered to grab a beer for myself and a soda for her. Once back, I took my own shower and we headed downtown to Yaks for a burger. Along the way, we passed by a public house style eatery where we saw the couple who had let us use their filter the day before. We waved at them and they waved back as we continued on up the street. At Yaks, we got in line and perused the impressive menu of burgers before putting our order in at the front. We waited a few minutes, chatting about Shasta and our 5 day run from Etna, before our meals came out. I gotta say - the hype was totally warranted. So freakin’ good - definitely the best on trail so far. Something about the sauce just edges it past Flip in Ashland. Once we were filled up, we walked back through downtown Mt. Shasta. I gotta say, this part of the west coast is...a mood. There is a general undertone of hard core nationalism and the desire to break free of the liberal overlords that run Oregon and California all permeated by…healing crystal shops and boutique whole foods stores. It’s like Granola MAGA operating on a healthy supply of recreational drugs. We got back to the hotel and I bought tickets to see Oppenheimer at Mt. Shasta’s little 4 screen cinema.
The rest of the afternoon we chilled and updated our social media streams before going to get dinner at the same eatery we had seen the two women at, called Pipeline. We both got salads, of all things, and ended up liking the others more than our own. I tried some delightful samples from the local craft brew scene and then we paid and made our way to the theater where we watched the marathon feature film that is Oppenheimer. Great movie though, honestly I didn't know much about this corner of American history. I ate SO MUCH POPCORN. Afterwards we walked back and passed out on a very comfortable mattress.
