November 1 — day 173
Camped Castle Crags State Park mile 1501.2 hiked 20.6 miles today and in doing so finally finished the whole PCT this calendar year.
My final day on the trail was a perfect warm Fall day. I had camped with a closest yet view of Shasta as I have been heading South. As I descended towards Dunsmuir crunching thru a thick layer of oak and dogwood leaves it got progressively warmer eventually I was wearing shorts. This was by far the least clothing I had worn since heading South from Cascade Locks. After the State Park I passed under the I-5 and connected with my route thru the rest of California. I celebrated with a burger and beer at the Dunsmuir Brewery. Later I was met by Kelly the owner of Crossroads, now closed so that she can go sailing in the Caribbean.
October 31 — day 172
Camped mile 1521.8 hiked 22.4 miles today.
Saw 3 NoBo (northbound) thruhikers again today. I’m getting closer and closer to Shasta. It feels like a giant half circumambulation of the mountain. I missed much of this due to smoke in 2013. I camp with a fantastic view of Shasta.
October 30 — day 171
Camped mile 1544.2 hiked 20.7 miles today.
Saw 3 thruhikers today. It was startling to see so many hikers. The last SoBo (southbounder) I saw was Tinkerbell, more than a week ago in a snowstorm. Today was another sunny day.
October 29 — day 170
Camped mile 1564.9 hiked 19.2 miles today.
It was very cold in the morning with the water in my water bottle freezing before my eyes. At least my shoes weren’t frozen from walking through snow. The wind was blowing like hell and it was cold.
October 28 — day 169
Camped mile 1586.1 hiked 13.6 miles today.
Got up early for a ranchers breakfast at Bob’s Ranch House and then did a resupply at Dollar General. I got a ride to the trailhead with Bob. Before we left he showed me his all original running MGA that he got from the disgruntled brother of the deceased former owner. The last time I passed through this part of the trail it was smokey. I didn’t realize how lovely this area was.