July 10, 2016 - The rain didn’t last that long last night and could have easily made it to that other campsite but those clouds made it look worse than it was. Also no lightning so nothing to worry about. But I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry as I was all by myself and no one close around.
It was a little chilly this morning which was nice because the area is normally warm. The trail stayed on the rim for awhile so made for easy hiking. Right before it started to head downhill I came across the campsite I had planned to stay at last night. There was a couple there and said they had a little rain but nothing to worry about, would have been a cool place to camp.
While hiking downhill I had read about a water cache in the area but I was told this year that it was be discontinued as it was hard for the caretaker to keep up with. However that turned out to be wrong as Cache 22 was very much there and had plenty of water and snacks. I had enough water to last me so I only took a few snacks.
Once at the bottom I felt like I was back in Southern California, looked just like being in the desert with the yellow grass and all.
Around lunch time I came to the end of the 30 mile dry stretch where I ate lunch under the bridge that stretched across a nice cool river. While eating I watched an eagle grab a fish right out of the water and flew off.
After lunch it was more of the same kind of hiking, flat. Then came up on another road crossing with trail magic, Wild Berry Cache. The cache had a lot of goodie and even a camera to take a selfie. I took a quick break before continuing the last 7 miles to Burney Falls State Park.
I got to the park and it was crowded with people as Burney Falls was very pretty to look at so I can see why so many people were hanging out. I wanted to hiked down to the base of the falls but my ankle had been hurting pretty bad the last few miles and didn’t think it would be a good idea so I went over to the general store to buy some dinner.
I stayed for awhile trying to decide to camp at Burney Falls or move on to the next campsite 5.5 miles away. Finally around 7pm I decided to go which meant it would be close to dark when I arrive.
As I started hiking my ankle really started to hurt as I was having to limp but figured since I had been resting on it so long it had tightened up and after a few minutes of walk it would loosen up. As I’m limping a couple see me and come over to talk with me about my limp. There were a nice couple and concerned for me and asked if they could pray over me. I agreed and they got on their knees and prayed for my ankle to heal while touching it. After that they stood up and asked if it felt better. I honestly said no and they continued to pray for it again. They asked for a second time if it felt better so to be nice I said yes and thanked them and I was off.
The trail was much more climbing than I thought and my ankle which had been great all day started to get inflamed so not much fun. I really wanted to stop but here were no spots at all to camp.
Right as I got into camp my ankle starts to feel better. I’m not seeing too many campsites if any but I know of another campsite 0.2 mile down trail. Then a hiker comes out of the woods and points me to a small site to set up my tent. It was a long day and my highest mileage day yet but made it before it got dark.
