September 20, 2016

Middle Fork of the Feather River (mile 1247.2) to bushcamp (mile 1272.2)

Miles: 25

Our total miles: 2629.5

We climbed from the get go again this morning – 800 feet in 1.3 miles. There was no wind other than what we created by moving through the thick, warm air.

Laurie found herself wanting to enjoy the last full day on trail but she was feeling hot, annoyed by bugs and irritated that there was poison oak.

And it wasn’t even 7 am! 

We ran into a SOBO named Wide Load. He asked if the trail ahead was rocky. He kept commenting on how nice the soil was between here and Belden.

It is funny how we each care about different things. When asking for trail intel soil quality is not generally what we ask about. But hey, it was nice to know that good soil and good trail lay ahead.

We dropped down a bit and climbed again. This was the long climb of the day. We put our heads down, mentally dropped gears and took it one step at a time. It wasn’t steep, just long. And there weren’t expansive views or lakes to keep our minds occupied.

Near the top we took an early lunch at Lookout Rock. We sat in the sun – there wasn’t really anywhere else to go and Laurie slowly got more and more uncomfortable. 

Andy often jokes that Laurie’s internal radiator needs upgrading. She gets overheated very easily and when she does every action becomes uncomfortable.

After leaving Lookout Rock we bumped into a SOBO named Hiking Mantis. We ended up chatting with him for about 15 minutes, helping him create a resupply strategy for the Sierras. It feels good to help other hikers. 

Hiking southbound is definitely harder. The Washington hills are a brutal intro for a hike, one is constantly in a race against the clock as resupply locations shut down and there is less and less daylight to make miles. 

We parted ways with Walking Mantis and walked up and down a few rollers, then dropped down across a few paved roads that go to Bucks Lake and Quincy.

We sat in the shade by the Bucks Summit sign and ate the last of our cheese and one bag of trail mix. A light breeze restored all chaos in Laurie land, cooling her down and helping her feel better.

For most of our hike we have had extra food. We typically role into town with an extra tuna packet, some bars and tea bags. For the first time in 6 months we had to ration our food. We underestimated our appetites and didn’t ask for sufficient food this leg.

Let me correct myself, we had enough to make it to Belden but we were hungry.

After another lengthy, relaxing break we continued on. Our plan was to either camp high t0 have views or hike another 1.6 miles to make our last day even shorter.

It all depended on how we felt, what time we got to the first camp and what it looked like. As we climbed we decided to make the first camp work and enjoy our last evening of the hike relaxing instead of pushing.  

When we reached a flat plateau Andy spotted a snug flat spot surrounded by manzanita bushes. It was just big enough for our mansion of a tent and the bushes would protect us from the wind.

We set up our tent and with everything we needed to make dinner in hand, we walked 20 feet to some large flat rocks overlooking a big lake and the town of Quincy in the distance.

We enjoyed miso soup, dinner and tea while wearing flip flops and watching the sky turn from orange to pink.

We are so close to the end. 

How did we get here?

All we did was wake up every morning and hike. 

The magnitude of it all baffles us. It seems surreal. It feels as though we haven’t been out here for more than a week or so, yet we’ve walked across the western United States! 

We finished our dinner and tea and headed back to the tent. It was downright cold! Having worn flip flops for over an hour our toes were frozen, but it was worth it.

Andy stayed out to play with the camera in attempt to capture the beauty of the night sky. Laurie meanwhile crawled inside and, for the last time, cleaned off her feet before putting on her sleep socks.

The stars here are better than in the Sierra. Who knew?

It’s been a blissful last evening on the trail. We appreciate the fact that we are here together – an even stronger unit than when we embarked on this adventure. 

What a blessing to share this experience together. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

While taking a 60 minute star trails photo, 4 SOBOs hiked past our tent, their headlights dancing in the darkness. The small speckles of light dancing toward us first surprised us, then annoyed Andy (because they may have ruined the photo).

The last hiker stopped after seeing our tent.

“Hey”

Andy sat up and responded “hey”

“Whatcha doing?”

“Camping”

“Oh sorry man, I thought you were someone else.”

We chuckled and fell asleep to a glorious clear sky full of stars, the milky way and shooting stars.

Tonight we are grateful for the Pacific Crest Trail and starry skies.

September 19, 2016

A Tree Spring (mile 1217.2) to Middle Fork of the Feather River (mile 1247.2)

Miles: 30

Our total Miles: 2604.5

At 4:30am Laurie was startled awake to branches breaking. Immediately her mind starting racing…. Is it a mountain lion? A bear?

She listened and as the noises got closer she yelled at it to go away. Andy woke up to the sound of Laurie’s voice, took out his ear plugs and sat up.

Neither of us saw anything and he reassured Laurie it was just a deer. We both fell back asleep.

When the alarm went off at 5:15 Laurie mumbled “no” and rolled over. As if hiding would make the need to get up disappear.

Andy started getting ready and eventually Laurie joined him. At 6 am we were ready but it was still dark. 

We stood around eating granola and listening to the owls hoot for 10 minutes before starting to walk with our headlamps. This is the first time since the Sierra we have hiked by the light of our headlamps.

Andy led and Laurie followed – walking in a little white bubble of light. Laurie noticed her depth perception was off and it took more effort to avoid rocks, roots and branches.

We climbed from the get go. In the trees it was still dark but when we entered a clearing the morning light lit up the trail. After 20 minutes we stopped to take off our headlights and fleeces.

We continued to climb and then dropped. The trail switchbacked down through overgrown trail, past trickling creeks and across both paved and dirt roads.

