While down in Old Station on July 30, I met a group of hikers resting on the porch of the building next to JJ’s restaurant. Several of them were asleep, but I had a nice chat with three of them.
Too hot to hike
One was Hawkeye from England. Next to him was Animal Styles from Israel, and the third was a very friendly American whose trail name I did not get.
The temperature was near 100 degrees. Rather than hike the trail in the heat, they were planning on leaving in the late afternoon or early evening and hiking to Burney through the night. I gave them my card and told them to call me if they needed a ride into town.
I also told them that in addition to the McDonald’s there is a very nice fifties style burger place in Burney named the Alpine that has great fresh fruit blackberry shakes.
About the time that Linda and I were packing up, I saw some of them making their way to the trail head. I wondered how they would do because we were approaching a moonless new moon and the trail could be pretty rocky.
The next day, after attending WOLA and hearing a very rich sermon from Pastor Ken Frazer, I got a call from the 299 trail head. It was Hawkeye, the English Hiker.
Boom, Maverick, and Hawkeye
Hawkeye said that he and four other hikers needed a ride. He very politely asked me if I could come and get them. I told them that I wasn’t sure if I could fit five into the jeep but I would be there.
When I got there were only three: Hawkeye, Boom, and Maverick. Bob the Plumber from Bieber had stopped at the trailhead in his blue pickup with a flatbed trailer attached and taken Animal Styles and Jet Pack with him.
On the way into town I asked how the night hike went. They actually only hiked to cache 22 which is where Bidwell Road intersects with the PCT. They arrived there about 1 a.m., then slept till dawn and resumed their journey at dawn.
They said the night was dark and the trail was rough in places but the stars were beautiful.
When I asked them if they had seen any rattlesnakes, one of them said they had seen three. I wasn’t sure if rattlesnakes were still active at night and they assured me that they were.
Maverick asked if we had any green rattlesnakes (Crotalus Lepidus) around here. They said that they had seen a big green snake that evening. I told them that I didn’t think so. I thought that we had diamondbacks (Crotalus atrox). It got me curious, so later I looked them up on Wikipedia. Now I think that what we have is Western rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus) I’ll have to ask the Forest Service. I actually didn’t know that there are so many different kinds of rattlesnakes. And there seem to be quite a few this year up on Hat Creek Rim.
When I asked them where they wanted to go, they told me that Bob the Plumber from Bieber had taken them to the Alpine and they would be waiting for us there.
Jet Pack and Animal Style at the Alpine
When we got there, I said hello again to Animal Style and Jet Pack and told everyone to call if they needed further assistance or wanted to jump in my pool.
At the Alpine
Jet Pack and Animal Style at the Alpine
Pit River Country 