Day 91 - Old Station

(Originally written on Monday, August 3)

Of all the days on the trail so far, this one has shaped up to be the most bizarre. Nothing about it was normal.

For starters, I got up and took a dip in the hot spring-fed pool, which was amazing considering it was unseasonably cold this morning. After lounging in the pool for about 15 minutes, I got out, dressed, and then had a hot breakfast--also not normal on the trail. Then I hiked 23 miles or so on mostly flat terrain. That was definitely NOT normal (the flat terrain part)!

As I was hiking, there seemed to be a few forest fires popping up around me. First it was one across a lake from me, then it was the smell of smoke followed by seeing smoke waft behind me near the trail. Finally, I could see smoke billowing up directly in front of me but several miles away. As I got closer to Old Station, it became apparent that it was very likely going to affect my path. Between the trees, I could see a huge number of air tankers flying around the fire so knew it was a pretty serious deal. I was near the end of a spread-out group of six hikers, and by the time I got there, most of the town had been shut down due to a recommended evacuation. Fortunately, we weren't in any kind of imminent danger. The local trail angels were kind enough to give us a ride to their home where we are staying tonight but our next move is unclear. In all likelihood, we'll be forced to skip the next 40 miles or so and start again in Burney. But there is another fire in the Castella area which is only four days beyond Burney, so that may not be the best plan either. I guess we'll just figure it out as more information becomes available.

In other news, today, August 3, is the four-year anniversary of my first day of radiation and chemotherapy. Hardly seems possible.