We took a 30 minute shoes off lunch break to enjoy tuna and crackers. We had gone 15 miles in just under 6 hours and figured we could do another 15. We figured why not shoot big on our last days on trail?

The next 15 miles were uneventful. We hiked through the trees, going down more than we went up. Andy refers to these kinds of miles as “garbage miles.” 

There are no views, the forest floor surrounding the trail is littered with downed rotting logs, with nothing to stare at other than oak and manzanita bushes and little inspiration. And in some cases, the trail exists simply to bypass a paralleling road. 

Don’t get us wrong, we are grateful to have a trail to hike on in place of a roadwalk, we simply have to dig deeper for inspiration during these miles.

Laurie turned to Podcasts for entertainment as Andy led, lost in his thoughts.

With 5.2 miles to go we stopped at Fowler Creek for water. Laurie sat on the trail while Andy took the 0.1 mile side trip down to the creek. Little mosquitoes swarmed Laurie as she sat waiting. 

We have been really lucky bug wise since returning to the Sierra. But aparently the lack of bugs has lowered our tolerance for them.

As we dropped more in elevation gnats began swarming us. Andy waved his arms and poles as he walked – trying to get them away from his face. Laurie just mumbled to herself. 

It was hot, the trail dusty, Laurie’s knee was starting to hurt from the unrelenting downhill and now bugs were flying in our noses and eyes. Blah!

Andy eventually put his head net on to keep the bugs away. Laurie just kept grumbling and waving her arms.

We finally got to the Middle Fork of the Feather River at 7pm. We found a campsite, rinsed off in the surprisingly warm water and ate dinner.

There is a section hiker camped nearby and we chatted a bit but we were both too tired and hungry to be social.

Tonight we are at 2943 feet and it is warm. This is the first time we have been below 5000 feet in who knows how long! 

We fall asleep to the sound of rushing water. It’s been a long day. We climbed 5042 feet today and descended 8672 feet.

Tonight we are grateful for cool mornings amd head nets.

September 18, 2016

Hwy 49 (mile 1195.4) to A Tree Springs (mile 1217.2)

Miles: 21.8

Our total miles: 2574.5

The alarm went off at 5:30. Laurie had been awake for 30 minutes having to pee but not wanting to get out of her warm cocoon. She willed herself to fall back asleep and woke up again at 6:30.

The horizon displayed an array of purple, pink and orange. We could hear cow bells and mooing in the distance. 

Around 7 we walked to the nearby hot springs and met Jeff and Chris as they were finishing their soak. 

We liked the idea of soaking once more before hitting the trail but Laurie wasn’t too enthused about smelling like sulfur on top of the baseline hiker stench.

We discussed a plan to eat breakfast then return to the main pool (with a shower) prior to leaving.

We packed up as the sunlight spread across the yellow grassy field. The warmth of the sun felt amazing.

We returned to the fountain area and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of pie, tea and leftover pasta, salad and veggies. We all sat smiling, enjoying the taste of good food and the peacefulness of the moment.

We then walked to the main soaking pool and rotated through the hot pool, cold plunge and warm pool.

Our bodies tingled as our pores opened and closed. After 45 minutes our bodies felt limp and relaxed. 

Andy continued massaging his right calf in the hot and warm pools, hoping it would alleviate the pain he’s been experiencing in his foot the last few days.

We were tempted to stay longer but we knew that we had a long hot climb ahead of us and we were already leaving 90 minutes after we had originally planned.

Jeff and Chris dropped us off at Hwy 49 a little after 10am and by 10:30 we were laced up and ready to hike.

Thank you Jeff and Chris for bringing us our resupply and driving us to the hot springs. We haven’t felt this relaxed the entire trail! 

The trail climbed up 3000 feet toward the Sierra Buttes. We were grateful that initially the trail was in the shade. As we emerged from the trees the wind picked up and offered a cooling breeze. 

We followed the zig zaging trail across some dirt roads and eventually dropped down to a dirt parking lot.

Around 1:30 we stopped for a lunch break in the shade near Sierra Buttes Spring. Once again we polished off a log of salami, not wanting to store it after opening it, we kept eating til it was gone. 

The bees swarmed as we sat, making the stop most unpleasant. We thought maybe they were interested in our salami but even after that was eaten they stuck around. It was annoying and we didn’t want to get stung so we packed up and hit the trail. 

We paralleled and occasionally intersected dirt roads for many miles. We walked on ridges with views down to many lakes below. 

The Plumas National Forest seems to be a hidden gem. We are excited to do more research and come back to explore this region.

We hiked through the golden hour and reached the dirt road and A Tree Springs around 7:30. Just before the road we saw a sign that said Belden 70 miles, Sierra Buttes 23.nm

“There is no way we walked 23 miles today. We must have accidentally taken a short cut.”

Turns out this sign, like many, was a little off. We had indeed exceeded our expectations given our leisurely morning, but it turns out we had walked just over 21 miles, not 23.

It was getting dark quickly so we scouted potential sites and put up our tent. Laurie crawled inside while Andy brought clean water to a boil that we had carried from the hot springs.

We were not sure how far we would get this evening, nor were we certain that A Tree Springs would have water, so we played it safe and carried enough water to camp from the previous spring. 

Turns out we had way more than we needed and ended up with 3 extra liters.

Carrying water to water – this can be considered a rookie mistake. But for us this is an example of choosing piece of mind rather than discomfort. And, we had extra because coming out of towns we drink less than usual as we are more hydrated.

The moon hadn’t come out yet and we fell asleep staring at the stars.

Tonight we are grateful for flowing springs and for our legs carrying us faster than we think possible.