Truckee, CA to Burney Falls, CA:
Howdy friends, family, and readers! I hope you all are well! I apologize (again) for my lack of posts. Once again my electronic diary deleted itself. I think it is time I switch to good ole' paper and pen journaling. I have had about a 5 week unanticipated 'vacation' from the trail. I believe my last post was in late-July/early-August from Truckee, CA, so I shall pick up from where I left off. Let's rewind...
TRUCKEE, CA:
I mailed my tent, tent poles, blow up sleeping pad, sleeping bag liner, and stove to myself up the trail in Sierra City in an attempt to lighten the weight of my pack. I purchased an emergency shelter and an emergency bivy sack while I was in Truckee, CA just in case I encountered bad weather. This means I planned to 'cowgirl camp' for the next week or more. This also means I got my pack's base weight down to 13.6 pounds!!!!!!! Woohoo!
SIERRA CITY, CA:
My friend Story Time and I hitch hiked 40 miles north from Truckee, CA to Sierra City, CA. The part of trail I skipped over is relatively easy to moderate. I skipped for the sole reasons of laziness and trying to catch up to my trail friends in Sierra City. I stayed at the Red Moose Inn while in Sierra City. Bill and Margaret Price run the inn and provide trail magic by letting hikers camp on their grounds and use their bathroom and computer. You can also eat delicious, home-cooked meals at the diner. They are such nice people! They even drove me to the doctor in another town! I love them so much. I saw tons of friends there as well: Rocket Lama, Giggles, Rainbow, Puff, Kelso, No Rush, Story Time, Shark Rider, Banjo, Poolside, Wolfpaw and Prometheus (who practically took up residency outside the city park's public restroom for over a week), and Salty and his mother Peanut (who just so happens to be my Phi Mu sorority sister)! It was great to see everyone. I love my trail family. Some details of my stay in Sierra City include the bear who startled Salty at the general store (unfortunately I was not there in person), the local swimming hole where we jumped off small cliffs/rocks into the water and drank piña coladas, and my doctor's office visit where I found out I have exercise-induced asthma and had my sore swimmers-ear looked at. Finally, after resting a few days and receiving a clean bill of health, it was time to move on.
SIERRA BUTTES:
I was nervous to face the climb out of Sierra City. The climb was a lengthy one (7 miles uphill if my memory serves me well), headed straight up to the Sierra Buttes. I hiked this in the evening with Salty and Peanut. All my other friends set out either a day before me or on a road walk instead of hiking the actual trail. This was the first time I used my inhaler... and my oh my! did it work well!!!!!!! I practically flew up the side of the mountain- impressive compared to how long it used to take me to go uphill and considering I had been off trail for about 4 days! I felt incredibly accomplished, refreshed, and alive. Salty, Peanut and I camped near the jeep road at the top of the climb. It was gorgeous up there and I could see the orange glow of city lights off in the distance. While warming up and sitting in my sleeping bag while talking to Salty, a HUGE ball of fire flew across the sky. It looked like someone lit a car on fire and catapulted it into the air above my head. In reality, this was a meteor... very common in early August. Every year from late July to around August 13th there are two major meteor showers. Camping right below the jagged buttes with flying meteors and shooting stars overhead was incredible. In the morning I woke up to spectacular views. You can see all the way to Lake Tahoe in the south to Mt. Lassen up north, all from the top of the Sierra Buttes. Im so happy I did this hike rather than doing a road walk. And Im happy I did it with Salty and Peanut. They're such nice and interesting folks. I really like them.
Before leaving the Sierra Buttes, we decided to hike up to the fire station in order to achieve the amazing views. The hike up was very difficult for me as my back muscles were spasming. I sat on a rock to try and stretch my back out; I really wanted to make it to the fire station above, but I had to give up as my back pain became worse and worse. I wanted to cry and I felt so discouraged... but not pushing myself was the right decision for me.
