July 12

1389-1412

Our continued hike along hat creek rim quickly heats up. By 8am it is already in the 90s, and we know we are in for a tough day.

We reach the water cache, aptly named cache-22 since it lives along forest road #22. The water is hot, from living in the sun, but it is a godsend. As temperatures continue to climb, peaking at 105, the day becomes a blur. There is minimal shade as we cross an endless number of dry parties.

The radiant heat from the sun feels like a ray gun pointed at my chest. Our water bottles heat up and any sip we take is akin to drinking hot tea. We have to remain deliberate about our pace, as we are right on the edge of heat injury.At a road crossing we see a collection of gallon bottles sitting in the shade and we dump some of the water on our heads to desperately try to lower our core temperatures.

This is enough to get us a few more miles to the first natural source of water in over 30 miles- a beautifully cold creek. We take turns laying down in the 1 foot deep water, and feel our bodies cool down. Over the past 80 days we have earned a level of fitness that saw us through this stretch of trail. If we were dropped into this location at the start, we would not have been able to endure these temperatures. In normal conditions, this area of the trail is an uncomfortable slog. In a heatwave like this, it is downright dangerous.

It wasn’t until we cooled down that we realized the seriousness of the situation. Our water logged clothes help us endure the next few miles into the town of Burney, CA, where we get dinner and rent a motel room. In the room we blast the AC and send messages to our hiker friends to make sure everyone is okay, before falling asleep.