Burney Falls State Park

Turns out I dodged a bullet as a fire started outside Belden shortly after I left, closing the trail. Given it was a 6000 ft climb out of town, I ended up leaving late afternoon to get a few miles in despite the roasting heat. It did make the remainder of the climb easier in the morning.

I’ve done a couple of side trips, including Subway Caves near Old Station and Burney Falls State Park.

Both were worth the diversion. Also included in this past stretch was the notorious Hat Creek Rim, which is an exposed waterless section. In the past few years a water cache was added, making now less of an issue. Smoke covered much of the valley during my hike, but the sunset was nice.

Coming in to Burney, we ran into a few trail visitors…

Most of us stayed overnight at a church in Burney that opens up to PCT hikes, which was incredible given all the hotel rooms were booked up on a Friday night. In the morning we got a ride back to the trail from Legend, a PCT trail angel who had been following the herd north so to speak.

I’ve got 274 miles to reach the Oregon border. Happy trails!