I had set my alarm for 0500 because at 0600 I would pick up Grizz’ and SameSame’s at their motel-room. We agreed to hitch out to the trail-head together and aimed to get an early start because we had an ambitious plan. Today’s section of the trail would lead us through 25 miles of the National Park of Mt. Lassen. Since 2017 they enforced the carrying of a bear-can when camping in the the National Park. Which none of us had, having ditched it first opportunity after the High Sierras. We would not enter the Park for another 9 miles however. The idea was born to hike both the initial bit, and the entire length of the PCT which ran through the park. In one day.
34 miles…
We quickly got a ride to the trail-head from a friendly gentleman and we were able to get cranking on the day at 0700 on the dot. Not a bad time, considering the required hitch. Fortunately the terrain today would be quite agreeable, otherwise I probably would not have committed to tag along on this crazy long stretch. I fell back behind the others and was enjoying my playlists as I put on a fast pace and made good progress.
I caught Grizz and SameSame around 1300, breaking for lunch. I’d been fueling up on more bars and snacks than usual, and this kept me going at a continuous pace throughout the morning. But I surely felt my tired feet today too. The first half of the afternoon, I found new energy from lunch and generally felt strong. It was during the second half that my feet and legs grew tired again I knew that the rough bit of the day was upon me. 
I went off trail for a minute to take a picture of the colorful surroundings of an adjacent lake, recommended to me by a group of female section-hikers. It was a nice change of scenery, but there was no time to hang back; I quickly continued my pursuit of Grizz and SameSame.
The miles started to feel tougher and longer around 1700. All of us were getting real tired now. Problem was we still had a ton of miles left, since we were still in Mt. Lassen National Park. We were hiking around the shores of a beautiful lake, and from a distance I longingly looked at it, really wanting a swim. We all knew however that in terms of time-management, this would not be a good idea. I found myself pleasantly surprised when we stumbled upon a bunch of thru-hikers, all aiming to get to the park boundary tonight too. They were chilling at the shores of the lake. Grizz had joined them too, and so SameSame and I didn’t think twice, dumped our packs and got comfortable as well. I even went out for a quick dip in the water.
It was now 1900 and we still had 7 miles to the Park border. And so began the longest stretch of the day. The others had pretty much all left before us, so the three of us started cruising together again, wanting to get to camp badly. We hiked through a burned forest-area and it was a welcome change of scenery after all the pine-forest we’ve been hiking through the past days. To kill some time we played games as we hiked.
Eventually we hiked through the dark, not getting to camp in time to beat the sunset. I felt I was pushing my body maybe a bit too far the last couple miles, but committed we all just kept hiking at ready-to-get-to-camp-pace. As soon as we saw the sign that marked the National Park border, we threw down our packs. The other hikers from the lake, had already set up and we were super thrilled to finally join them.
This had been my longest day on trail yet, and throughout the last 2 hours I did no longer feel my feet. I thought my body held up pretty well, but now that my muscles have cooled down a little bit I feel a stingy strain in one of my legs. Hopefully after a good nights sleep this will improve somewhat overnight. No alarm for tomorrow; now that we’ve made it to the edge of the park I will reward myself with sleeping in! It is time for shut-eye now.
It was an impressive day, and very hard day, but definitely a good day. The good sort of grind, the one were I felt my body was capable and strong. 34 miles.
Not too bad…
Step outside in the midnight rain
King n’ queen of the streets again
Got young blood running through our veins
And it keeps us numb like Novocaine
Alright
We can go all night
‘Cause we got a whole lot of fight in us
And I see a long road
That we gotta follow
Before tomorrow catches up
Oh, just take it easy
Hold onto this feeling
All our friends are leaving
And we ain’t got nowhere to go
Caught up in the afterglow
The Afterglow – All Time Low
