July 19, 2012 - Glow with the Flow

Day 34
Little Haven aka the Braaten's house
Belden, CA
Elev: 2300 ft
Miles: 21
Trip: 593

The idea of a hiker hostel is nothing new, but I am still in awe of anyone who opens their home to filthy, stinky strangers who wander in out of the wilderness. Brenda and Laurie Braaten are going way beyond paying back the kindness done to them as thru-hikers. They're true angels, especially in a town like Belden: a short stretch of store fronts and trailers, most of which looked unoccupied. It was honestly a little creepy. Yogi's PCT Guide tells us that in 2009 hikers reported raves every weekend, with loud music audible from the trail. I didn't see any evidence of that, although there were a lot of glo-sticks for sale in the general store...

Thankfully, all the worry yesterday about my shins handling the mile of downhill was unnecessary. My leg hurt more at the beginning of the day - barely a twinge on the way dawn though. And for a perfect end to a pleasant descent, Andrew was waiting at the railroad tracks of Belden, with Doritos and beer from the creepy little glo-stick store. Later, Easy Miles (a quiet lawyer who shared our swimming hole yesterday) noticed me icing my shin and offered to tape it with some futuristic-looking Kinesio tape. He had a long, brutal battle with shin splints and wanted to prevent pain in a fellow hiker. If this works, I'll be striping my leg with Leukotape and Kinesio for the next 1400 miles. But for now: on the post office for our packages and the store for a milkshake!

Shaggy says:

   For the first time in over a month, me and Lauren are apart. Of course we take care of our bodily functions and what not alone. We sometimes hike for a ways alone  too. But today we decided to go 7 miles by ourselves. There was a huge downhill, 4300 feet of loss in 7 miles. Right now Lauren's shin splints are really bothering her, causing her to stop often while hiking downhill. I have knee pain when I slow too much. So for 3 hours we hiked alone today. It felt good to hike my own pace but missed Lauren, strangely.
   I went down to the Belden Town Resort while waiting for Lauren. What a strange place it was. I quickly bought some beer, Doritos, and walked back to where the trail came towards town.
   I waited for Lauren and drank a couple beers. Felt good to be in the shade and relax with a beer. She showed up and I surprised her with beer and Doritos. Good stuff for both of us!
    The Brattens of Belden are letting us camp at their hiker friendly house. Young Geezer, Easy Miles, Double Sprainbow, Itchy, Carpenter, Creeper, Hamburger, and Skeeter are here with us. Very relaxing atmosphere. Easy Miles helped Lauren tape her shin. Hopefully it will help her keep truckin. It was very nice of him.
     The poison oak mentioned in our guides was not present on the decent into Belden. Instead we were greeted by blackberries at the bottom! Spotted a weasel on the decent as well. It rained this morning. Just as Lauren told Easy Miles that its not going to rain for a long, long time. The journal goes a long way back here. Spotted all my good friends from 2006, miss you all!
    Time for rest.

Go West, young hikers...

Channeling Maria Von Trapp.

California Stone Henge

Hey look! I found a beach in my shoe! This is what happens when you wear well-ventilated shoes in sand.

Poison Oak = BAD NEWS

Some people just like building cairns.

July 18, 2012 - A Day of Water and Smoke

Day 33
Plumas National Forest
22 miles from Belden
Miles: 25
Trip: 572

A late start (didn't start hiking until almost 8:30!) and a long swimming break meant that we had another late night. The swimming hole was worth hiking an hour later; cool water cascading over smooth rocks into a pool deep enough to dive into. That swim also made the downhill hiking and resulting shin pain a little more bearable. The shin splints make me nervous, since I know it can lead to stress fracture. But I'm not about to stop hiking, at least not long enough to be pain-free. So for now, I'll suffer (perhaps not quietly...) and try not to overdo the downhills.