SALTY & PEANUT:
We hiked on up the trail towards Buck's Lake. I really got to know Salty and Peanut over the next few days. Peanut just turned 55. She is TINY in stature and is a teacher. Her attitude is calm, driven, friendly, intelligent, and committed. All in all she is a total badass. I really look up to her and hope I can be as active, fit, and ambitious as she is when I am 55! Her son, Salty, is TALL. He just turned 30 years old, he is a Marine Corps veteran, and he has worked for the Forest Service as a forest fire fighter for years. He is extremely interesting, knowledgable, calm, witty, and strong. He taught me a lot about forest-related topics, like types of trees, why many trees' trunks are curved at their bases (they are shaped by the snow), why fires are good for forests, and general issues firemen and forest service employees face. During our hike I introduced practices such as having small, nightly campfires and sleeping in late to Salty and Peanut. They had not had any campfires during their hike! I couldn't believe it... I love campfires!!!!!!! They had not done too much night hiking and sleeping in on the trail either, but due to the weather being so hot and dry we needed to adjust our hiking and sleeping schedules.
The hike was beautiful and I felt very happy. I was speechless when we arrived to the Middle Fork Feather River bridge, for the view was absolutely breathtaking. We found a campsite near the river where we decided to take a break to swim, bathe, wash our clothes, resupply our water bottles, and have dinner. When I was climbing out of the river and over rocks to get back to our rest-stop, I slipped and my feet jammed in between some rocks. All I had to say was: OUCH!!!!! Actually, some very choice cuss words flew out my mouth, but I'll refrain from using them here. Lol. My big toe on my right foot hurt the worst. It swelled up and turned purple. Salty thought I likely fractured or broke it. I still had about 5 miles to hike up out of the valley from where the trail had dipped down to the river. I usually hate inclines; but this time it was easier and less painful for my toe to walk uphill and my inhaler was helping me breathe much more easily. Finally Salty, Peanut, and I made it to Buck's Lake! Yay!!!!!
BUCK'S LAKE:
Salty, Peanut, and I ran into Rainbow Bright and Puff at Buck's Lake. We had stumbled upon a sad departure between Rainbow and Puff who were very fond of each other. Here's the scoop: Puff got stung by a bee on his foot which had consequently swelled up to the size of a soccer ball. His swollen foot and ankle made it impossible for Puff to hike; he had to play the waiting game for the swelling to go down. Because of this, Rainbow had to move on without Puff's company. The duo had been hiking together for quite some time and it was so sad to see them part ways. They are really cute together. That night Salty, Peanut, and I 'stealth-camped' with Puff on a clearing overlooking Buck's Lake. Puff said he was relieved and happy to see us, and to not have to camp alone while experiencing the blues. I love Puff... such a sweet kid (I call him a kid because he is 7 years younger than me).
CHESTER, CA:
The next morning Salty and Peanut hiked on while gimped-out Puff and I resigned to hitch hiking up to Chester, CA to rest up and meet the others when they arrived there. We hung out in Chester at the Seneca Motel... it's clear the owners there aren't concerned with being friendly to their customers. But the room was cheap and clean which made up for the owners' poor social skills. Eventually our friends arrived one by one and we enjoyed each others company while being lazy from the comfort of our cheap-ass motel rooms.
I started to feel really sad in Chester, CA for a number of reasons. First, I had done lots of skipping lately and felt down about that. Secondly, although I was insanely excited that my real life family was coming to visit me and I felt homesick for them, I worried that seeing them would somehow influence me to leave the trail and go back to the luxuries that await me in Texas. I wanted to hike a bit before seeing my family, but my hiking was on hold because of my injured toe. I feared I would hardly hike any more of the PCT this year, and I feared this would be the last time I would be with my trail family/friends. I hate goodbyes. I decided to try and hike regardless of my toe, and despite the fact that I was leaving my friends in Chester and heading out onto the trail alone. A local trail angel who goes by "Piper's Mom" picked me up and gave me a ride to the trailhead. She is such a sweet lady who does trail magic for hikers. Her daughter, Piper, once hiked the trail and received tons of trail magic from trail angels. Piper's Mom wanted to pay the kindness forward to this year's hikers... so thank you Piper's Mom!!!! It felt great to take charge and do something about my mixed emotions instead of sulking in my motel room. It felt comforting to be back on trail.
