Day 5, 2022 - Castle Crag SP

Castle Crag SP, Castella, CA

It was only a short visit with Runningbird but super nice. A couple of cups of coffee, a couple egg burritos, and some chopped up broccoli into a baggie for her evening soup and then we launched her back to the trail. Everything is damp outside and the forest is in a cloud layer. Perfect hiking weather. I guess.

PCT Trailhead at Castella, CA

Later in the morning Coyote called and we gave him a lift up to a church in Dunsmuir where he planned to stay a couple of days until the rain stopped before he would get back on the trail as well. He says it doesn’t rain in Texas. Beau and I explored around Dunsmuir (pop. 1,650) which involved driving up the road and then driving back down the road. I’ve been my Dunsmuir At least 30 times and never pulled off to have a look. Kind of a cute town but I don’t think I could live there. Didn’t see a bakery. From there we went up to Shasta City and did a little shopping and topped off with fuel before returning to Castle Crag SP and the trailer.

Dunsmuir, CA

About mid-afternoon, Runningbird had been out about 8 hours, she sent me a text. All it said was “Cold Rain”. I felt bad for her as the forecast was that this was just the beginning of what the next couple of days had in store, along with a couple of cold nights. In the evening I could see that she had arrived at her planned stop over for the evening. Oddly her tracker stayed on for awhile and it was clear she was moving around in the area a lot. I knew there was a spring there somewhere and perhaps she was having a difficult time finding it. Then, her SPOT posted a default message. Not the usual “I’m okay” but a message that we had never designated a use for. Perhaps she pushed the wrong button? I jotted down her specific location and looked to see if there was a way to get to her by road. I did find a series of NFS roads but decided running around in the dark trying to find a place I was not familiar with would not be a good idea. Stay tuned….

More from Runningbird on the trail -

Love Bridges Mossy Rocks Mossy Rocks 2