Mile 1737 to 1761

Trail side break

We wake to the piercing sound of the loudest and closest coyote I have ever heard in my life. On the plus side, he seems to have perfect pitch. After gathering our nerves and our gear, we target the South Brown Mountain Shelter in 23 miles. Our Guthook app says it has a cabin, picnic table and a water well/pump.

In route, our first water source is advertised as the outlet to Hyatt Lake. It is full of very questionable soapy foam so we pass. Later we arrive at an advertised water faucet with an actual water faucet, which is a confusing and refreshing change. We load up, on water not faucets. After a few miles, we skip the aqueduct water, which the guide says is full of chemicals. The guide is not specific about which chemicals, but I suspect both hydrogen and oxygen. We are basically bloated, carrying too much weight anyway.

Water with Faucet

I realize I am repeatedly repeating myself, but with Kevin now here, some of my observations are being affirmed. For instance, insects zipping by my ears make a wide variety of bug like sounds, but also occasionally some pretty human like ones. Enough so that I will turn around to see who is speaking. Kevin has started to notice this same phenomena, asking me if I said something when clearly I have not.

At the South Brown Mountain Shelter we join a group of college students hiking with their former high school social studies teacher. They share enough of the picnic table that we can cook dinner standing up, rather than sitting in the normal dirt. After bean and cheese burritos we retire to the shelter.

On a celebratory side note, we did not see Mount Shasta the entire day.

South Brown Mountain Cabin