Riding The Crest 2009

SECTION N   Hwy 70 - Old Station

July 31 - August 4

On the last day of July I rode Harmony out of Beldon Town. As we were riding through town Harmony saw himself in a plate glass window and stopped dead staring at himself. After some encouragement he went on only to stop again at the second plate glass window and his reflection! And then a third time! Then we had to ride across the historic one lane bridge over the Feather River, cross Hwy 70 and ride through the trailhead and up the trail bordering the river and highway. Partway up I heard Jur neigh and could hear Ralph talking! I yelled to Ralph and he heard me and took my picture, a small speck on the opposite mountain. The trail was steep, narrow and overgrown. Not a lot of fun! There were several water crossings (one called Rattlesnake Springs, I wonder why) and Harmony had drinks. We also crossed several difficult rock slides and lots of rock on steep inclines. At 12:30 we ate lunch at a creek with a table top rock that made a nice lunch spot. I met up with Miles at Poison Springs at 1 o’clock after 13 miles and I filtered water and we hiked on together. We crossed the sparsely treed ridge at Frog Mountain. Then we came upon the Wild Dogs lounging in the trail. Four hikers: $5, Oz, Strider, and Waffle, now called the Wild Dogs, were taking a siesta. After a brief visit, Miles and I walked on. At Cold Springs we found Magic Man’s cooler once again! This time with cold Starbuck Mochas! What a treat! And the day before I had been riding down the trail thinking a cold Starbuck’s Mocha would taste ssssoooo good! Wow! All my dreams come true! I had a mocha and a Snickers bar. Thank you Magic Man for your trail magic! Harmony enjoyed a good graze while I enjoyed the mocha. After ten minutes, the Wild Dogs arrived. Miles and I had commented on what good fortune it was that we arrived before them! And it was. They finished all but three brownies which for a full cooler was quite a bit between four guys. The Wild Dogs started asking me all sorts of questions about the horse and riding on the trail. I told the guys I was surprised they had not asked me my most asked questions and then they tried to guess what it was. Surprisingly they did not ask it: "How does a horse sleep?" I rode on, Miles went for more water, and the guys devoured the cooler contents. I got a rare phone connection part was up the mountain and the guys caught up to me. Miles and I stopped at Humbolt Summit and I started setting up camp in the large field of grass while Miles talked to campers. There was a couple camping there with their toy carrier (ATV and goat carrier) and they invited us to dinner. So after setting up our tents and feeding Harmony, we joined Ron and Paula for steak dinner in their camper. We enjoyed steak, garlic bread, home grown tomatoes, and popcorn. Paula even sent us off with a bag of popcorn each (which I enjoyed as a snack the next afternoon). Ron was a very experienced hunter, both with rifle and bow and showed us many pictures. He had just returned from an African hunt with his brother which was marvelous. What a great evening! And a blessing to Miles and I! We did not get into our tents until 11:23!

Even after a late night I was up at 6. Harmony had a saddle sore from the packs so when Magic Man appeared I asked him to take my packs to Ralph at Hwy 36 as he was headed there. So I was able to slack-pack! This trail was on a contour and in many places had bad edge. One particular spot was so bad I got off and surveyed a way around. I ended up doing what the hikers had been doing – just do it! Harmony followed and did not slip at all! What a trooper! There was a couple of good views and Miles and I stopped for some photos. Unfortunately there was no water until noon and then it was ½ mile off trail. It was a drying up creek but there was enough for Harmony to get a good drink! The yellow jacket hornets were strong. We passed the half way point in the afternoon! Very exciting to have made so many miles. We signed the register and Miles took pictures. We met Ralph and William at Hwy 36. Ralph was not only my crew, he has taken the trail name of C.R.E.W. so I had a t-shirt made. Ralph loved it. Jur was in the trailer so we quickly unsaddled Harmony and loaded him too. Then Miles put his pack in the truck and accepted a ride into Chester to eat a celebration half way dinner with us. I took a quick shower and we drove the short distance to Chester and the Copper Kettle Restaurant. William chose not to go, mainly so someone would be with the horses. We enjoyed the evening immensely, especially getting our photos taken. I had suggested to Miles we surround Ralph and kiss him on the cheek. But I was laughing too hard so only Miles appears to be kissing Ralph! Too funny! We had scrumptious desserts too and then Miles snuck to the register and paid the bill, treating us to a great dinner. We drove back to our camp ½ mile east of the PCT. It was just off the highway on a forest road with a wide turn around, making it convenient for us with the trailer. William camped in his van on the other side of us and the horses were on a high line at the rear of the trailer. Miles set up his tent right out from our trailer door. As soon as we all got in our various sleeping quarters it started to rain. It never rained hard but it did rain off and on throughout the night with lightening into the morning.

