The Cache

Day 28PCT Mile Marker 1347.78 – 1347.78

Miles 0

I slept for thirteen hours.

Guess I needed it.

Then I anxiously awaited Aidan’s arrival. He picked me up at noon, and the dogs happily wagged their tails in the back seat.

There is a point on trail this week that is a thirty-mile-stretch of No Water.

None.

Well I can’t do thirty miles in a day, can you?

So Aidan cleaned out the last 8 gallons of water from a store and we headed up to the middle of the famous and dreaded Hat Creek Rim to hide some water for me.  

It was a surprisingly long drive, but also surprisingly beautiful.

Driving up Forest Service Road 22, we could see Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta at the same time, their marvelous frosty heads lookin’ all proud of themselves.

We poked around for a good place to hide the water, and found a perfect spot. Just down the road a bit. A funny shaped, large rock stuck up out of the parched, yellow grass. Deep in a crevasse, the air was a little cooler, and moss was living there quite nicely.  

Aidan stuck his arm in there and set a few gallons of water in the hole. Then we covered it up with brush and sticks. Even if you were looking for it, even if you were five feet away, you couldn’t see it.

No one would find it but me.

I took pictures on my phone as we headed back to the road. So I could reference them when I reached that spot.  

Just to make sure I would find it.  

We took the rest of the water up to the actual PCT cache, where water is sometimes left for hikers in need. The only water there was the stuff we left.

We hoped it would help someone.  Or someones.

We drove to a nearby reservoir to do some deluxe car camping, and found the most beautiful place in the world.

A large, clear cowboy camp close to the water. Birds and frogs singing their lungs out. The dogs splashed and played in the reeds. A perfect fire pit.

We laughed into the night while the fire crackled red and gold, and the stars sang lullabies from many years ago.