The Idiot, jailed in Northern California on a completely false charge of vagrancy, definitely needed to clear his head and walk it off after a night in the Shasta City museum hoosegow.

The jail in the once bustling gold mining town of Shasta City near Redding, CA, hasn’t changed much since it was built in the mid-1800s.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)

After talking the judge into releasing The Idiot without bail, he headed west and spent a day hiking around Whiskeytown Lake to continue his preparation for a return to the MedTrek in Gaza and Egypt in November. When he finally resumes his ongoing walk around the Mediterranean Sea, it will have been more than a year since he was forced to take a break from his trek in the footsteps of Alexander the Great due to an injury and subsequent spinal surgery.

Whiskeytown Lake was a breath of fresh air — and water — after a night behind bars.

Although wearing the same clothes as the previous day, and lacking a cap or sunscreen on a hot and sunny day, The Idiot gamely trekked through the bush and into a cemetery before finally plunging into the refreshing lake water.

The Idiot wore the same clothes he had on during his night in the clink on a day-long hike on Whiskeytown Lake.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)

The Idiot spent time contemplating life, imprisonment and death in the unkept Whiskeytown Cemetery.

The Idiot was surprised and amused by the fanciful nature of some of the graves.

Whiskeytown Cemetery is definitely a unique rural burial ground. One tombstone read:
“Guys. It’s time to start drinking.”

The Idiot ended the day in the lake and even used a portable shower in one of the many campgrounds on the lake’s edge to wash his hair with environmentally friendly shampoo.

Hitting the water after a long, sweaty walk in the Whiskeytown woods.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)

The Idiot ends the day in a portable shower.

Everything was looking rosy until he returned to Shasta City and learned there was now a price on his head.

The Idiot is now wanted by the law on another fictitious charge.

Time to head to Gaza and Egypt.

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."