7/11/2017 Tentsite at Mile 1425.3 to Burney Mountain Guest Ranch at Mile 1407.2

Today was a great day for both of us. We had hiked our first official 30 yesterday and that only left us with 18 miles to the Burney Mountain Guest Ranch with the Burney Falls and State Park General Store at the half way point. I could tell it was going to be a rewarding day.

We woke up at 6 and were walking by 7 with only a few bug bites. I was really plugged into the BBC space podcast all morning, as I was most of the day the day before.  The podcast isn’t “good”,  it is really just a random collection of broadcasts by the BBC that they must have simply tagged as space related. That being said, it has really spiked my curiosity by frustrating me with a lack of detail. I am realizing on this trail an old desire to become a scientist is still very much alive in me. I am not sure I could stomach the public sector though my conscience really protests against the private sector.  The first BBC podcast I listened to was about the history and significance of the study of Infinity. It was such a poor podcast in some ways because it was so high level and elementary but it was sufficient to leave me wanting more. As I have been listening it has been very easy for me to see how math, science, art, and philosophy have always been intrinsically linked and I am eager be a part of that development.

My favorite topic they discussed was Zeno’s paradoxes. Especially the Dichotomy argument, where essentially if you attempt to go from a point A to a point B, you will have to go half the distance of A and B. And in order to continue to get to B you will have to go half the remaining distance, and so on. It raises so many wonderful questions about our conscious finite and unconscious infinite experiences that have still yet to be fully answered. In fact, the phrase “and so on” in it of itself is an amazing feet of human consciousness. The fact that we can contemplate a summarized and approximated version of infinity is both striking and beautiful to me. It also has special significance in a seemingly never ending walk each day that suddenly comes to a close.

After just 3 hours and 3 podcasts we arrived at Burney Falls and we were not disappointed. First, because of hiker priorities, we went to the General Store for ice cream, soda, and a real bathroom! After we were refreshed and relaxed we walked down to the falls and wow what a gorgeous scene that awaited us. It was like out of a hidden corner of Hawaii or something to that effect.

We took a few pictures and hit the road to the ranch. Unfortunately as soon as we walked a mile away I immediately had to go to the bathroom again so I broke off on my own and Sherpa on her own.

I caught her a few hours later at a wonderful trail magic with snacks and lemonde! I really needed it because we entered a section of hot, red, volcanic rock and with little water. I only had one sip left of water to get me through the next 3 miles which I was planning on rationing. Apparently Sherpa was in the same boat. We stopped for a few minutes and then gobbled up the next couple of miles to the Ranch.

The Ranch was .3ish off the trail and when we arrived it was very hot and so we were eager to get in the shade. Immediately we were greeted by the owner and manager with ice cream. The best part of all was seeing old friends. Rise, Shine, and Snake Bite were there to greet us and as always they were there with smiles and hugs. Which when you are smelly and not fit for society feel so welcoming, friendly, and kind. They are all sisters and I am amazed at how well they have supported and strengthen each other throughout their trail experience.   They seem as though they are not sisters so much as really good friends. It was the highlight of our experience at the ranch to sit and talk with them.

We soon settled in and washed ourselves and our clothes. Then we sat down for a wonderful potato bar and salad dinner then spent some QT at the pool. After the pool we were just about to get in our tents when we saw 2.Toe and Yote! We were so excited to see our trail family again. It is not the same without them. They have only been a short distance behind us this whole section bumping into all the Nobos we have seen only a little while after us. We helped point out all the amenities and then turned in.

Once in our tent we chatted for a while and fell asleep….. like little hiker babies.