Just a quick update. We made it through the dreaded Hat Creek Rim and it was kind of nice. Brett was in heaven having scrub bushes back. The storm clouds protected a little which was very appreciated, but it was pretty hot for the second half of it, which we did yesterday. No major rain and it blew over. We took a little side trip in the morning before the rim to talk to the fire department about the fire in Lassen and they told us that this one's a controlled burn and shouldn't affect us. All they wanted to talk about was our trip and how they all want to do it too. They were super cool guys. Another unexpected meeting that takes you by surprise. Then, we went to JJ's Cafe next door and shared a plate which turned out to be huuuuge and we were both stuffed. We also did a mini resupply at the convenience store next door and it turns out that it's under new ownership and the guy loves hikers. He wanted to take our picture for his Wall-O-PCT. Ran all the way to get to trail magic that we'd heard about, but ended up missing it, afterall. All was not lost...just a little while further and we came to the same fire department guys up on the rim. It was cool to come across them again and they showered us with ice cold water and gatorade. True, genuine, unexpected trail magic. This is what makes the trail so incredible, the unexpected meetings, the unexpected kindness. The next day, we had the good fortune to make it in time for a last water cache on this dry stretch and it had a few sodas in it--still COLD. I was so grateful for that cold root beer, I can't even express. I had been craving root beer for days and definitely didn't expect to come across it in the wilderness. We skipped (and ran) merrily all the way to Burney Falls State Park. Trying to shave off a whole hour from our hike to get to the store before it closed. We made it with a half an hour to spare and devoured popsicles and a couple of cold beers. Cold has never tasted so good! We hung out with a bunch more hikers we hadn't seen for a while and met a couple of new ones. Then everyone went their separate ways and we got beautifully hot showers at the campground. A good couple of days, a boost to morale. Hopefully we can keep the miles up. We had a wonderful nap at the falls and swimming hole outside of the park today and we saw a lot a lit of different terrain. It's changing to the NorCal/Castle Crags terrain. Looking forward to the towns of Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta in a couple of days.