July 24th 2022, 7:17 am

I planned to walk 20 or more miles today but the trail had other plans. When Benji and I got to our intended point for breakfast along the Squaw River the heat convinced us to siesta early. During the 4 hours we spent hiding from the sun we joked about asking day hikers for a ride to Shasta. Looking at the map I realized we could walk 10 miles north to the town of McCloud arriving in time for dinner and hitch over to Shasta in the morning. Though this route brings us off the PCT I've already decided taking such side adventures are as much a valued part of this experiment as any mile on trail. But I told Benji that I wanted to walk the road rather than find a hitch, that is unless a hitch found us. One of the great lessons of this trail has been to stay open to accepting circumstance even when it may appear to conflict with a preconceived plan. As we began packing up for our road walk a man we had exchanged nicety's with a few hours earlier came walking down the bank toward us. Then as if queued by a stage director he says "hey I'll be heading to Shasta for a concert and I thought I'd see if you needed anything". It took me a moment to respond being taken back by the odd but at this point unsurprising synchronicity. Smirking I asked if he had room for two and went on to enlighten him to the magic he had just sparked. A few moments later Benji and I were in the back seat of Jeff and Ann's Prius heading toward Shasta. Earlier on in this hike I'd have felt a strong sense of guilt for skipping trail miles with a hitch but I've since learned the importance of these unpredictable experiences. In Shasta the four of us got dinner at their favorite restaurant engaged in interesting conversation throughout. Jeff has been involved in animation for much of his career after a transition from sailing, and is now working on a project of his own. Ann works to improve city bike initiatives in an effort to reduce the impact cars have on our environment. Together since first meeting in San Francisco some years ago, they now live in Redding and like to spend their summers dispersed camping along the river we came from. After dinner we head to a free concert in the park along with much the rest of Shasta. There in the deep lush grass, with Mt. Shasta the epic backdrop, we chatted, made new friends, people watched, and danced until the sun and all its warmth disappeared. From there Jeff and Ann dropped us at our motel reserved by Bougie who'd arrived by foot an hour earlier. We exchanged info, took a group picture, and bid our sincerest farewell's with respect to the meaningfulness despite the brevity of our time spent together. We had a good laugh sharing the story of our day with Bougie and Steven, and then listening to theirs. Despite the hour Benji and I decided to make a run to the grocery store for some late night shopping. Crossing the train tracks and beating locked doors by a just few minutes we managed our resupply clearing up tomorrow for other activities. It was a few hours later that we turned the lights off for much needed sleep. Sleep which in the comforts of a bed came easy.