Another Update

Another Update

FiresFiresFires

The astute may have noticed 29 miles missing from our tracker. Unfortunately we had to skip part of the next, section from Dunsmuir to Ash Camp. Given all the fires in this  part of the world at the moment, we have been preparing ourselves for this possibility and have consoled ourselves in the fact that we clocked up 35 miles getting to the start, so pergaps we're still a little in credit. Further consolation came in having the trail to our selves the past three days. Most folks have been skipping the whole section, all 91 miles, meaning we didn't see a soul for 3 days...before arriving at a waterfall, and gift shop, at Burney Falls.

A day after leaving Dunsmuir, darkening afternoon skies took our attention behind us. A giant plume of smoke had errupted in the western sky, all but setting the sun 5 hours early. It was far enough behind us not to be of pressing concern, but enough that we camped by a roadside, just in case. Later we learned that a new fire had started, near where we had hiked days earlier, threatening enough to cause the closure of a major highway and the abandonment of Dunsmuir, the town we'd stayed at days earlier waylaid by the other fire. We got lucky.

Swings and Roundabouts

The night in Dunsmuir meant N could do his fantasy football draft, spurning a rare opportunity to sleep in to spend the very early hours in the bathroom playing at being general manager of an NFL team. For those who care, J not amongst those, Gurley and Rivers are the center pieces on offense).

Dangerous Animal Count

So far we've seen:

One bear (as previously reported)

One rattlesnake - we stepped over it before hearing it's rattle. Helpful. That takes the total snake count to 8.

Two hunters - one of which was hunting bears...wtf? (Bears kill 3 people on the continent each year, big cats 1....hunters shoot each other, dead, at a rate of a hundred a year).

No big cats yet, but we've been given intel that a mountain lion is stalking hikers in the present area. We're hopeful of ticking another box! (Side note, the landscape here is like Kruger, add the big cats, it really could be Africa).

Equipment

J is on her 4th pair of different shoes. N on his second. They are well past expiry, but delivery of a replacement pair keeps missing us...he is now wearing a sports kilt though.

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