Day 86 – ~17 miles/1212
It was a slow morning in Sierra City. We at least had a good reason this time – the post office didn’t open until 10am. Back across the street at the general store, it was an hour wait for breakfast. We opted for sandwiches this time rather than the monster burritos. We picked up our boxes without too much hassle. Eventually, we packed up and we were walking out of town at noon. We decided to walk the 2.5 miles back to the trail since we had bypassed a couple miles on the walk down to the campground two days before – continuous foot path, or something. We ate lunch back at the trail and got moving on the PCT around 2pm. Like most town stops, there was a hefty climb out of Sierra City. We climbed up the side of Sierra Buttes, some 2,800 feet. It was another sunny California afternoon, but we had good shade most of the way up. The trees relented to scree and manzanita at 6,000 feet, where we got a view down the steep mountain side to Sierra City and the hills to the south. We missed the 1200 mile mark, so we made our own.
Beyond the side of the peak, we took an alternate trail on the ‘old PCT’ to save a little distance and vert since it was getting late in the day. We camped near a small lake with a handful of hikers. The bugs were thick and drove us into the tent before we could do any socializing.
Day 87 – 25 miles/1237
This was largely an unspectacular day. After a few morning miles, we found a nice open perch above an alpine lake for our morning snack break. A small, sporty plane was flying low around the mountains, and at one point, it flew just over the saddle below us. When the plane was above the lake, it released some fluid – fish eggs perhaps? That was the most exciting thing of the day.
Further on down the trail, we hiked mostly in fir forest. We didn’t even talk much throughout the day. There were occasionally had some exposed sections where we really felt the summer heat, but it at least offered two or three decent views. There were plenty of nice wild flowers popping up along the way.
There was a small bubble of 8 hikers from town we played leapfrog with all day, passing each other every hour or so and exchanging a “Hey” or “See ya down the trail”. We pushed on into the evening, doing another little road walk to get close to a water source. We squeezed into a little tent site by Alder Spring with 3 others, again forced into the tent by the mosquitoes.
Day 88 – 27(+1) miles/1264
We were up and moving early to set ourselves up for success in anticipation of a fresh meal at Bucks Lake. After many weeks of pristine forest in the high Sierra, we found ourselves in a burn scar once again. Thankfully, the day started off with steady cloud cover, saving us from the unshaded assembly of scorched logs. From death comes life – small shrubs, baby conifers, and wild flowers were growing all around, soaking up the new found sunlight.
We hiked on to a steep canyon, carved by the Feather River. NorCal graciously provides several considerable descents just so you can climb back up the other side. On the way down, the flowers were eye catching, namely some lovely lilies and sticky monkey flowers. We got to the river in time for lunch, where we sat on the rounded river rocks in the shade.
We were happy to hang out by the water for awhile as the sun started burning off the clouds. We did however have big goals for the day, so we packed up and tackled the long climb back up. Podcast power helped make the 4,000 feet of vertical fly by. The burn scar relented and we were back in the forest, which was still hot, but at least we had shade. Near the top of our climb, the slope eased up, and we found ourselves atop Lookout Rock, an awesome platform 2,000 feet above the canyon floor with unobstructed views to the north east.
We had done 23 miles to this point and we took a well deserved break. We couldn’t linger though if we wanted a burger and a beer. We cruised the final 4 miles to the road to Bucks Lake. Traffic was basically nonexistent, so we road walked, adding some bonus miles to our marathon. I’m not sure I would have kept walking on this road if I didn’t have the promise of good food at the end of it. We were feeling surprisingly good, but after 45 minutes, we crossed paths with a small truck pulling on to the road towards the lake.
The young couple inside graciously let us jump in the bed of the truck for the final two miles. They even offered us Doritos and soda through the small sliding window to the cab. We got dropped off at Bucks Lake Lodge, which had several “CLOSED” signs out front. We stepped into the restaurant, with only a few patrons remaining, and asked if we could get some food. The owner turned us away, saying the kitchen was closed… This was a bummer, to say the least. The only other option was Bucks Lake Resort. After drying our tears, we walked another half mile to the resort, which was still open! We were riding a rollercoaster of emotions, and we ended our long walk on a very high point. We got some awesome burgers and beer, chatting with the friendly locals. A retired couple bought our first round of beers after talking for a bit, even mentioning that they often host PCT hikers. “Where are you two staying tonight?”, the woman asked. We honestly didn’t know because food was a much higher priority, but there was a campground a little ways back by the lake. The couple looked at each other, and we sensed that they wanted to host us, but perhaps they weren’t prepared for some impromptu visitors. “Well have a good night, and be safe out there!”, they said, waving goodbye from the end of the bar. While I feel they dangled a treat in front of us, we weren’t any worse off than when we walked in. We enjoyed an extra beer as the bar cleared out and the sun turned the horizon a brilliant orange. A couple about our age was chatting with the bartender, and eventually us too. They offered us a ride back to the campground, which was fantastic, saving us a good half hour walk in the dark. We decided to stealth camp next to the lake just past the boat ramp – out of sight, out of mind. We got to bed late, but slept hard after a huge day and a huge meal.
