Leaving Chester - Mile 1354 - 8/4

With the fire situation behind me I got a big diner breakfast plate then hitched back out to the trail. Trail magic was at the road and Scooter showed up a little bit after. I hiked a couple of miles to a cold flowing deliciously piped spring where I met a Canadian couple, Mr. C. and Snowwhite who were some of the last to make it through the fire section before it closed.

The goal was to make it to Drakesbad Guest Ranch tonight hopefully in time for dinner. I entered into Lassen Volcanic National Park early in the afternoon and saw that there was an active geyser slightly off trail so I planned on stopping there alan checking that out. This area is the transition between the massive Sierra Nevada mountain range and the volcanic Cascade mountain range which leads up through Washington. I arrives at the trail junction for the terminal geyser and waited to see the facial expressions of Scooter and Spins. The geyser releases Sulfur dioxide (most famously associated with rotten eggs) and Spins got there with the assumption that one of us farted ha! When we got to the geyser it was more of a vent but it was steaming out, hot, and a boiling creek/spring fed downhill. It was getting darker as we headed out from the geyser and passed a thermal lake and arrived at a campspot right next to Drakesbad Ranch. Cowboy ( who had been there a few days because of injury) told us it'd be better to wait till breakfast so we camped there and ton of other hikers trickled in from the ranch to camp here. A short but intense lightning storm passed at night with a little rain and I fell asleep with the thought of a delicious breakfast in the morning.