July 29th - Burney Falls State Park to Red Mountain

Since we busted our butts to get to Burney Falls last night, we were able to sleep in today. My feet still hurt when I wake up and tom and I both feel like we had been run run over by a truck. The heat really took a toll on us.

We had a food shipment waiting for us at the General Store which opened at 8am. At first we were told that hey didn't have our box (something we had heard other hikers talk about before). Had to call Sarbar to get the UPS tracking info and went back to the store. We finally found our box thank goodness! Definitley didn't have anything nice to say about the inept store keeper though.

It always seems to take longer to resupply than we think. We finally left for the trail about 10am. Unfortunately this was just as the sun was really starting to heat up.

I pushed myself too hard yesterday and I really paid for it today. Although we were in the trees all day, it was still very hot. And today there was no breeze. Just when I was starting to really not feel well, we came across the lovely Rock Creek. It was perfect timing - a beautiful cascading creek with pools of cool water.

Tom and I both jumped in and soaked our entire body. It felt so good to finally wash the salt and dirt from the last couple of days off our bodies and clothes. And the cool water helped cool my body temperature.

The creek was only 5 miles into our hiking today, so we had to keep moving. Our clothes quickly dried and we started overheating. We both were not enjoying ourselves with the heat, overgrown trail, watching for poison oak and having to carry lots of water and food. We were moving slow. We were looking forward to the next water stop - 9 miles down the trail.

Much to our disappointment, we were greeted with a stagnant pool of water. We could hear the trickling of a creek nearby, but thry as we might, we were not able to reach the moving water and had to settle for the pool.

Overall we both have had a hard day on the trail. All I can think about is wishing I was sitting in an air conditioned house. But... I have to keep reminding myslef - at least I didn't have to go to work today.

~Tori.