Well today was weird. I did my longest day at 31.8 and wasn't even planning on it. I woke up normal time but since it was in the trees, it stayed pretty dark and I had to use my headlamp. I crossed the river on a log and man, my balancing skills have decreased since the sierras. I wore my girlfriend leggings to test them out. The compression is amazing and felt GREAT this morning but as soon as the sun started beating on me, I had to take them off. :( It was just too hot. I kinda liked having my legs covered when I passed all the brush. I wasn't getting scratched all the time.

Most of the day was super flat and hot. A lot of burned sections with no views except for mt lassen. I took an early lunch at 11 and made it 14 miles already. I then pushed on passed old station. I thought about stopping by but it wasn't going to be worth it since I didn't need anything. I would be just wasting time there since it's a little off trail. So I went to the subway cave parking lot to stock up on water. I stayed for awhile resting a bit and gathering 6L. I wasn't sure how far I was going to walk but I knew I wanted to go at least till sunset.

The next section is the hat creek rim. It's a 33 mile no water and exposed part and it's unbearably hot. Even though it was after evening, the sun was just still so hot. The climb up to the beginning of the rim walk was very gradual but I was sweating profusely and ended up drinking a whole liter by the top. The terrain and plants were just like the all over desert again. Then all of a sudden I had to pass through free ranging cattle. They were everywhere eating their grass dinner! I was afraid they'd be in my way as I walked by but they moved to the side quickly.

I ran into frost and the other German girls and walked with them for a short bit at sunset. The light was so pretty. Mt Shasta and lassen all around us with the pink colors. I miss having good views like this. I reached the next closest campsite and realized I had gone over 30 miles today. Crazy. I felt fine and could've kept going but my feet were a little tired and I don't like finding a spot in the dark. I pitched my tent on the very dusty dirt and finally settled into my bag by 9pm. It was a long day and I still needed to eat dinner. I didn't bother blowing up my pad since it's so warm and the ground is somewhat soft. Plus, I have to wake in five hours to finish the rest of this rim walk. I might be able to make it to burney tomorrow too. We'll see.

Sun setting with shasta in the distance.