Robert Francisco

Destination: Deer Creek
Starting Location: Power Lines
Today’s Miles: 27.80
Trip Miles: 1468.90
Beyond Power Lines (1440, 3110) to Deer Creek (1467.8, 4700) ascent (4429) descent (4429)

Met Steve and Chris who encompasses the entire Shasta Trinity National Forest trail cres. These two guys obviously love their work & we were thrilled to see most of the down trees on the infamous Section O had been cleared. Now I have been critical about the Forest Service at the policy level but at the staff level you could not find a pair of better trail hands.
Walked through more timber harvesting & could not believe the PCT was not delineated. Had it been, the motor grader operator would likely not have pushed his road cut fill onto the Trail. He was pretty surprised to see us shaking our head in disbelief. Lumber should be expensive but not because of an unnecessary supply problem caused by anti-logging efforts but rather because we log sustainably and to do it well costs more.
Saw an osprey yesterday & she was really upset we stopped under her huge nest perched on top of an old snag. Likely had chicks and so we moved on.
Good hiking today and I thought a lot about Liz & my interest in moving to this part of the state. Hopefully it will all work out.
We have the worst campsites of possibly the entire trip. We needed water & had to get here & did not want to go any further. Thus I am on a 5% slope, Thunder is on the Trail, & others are wedged against trees and logs. Good, ice cold water in Deer Creek however. I had to clean my feet & my ankles turned blue.
Health is good. Had some calluses that were so thick they were catching on each step and hinged back and forth. This was painful after 20+ miles & figured we had better operate. So after slicing Swiss Cheese for everyone at lunch I started slicing off parts of my feet. Thunder commented that he was never taking anything cut from that knife again. I doubt that & Swiss Miss was happy to get more cheese tonight. I had no idea these calluses had gotten so thick – I cut off ¼ inch of dead skin from my right heel. We had some really off color jokes about supplementing our diet. The surgery made a significant difference in foot comfort & I hope to soak in Mt Shasta and remove some more.
Liz & I miscommunicated about Mt Shasta and with me getting sick our plans got goofed up. These little communication breakdowns can be significant and really screw up expectations and that always seems to lead to disappointment. I have been thinking about this and need to work on being clearer regarding what I am thinking.
Really enjoyed comparing life notes with Rolling Thunder during the last few miles of the day. We basically agree that it is complicated, nothing is really black or white in reality & adjustments & compromise are the only viable & sustainable solution. We talked a bit about our journals. He is trying to capture the culture of the Trail & I am trying to capture my personal thoughts & observations during this adventure. One interesting thing is that we both have some basic views on things but those break down rapidly when you apply them to specific circumstances. Again no black no white just shades of grey.