Day 89 – 23(+2) miles/1287
After our late night, we slept till 6 am, but we did not delay packing up, so as to not draw attention to ourselves in our “less than legal” tentsite. We ambled through the sleepy campground in the morning light and crossed the road to the general store. The store wasn’t open yet, so we posted up on the picnic table out front had first breakfast, a poptart and some nut butter. The door opened before long and I asked, “Are we first in line?” We got second breakfast from the store, hearty burritos, and topped off some snacks. We were packed up and moving at 9 for the road walk back, and got to the trail at 10.
We hiked through a few easy miles, then climbed up into a burn scar. Here too life was returning, with ferns and flowers taking over for the trees. We weaved through the charred remains, collecting dust and soot on our legs and feet. As the day wore on, we debated whether or not to hike all the way into Belden. I initially wanted to stop short, because the distance that remained would keep us hiking late again. However, the tent sites were marginal amongst the burn, and water wasn’t easily accessible. It was all or nothing – stop very early, or trudge down the 4,000 foot descent into town.
Ultimately, we decided to go for it after seeing the tent sites. The down hill was long, but went by faster than I expected. We were of course ripping it down. We got to the bottom at 8:40 pm, with just enough dusky light to set up camp. It would be another night of stealth camping in the trailhead parking lot. A handful of other hikers did the same. We washed our dirty legs in the river and retired to the tent for a late night dinner. What a long couple days…
Day 90 – 0(+2) miles/1287
An easy day was ahead of us, so we didn’t rush to get out of camp. No one seemed to be coming to this trailhead, it was a quiet corner of California, and who would want to hike up 4,000 feet of burn scar anyways..? We eventually got out of camp around 8:30. We walked a couple miles down the road to Caribou Crossroads RV Park. There we got breakfast and we picked up a box of Trader Joe’s goodies from my mom. This was the perfect little supplement to our food supplies on this strange strech through tiny towns.
It was rather toasty down in the valley, so we sat in the river to cool down and rinse our sweat off. Indeed the temperature was climbing well into the 90s. We had planned to hike out of town to tackle part of the 5,000 foot ascent just after Belden. Our plans were thwarted when a hiker, Hundee, said, “You’re not going hiking now, are you? I’m going to get beers and hang out by the river of you want to join.” It didn’t take much convincing beyond that since we were feeling pretty beat down from the last two days. We got quick ride back to Belden town where we bought a few more snacks, beer, and lunch.
Loads of hikers had come down the hill behind us, and a hoarde was slowly growing inside the restaurant to avoid the heat. Maggie, Hundee, and I walked down to a little beach by the river and hung out for several hours, sipping the afternoon away. We milled around a little while longer by Belden Town, our hopes of hiking any appreciable distance quickly diminishing. We set up camp across the river at a small rest area, making it 3 for 3 on stealth camping. We got to bed at a reasonable hour for an early start the next day. It was yet another lovely, unexpected zero!
Day 91 – 25 miles/1312
In order to beat the heat, we got up at 4:30 am, and we were moving at 5:45. We started up the big climb out of Belden, 5,700 feet over 14 miles. The morning was cool enough to let us cover some good distance before the sun hit, and the slope was generally very manageable. The trail through here was still mostly burned, so the scenery was fairly uninspiring. We came upon a sign officially marking the end of the Sierras and the beginning of the Cascades.
It was otherwise a hot, sunny day. We took our breaks in the shade wherever we could find it. We crossed the 1,300 mile mark somewhere in there. Near the end of the day, we got some nice views atop rocky, volcanic outcroppings.
We ended our hike at a forest road intersection on a saddle with a nice view of Lassen Peak. A pair of trucks were parked near by, and I assumed these folks were out hiking or backpacking. This assumption was proved wrong when two dirt bikers (motorbikes) rode up in the evening. I was skeptical of our neighbors at first, but they struck up a conversation and gave us cookies and watermelon! What a treat! We were rewarded further by a beautiful sunset, reminding us that even the hard days often have redeeming moments.
Day 92 – 19 miles/1331
There wasn’t much to speak of on the trail this day. We hiked through more burn to get to the town of Chester. We did however hit the half way point! 1,325 trail miles from either end of the PCT. I played “Living on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi while we took pictures and signed the trail register. The lyrics are simply too appropriate for this milestone:
Whoooooaaaa we’re halfway ther-er,
WhooaaOOOO livin’ on a prayer
-Jon Bon Jovi
We raced down the final few miles to Hwy 36. At the bottom, trail magic was waiting for us. DriveThru and Forecast, a pair of Chester locals, were handing out snacks and cold drinks. Their son had hiked the PCT a few years ago and they loved helping out the hiker community. We talked for a while and waited for a hiker we knew was close behind, and we all jumped into their truck for a ride into Chester. They dropped us off at the laundromat, which included a shower booth. Fresh and clean, we picked up grocery store dinners, frozen fried rice for me, caprese for Maggie. Once again, we found ourselves stealth camping in the city park. It’s a bit of an open secret that hikers camp there, but the locals don’t seem to mind. We enjoyed a quiet night in this quiet little town.
Distance Over Time 