Mile 1379 to 1393.9 – 14.9 miles total hiked on PCT

Even without a view, I still had some light from the sunrise as I woke up.

So the first part of the day was to climb up to Hat Creek Rim. This rim looked down on the hat creek, obviously. It was long so I spend at least two days crossing it.

Once I reached the rim, I could see Mount Lassen behind me. A very nice view that made me wish I had pushed to climb up to the rim the prior night. I spent too much time in Old Station, I think.

Since Highway 44 ran alongside the PCT climbing up the side of the rim, naturally, there was a parking lot with an overlook of the whole Hat Creek Valley.

It was there that as I prepared to say goodbye to Mount Lassen, I said hello to another mountain that would be visible to me for the next week plus.

Mount Shasta!

It looked like it had a big layer of snow at the top, that was only a very thick cloud that was hanging around the top.

It was then that I knew for sure that I should’ve camped up at the rim somewhere.

The PCT trail traced the rim’s edge at times, but also went into forests now and then.

No large burn zones, but there was some evidence of burned trees and stumps. Must’ve been a long time ago because there was quite a good variety of living trees and bushes of all kinds and sizes that were missing from the big burn zones that I had gone through between Sierra City and Old Station.

Sorry, but you will see a lot of pictures of Mount Shasta over the next 7+ trail days.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of shade up on the rim so I had to bring out my umbrella to shade myself from the direct sunlight.

A very nice local trail angel had provided multiple water cashes along the rim! Thank you!!

I think there was only one natural source of water along the rim this time of year, so this was much appreciated.

The water caches meant that I didn’t have to climb down to Lost Creek. thank you again, trail angel!

I guess they’re were still some hikers that came all the way from Campo on the trail with me.

Haven’t been passed by too many northbound hikers, but the number of southbound hikers has been picking up steadily over the past week.

It must be magic! The snow covering the top of Mount Shasta is now floating over the top of Mount Shasta. 😜



In the middle of the rim there was a communications station. This is something you commonly see in high places, so wasn’t out of place up on Hat Creek Rim.

It did have a great view, of course.

The view was so good, I was tempted to camp there. Wind protection, flat space for my tent, a great view, and a nice BENCH. Sometimes being able to sit down in a real chair helps relax at the end of the day.

But I decided to continue north.

Rattlesnake encounter number FIVE for my PCT trek!

Then I found it. Wasn’t really a campsite when I found it, but it had a flat surface to use it to enjoy the evening with a grand view of Mount Shasta.