Addendum - Day 93ish (and 94)

I'm now finally and officially done with the trail.  I got back from Northern California late Friday night after spending the past 2.5 days there with my dad.  You probably remember that back in August I had to skip from Old Station to Burney Falls State Park because of a forest fire in the area.  I had really wanted to get it done prior to leaving California, but it just wasn't going to be possible without spending way too much time and energy that I would need later on my sprint to the finish in Canada.  Turns out that I was right and I needed every last ounce of energy and last minute of time I had to get to Canada before the snow got too deep.  But anyway, I really wanted to get the final 46 miles done as soon after the original hike as possible while I was still numb (sort of) to the pain.  It seems like the pain from the day-to-day grind worsens after a few days off the trail, as much as that may sound counter-intuitive.  So on Wednesday, October 7, Dad and I loaded all my gear into the Subaru and off we went. 

We spent the night at the Heitman's in Old Station.  They are the local trail angels there and have a big tree house in their back yard where hikers can stay.  So that's where we spent the night...in a tree house.  It has electricity and a TV, but no insulation so it was very cold.  Firefly (Mrs. Heitman) made breakfast for us the following morning and I was on the trail by 9 am.  A little later than I had hoped, but still okay.  My goal was to get 30 miles under my belt that first day so that I would only have 16 to go on Friday so that we could get back at a decent hour that night.  Turns out I spent about as much time hiking as we did driving too and from California! 

The fire that had forced me off the trail earlier had clearly done quite a bit of damage to the surrounding area.  The trail, however, was in fine shape and really hadn't been degraded at all.  I was very happy that the terrain wasn't very rough, either!  Except for the occasional lava field, it was generally easy with very few climbs or descents worth mentioning.  The one thing I didn't like is that it was very dry, which I knew it would be.  The skipped section included a notoriously long dry stretch along the Hat Creek Rim.  If I remember correctly, it is about 30 miles long.  It was a primary reason why having a support vehicle was so important to me.  It allowed me to focus on hiking instead of conserving water. 

Later on during my hike north, the shortening days really started to mess up my progress and this was no different.  When I had left California, I still had about a 14 or 15-hour day to work with, but on my return it was more like 12.  What that meant is that my progress wasn't nearly as good as what I was hoping it would be.  To get my 30 miles in, I had to run a good chunk of the trail (that would allow for it) later in the day.  I ran most of the last 9 miles and even then came up short and had to stop at 29 miles.  Mercifully, my dad treated me to a hotel stay and a hot dinner instead of trail food and a tent!  Even with a hot shower and hot food, however, my left knee was really sore the next day (Friday).  It was probably the sorest it has been on the trail and it really slowed me down.  Despite the slower pace, I was able to get to Burney Falls around 3:15 pm.  Unfortunately, due to a lost map on my part and the resulting confusion on rendezvous points, I wasn't able to connect with my dad until about 5 pm, slowing down the return trip.

All in all, though, I felt good about the last 46 miles and was glad to get it done so soon after my original hike.  I can now say that I have hiked from Mexico to Canada in one season, without having to explain the asterisk, which was important to me. 

I'll continue to post relevant updates as often as is necessary.  I'll be uploading some photos to my website and will definitely let you all know when I'm done with that.