A stretch with some less exciting hiking and temperature extremes. Over 100 F in the valleys coming out of Ashland and Seiad Valley, and this morning I saw my first frost. The colder temps got me thinking that I need to get moving. I thought after my 9 day hiatus in Ashland I was behind the SOBO group of hikers, but in Sierra City there were dozens of hiker packages waiting to be picked up, so I guess not. There will likely be some chilly nights in the Sierras.
There are a series of Wilderness areas in northern CA, Marble Mountain, Trinity-Alps, Shasta-Trinity that are beautiful and expansive. I suspect one could spend a lifetime exploring them. I ran into many friendly hunters, some section hikers and a few stray NOBOs. After Castle Crag and I-5 the hiking is less exciting and goes through a lot of logging areas. Things get more exciting south of Belden. Here is the picture show:
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| Mt Shasta in the smoke from fires far to the south. |
