Today was my zero day in Mt Shasta. As usual on zero days I get very restless as there is not much to do.
For once I actually did not wake up at 5 but slept past 6, which must mean I slept rather well. I did enjoy the bed here which is a lot firmer than in a lot of hotels.
I went to the Seven Suns for breakfast and had an excellent burrito.
Following breakfast I mostly just relaxed in my bedroom while making some notes on the rest of my hike. This included the resupply stops for the rest of the trail and especially where to send packages.
I also ordered new shoes for delivery in Ashland. I expect these to be my last pair of shoes for the trail and will send them to Shelter Cove Resort from Ashland. By Shelter Cove Resort I will have walked about 800 miles on my current shoes. This is probably pushing it a bit but it seems silly to use another pair of shoes.
I decided to go to the cinema and watch a movie. I watched Ocean’s 8, it was not a very good movie. Before the movie I grabbed a late lunch at Burger Express. The place was not express in any way and I was not impressed by the food either.
The rest of the day was spent in my room watching TV.
After the movie I went to the grocery store to get some more food for resupply. The extra resupply food should be enough to allow me to skip Etna if I decide to do so. On the way to Etna i will decide on whether to skip it or not. I kinda want to skip it as I feel like I have been to towns or cafes almost every second day for the last many days.
With the rough milage plan I have made for this last stretch in California going to Etna only adds a day to my hike but does not change the time of day I will arrive in Seiad Valley. This is important since I want to get to Seiad Valley early, get breakfast and leave early. Leaving Seiad Valley there is a massive climb of 4500 ft in just 7 miles and I want to do the climb before the midday heat.
From Seiad Valley it is only about 36 miles to the Oregon border and I am honestly excited to be entering a new state. Everyone says Oregon is easy and most people do a lot more miles there. I am already doing close to 40 miles most full days so I am not sure how many miles I will do on full hiking days in Oregon. For resupply calculations I will probably use 40 miles a day as the baseline until I learn otherwise.
Tomorrow I am getting a ride back to the trail around 10 which is later than I would prefer but it at least provides me ample time to get breakfast. I might have to hike later in to the day to still get a good days hiking. There is quite a bit of climbing tomorrow but I still hope to make about 30 miles.