20     Castella - Etna   101 miles

Castella

Burstarse Creek                       9.5 m

Porcupine Lake                      21.5 m

Scott Mountain                     23.0 m

Saloon Creek Trail                  23.0 m

Etna                                    23.9 m

I took a shower at the completely vacant camp ground. Refreshed I started climbing back out of the valley. During the ascent there were again and again great views of Castle Creg Mountain namesake of the State Park. Now the trail is in westerly and partly even southerly direction evenso we want to hike towards Canada. The reason being the big loop around Mount Shasta. Orignally I had planned to resupply at Seiad Valley again. However this ment me carrying food for too many days. To limit the weight I decided to have an extra stop at Etna.

The night at Porcupine Lake will stay on my mind for quite a while. A fellow hiker slept in his hammok. Unfortunately he attached it on one side at a dead tree. How dead it was we found out during the night. I woke up when the tree came down noisily between him and me. Luckily nothing happened to me. And he only had a hard landing on the ground. This could have ended quite differently.

The Trinity Alps are supposed to remind of the original in Europe. They held a big surprise in stock. When crossing a saddle and descending into the next valley I was welcomed by bell ringing. Here cattle can roam freely. They all carry cow bells.

Etna is many miles off the trail. This requires a ride down a road with little traffic. I had to wait until almost dark before getting a lift. Two older ladies took me along. The hostel was fully occupied so that I had to spend the first night outside cowboy camping on the lawn. The second night I could spend in one of the bunks. Again it was very hot down here in the valley. Luckily the Post Office hends out parcels to hikers evenso they are actually closed. Otherwise I would have had to spend another night in town.

Castle Crag State Park

This tree fell in the middle of the night. It came down between the hammok and my tent.

Porcupine Lake like a mirror early in the morning

View of Mount Shasta

View of Middle Boulder Lake

View from PCT

Broad view into the country site

Ice cream and milk shake flavor announcement board in Etna

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