PCT Day 107 – Northbound Again, Finally

I-5 outside Dunsmuir (mile 1501) to campsite at mile 1520

On paper, today had a lot going against it. The first being temperatures over 100 in the valleys. The next being the plan to hike 19 miles in said heat, with 6,000 feet of gain; if anybody tells you that the PCT in Northern California is flat, you punch them right in the face and tell ’em Kara sent you.

Yet despite all of that, today was one of the glorious high points on the emotional and physical rollercoaster that is long distance hiking. Because today, after weeks and weeks of going the wrong direction, long winded explanations of our plans, and swimming salmon-like against the onslaught of NoBo thru hikers, we finally started walking towards Canada again. Finally. The endless northern California trees with their neon green moss—which I had grown so tired of previously—have regained their stalwart beauty. My legs felt strong and capable, and even fast as we made our way down the hard packed dirt trail, perfect under foot with it’s patina of fallen pine needles. The comparable glut of oxygen at these lower altitudes made the unending climb feel more than simply achievable, but like I have finally maybe turned from a soft city creature into a mountain mammal. These forests are my home now, I can live and thrive here.

All day we cut a lazy arc around Castle Crags, their reaching granite turrets reminiscent of the Sierra to the south, yet uniquely themselves. On the northern horizon sat the giant slumbering form of Mount Shasta, while to the south Mount Lassen broke the skyline in reflection. From here to the border everything is new, every mile untread by either Keith or myself. We are finally looking forwards to the finish line, Canada pulling us towards her like an invisible undercurrent sweeping out to sea and I will not fight her, but allow myself to be pulled by the hand like a restless child.