DRAKESBAD RANCH:
The plan was for me to hike past Drakesbad Ranch and into Old Station, CA where my older brother Ryan and I had planned to meet. Hiking again was wonderful, and I was enjoying my time alone. As it got dark outside I started to become scared of the bears I knew were lurking in the dark woods. I (very loudly) sang songs, whistled, clapped my hands, banged my hiking poles, and made all sorts of strange noises as I meandered through the forest. I was hoping to make it to the first spring, but seeing as I had enough water and I was only a mile away from water which would be a short trek in the morning, I decided to make camp. My toe was hurting me as well. I threw my tarp on the ground followed by my sleeping pad and sleeping bag, crawled into bed, ate dinner, looked at the stars, and drifted off to sleep. I got to the spring in the morning and started to hike. I eventually made it to some natural sulfuric-acid ponds. The ponds are a mint-green color, they smell like sulfur, and the pond itself bubbles and boils from being so hot and acidic. If you ever see one of these, DO NOT GET IN, for you would be injured badly. Warning signs were posted all over the place informing hikers to keep away from the ponds and to only take pictures. Just after the sulfur ponds is a place called Drakesbad Ranch. The ranch consists of numerous cabins overlooking a beautiful meadow in the middle of nowhere. A natural hot springs swimming pool, showers, and laundry mat are on the premises and are open to hikers who pay for at least one meal from the ranch's restaurant. I changed my original plan of walking to meet Ryan in Old Station, CA to meeting Ryan at Drakesbad Ranch. My toe was throbbing and I felt I should rest it. I met many nice weekend-getaway guests while I lingered around at the ranch-resort. Just about everyone had questions to ask me about the trail and about my hike. People crowded around to listen to bits and pieces of my stories and advice. The new manager at Drakesbad Ranch even gave me a Pepsi, on the house! A family I had chatted with earlier in the day invited me to sit and have lasagna dinner with them at the restaurant. I happily accepted their offer and got to know them better over dinner and dessert. Ryan eventually pulled up to Drakesbad Ranch in his large, maroon GMC truck. It felt so strange to see my brother standing right there! I was thrilled to see him. The moment was surreal. He joined me and my new friends for dinner and explained to them his own vagabond ways. We later set up a campsite just a half mile down the road. While setting up camp, we saw headlamps off in the distant woods. I knew the lights were coming from my trail family's headlamps; who else other than a PCT thru-hiker would be hiking through the woods in the middle of nowhere late at night? I made a "koo-wii!" bird call and flashed my headlamp at them. They called back and flashed their lights at me. I was overcome with joy and excitement that my trail buddies were headed my way. Ryan and I invited them to our campsite and we hung out talking for a bit. Puff was back on trail with Rainbow Bright and this made me happy. I headed over to the hot spring swimming pool which felt incredible! The premises offers floaty pool toys to its guests. I grabbed a few swimming noodles and got cozy in the pool. When I leaned my head back and looked up, meteors and shooting stars continued to shower above me in the sky. Life felt sublime and I was more than content.
OLD STATION, CA:
The following day Ryan and I decided to follow my trail family up the trail for a few days, doing some trail magic of our own by bringing food, beer, water, and ice cream to my hiker friends. We headed to the Hatcreek Rim Campground in Old Station, CA. Ryan, who has been traveling around on a whim with his vehicle, has loads and loads of car-camping gear. To clarify... car-camping is when you load your car up full of tents, cots, lawn chairs, blankets, coolers, boom boxes, and other large, heavy, and unnecessary comfort items to make your outdoor experience feel as though you are in the comfort of your living room. You drive your fully loaded vehicle to a camping spot, drag everything out of your car about 20 feet away, and set up camp right next to your car. This is probably the most typical way Americans camp; it is how I grew up camping before my family upgraded to the comforts of pop-up campers and then the r.v. with satellite tv and lazy boy recliners. Keep in mind that I have been backpacking for months now, where I carry everything in a very small pack hoisted up onto my injured spine, and where I hike with as few comfort items as possible so that my backpack weighs as little as possible. I had been backpacking without a tent or a stove... that is how bare-bones I was getting when it came to my gear and my needs. So... Ryan and I decided to car-camp in Old Station. We picked and paid for a site, backed the truck into it, and began hauling all of his equipment out: 9 person tent with awning, a separate open-air awning to place over a picnic table, queen sized air mattress, 2 coolers, bins of food, huge lanterns, a lawn chair, pots and pans, dish scrubbers, dish towels, and soap, glass plates, full bedding to include real pillows, candles, etc. On one hand, all of this gear was great; it meant camping in comfort! On the other hand, I felt incredibly overwhelmed and appalled by all of this STUFF that seemed so unnecessary and frivolous. It's a lot of work setting this kind of camp up. After months of sleeping on a simple tarp that has a total set up time of about 30 seconds, it was hard for me to get on board with Ryan's car-camping set up which seemed too complicated in my mind. Why even bother? Why not simplify the camping experience and get rid of all the car-camping luxuries so the time usually spent setting up camp can instead be put towards hiking or relaxing by a river? I think I was going through culture shock. When we were done setting up the campsite, Ryan told me I could sleep on the air mattress with the comforter and the two real pillows because anyone who has walked over one thousand miles deserves to sleep in comfort for a night. I felt so thankful for his offer, and I secretly praised the good Lord above for luxury car-camping. My negative and slightly arrogant back-packer's attitude in regards to car-camping shifted towards appreciation for the comforts of normal American life that Ryan practically delivered to me. I stood corrected.
