40.92710,-121.54216
Hot, smoky, dusty and dry today only more so. The hike was along Hat Creek Rim, a volcanic plateau that sits some 500 feet above a flat volcanic savanna below. Smoke limited visibility to a couple of miles. Shade is scarce and water nonexistent. 
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But the generosity of strangers is in good supply. As I rounded a bend I saw a couple of coolers in the shade of a juniper with a hiker sitting in a lawn chair just beyond. The cooler held icy cold drinks and fruits. I grabbed a soda and an orange, pulled out a lawn chair and had a nice chat with Lucky, a southbounder. 
I rarely drink sodas in civilian life, but out on long hikes I come to crave them. Pouring a cold fizzy sugary drink down your throat when you are hot and dusty and trailworn is immensely gratifying in a way that is hard to comprehend or even recall in more comfortable settings. The folks who go to the trouble to stock coolers full of ice and drinks and haul them out to remote areas for the refreshment of strangers create little bubbles of happiness on the map of the world. I drank, gave thanks in the log book and moved on.
That was the highlight of the day. The rest comprised a forced march though volcanic scablands shrouded in smoke. The Rim should have opened good views of the mountains ahead, not least Mt Shasta, but remained dismal all day.
The trail trends mostly west now, making the transition from the Sierra – Lassen axis across the head of the Sacramento drainage to the Trinity Alps. It truly is a hinge point that connects two different parts of the hike. No one would come here except to say they’ve hiked the entire PCT.
Cache 22 was indeed fully stocked thanks to yet another kind soul who hauled in a 500 gallon tank of water. The additional water would have allowed me to dry camp but I desperately wanted cold running water to soak my feet and dunk my head and pushed on another 15 miles to the first creek.
The creek was not deep but it was cold and clear. I kept my feet in as long as I could, hoping to keep hot spots from becoming blisters. I’ve stayed blister- free for over 300 miles, but a 30 day in the heat is doing some damage. I still have a long way to walk.