Since we had to wait for the Belden post office to open, I “slept in” till 6:30, then got up to see about making coffee for all the hikers.  When I walked into the kitchen, I discovered that the Braatens had left two big platters of watermelon slices and fresh chocolate zucchini muffins. So I snagged a muffin while hunting for coffee supplies.  Everything was there except filters…so I improvised with toilet paper!  It worked fine, and as various sleepy, tousled hikerheads emerged from their various spots, they were very happy to see hot coffee!  But for thruhikers, a muffin, watermelon and coffee are just an appetizer, not a serious breakfast,  so pretty soon we were all making the 0.25 mile trek down the road to the Caribou Restaurant for big HOT breakfasts.  Before we left, though, I washed all the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, while Bill talked to Mr. Braaten about gold mining. 

Turns out that the Little Haven property does include a gold mine!!!–BUT there are so many government rules now about how you can mine and all the procedures and equipment, that ordinary folks like Mr. & Mrs. B can’t afford to mine on their own property.  And this is the case for many of the small goldminers along the Feather River.  Their operations are all shut down.  Only the “big guys” who can afford the required equipment are allowed to continue.  Mr. B said that a few “little guys” have banded together and are sharing equipment.  Good for them!  But to add insult to injury, now the US Fish & Game department has decided they will no longer plant fish in the Feather River.  The result is that there are very few fish, and those few are wild, wary and hard to catch.  So the Feather River canyon has gone from being a busy, prosperous place (goldmining and fishing) to a place that’s barely surviving, thanks to government regulations.  Grrrrr!

Once the kitchen was all cleaned up, Bill and I walked the quarter mile down the road to the Caribou Cafe.  We had the “Hiker Special” breakfast–really good!  The place was filled with other hikers, and what was interesting—nobody ordered coffee; instead we were all having fresh fruit milkshakes!  Awesome!  We walked back and went hunting for Mrs. B so that we could get a ride to the post office.  Turned out she was working on building a retaining wall behind her very thriving vegetable garden (so that’s where the yellow summer squash came from that we ate last night!) 

At the post office, which is basically the enclosed front porch of a house, we were greatly relieved to find our box waiting.  It had everything we needed, so all I had to do was divvy up the food and put it in our food bags.  We wasted no time then in heading back to the trail, still disappointed because we’d hoped for an early start in the cool of the morning. It was 10:30 am before we were able to start, the day was already hot, and it’s a 14 mile long 5,000+ foot climb up out of Belden, at first going up the Chips Creek canyon, then on up into the mountains.  There was no shade for some time, because the canyon had a forest fire a few years ago, and there are no trees left in the fire’s path.

The trail at first was in much better shape than 2005–no need to literally fight your way through the bushes while feeling for the trail with your feet!   It was  a hot day (I put up my umbrella for shade to hike under!), but many creeks crossed our path– at one of them a hiker was pouring water over herself!  I didn’t try to hike too fast, because I knew from experience that this is one LOOOOONG climb up.  Chips Creek nearby was very pretty, cascading and roaring down the canyon.  The trail had obviously been worked on, with all blowdowns cleared, and the trail tread very nice.  Finally we came to a sign that said, “This section of the trail was maintained by the California Backcountry Horsemen.”  THANKYOU!! 

But just beyond the sign, oh my! We were once again climbing over and around blowdowns, fording creeks, and even dealing with a bit of snow. Sometimes it was hard to figure out where the trail went.  And some of the creeks were so deeply gullied by snowmelt runoff that it was hard to get across–we had to climb down steep, eroded creekbanks, cross the creek, then climb up the other side.  It was a mess, but we persevered, with a plan of stopping for water at Poison Spring, which is totally misnamed–the water there is wonderful, and it’s actually not too far from the top of the big climb.

By suppertime, we were up at the top. It’s a rocky ridge with amazing views.  Mt. Lassen to the north was surrounded by impressive thunderclouds, and when we looked south, there were more thunderclouds behind us!  Overhead, the sky was a gorgeous blue.  We were sitting near the trail enjoying our food, when  a number of young guys passed us– they were on a tear to be in Chester tomorrow night!   I’m sure they’ll make it–in fact, Bill and I figure we should be at the Chester road by tomorrow night, too.

