Miles today: 19.9

Trail miles sum: 846

Trail location: 1521.1

Elevation: 6496

Spinning on the turntable: Coldplay: Parachutes

Over 4000ft elevation gain today. Let me say that again….4000ft….up…

Guthook July 18

I started at mile 1501 and worked my way to 1520. Woof.

Castle Crags sign

I must admit though, I do like the Shasta-Trinity section. I’m hiking in a dense forest

Sunlight in the trees

and then “bam!” A breathtaking view. It’s just bloody glorious!

Castle Crags

The climbing though, well, ouch. Up is up, eh?

Noelle joined me for the first six miles and it was great to chat as we began the days hike.

Noelle at Castle Crags

After Noelle headed back towards the van I began the serious ascent.

Castle Crags in the afternoon

I had to remind myself to keep climbing many, many times. I was gasping for breath and ogling the sights.

I did run into this little fella.

Small rattle snake

The rattle snake was only about two feet long. It did shake his rattles at me. They were tiny little rattles. I heard that the young rattle snakes can be unpredictable so I gave it a wide berth.

Steep rocky trail

The trail was super steep and full of loose rocks. I was traveling from shade spot to shade spot. The temp was quite moderate but the rocks reflected the heat right back up at me. If I was a biscuit I would have been browned both top and bottom.

Shasta Trinity Wilderness views

The views helped tremendously.

Clovers all over

I’m enjoying a “second spring” as the flowers are blooming. As I’m climbing in elevation I’m hiking in sections of the trail that were covered in snow just a week or two ago.

Wilderness beauty

Mt Shasta

It’s so much fun to be swinging around the western side of Mt. Shasta and see it from another perspective.

Trailside dinner

I called it a day after twelve hours of hiking and cooked my dinner on the side of the trail.

Castle Crags Wilderness