July 30th - Red Mountain to Butcher Knife Creek

We both got a good nights sleep and finally felt recovered from the last 2 days of hiking in the heat. We got a 5am start (similar to what we had done in the SoCal desert) in order to get some good miles in before the heat got miserable. Unlike the desert though, it never really cools off at night. We have been just sleeping on top of our sleeping bags recently.

After walkig through quite a bit of brushy overgrown trail in the morning, we hit a ridge in the afternoon. This was goth a blessing and a curse. The views were much better and there was a nice cool breeze, however we lost the shade of the trees. It was HOT! And since we were high on a ridge there was no water. Also had a run in with a rattlesnake. Unlike the rattlesnakes in SoCal, the ones in Northern California actually rattle.

Had dinner by the side of a gravel road by Grizzly Peak. We had been hiking all day without seeing anyone. So imagine our surprise when a pick-up truck comes rattling up the road. We were quite a site - 2 dirty, salt-encrusted sweaty people scantilly clad - Tom wearing only his spandex shorts and me with a sports bra and pants on. We were chowing down on dinner out of ziplock bags and Tom was using a tent stake as a spoon since his spoon had broken yesterday.

Embarrassed to be seen in a state like this, things got worse when the pickup truck stops and two people get out. Turns out it was Ian, the PCTA regional director and Val, a seasonal trail crew leader. They were up scouting out the trail for some trail work that was planned tomorrow. Phew! At least they were familiar with thru hikers and life on the trail. Ian offered us some IPA beer he had just picked up at the Brew Pub in Etna. I declined due to already feeling dehydrated, but Tom couldn't pass up beer. Since we had gotten rid of our cup a long time ago, Tom used his empty can of Chunky soup as a cup for the beer. We are definitley the epitome of hiker trash.

After dinner we came across a death match between a snake and lizard happening right in front of us on the trail. I was grossed out, but Tom was enthralled. Amazingly the lizard won.

To finish the night off, we scared a black bear. Luckily the black bear did just as it should - ran away.

~Tori