Today was kind of tough, with the late start, the heat, the uphills, and then the messed up part of the trail.  The mosquitoes got pretty bad by 6 pm, so when we stopped for the day, we set up the net tent, and now they are whining and humming all around us, trying to get in.  We’re up on another rocky ridge, with a very pretty orange sunset.  One nice thing was, I had NO back hip problem today because it was all uphill.  I took one Motrin when we first started, and didn’t need any more after that.  Tomorrow the trail will go up and down, so we’ll see how I do.  Looking forward to heading into Lassen!

Walk to Rauros: West bank near Amon Hen

The Williams family (Nancy & Terry & their nephew who was visiting) were up at 5am to be sure all of us “earlybird hikers” got at least some coffee, cereal and toast  before we hit the trail at 5:45. They are awesome folks! And the trail was awesome, too, pretty much all day, and that was good, because it’s only 24 miles to Belden, and our next resupply.

Back on the PCT, we did the nice comfortable climb up to Buck Summit, stopping for a second breakfast along the way.  There were no blowdowns on the trail–hooray!  I wouldn’t have wanted to hike this section a couple of months ago, though–it was obvious that there had been a lot of trees down, but the trail gorillas had recently (you could tell by the freshlooking woodchips, sawdust and cut logs) cleared them all out of the way, AND fixed the trail tread.  Thankyou, trail gorillas!!

Another great thing about the trail today was that it was so well-marked.  There were silver diamonds on the trees, main points labelled with signs (so you know where you are) and excellent signs at junctions.well-maintained trail tread and no big uphills. We were in forest a lot, but through the treetrunks we could see big canyons, huge dropoffs and dramatic cliffs. The treetrunks in this area are “painted” with fluorescent green lichen down to “snow level”, which looks like it’s about 10 or 12 feet deep.  Whew!  That’s a lot of snow!  Glad we didn’t have to deal with any of it! 

Clouds were building up in the east, and we could see rain falling in the distance, but it was the kind that doesn’t even hit the ground.  Around noon there were a few rumbles of thunder.  It was a very warm afternoon, and I was thinking “A bit of a shower would sure feel good, but I’ll take a pass on the lightning & thunder!”

By early afternoon we were out in the clear with a 360 degree view above timberline! Wow! We could see way down into the Feather River canyon, and we headed into the zillion switchbacks that take you down to Belden. I took a Vicodin and was able to sail down with no pain, only by the time we reached the bottom, my “downhilling muscles” were pretty fried.  What an amazing trail experience that is, though!  You start in what feels and looks like a high alpine zone with dramatic rocks, awesome views, scrubby trees and groundhugging plants, and by the time you’re down, it’s like you are in the green jungle, with (sigh) poison oak hanging over the trail.   The switchbacks at the top of the descent are pretty steep, but the lower you go, the longer and gentler they are.  At one point, the trail goes along a cliff, and it almost looks like you could jump off the trail right into the river, except that wouldn’t be a very good idea–it’s a LONG way down!

Finally we crossed the railroad tracks, and on our VERY tired feet, came walking into Belden Town resort.  Not bad, though–it had taken us from 6 am till 3:30 pm to do 24 miles!  We revived with lots of lemonade (3 tall glasses each!) and burgers at the much improved restaurant.  A kind motorcyclist let us use his cell phone to call the Braatens, and Mrs. B. said she’d come get us at 4:30.   Other hikers began drifting in; first to arrive was Noga, from Israel.  She looked exhausted, and collapsed on a bench in the shade to wait for her friends. 

Mrs. B picked us up, took us to Little Haven, and showed us the ropes…there’s a shower, but no laundry (other than rinsing socks) and no food (except for a bit in the morning, and whatever might be in the refrigerator.)  But when we went to the pile of resupply boxes to get ours, oh no!  Our box was not there!  We asked Mrs. B about it, and she said, “Oh, it’s at the post office.  If you’d called me a couple of days ago, I would have brought it here to the house.”  Megabummer!   The reason we sent it to Little Haven was to AVOID having to wait for the post office to be open.  And how in the world were we supposed to know to call her?  If we’d known, we could have called from Honker Pass.  We were very disappointed.  Our plan was to leave early tomorrow morning, but now we have to wait till at least 9 am, and then I still have to sort the food and put it in the packs.