Our day saw some real excitement hit close to home. A fire on the trail! Late morning, we heard and saw a helicopter flying back and forth along the ridge we were contouring. It carried a huge bucket dangling from a cable, and we suspected a fire someways off. Then we spotted orange liquid spattered on the trail - fire retardant? We were wondering if there would be another round of orange goo coming from the sky when we rounded a corner and heard shouting. A half-dozen hotshots (forest firefighters) were working to contain a smoldering patch of fire that had eaten about 100 square feet of forest floor. One guy (jokingly?) asked to see our footprints - the fire had been started by a hiker, apparently, and the investigation was on.

Shaggy says:
 
    Today was rather eventful, more so than usual. For me, the day started at 3 AM. I was honestly paranoid about the food not being hung in a tree. I heard some branches snap and thought to myself that its probably a bear, or a deer, or at least a raccoon. Whatever it was, I am sure it wanted to kill us in our sleep. So I shined my my light around. Finally spotted a set of eyes, glaring into my light. It was the eyes of death I thought. Then it darted off, crashing branches, it sounded large. Lauren finally woke up, asked what I was doing. I always try to play it cool when something is wrong, so I told her I was just waiting to see the sunrise... with my headlamp on... at 3 AM. She simply told me to go back to sleep. Which I eventually did. Maybe our snoring would keep the beast back.
   Around seven, we awoke. I looked all over for bear tracks... only found some deer tracks. They say that Sasquatch covers his tracks, maybe that's what it was. He likes these Northwest areas right?
    We started hiking late, but we hiked fast. A sweet swimming hole on the Wild and Scenic Feather River awaited us. We got there at 11, and stayed until 1230. The water was great. Easy Miles, an lawyer from Portland joined us. It felt so good to swim in the cool water.
   We then began a climb out of the river valley, 3300 feet up. We noticed a helicopter flying around us. I thought, maybe someone is getting rescued. Or theres a fire nearby. The helicopter made several runs past us, soon we noticed the bucket it was towing underneath, definitely a fire nearby. We eventually rounded a corner and noticed a red goo on everything. Guess the helicopter is dropping more than water. Rounded another corner to find heavy smoke, and 15 firefighters. I was worried we would have to turn around. But they said hike on through. The fire was tiny, probably less than an acre. Well under control too. They said it was probably a hiker who started the fire though, as a campsite was nearby. Its such a dry year, I hope folks are being careful.
   The rest  of the day was rather uneventful. We hiked 25 miles and until 830 again. Lauren's shin is hurting again, hoping it feels better tomorrow! Now I need sleep.

"Once mountains lodge in your soul, the need to have real peaks around you becomes an almost physical itch." -Douglas Chadwick

Bridge over the Middle Fork of Feather River. Not a bad bridge, you might say...

Shaggy checks out the very best swimming hole ever. An hour well spent.

What the....I was sure I covered my cook fire with enough pine needles to smother it!

Quick response guys, but was the helicopter really necessary?

I always knew I'd find it someday.

A ready-made prom corsage!

July 17, 2012 - Shaggy Saw a Bear

Day 33
Contouring trail near Fowler Peak trailhead
Elev: 5500 ft
Miles: 26
Trip: 573

Methinks the new shoes are treating my feet right, because today was the first day I hiked 25 miles without limping into camp. Hallelujah for supportive footwear! The miles cruised by again today over fairly easy terrain: rolling hills, nice soft dirt trail, peaceful pine and fir forest. Very different from the High Sierras, like paddling down a calm river is very different from hang gliding over a mountain range. I like this kind of hiking, but it can't compare to the John Muir Wilderness.

In other news, Andrew saw a bear today! I was busy looking at the trail to avoid tripping (my usual hiking style) so I miss it. He thinks it was a yearling. Bummed to have missed seeing a cute teenage bear. Of course, tonight is the first night we haven't hung our food bags. It's at our feet, with bear scat a few dozen yards further away. There are no low-hanging branches on these dead fir trees, so we're stuck freezing at every sound, sure that branch snap was a hungry bear homing in on our food. I'll just hope the yearling Andrew saw is too shy to come near humans. Otherwise...we will have an interesting night.

