Getting a good night’s sleep worked a trick. That and the trail getting easier.
I woke up at 5 and stayed awake. When I emerged from my tent, I found I had invaded the home territory of a critter that seemed hardly bothered by me at all. And my stuff didn’t seem to have been bothered either, so we were totally cool with each other, I guess.
I was back on trail by 7, and by 9 I had covered the 3.5 miles downhill to the greatly flowing South Fork Scott River. Although the sun was out in force, there was still plenty of shade near this stream. Not only did I collect some of this water during my morning snack, I also dunked my head in the water until I had lost all excess heat and soaked my shirt and Buff (around my neck) before I left. I had my biggest climb of the day ahead, much of it directly in the sun, and I wanted to be on the brink of shivering cold before I started for extra speed.
It worked a treat for a few minutes. I was really moving. But within a mile, the water had warmed up and evaporated, and I was slowing down. Luckily, right about then, I crossed another stream, soaked my shirt sleeves again, and that cooled me enough to get me to the top of the climb.
I took a second morning break–let’s call it elevensies since it was just after 11–at a pair of nice streams on the other side of the ridge just 3.6 trail miles from my first morning break, and collected another bag of water, enough to get me to and through lunch. There was intermittent shade, enough that I felt no need to soak my shirt again, plus the trail was not going to be steep again for a while. Just rolling slowly up and down along the side of the ridge, then into a flattish area with meadows and a lot of water, then finally onto a saddle where I took lunch under a tree practically in the middle of a side trail.
I stayed on the ground chasing the shade for more than a half hour after I had finished eating. I was very relaxed and I had cell service, so I downloaded a video to watch over dinner.
Less than a mile after leaving that spot, I ran into a PCT thru-hiker, Terminator. He was trying to do an ultralight hike in 100 days with only four zeroes. If you divide that out, it’s over 27 miles a day on average, which means he puts down 30s and 35s on a regular basis. That wouldn’t even be possible without a UL system.
The next section was very nice. No more meadows, just rock slides. Piles of red rocks and views for miles. Mt. Shasta, as always, imposed itself over everything else in view.
I stopped for an afternoon snack right at the beginning of this rocky section, just after leaving Terminator, on a nice rock that happened to sit squarely in the shadow of a tree. I was a short break, eating and drinking just enough to stop the sinking feeling in my gut long enough to get me to my next stop.
Which was 4 miles all downhill–so under 2 hours of walking–to the outlet stream of Mosquito Lake. I couldn’t see the lake itself, but the stream draining it was gushing. I made the most of this stop, eating dinner, collecting water, consolidating trash, and watching the video I had downloaded, all in an hour.
Since I had finished supper at 7, I had a solid 2 hours of daylight remaining and even more twilight than that. The trail was all downhill and mostly clear, and once I was maintaining a 3mph pace, I decided I might as well go the full 6 miles to the campground at Hwy 3. I would make it just after 9, which would mean a teensy bit of twilight to madness camp by.
On the way down the last hill, only a mile out, I met Tenderfoot who was just about to finish a 40+ mile day, beating his record by more than 12 miles. I convinced him to skip Etna, since with the food he had and the pace he could keep, he could easily make it to Seiad Valley before anything ran out. Then we parted ways.
Soon, I had arrived at the campground where I would stop. It was 9:20 and pretty dark, so I worked by headlamp. There were other campers around, but they were quiet, and there was plenty of space for me. I set up in a huge cleared campsite. The ground was so hard, I bent my biggest, toughest stand trying to drive it in. Then I straightened using the links in the chain that held the picnic table in place and drove it again. The other stakes were also a struggle. It was well after 10 by the time I just had the tent up, much less my bedding down.
I wasn’t ready to sleep until after eleven. So much for trying to hike reasonable hours. At least this time I had the miles to show for it.
Trail miles: 22.4
Distance to I-5: 59.6 miles
meadow vole is my best guess 