So Bill and I claimed a couple of beds, I washed our socks and hung them out to dry on the deck, and then I scrounged in the fridge for dinner ideas.  I came up with some salami, yellow summer squash, and cheese, so I made a sort of stirfry concoction out of it.  Bill and I were the first hikers to arrive at Little Haven today, but by 6:30 there were a lot more.  The deck was full of hikers sorting their resupply boxes and trading stuff.  I actually got a couple of items that other hikers decided they didn’t want!  And since the river was just across the road, a group of young guys decided to go swimming.  We thought about going, too, but again, we were just too exhausted.  Bill spent most of his time just collapsed on the bed.

It’s a very warm night, and even with the windows open, almost too sultry to sleep well.  But I love listening to the sound of trains going by on the other side of the river!  I did pray, though, that all will go well with getting our box tomorrow.  Bill and I agreed that when we do the PCT again, we will skip Little Haven and send our resupply box to Belden Town Resort. That way, we don’t have to deal with the post office at all! 

Walk to Rauros: The Argonath

Today was “blowdown day,” I think. We were having to deal with downed trees all morning, and it got pretty tedious!   Some were stepovers, some were climbovers, some were duckunders and some huge ones were even crawl-unders. But the forests are beautiful here– some very dark and solemn, some more open and sunny. The trees pretty much blocked most views, but we did get a few glimpses of Mt. Lassen’s tip peeking over a ridge in the distance.  And there were butterflies everywhere–so pretty!  We also saw a mama quail and her babies running down the trail.

Vicodin is making it possible for me to hike. All I needed to take for the entire day was one Vicodin and one Motrin.  To say that I am grateful for being able to hike with no pain would be a huge understatement!  I could do all sorts of contortions getting through the blowdowns, with no pain problems.  But the real test came when we began the long downhill to the Feather River.  It’s fun to watch the plant communities change as the trail switchbacks down.  We got great water at a nice spring along the trail, near the river.  We splished and splashed ourselves a bit, too–it was a very hot and actually rather humid day.  Both Bill and I were sweating like crazy–I had sweat literally running down my face, which is a rare experience for me.  When we reached the river, there was “Sneezer”, just coming up from a swim!   We thought about doing the same, but worrying about the need for more miles made us decide to pass up the opportunity.

The push up ‘n out of the Feather River canyon is very long.  We stopped partway up, at Bear Creek, and made some lunch.  I decided to rename it “Ladybug Creek”, because there were thousands of the cute little bugs all over the place!  Sneezer came along and joined us for awhile.  He says he’s planning to go to some trail angels at Buck Lake tonight.  We plan to just keep going.  After lunch, we headed up some more, but hallelujah, there’d been a trail gorilla crew at work, and the trail was GREAT–no more blowdowns, nice tread, and bushes all trimmed back.  And then (about midafternoon) we met Yeahbut and Elderly Ellen, heading SOBO!  They said they had stayed at the Buck Lake trail angels, and that it was awesome and we should go there.  We were still determined to push on, however.

Just before the side trail to Lookout Rock, there was an “ad” posted, inviting all PCT thruhikers to come on down to “Honker Pass” once they reached the road.  It described all the amenities there, and sounded great, but we were still determined–“We need miles!”  Finally we were down near the road, and stopped for a supper of crackers and cheese.  Then we hoisted our packs, prepared to get in another 4 miles or so before stopping for the night.  But at the road, to our astonishment, we were greeted by a very friendly guy who knew our names!  “Third Monty and White Beard!” he cheered when he saw us.  “I’ve been waiting for you!”  What???  We didn’t even know this guy!  It turned out that he’d just given Sneezer a ride down to the Honker Pass trail angel, and Sneezer told him we were not far behind.  We hesitated– a little– but finally the lure of food, showers and laundry was too strong.

Note from Alexa: Careful, that’s how Jill & Eustace ended up almost being Giant menu items!

I had been puzzling over my map, trying to find a “Honker Pass” in the area, but it turned out that’s just the name of a summer home owned by the Williams family.  It was a wonderful place–nice house with a HUGE deck full of lounging hikers, food everywhere,  little kids to play with, 6 very friendly dogs and the even more friendly Williams family.  Grandma Williams is keeping a log book of hikers–she sits with each of us and does a little interview and takes a photo.  Awww!  First item of , though was SHOWERS, to wash off the sweat of the day!  