Shaggy says:

     The wind roared all night and this morning it even looked like aa storm might be in the makings. Poofy clouds were forming and blowing in from the West.
    We talked a lot today about Canada. I told Lauren that it is important to me to try and make it. She wants to make it, but wants to have a good time while making it. Its such a hard compromise for both of us. I know I can hike 20 a day and still have a lot of fun, but 20 takes us a bit longer and is a bit harder than going solo. I wouldnt trade my hiking partner for anything, just hard to both agree on how we will hike. We are going to try to make it, 20 a day average. It wont be  easy. The hardest thing is that if we want a day off, we need to do four 25+ mile days. Whatever will be, will be. I get burned out thinking about miles, but if we want to make it, we have to think about it and act on it.
   We took a lot of breaks today, and still made 26 miles. Camped at 9, after missing a good campsite. The views today were good, but the forests were amazing. Spotted a black bear today, looked like a yearling. Makes me miss working at the Wildlife center in Helena. Bears have so much personality, each one different from the next. As ironic as it is, we are not hanging our food tonight either. There simply is no trees with branches in this dark old growth forest. Just as I had ridiculed other hikers a day before for leaving food out at night. Now its dark and in this quiet night we are hearing branches snap....

"To be quite oneself, one must first waste a little time."

(No pictures today...)

July 16, 2012 - Social Hour

Day 32
Trail junction near Mt. Elwell
Plumas National Forest
Miles: 20
Trip: 547

As expected, it was very hard to pull myself away from Sierra City. and Bill and Margaret's hospitality. Their little "resort" is almost exactly what I had pictures when I fantasized about town stops, back when I thought the PCT would be a non-stop social mixer. That's not the case, at least for us, and I really don't think I'd want it to be. Meeting so many others scratched an itch I'd had for awhile, but I think that scene would rub me raw pretty quickly. I still think it would be easier to get to know someone on the trail, moving along day by day, instead of sitting around trying to impress each other with stories. Well, maybe that would happen too, but hiking through the wilderness makes for a very low-pressure atmosphere. It seems hard to find hiking partners this far along in the journey - most people group up in the desert - but it could still happen. And we have to meet up with Soren and Justin! (Soren worked at IslandWood, a grad program I attended)

Shaggy says:

    The town stay in Sierra City was amazing. It was so great to meet so many friendly people in such a great setting. This morning it was hard for us to get going. I was all ready, but Lauren was enjoying socializing and taking her time leaving. I was feeling nearly sick to my stomach after all the food I ate this morning and last night.  Or maybe it was just town. At 6 AM a work crew began re-paving the highway in front of the store. The noise from them woke me up.
      After a trip to the post office, we hit the trail. Bill from the Red Moose gave us directions for hiking out of town. He drew us a map that involved many unmarked old mining roads. The attraction is that it would take us right out of town, and past an old mine we could possibly check out. It would also cut off a few miles. I am in no way a purest, anytime I can take a sweet detour, I will.
   The route had us climbing up steep jeep roads, it was beautiful though. I was a bit nervous that we were off track a couple times, but Bill's map did not lie!  It was right on, and after 6 miles we were on the PCT.
   The rest of the trail today was super smooth. We walked about 20 miles total, and are both feeling pretty strong. The walking was easy and though the views were less spectacular than in other places, it was very peaceful. There is something about walking in a forested area. I wouldnt normally notice it,  but we have been out of the woods on high ridges for so long. The woods are confining and comfortable at the same time. They can make me feel claustrophobic yet completely free at the same time. The moss on the trees here makes the trees feel full with life, a glimpse of what Washington holds for us perhaps?
    It is so windy right now, and chilly... A cold July night in Northern California. Crazy. Time for rest.

Alpine Lily, I think. But does it really matter? A lily by any other name...

In the woods, no one can hear you groan.

July 15, 2012 - How to Spoil a Hiker

Day 31
Sierra City, CA
Miles: 1
Trip: 527

A short walk into town, and I got to experience a true hiker outpost. The Red Moose gives thru-hikers everything they need and most things they want: showers, laundry, internet (all free), tips on finding the best burger in town (and, I believe, the world) and meals that never end. And we can camp on the lawn, swim in the creek and lounge on the deck chatting all day. Hiker trash heaven.

