August 4 - Burney

Morning at Crystal Lake

Up early again. Left at around 6 and walked along Crystal Lake for a while. It was gorgeous in the sunrise, and there were so many water birds around. Tons of geese, white pelicans, ducks, and about 8 osprey that have figured out how to navigate the wires covering the hatchery pools. The sound of their chirps remind me of home.

We also walked through oak and pine grasslands for a lot of today. We hadn't seen Boots since the Subway Cave, and Bubbles found us just after getting up and said she hadn't seen him either. His feet were really hurting him.

We took a side trail into Burney Falls State park that took us past the headwaters of the falls. The headwaters turn from tiny bubbling pools to a huge waterfall in less than a half mile. Crazy!

We talked to a lady named Shirley, who called her husband after an hour of unsuccessful hitching and he brought us into town. He was really nice, as was Shirley and everyone else at the State Park.

After shopping and eating in town (and finding Boots, who hitched out early from Hat Creek because his feet were killing him and is going to skip up to Mt. Shasta and wait for us) we started trying to hitch. It took forever for the first hitch, which turned out to be from this crazy woman who told us about how she's been married three times. The first two died, and the last one was murdered. I was kind of wondering... I mean, I'm really sorry for her loss, but you kind of wonder...

She dropped us off at the road intersection, where Boots and Bubs had gotten a ride. An RV picked us up and took us to the State Park, and Boots to Mt. Shasta. Lucky.

So Bubs, Chilidog, and I headed off to find this swimming hole we'd been told about. We found it, and it really was amazing. A waterfall bounces twice, forming two big pools in a canyon you have to climb down to. SO awesome.

awesome swimming hole!

Then on only a little further. My pack feels ridiculously heavy. Ugh.