Dinner was a feast, including BBQ ribs, and once you ate all the meat off a rib, you could just toss it to the dogs, and they would devour it–crunch, munch!   And there was a fresh fruit salad of peaches and blackberries, plus loads of other great food.  Once it got dark, there were piles of “mattresses” and all you had to do was pick one out, lay it on the deck, and bed down for the night.  It looked like a PCT hiker slumber party.  There was a campfire, too, and happy hikers everywhere.  I am very glad we decided to come here–sure, we could have gotten a few more miles, but this is just too awesome to miss.  I am so glad I could have a whole day of hiking with no pain, AND another first– NO SNOW on the trail today!   Hooray!  

Walk to Rauros: Near high Emyn Muil, Orcs catch up and attack at night

Last night in the middle of the night, a whole pack of coyotes went by our camp, ‘talking” to each other in their weird coyote voices.  I grabbed my trek poles ready to “whomp on ’em” if needed, but they just loped on by.  Coyotes don’t sound anything like dogs.  They almost sound human.  We were up at 5 am, hoping for lots of miles today.

Down below us to the east, there was huge Gold Lake shimmering in the early morning light.  Beautiful!  But as soon as we began hiking again,  the pain in the back of my right hip next to the spine just got worse and worse, till I was reduced to just limping along as fast as I could, yelping a bit when it hurt too much. To say I was miserable and frustrated would be an understatement. By 10:30 am, every time I put my right foot down, I was gasping from the pain and trying very hard not to cry.  I was kicking myself for not having checked my Motrin supply when we were in Sierra City–I was down to only 5 left, and decided to save those for the long, tough downhill to Belden.  So for now, it was pretty awful for me, painwise.

But we reached the wonderful “A Tree” spring with lots of cold, delicious water, and that was a really cheering-up event!  We drank and drank–it was awesome.  But back to hiking we went, and not only was I hurting, but there were snowfields on the trail again.  We actually crossed a little creek on a snow bridge on the north face of Gibraltar Peak!  And there were lots of blowdowns to negotiate, also.  But we cheered again at the top of a climb when at last we spotted the snowy peak of Mt. Lassen on the horizon!  Hooray! 

We also began meeting other hikers, and I tried hard to smile and give them a cheery greeting even though by now every step I took was agonizing, painwise.  Finally I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore, and I literally, out loud, cried out to God,  “PLEASE, please, Father, help me! Either heal my hip or show me what to do!”

A couple of minutes later, I had an idea.  “Maybe I could buy some Motrin from another hiker….”  I resolved to ask the next hiker who came along, and a few minutes later along came a SOBO guy!  I greeted him with, “Hi!  Hey, I have a little problem.  I’m almost out of Motrin, and I need more.  Could I buy some from you?”  “Sure!” he said, and we both took off our packs.  He rummaged about in his and hauled out his medicine kit.  “I’ve got something better than Motrin,” he said.  “How about Vicodin?”  I was shocked.  Vicodin is a prescription painkiller.  “Oh, I wouldn’t want to take from your prescription,” I said.  “Motrin is fine.”  But he insisted that he could get as much Vicodin as he wanted from his girlfriend who was a nurse, and not only that, but he insisted on giving it to me for free, along with more Motrin!    We told him about all the hiker-friendly amenities at the Red Moose in Sierra City, and he said he’d definitely stop there.  (He was hiking from Belden to Kennedy Meadows).  I took one of the Vicodin and we all headed our separate ways.

Within 30 minutes, my hip felt a lot better, and after an hour, I had no pain at all and could hike normally at full speed.  What a joy!  To be able to walk freely and happily along without limping and gasping at every step was a huge blessing.   I know Vicodin is not  a cure for whatever is wrong, but oh man, it feels so good to be able to just HIKE!  I walked along thanking God for His quick help.  I am so grateful!

The SOBO guy had also told us about a good water source up ahead.  When we got there,we followed his directions and were able to replenish our water supplies with more cold, delicious water from another spring.  It’s been a very warm day, with a lot of long uphills, so we needed that water!

And so we walked happily along the viewful ridges, and through forests and along Nelson Creek, before finally stopping for the day near the Bear Wallow trail, up above the Grass Valley Reservoir.  I was disappointed that we’d only done 25 miles–it felt like 30 (we are both very tired).  But it’s my fault–I was going so slowly this morning because of the pain in my hip.  I am totally grateful to God for His help–it never even occurred to me to ask another hiker for Motrin (I guess I was in too much pain to be thinking straight).  I am really looking forward to tomorrow!

