Miles: 1489.8 to 1510.3

Mileage: 20.5, plus 2.6 to Castella for resupply and 0.1 from camp

Day: 76

We woke up with the alarm today. The goal was to make it to the store in Castella and the post office before it closed at 3 p.m. 

The end result was that we made it just in time. But the extreme heat of the day was burdensome in making that happen.

Once at the store, I found the temperature and the forecast. At 5 p.m. it was 100 degrees. And the temperatures predicted for the next three days would be just as hot. 

In the Sierras, the unseasonable winter weather slowed us down (plus altitude). Now it’s the unseasonable summer weather. 

 

 
We sat at the picnic table outside the store and sweated in the shade. We ate ice cream and cherries and drank everything we could find: water, milk, Gatorade, ice tea, etc.

The heat from incoming car radiators blew across the parking lot and onto us. We sweated some more. 

We didn’t leave the store until almost 8 p.m. We found a tentsite in the dark by headlamp. 

Fortunately, after leaving the store area, the poison oak seemed under control or didn’t grow. It seems to prefer certain aspects of slope and doesn’t grow above about 3,500 feet. 

The poison oak the day before was challenging. Have you ever seen poison oak growing above your head? There were some sections of trail that we had to walk like it was a maze with walls that were electrified. 

Despite trying very hard to keep my arms and legs inside the ride at all times, I know I got swiped multiple times. It was mostly my clothes and pack. 

Once we got past the bears and to our tentsite, I got into the Squaw Valley Creek with all my clothes on, socks and everything. I rinsed and hoped the creek water would watch off the irritating oils. 

So far, I think it worked. No breakouts yet.