My favorite part (besides the burger) is meeting more hikers. - and actually having time to talk with them! We saw Smiles and Maddog Murphy, two hikers we'd met before, and met Carpenter and Creeper, another hiking couple. We also talked with two guys named Scout and Strider, and Andrew even saw a friend from his Appalachian Trail hiking days. It was a giddy feeling to have other people in a conversation - not just the two of us. I feel a little out of practice, since Andrew and I know each other's tone and implied meanings so well - all our inside jokes and recycled stories. It's like we have our own language. Of course we'll leave this place behind soon, but hopefully see some of these people again. 

Shaggy says:

    We were camped just a mile or so before Sierra City. It felt great to be so close, we started a little later and got into town quickly. Lauren is always ready before me on a day she knows she's getting a shower.
    We were greeted at the Red Moose Cafe in Sierra City by many wonderful hikers and the owners Bill and Margaret. They were so hospitable. The breakfast seemed to be never ending, pancakes kept coming.
    Margaret then showed us the showers, laundry, and yard to camp in. They offer this all free to hikers, amazingly nice.
   We camped in the yard, about 200 vertical feet up from a beautiful stream. We enjoyed a shower, but also spent quality time in the swimming hole today. I may be the cleanest I have been on this hike yet.
    Lunch consisted of The Gut Buster, 1 pound of burger from the general store and a large ice cream. We received 4 packages today, one from the family, one from the Balckens, and our 2 resupply boxes. Thanks family for the goodies.
  Dinner was endless ribs. The Red Moose rocks. Best meal on the trail yet. I am excited for breakfast, and also excited to return to the trail tomorrow!

The creek behind the Red Moose. There was a big swimming hole just beyond this where we went to jump off big rocks - summer fun.

I guess you never know.

Bill and Mary Margaret, able proprietors of the Red Moose. Kind, but no-nonsense, they are true trail angels.

July 14, 2012 - Lucky Girl

Day 30
Under Wild Plum Road bridge leading to Sierra City
Next to Haypress Creek
Elev: 4300 ft
Miles: 28
Trip: 526

Today was a very good day, if a little overdone. The elevation profile looked like a kiddie roller coaster: gentle ups and downs, with a good-sized drop at the end. It felt good for a while, even got me up to Mosquito Speed with the aid of bugs. But after we descended into the forest, the scenery grew repetitive and I got bored. Then my feet needed resting more than usual, tenderized from the rhythmic thudding downhill.

Luckily I had two things distracting my mind from boredom and my body from aching. First, the forest was continuously adding one or two new plant species as we descended in elevation, giving me something to identify and ponder. Also, Andrew was his usual chipper Shaggy-self, making up games and keeping my mind busy for hours. I never could have hiked almost 30 miles today without his company - although he tried encouraging me to stop after 26. But I'd set a goal of reaching a roadside swimming hole near town, and I was stubborn. I still feel that stubbornness in my throbbing feet. Thankfully we don't have far to go into town tomorrow - less than two miles. Then I'll have all day to sort through packages, nap, eat town food and read email. And to remind myself how lucky I am to be out here with the man I love, doing what I love.

Shaggy says:

   Today we hit 500 miles of hiking. After 4 weeks of hiking, thats not bad. This is Lauren's first long hiking trip, so 125 miles a week is awesome!
   The wind howled all night in that saddle. We were just thankful to be out of the mosquitoes.
   The hike today was pretty smooth, 27 miles of gradual downhill. I love the downhills like this, but they hurt Lauren. Her shoes are wore out, but she was stoked to try and make it to a swimming hole mentioned in one of our guides.
   The trail was amazing again today. As we descended down to 5000 feet, the flora changed gradually. From ponderosa pines and firs to giant cedars and even maples and oaks. Best of all, the mosquitoes are not down here.
    We made it to the sweet swimming hole late, it was after 6. Made dinner and jumped in. The water was freezing. But the waterfall plunge pool was irresistible. I feel so clean now! We are hobo camping tonight, nearly under a bridge, along a river, downhill from a road, no tent, it feels good. We are just a couple miles from Sierra City, should get in real early. We cant heead out until Monday though, we need to visit the post office. Should be a good town stop. 