Walk to Rauros: In ruins of weathered stone near the Emyn Muil

It was pretty dark in the forest in a creek canyon at 5:15 this morning– no problem– we were headed for breakfast in Sierra City! Oh yes! We passed Mr. Mountain Goat (just getting up) and reached the shortcut turnoff for town. My only disappointment as we headed briskly along on such a beautiful morning was that the back of my right hip is still really hurting anytime I have to walk downhill.  I finally “solved” it temporarily by walking as if  I were balancing something on my head.  I sure wish I knew what the problem is.  But the thought of “Hot breakfast!  Sierra City!” was enough to erase most any concern!

The walk into town is fun–through the campground (where a few people were just beginning to emerge sleepily from their tents) and then the interesting houses (some are log cabins), each with snowmobiles parked outside and covered with tarps for the summer.  Once at the highway, we headed for the Red Moose. Hmm– in the front window was a big “Sorry, we’re CLOSED” sign– but stuck on the window just above it was a little note that said “PCT People– knock or holler– we’re open for YOU!” And when we stuck our heads in the door, the place was full of hikers eating breakfast!

There was a menu, but most hikers were just saying, “give me one of everything!” We ate and ate and enjoyed talking to everybody.  The Red Moose’s new owners are awesome!  They let hikers camp in the backyard, take showers, do laundry, use their cell phone, and sort resupply boxes, all for free.  Wow!  More and more hikers kept arriving from the trail, and as each came in the door, all the rest of us would cheer and welcome them.  It was totally fun!  Eventually I went and got our  PO box, did a shopping run to the store and finally we headed out, walking the shoulder of Highway 49, back to the trail.

First thing, of course, is the big climb (4.5 hours) up and around the Sierra Buttes, on a hot day.  The first few miles are nice shady switchbacks, but eventually, the trail is out in the sun and it’s pretty rocky.  A trail crew was out doing some badly needed brushing work, and we thanked them heartily!  There was a moment of excitement as two jets flew by BELOW us, twisting and weaving their way along the canyon at treetop level. 

Finally we reached the top of the climb, and began meeting dayhikers, who were headed to and from Sierra Buttes.  Obviously they didn’t come in the way we did!  They park their cars at various other nearby access trailheads.  The north side of the Buttes still has snow on it, and there was snow by the trail, but none ON the trail (good!).  Once you are at the top, the route spends awhile as a “crest walk” looking down on all the lakes shimmering blue down below. At one point, we reached a trailhead parking area and it wasn’t clear where to go next.  We were standing around studying our maps, when some guys came along and set us straight–“Just follow the road to the Packer Lake turnoff.” 

So we did, and enjoyed the beautiful views as we walked along.  The mosquitoes were pretty bad,though.  As long as we keep moving we’re fine, but the minute we stop, we get swarmed.  The trail went up and down, and at every “up”, I was scanning the horizon for a sight of Mt. Lassen–no luck on that yet!  The wildflowers along the trail were very nice, but not as numerous as before.  This is rugged, rocky country, crisscrossed by many dirt roads, with dramatic volcanic rock formations along the crest of the ridges.  We’re back to having to be careful about water–the trail stays up high above the many lakes; creeks and springs on the trail are few.  So though we are no longer having to carry heavy bear cans, ice axes, crampons, etc., we do have to carry a pretty heavy water load.

We found what we thought would be a really nice campsite, flat and breezy on top of a ridge.  The sunset was beautiful–all red and gold.  Bill and I were doing our share of oohing and aahing as we watched it, and we weren’t the only ones–a car came by on a dirt road we didn’t even know was there, and a bunch of people got out to watch the sunset, too. 

But after the sun went down, the breeze stopped and the mosquitoes were back.  Bummer.  We are cowboy camped, and the thought of leaving our sleeping bags to put up the net tent (probably getting well chewed up in the process) was just too much.  So we just squiggled down into our bags and draped headnets over us.  I spent some time asking God for wisdom about how to fix my hip pain problem.  Every time I’ve asked before, He always has answered, and I am trusting that will be the case this time, too.   

Walk to Rauros: In ruins of weathered stone near the Emyn Muil