Day 110 Riscos del Castillo – The walk

Day 110 Castle Cliffs
15.8 miles
From Mt Shasta town (ride to trailhead)
To follow camp (mile 1514.9, elevation 4761)
Upload 3917
Descend 1295

Weather forecast

Last night I got a notice that today’s weather is forecast to be 7 degrees colder than yesterday, just 88 F (definitely better, but still not cold).

Blackberry bushes again

I filled my cold soak container when I left camp (the original spelling on my phone corrected it to «kids’ soak container.» That has a very different connotation!) and then continued to find more bushes in almost every vacant lot. If this continues, it could turn into a very tasty day.

I busied myself with repackaging food, bandaging my feet, filling my batteries, cleaning bottles, and visiting an ATM (which allows me to select the bills I want!). Now I’m having breakfast with Veggie at Black Bear Diner. I didn’t realize this was the original Black Bear Diner and it only opened in 1995. It seems ubiquitous to me as I drive by. According to your article, it seems there are now about 180. I had French toast with bread pudding. It was great.

Spring

While waiting with Veggie for our ride to the trailhead, I noticed a drainage pipe coming out of a wall between two levels of the parking lot. My hiker mind immediately thought, «Spring! I should collect water.» My logical mind quickly intervened.

Starting the walk

The hike started with a road hike and we missed the tunnel under I-5 so we added a little. A section was closed at Castle Crags, so we had the detour. Once under the road, the trail started to climb and seemed like it didn’t really stop, although I know we climbed a lot once we rejoined the official PCT.

Lunch/dinner exchange

I chose to swap lunch and dinner on the last constant access to water. I added some cheese and pepperoni to the quinoa (pasta) and broccoli bake. It was really tasty. It was also relaxing to sit by the stream in the hottest part of the day.

But after that it continued to be difficult. The heat and the climbing affected me. But since I had already had dinner, I felt like I could walk later. And that felt better once it finally started to cool down.

castle crags

Despite the heat, I loved the scenery. The trail ran around the back of Castle Crags and I got some amazing views. I have another place to put on my “return” list.

Photos Riscos del Castillo

Campsites were really scarce on this climb. Veggie found one pitching his tent where the trail crossed a hill. I camped at a spot higher up that same ridge where the trail crosses it again. But I don’t have enough space for my tent. It’s hot, so I’m camping like a cowboy. I surrounded my sleeping bag with rocks to make sure I didn’t slide or roll down the hill.

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