Carter Meadows Summit to Paved Sawyers Bar Road [Etna Summit] (Stayed in Etna)
Another wonderful nights sleep in a motel room. We woke at the usual 6:00 AM and headed out by 7:00 AM. We made a stop at the gas station then arrived at the trail head and was ready to hike just before 8:00 AM.
Brad is taking another day off to rest his ankles so it's just Share Bear and I. There is road in 20 miles, so we can enjoy another day of slack packing and looking forward to spending yet another night in town.
Today's hike should be similar to yesterday's with a roller coaster of ups and downs. We were told by other hikers we saw in Etna last night that this 20 miles is beautiful. From what we saw in the first few hours alone, I would totally agree:
Today's hike should be similar to yesterday's with a roller coaster of ups and downs. We were told by other hikers we saw in Etna last night that this 20 miles is beautiful. From what we saw in the first few hours alone, I would totally agree:
The incredible scenery just kept coming:
I can't believe that we still have a view of Mount Shasta. We have been seeing this mountain for about 2 weeks now.
We stopped for lunch just after 1:30 PM and got back on the trail at 2:40 PM with almost 9 miles left to hike for the day. We thought we should be able to make it by 6:00 PM.
The trail took us through a burn area that looked pretty recent since most of the burned trees were still standing.
The trail took us through a burn area that looked pretty recent since most of the burned trees were still standing.
And then the hard trail began. He trail was very rocky and hard to hike which slowed us down some.
There is no way we will make it to the road by 6:00 PM, but it worked out because Tim thought we would be there by 6:00 PM so he showed up just before then and hiked in to us. Because we were running late, he got to hike in 1.5 miles before meeting us on the trail.
We finally made it to the road at 6:20 PM...not too bad.
We finally made it to the road at 6:20 PM...not too bad.
We drove back to Etna, showered, got our laundry together, went to the laundromat, went out for dinner, then returned to the motel. Since we got the laundry done tonight we will be able to get on trail at a decent time in the morning. The plan is to leave the motel at 7:00 AM and stop at the grocery store on the way to the trailhead. I can actually sleep in till 6:30 AM tomorrow morning...woohoo. Until then...