"It's all magic, this mountain world - natural magic. Enough to enwild you - rewild, renature us all." -Douglas Chadwick

Snowplant, a crazy-interesting parasitic plant that mooches off of fungus. Check it out!

I'm often asked if I get bored on the trail, walking for hours on end. To these questioners I submit this photo.

My grumpiness was no match for butterflies...

...and ant armies all over the trail.

What do you do when you run out of chain, but still have a lot of locks? You make a lock-chain.

July 13, 2012 - Tiny, Blood-Sucking Motivators

Day 29
Saddle near White Rock Lake
Elev: 8100 ft
Miles: 21
Trip: 498

We took a slow, leisurely, break-filled day and still hiked over 20 miles. It's like Andrew always told me: the miles just happen. We didn't leave Benson Hut until 9am, in order to reach Donner Ski Ranch around 11am, when it opened. I was very happy to find a mouth-watering bacon-cheeseburger, fries, a Frappuccino and free pint of beer! It was heaven. We hiked a few more miles to the Peter Grubbs ski hut, another cool winter cabin with a two-story outhouse (not what it sounds like). We took our second one-hour break here, eating candy bars and reading borrowed literature. I permanently borrowed a book from the hut's shelves - Tina Fey's  Bossypants. I have to say I'm really excited to have a book, even if it weighs almost a pound. I was bored with only reading maps and my own writing.

After that siesta it was 5pm, so we thought we'd hike a few more hours before camping. We realized our leisurely day was over when the dry rockscape gave way to moist meadow, and the mosquitoes emerged. After swatting a few dozen, I kicked my hiking gears into Mosquito Speed. Mosquito Speed is at least 50% faster than normal hiking speed and allows for very few stops over 20 seconds. Even stopping to fill our water bottles was accelerated by the coating of bugs that appeared while we cowered by the creek. They eventually drove us to higher, windier ground where I can relax in the tent, reading a stolen book.

Shaggy says:

    Today was what we consider an easy day. We slept in and didnt leave the Bensen Hut until 9 or so. It was so beautiful up there. We slept on the second floor and had a the windows open, creating a perfect cross breeze. We also enjoyed the sunrise, not as spectacular as thee sunset, still amazing. The ridge walk after the hut was a great place to spend a leisurely morning.
   When we reached old highway 40, we found a cooler with sodas in it for thru hikers. Such a great surprise! We also found great trail magic at the Donner Ski Ranch, a hometown feeling ski lodge that gives PCT hikers a free beer. We of course got fries, burgers, and ice cream. Hard to hike after all that food, but we did it.
    This area is full of recreation opportunities. We passed folks rock climbing, running, hiking, road biking, and could see people boating on a lake far below. Old people and young people. Dogs too! Lots of fun talking to day trippers who are amazed by the trail and make us feel like superstars!
    We took another long break at the Peter Grubb Hut where we enjoyed some reading material we found. I found a Civil War magazine and Lauren found a Tina  Faye book. After another 2 hour break we marched onward.
   The trail dropped down a bunch and we were quickly swarmed by thousands of mosquitoes. We walked quickly, swatting ourselves until we reached a saddle and cooked dinner. This was another hour long break. Then down to White creek where they were terrible yet once more. We grabbed water and headed for higher ground. Hiked until 830, but sleeping in a windy saddle will keep us a little more sane, as long as these wind gusts dont blow the tent off the mountain!

On our way to a lunch-time beer at Donner Pass

After our lunch-time beer at Donner Ski Lodge. First one for hikers is free!

Above Truckee, CA, where a person can sail/paddle/climb/bike/run/hike the summer away.

Like he's waiting to run on to the field at a football game (and that's the only sports metaphor you'll get from me).

It was bigger than my thumb! And very elegant.

Another double-decker outhouse. This one smelled substantially worse than the Benson privy...guess the trapdoor roof aids ventilation.

Peter Grubb Ski Hut. Now with solar power!

Long ago, this tree had spunk. Now it just has lichen and bugs and a cool profile.

Even the mosquitoes couldn't keep me from enjoying this sunset.