Castle Crags and Gumboot Lake

                                          Gumboot Lake

                                   July 17
Zero day with Pacmom! I woke up to a great breakfast, then we did some driving around. Lots of driving actually. As long as I'm not walking too much, all is good. She brought me a book that I've been wanting to read, so that was nice. Then, a great dinner and off to bed. Thanks Pacmom!

Castle Crags

Mt Shasta from Castle Crags
July 18th
Momma took me to the trail (Castle Crags at Soda Creek) and I got going with a few bagels and a pack that weighed about 6 lbs. Dora was at the trailhead and we chased down my Mom's car to drop off her pack, but just missed her. We took off and since I was about 30 lbs lighter than Dora, I took off. I got into the climb and it wasn't all that bad since I was light, but it was still pretty hot. I ended up making good time and passing Dusty and Opa. I did my 26 miles to the parking lot (Gumboot TH) where my Mom was waiting with sodas and snacks. Opa pulled in, then Dusty and they got their sodas and snacks and were pleased, then Momma and I took off to the lake (Gumboot) where it was a bit nicer. All in all a great day. I slept in and finished up the hiking at about 4pm and still got 26 miles in. Thanks, Pacmom. What I did today is called "slack packing" in PCT lingo. So, I pretty much just carry snacks for the day and day essentials. Very nice!!!

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25240
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5058742.pdf