I'm recording this here just as I put it on Facebook during our trip:
Day 6 - Somewhere in the Shasta/Trinity Forest
We had planned to be spontaneous for the next few days. I know that truly spontaneous people don’t even “plan” to be spontaneous, but we are both planners who like the IDEA of spontaneity. Our campervan even has a hashtag on the back that days “detourism.” We had some of that today.
We did not have any reservations for tonight. We chose a campsite called Gumboot as a potential stop because it had a great hike very close. Google maps showed us the way.
However, when we arrived after about 5 hours of driving, that spot was not a campsite at all but a complete dead end. We had no internet and no paper map. We found a gal a few miles away who called a hiker friend on a cell phone. He knew where the real Gumboot was - not THAT far as the crow flies but over two hours of driving away (thanks,Google maps). A different local suggested Kangaroo Lake as a place to camp - also good because it was the opposite direction of the forest fires. I guess I didn’t mention that the smoke had gotten a little concerning and PCT hikers were flagging us down to ask what we knew about the fire - and was it a named fire?
Anyhow, Kangaroo Lake is a pretty spot. We have clear skies and no smoke. A 20 minute climb on a curvy one lane road to get here - but it was paved! Got set up before sunset.
