Day 97

We stayed at JJ's Cafe in the small town of Old Station for most of the day till six in the afternoon to wait out the heat. The heat wave the past few days has been intense, the hottest in 25 years. We decided that the best way to approach the Hat Creek Rim would be a night hike, as it is mostly exposed.

At the cafe, we had plenty of opportunity to fill our bellies, from breakfast to lunch and perhaps even an afternoon snack. Here, Blis got a job interview which, dressing up as much as he could to appear professional, with the help from all of us, as well as Trailname, for setting up the interview room.

The hike down to get water in the canyon at Lost Creek was steep, and can feel a little scary if going down solo (scary as in a mountain lion could be watching you kind of scary), but it was an important only water source on this section. The other water source is a water tank called Cache 22. Comments on Guthook stated it was filled, but we felt not counting on it. The next day, we learned from Trailname that the water tank was indeed empty and that he had to get water from this stagnant pond where cows drink from. We did see that pond the next day and it definitely is a water-source-if-your-life-depends-on-it kinda of water source.

Our night hike ended at 1am at the communication tower, where a black cow greeted us as we set up camp. This was a nap, not a rested good night sleep, as our hike resumed in less than 3 hours, so that we can continue hiking while it's still nice and cool.