Day 99 to 100 - Zero in Shasta

August 2
Day 99 to 100
Miles:  0 + 7
Total Miles:  1512

words to live by

Shasta is a fun little town on the I-5 corridor, saddled up next to Mt. Shasta.  Black Bear Diner was excellent for breakfast.  Yak's Cafe was a cool place to hang out and have coffee.  Burger King was Jubel's choice with $3/900 calorie milk-shakes and free wi-fi.

That afternoon we climbed into the truck of a friend of Action Pack and headed to Lake Siskiyou for some sunbathing, rope swinging and relaxation.  Mellow, Action and Smiles arrived at Shasta later that day and setup at the KOA campground, where we cooked chicken and burgers and corn-on-the-cobb.

The next day was full of good intentions to hike out of town and get back to the trail.  However, resupplying and hitching out of town took the majority of the day.  After trying to hitch near the Burger King for about an hour, we decided to walk across the freeway near the on ramp.  After another 45 minutes we secured a ride from a young man who looked like Albert Einstein (with crazy blonde hair and bad teeth).  This kid worked seasonally clipping and processing weed (an occupation that I learned occupy's more than one thru-hiker during the fall season!).  After generously supplying a small bag of weed to Jubel, we hiked seven miles to...I don't remember where!

the wrong way to hitch

that's better

Day 78 to 80 - Echo Lake to Donner Pass

July 13 - July 14

Day 78 to 80

Miles:  0+21 + 25 

Total Miles:  1140

Seven days off from a long distance trail can be a great opportunity to recover, but only a surface level recovery - In seven days my feet have only begun to heal.  The pain upon standing in the morning continued and actually became worse during this time.  Joint pain was increasing as well - my body must have recognized this first opportunity of more than a couple of rest days and decided I must be done with this business of hiking