30s 30s 30s

After an amazing 4th of July in Tahoe it was time to get serious about this hiking thing. Team Sweetwater, Homeschooler and Skivies, told me they would be taking a few days off in Burney and said it would be fun to hang out again. I foolishly agreed to see them in ten days. It is over 300 miles between Tahoe and Burney, and I would have the opportunity and motivation to acquaint myself with the then allusive 30 mile day. What a way to hike.



I was ushered to the trailhead by Tom and the boys amidst a flood of other vehicles fleeing Tahoe after the holiday. Hiking by 1 p.m. or so, I quickly came upon the Echo Lake general store and acquired my resupply box and started sorting. I had plenty of food but I had gotten rid of my stove during my time off. I had been making small fires to cook dinner to that point but the Desolation Wilderness prohibits any open flame in the park. I was about to by a box of Sterno when I met some section hikers that herd of my dilemma and quickly solved it with an extra alcohal stove they had been carrying. Trail magic never ceases to come through in a time of need. I broke out of the store at a brisk pace but only made it 12 or13 miles as it was already late in the day. The Desolation Wilderness is gorgeous. Hundreds of lakes and remarkably green forest, it draws quite a crowd and I passed a plethora of hikers before they began to thin in the evening. I made camp by a small lake and, having had dinner a couple hours earlier, quickly got into bed. The next day would be a landmark day in my trek.



The key to the thirty mile day, in my opinion, is in the first three hours of hiking. I would wake up fairly early, have breakfast, and then hike for ten or twelve miles straight before I'd take a break. Sometimes I would have as many as 14 or 15 miles in the bag by noon. Then in the afternoon when fatigue would sneak in there was plenty of time to take a few rests. Sometimes I would stop at at five or six to make dinner and then I would be free to hike till dark before making camp. The entire day needs to be utilized, but just like the body adapted to 20s it adapts to 30s also.



The day before I went into Sierra City I met a real high mileage hiker. Scott Williamson is somewhat of a trail legend. He had done the trail many times and has completed a successful yoyo as well. This year he is attempting to break the unsupported speed record of 70-some-odd days, and complete the entire trail in 65 days. When we met I was taking a break with some day hikers I had met. I recognized him as he approached from past years slide shows. Plus he is not easy to miss. Standing about 6'4'', wearing just some running shorts and his trail runners, caring a tiny pack the size any small child could take to school, he moves. Having heard of his hike already I said, "Good luck on the record Scott."



He said, "Whats your name hiker? Are you through hiking?" I told him my name and that I was and he said, "Enjoy your hike. Its a beautiful trail." The whole time he was moving down the trail and he was quickly out of sight. I knew we would not meet again. He must be averaging somewhere between 40 and 50 miles a day, but it was fun to at least meet someone that is such an icon on the trail and had done so much for promoting its conservation.



The following day I hiked into Sierra City through some campgrounds. The campers in the park must far out number the permanent residents of the small town. I had barely made it onto the "downtown" street when a woman called to me from a balcony over a small cafe. She said to come up through the door with the PCT logo on it and I made my way up. She and a friend had rented out this apartment for the week with the sole purpose of hosting thru-hikers. It seems I had caught them on the day they were due to check out but it was still early so I was able to get a shower and sort my resupply box before it was time to go. There were a bunch of hikers hanging out. Some were waiting at the mercy of the US postal service for their resupply boxes and some were just taking advantage of a couch to sit on when they had the chance. At the apartment was Spec' and Maggie, Lucky Larry, The Skipper, Super Dave, and Batman among others. I didn't know it at the time but I would be seeing a lot more of these folks in the days to come.



There was a few thousand feet to climb out of town but it was steep and went fast. Once on top, the 30s continued to the next stop which was Belden. Between it was a nice hike. Mellow grades and plenty of water around made for an easy go for a bit but then there was a long drop into river bed just before Burney. I wanted to make it to the water so I could make my dinner and breakfast in the morning. I must have miscalculated a bit because I thought I should have been there well before I arrived and I had to hike into the dark before I made it to the bridge and a couple of nice campsites on the shore. There was a little hiccup on the decent. I was hustling to beat the coming darkness when I heard the last thing I wanted to hear. The rattling tail of a rattlesnake is such a sharp and piercing warning it definitely accomplishes its objective. I thought my arms have slowly atrophied to near uselessness, but it seems they have a bit of strength left in them. Upon hearing the dreaded sound my feet immediately lifted from the ground and I vaulted myself forward beyond the snake with a desperate thrust of my trekking poles. Safely in camp I asked a hiker if I could share his spot till morning. His name was Christoph the Explorer and he fittingly looked the part. Clothes a little ragged, he wore a stylishly Victorian felt hat and had much of his tarps and blankets hanging from his pack down to his knees. He was a super nice guy, just doing some solo hiking on the the Tahoe Rim Trail and the PCT. I left him in camp in the morning and headed for Belden.



