Don, our bus driver, dropped us off at the trail head in the vicinity of Chester CA. The drive to the trail was beautiful- we saw new mountain chains with snow peaks and meadows and thick pine forests. We occasionally caught a glimpse of the lonely looming Mt Shasta. Joe and I are both looking forward to seeing it much closer- its a beaut. We first saw Shasta last May, and we’re eager to lay eyes on it again. There is some fascinating folklore about the mountain.
We were back on trail in almost 2 weeks and it felt so good, so right. It felt like I was reunited with an old friend. Since we got on trail so late in the day we decided to only hike to the first water source- about 3 miles.
The hike was through an old pine forest, the smells, sights and footing were completely different than the desert. It smelled just as a pine forest should; earth-y and pine-y, the scenery and shade of the giant ponderosa pines were welcomed from the heat of the day, and the trail was soft; covered in fallen pine needles. Everything was new and different, including the presence of mosquitos.
When we reached the small spring fed lake, we looked for a tent site and set up camp. Soon after the bug spray had to applied as the bugs were abundant.
Our first night on trail was just as it should have been, a pleasant short hike to ease us into the trail life, and to gently grow us accustomed to the soon to be clouds of mosquitos.
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