Tues. Sept. 13         Miles today: 28.6        Total so far: 2,157.6 miles       No. CA Section M

It was VERY cold last night!  I should have worn TWO pairs of socks, since we were camped at almost 7,000 feet.  It was so cold that Ihad trouble sleeping till I snuggled up next to Bill.  He is like a hot water bottle–I can feel it even through his sleeping bag AND mine.  We got up at 5:35, in the dark–I was barely able to see the trail when we started hiking.  But soon the rose-and-gold of sunrise colored everything.  We were still seeing a lot of lakes below–they were like blue crystals touched with sunrise, set in silver gray granite.  Beautiful!  We went through a couple of forest areas that seemed to be mostly mountain hemlock, and they were “deep and dark” for sure!

We walked and walked, hoping to reach water before breakfast, but by 8:00, we were both so hungry that we said, “Phooey!  Let’s have breakfast NOW!”  We used up all the water we had to pull it off, but not to worry-a little while later we were at the “A” Tree Spring, a wonderful spring with a pipe driven into it so that the water came out like a faucet.  It was easy to fill our platypuses and water bottles for the 24 waterless miles ahead.  We also looked at our stove fuel level–very low–and we hoped we had enough to reach Belden.

By 10 am, it was still only 45 degrees!  BRRR.  We passed by impressive volcanic rock formations–the biggest one is called “Gibraltar” and for good reason!  The PCT actually wanders around in order to “visit” these.  We also did a lot of climbing gravelly hillsides through dry mule’s ears plants.  When we do that, there are also a lot of grasshoppers trying to get out of our way.  They don’t steer very well when they’re trying to “fly”, and I’ve had a lot of them crash into my glasses!  But as the weather has turned colder, there are fewer of them, which is a relief in one other way, too–less of “Yikes!  Was that noise a rattlesnake buzz, or a grasshopper trying to fly?”  The two sounds are very similar. 

As to wildflowers–they are almost all dried up now, except for a few determined spots of color here and there.  It’s also harvest time for the squirrels–they are feasting on pine seeds.  Under every tree are “pine cone cores”, stripped by the squirresl, and bright piles of fresh pine cone scales.  Bill was worried about the little rascals raiding OUR food bags when we hang them in a tree at night, but I figure they’re too stuffed with pine nuts and seeds to bother with our trail snacks!

The basic pattern of the PCT for most of today was to climb up to the top of a ridge, then follow the ridge, then go down into a canyon–over and over again.  There were some fairly steep ups and downs in all this, but on the ridgetops, I began to catch glimpses of Mt. Lassen in the distance.  Hurrah! 

We found a nice campsite for tonight at only 5,500 feet, in the forest, very peaceful and quiet.  After all the windiness we’ve had to deal with lately, I REALLY appreciate this quietness!

Mon. Sept. 12         Miles today: 17.4       Total so far: 2,129 miles        Nor. CA Section M

We really enjoyed our cozy little room at Buttes Resort, and got to sleep in a little bit before going out into a beautiful, CLEAR, cool morning and down the street for a wonderful breakfast at The Buckhorn.  I had pancakes, piled high with fresh strawberries.  Wow!  And we ate sitting by he fire again with Jim, who was also having breakfast.  He told us more about himself–turns out he was at sea for a number of years, so he and Bill (who also worked for a number of years as a merchant seaman) had some stories to tell!  Jim was very familiar with the historic ships that are docked in San Francisco Bay, and he’s keeping up with the latest efforts to “un-mothball” the historic Navy tugboat “Hoga”, which was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked, and fearlessly worked on that awful day to rescue people and push damaged ships out of the way.  Jim served as captain/pilot of the “Hoga” in its later years, and he would love to do it again.  Hope it works out for him–we really enjoyed talking to Jim!

At 8:30, the post office opened, our box was there (yay!) and I went shopping to “fill in the gaps.”  Packs loaded, we went back to the PCT and began the almost 3,000 foot climb out of Sierra City.  At first the trail reminded me of our trails back home in Sonoma County–lots of oak and Douglas fir, with the trail a sort of “green tunnel”.  As we climbed briskly higher (man, does it help that we DON’T have to carry bear cans anymore!), the trees became sparse and there was more manzanita, loaded with plump berries.  We had a very nice lunch of sourdough rolls with salami and cheese–how’s that as relief from peanut butter & crackers?.  Then came the many switchbacks that carry you up and around Sierra Buttes.  The views are dramatic in every direction–up, down, and sideways.  UP were the jagged, awesome “Mordor Rocks” of the Buttes.  DOWN, far, far below, was Sierra City, nestled in its dark green, deep, narrow canyon.  SIDEWAYS we could see up and down the canyons and side canyons of this rugged country.  Jim told us that at one point he manned the fire lookout on top of the Buttes.  We wished we had time to do the side trail that goes up there, but we need miles! 

The PCT gradually works its way around the Buttes, then leaves them behind as a dramatic silhouette in the southern sky.  But not to worry–next comes the “Lake District”–one beautiful lake after another!  And surprise–at Deer Lake, there was Jim again!  He had driven up in his van and just finished taking down the tent he leaves up there for the summer.  So we got in another short visit before hiking on.  We’ve been to this “lake district” before, years ago, when our oldest daughter was in the San Francisco Girls’ Chorus, and they had a training camp near here.  We camped at one of the lakes so we could attend the concert at the end of camp.  At the time we agreed that it was a gorgeous place, and our opinion has not changed.  Wow!  However, on the PCT, you are way up high, looking DOWN at the lakes.  One side effect of this is–problems with finding water!  We will have to hike 5 miles tomorrow morning to get water for breakfast!  But it was good to be back on the trail, and after we made camp tonight, we were serenaded with the sound of distant cowbells.