It was an over four thousand foot drop into the river's valley and the town resort of Belden. The decent was made more interesting by the growing sound of techno music coming from below. As I approached the resort I asked some campers where things were and where to go. I was interested to find that each person I talked to was European and each subscribed to a neo-hippy, kind of bohemian style of dress; very ragged and nick-nacky. There was a dance floor that was crowded with people, jumping and moving to the beat. I came to find out that the resort hosts a number of raves throughout the summer weekends. It was quite entertaining to watch.



I made my way through the wild party and down the road a mile to the local trail angel's, the Braatens. They were not home when I arrived but the note said to come on in and be at home. It was a lot of fun to stay there. They were quite sweet and many hikers arrived. We had a good time and after breakfast the next day, I made the 4000 ft climb out of town. The next stop was mountain resort Drakesbad. We were about 14 miles away when we camped but having heard about a wonderful breakfast buffet, I decided to awake early and try to arrive before 10am. Up at 4:30, trekking as fast as I could, I arrived on property at 9:30 only to hear that breakfast ends at 8:30. I quickly was consoled by the fact that they would do my laundry for free and I could wait for lunch by their hot spring fed pool and have a shower. Maggie and Spec' caught me there and we enjoyed a few hours of relaxing through the mid-day heat.



Leaving the resort the trail follows a series of creeks. Water was not a problem but the mosquito's that live in it was. They were awful. Swarms harassed me for hours. They would land on my arms in such numbers that a single slap would kill four or five. When I sped up to leave them behind, many rode on my pack and waited for my pace to slow. I would agitate my pack by shaking it or hitting it with my trekking poles only to see swarms rise over each shoulder. They bit through my shirt and pants. They would land on my head and crawl through my hair to bite my scalp. I had bites all over my arms and legs and finally found relief when the trail left the creeks. I need to get some more bug spray.



I made it into Old Station the next day. I took the afternoon off because I had heard from Skivvies that he had hurt his foot so there is no rush to get to Burney anymore, and I was also tired. Even with the stops I had mentioned, I was still hiking 25 to 32 miles a day, and Old Station is home to a renown trail angel, Firefly. She is a sweet old lady and her and her husband Denny run their place, the Hideaway. Lucky Larry, Batman and I took up spots in their tree house while others took some of the tents. We had dinner and everyone pitched in to help. There was electricity in the tree house so we watched a couple of movies, The African Queen and 2001 Space Odyssey. It was fun to relax and in the morning it took us a while to get going, helping with dishes and waiting for rides to the trail. We got going so late, in fact, that I decided to take the road into Burney instead of the trail so I could make it to the post office before it closed the next day.



The road walk up the 89 was actually quite beautiful. It was mostly a series of old ranch houses and large spreads with cattle grazing and Mnt. Shasta in the background. I made it in close to Burney by nightfall and called Skivvies who came to pick me up. It was great to see my friends again, although I was sad the injuries had taken them off trail I was glad to be able to catch them. The night I got in a family friend of Homeschool had us over for dinner. There was great conversation. The family was delightful. Les, the father, who had come with Skivvies and picked me up, told us of a town BBQ that we checked out the following day. It was a lot fun and the food was excellent. We spent the afternoon giving rides to some other hikers that were passing through town. We'll plan to go to church in the morning and then its back to the trail for me. I'm not sure when I'll see Team Sweetwater again. Its unfortunate that they are no longer hiking. They have become wonderful friends.

My next resupply is in Dunsmire and then its really not to far to Oregon. I can't wait. We just recently passed the half way point, but will feel so close when I'm able to cross the Oregon boarder out of California. It will be nice to be back in the NW, closer to family and in more familiar mountains. The trail is getting long and I'm looking forward to completing it but I know I still have a long way to go.