We awoke to cloudy skies and lightening. But already we could see blue skies so we planned on going up the trail. Ralph made Miles and us cheese eggs. I did a little work on the computer while the generator ran and charged our phones and the computer. After I got Jur saddled and packed (which Miles filmed-click red highlights) we headed down the ½ mile side trail with Ralph and Ech to the PCT.  had a wonderful time running up and down the trail (he's going to make a great trail dog next year). We said goodbye to Ralph at the trail junction and Miles and I had a nice level walk for a half mile before the trail started to climb. It started in a beautiful pine forest with a good surface and little rock. I saw a deer amongst the pines. There was water at Stover Springs and good graze so Jur had about ten or fifteen minutes there. Another 6 miles further was the North Fork Feather River. We got there at 1:22 and Travis and Ryan were there. Travis is the one that helped me get the horses off the ice packs at Forrester Pass after they were scraped up. We chatted for a bit. Miles took a bath and did his laundry. Jur and I ate our lunches. Miles and I both took lots of pictures. And Miles took some video to "document" my trip: Enjoy! (Video1, Video2, Video3, Video4 - Thanks Miles!) We started up the trail again with Miles in the lead. We got to Lassen Volcanic National Park and set up camp at the boundary. The park has equestrian camping in three locations in the park but the closest is four miles off the trail and I did not want to add 8 miles to Jur’s work. So to obey their rules we camped outside the park and the next day would ride straight through the park. I let Jur graze while Miles and I ate our dinners outside my tent. After Jur grazed for over an hour Miles went and brought him down to his high line for the night. Then Miles went back up the trail looking for his map book. He lost it but was not sure where. After 20 minutes he was back saying he had not found the book. He was going to walk 1 mile back down the trail looking for it. I suggested we look around and under his tent before going all that way as he might have dropped it and covered it up. He lifted up his tent to “humor” me he said later but there was his book. When he saw it he let out a whoop. He thanked me over and over, exclaiming that he could not believe I had come up with the idea that it might be under his tent. I think it was a God thing ‘cause I really don’t know why I would come up with that. Miles was just thrilled to have his map book.

Ravens woke me the next morning with their ruckus right over our tents. I went out and fed Jur and started making my own breakfast of oatmeal, coffee, cereal bar and dried fruit. As soon as Jur finished eating he started spinning around and then added a rear and a buck. Then he pawed and sent dirt flying and even rolled a few times. This went on for 15 minutes with him getting wilder and wilder. I thought he would snap the line and I was surprised it did not wake up Miles. He was throwing a temper tantrum because he wanted to go graze on the grass. He was letting me know in no uncertain terms. I finally had to give in to him as I was afraid he would get loose by breaking his line. So I hobbled him out in the grass as I had the night before. Then I finished my breakfast in peace. Once I brought Jur over to be saddled he was calm and fine. We got on the trail at 8:45 and started a slight climb. We saw a doe with a couple of fawns. At 1.2 miles we took the side trail to Terminal Geyser. I tied Jur at the stock line and finished walking down to the geyser with the camera. This was a perfect example of the volcanic activity in the west. After some pictures and time at the geyser we hiked on to Drakesbad Guest Ranch. We got there at 11 and rested until 12 noon waiting for their fabulous buffet lunch. Ed and Billie were very welcoming, offering us showers, swimming pool, and laundry. Ed showed me where to hitch Jur and gave him alfalfa hay. Miles ate three plates of food while I ate two. I probably doubled my intake of food by that point on the trail. After eating all we could, we left at 1:15 to do our remaining 15 miles. Horses and hikers do this section differently. The equestrians go through the Drakesbad Guest Ranch and up the dirt road past the Warner Valley Trailhead  unto the PCT. The hikers go along the meadow/marsh over wooden planks for walkways. Actually both should go through Drakesbad and stop and enjoy their hospitality. At 3:40 we were at one of several walk over bridges and met Cindy and Sandy who had met Ralph at Warner Valley Campground. They told me Ralph had been waiting for me. He must have been there while we were at Drakesbad. What a shame! Miles and I hiked and rode on. We passed Swan Lake and Lower Twin Lake. Then we spotted smoke and were hiking straight toward it! A few miles further we passed a tiny ranger’s cabin and I could hear the radio broadcasting. I said hello to the ranger and he answered me. After that I felt the fire must be contained or he would have said something to us. There were lots of planes going over us. We got to Hat Creek Horse corral at 7:45 and found no corral but a great campsite with the wonderful creek for water. I set up Jur’s highline and fed him and set up my camp and Miles set up his tent nearby. Miles and I sat and talked from our tent doors. We were both in our sleeping bags by 10:15. The moon was up and almost full, very bright.

XT: We jump to CANADA!

 So many trails - So li