TRAIL MAGIC & SLACK-PACKS:
One day later, Ryan and I ran into Puff, Rainbow, and Story Time in Old Station. They kept hiking while Ryan and I picked up ice cream and other goodies to drop off to my friends on the trail. Ryan and I had our backpacking gear ready to go in case he and I decided to depart on an impromptu backpacking trip. When Puff, Story Time, Ryan, and I pulled up to the trail, we saw none other than my trail family- Rocket Lama, Rainbow Bright, Simba, and Shark Rider. I learned that No Rush went on and that Giggles was stranded back in Old Station with a hurt leg, so we drove back to get her. We spent some time chilling with my friends at the rest stop where the road and trail intersect. During our visit, Simba realized that the road went right alongside the trail for a few miles. He asked if there was any way he could slack-pack with our help since we had a vehicle. For those who don't know, slack-packing is when you put your pack in someone's car who delivers your pack to you up the the trail while you carry very little with you on your hike. The purpose of slack-packing is to carry very little; the less crap you have to carry the faster you will hike. We agreed to help all of my friends slack-pack about 10 miles up the trail. Simba and I went on a ride and drove the car up the dirt road and to the trail so we could verify if our plan would actually work. We had a nice drive and we found where we would drop the packs off up trail. We also found No Rush there. It was nice to see him again before he pressed onward. Simba and I returned to our friends who were getting ready to slack-pack. Story Time and Giggles decided they wanted to ride with us in the car for 10 miles rather than hike. I decided I wanted to hike, and so did Ryan. So Story Time and Giggles drove the car while Ryan and I joined up with my trail friends for a 10 mile night hike along the rim between Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta. The hike was excellent- bright moon, gorgeous weather, good vibes, no packs... I loved this hike! We all arrived ten miles up trail to Ryan's truck. We laid our mats down and slept under the stars and in the comfort of our group being together again.
BURNEY FALLS, CA:
The next stop was Burney Falls State Park, 28 miles north from where we camped. I didn't want to hike that far and neither did Ryan, Giggles, or Story Time. Everyone else hiked out while our small group returned to the Hat Creek luxury campsite. We took everything down, loaded up the truck, had breakfast at JJ's Cafe in Old Station (you must go there!), and drove north to Burney Falls State Park. We picked a campsite, hauled everything out of the truck again, set up the huge ass tent, tarp, air mattress, and other luxuries, and made signs to put on the trail directing backpackers to our campsite to receive trail magic from us. No one walked to our site that night; I didn't expect to see anyone arrive. The following morning our trail family strolled into camp. We all had an extremely lazy day just sitting around laughing, playing music, listening to music, eating, drinking, smoking, telling stories, taking showers, and enjoying public toilets. Everyone ended up spending the night, for we all feared this might be the last time I was with them all on trail.
PARTING WAYS:
My parents were flying into Reno on August 18th to join up with Ryan and I for an outdoorsy family vacation. On the morning of August 18th, me, Ryan, and my trail family broke down camp and loaded up the car. The car battery had to be jumped which put a small hiccup in our morning. Me and my trail family said our goodbyes and parted ways. I felt very sad to see them leave, happy to have had so much time with such incredible people, and excited to see my real life family. Ryan and I finally got squared away and headed south towards Reno, NV.
