July 13 day 75 camped mile 1218.4 hiked 22.4 miles today. Left Sierra City late in the morning after a nice huge and well cooked breakfast. I am now sporting a 7.5 pound base weight pack! It was a noticeably easier climb up the Sierra Buttes.
July 14 day 76 camped mile 1243.8 hiked 25.4 miles today.
July 15 day 77 stayed Buck Lake PCT mile 1265.7 hiked 26.3 miles today. I was so excited about getting into civilization today. I had picked up for free food for the last section. It ended up being super sugar heavy and very unsatisfying. In Bucks Lake I ate two dinners in close succession. The first a delicious burger with a touch of chorizo and the second fish and chips. I waddled off after and found a nice lakeside camping spot.
July 16 day 78 camped mile 1283 hiked 16.5 miles today. Road walked to Bucks Summit and then got a ride to Quincy. Bought too much food at Safeway in town as I mistakenly shopped before eating breakfast. After doing my laundry I walked back to the edge of town and hitched back. It took three rides to make it. It’s always tough going after a resupply. Had a great campsite for the eve.
July 17 day 79 camped mile 1297 hiked 14 miles today. It was a long descent to Belden in the Feather River canyon. At the Belden town resort I had bacon and eggs soon followed by a double burger and fries. Quite a few thru hikers were accumulating during the heat of the day. I left at 4:00 to start a long hot ascent thru burnt forest.
July 18 day 80 camped mile 1319.2 hiked 22.2 miles today. Helicopters in the morning I found out latter were because Muck Muck called in as she had been stalked by a mountain lion for hours the previous evening. She had a Spot satellite transmitter and sent out a distress signal. Latter that day I saw the lovely site of a doe and her two tiny fawns crossing the trail ahead of and unaware of me.
July 19 day 81 camped mile 1345.4 hiked 26.2 miles today. Descended down to Highway 36 and immediately got a ride into Chester with Pipers mom. It was another eating frenzy. The hitch out of town was not bad and had some trail magic in the form of cold sodas and water at the trailhead. I camped just past the N fork of the Feather river. Had a nice bath there before I set up camp.
July 20 day 82 camped mile 1368.5 hiked 23.1 miles today. First really interesting stop was the Terminal Geyser which is actually a fumarole. I was there alone so stopped at the Drakesbad Guest Ranch and ran into Drop Bizkit and a couple of other thru hikers. I hadn’t seen her since the Anderson’s. The hikers I am most interested in are the ones I met early on. They are my crew.
July 21 day 83 camped mile 1397.9 Cache 22 hiked 32.4 miles today. It was an epic day. Walked out of Lassen and eventually into Old Station. It was a scorching hot day. Tanked up on food and water before pushing on to the Subway Caves where I waited out the heat of the day with Drop Bizkit. I hiked with her along the notorious Hat Creek Rim into the night to Cache 22 a water catch about half way through a 30 mile waterless section. When we got there there was water yes but also beer and chips and cookies. I felt great drinking a Sierra Nevada Torpedo after such a long day. We got to bed in the dust before midnight.
July 22 day 84 camped mile 1423.6 Burney Falls Memorial State Park hiked 25.7 miles today. Got up early and finished the Hat Creek Rim. Almost the first water that we got to was a water project i.e. loads of water. It was a strange contrast. The terrain was easy as first we passed highway 299 and then came to a totally unexpected and fantastic cache with ice cold sodas water tootsie rolls etc. The final miles into Burney Falls were difficult. I hung out at the store with other hikers charging phones and of course eating. Camped at the hiker/biker site at the SP not so far from the store.
July 23 day 85 camped mile 1429.3 hiked about 17 miles today. Got up early in order to hitch into the town of Burney. I hitched from the front of the SP for an hour and a half before starting to walk. I finally got a ride into Burney from a section hiker after about three miles. Had a giant and fantastic breakfast at the Blackberry Diner and then picked up food for the next 80 miles. I ended up walking most of the 11 miles back from town. To top if off just outside the park a dog decided to try to attack me. In quickly reaching down to pick up a rock I later found out that I had ripped my pack. I latter reported the dog to the law enforcement ranger at Burney. He said that the dog was a known problem but was outside his jurisdiction. The store topped the cake by telling me that the hiker box was thrown away because the food was old however the majority I had put in yesterday as a gift from SciFi and Campfire. Back on the trail I had a great bath in Rock Creek just before I camped.
July 24 day 86 camped mile 1453.5 hiked 24.2 miles today. I didn’t sleep so well last night as it was so hot a humid. Spent the day passing and being passed by a group of thruhikers; Spark, Inspire, Carrot Quinn, Scrub, SciFi and Campfire. Found a great open space to camp for the night as a parade of other hikers passed and complemented me on the spot. It was a little early to stop but I was tired. I should have set up a tent. There were plenty of mosquitoes in the evening.
July 25 day 87 camped mile 1478.8 hiked 25.3 miles today. I am eating my food at a rate that I will run out tomorrow early. It’s funny how my appetite can change from section to section. I end up camping on a pullout on a dirt road because it is a break in the forest so I am hoping for a at least a breath of air. Again it’s so hot that I go to bed only in long underwear no sleeping bag.
July 26 day 88 camped mile 1506.5 Castle Crags State Park hiked about 31 miles today. I was pretty low on food today so I had to make it out to civilization. The highlights of the day were a tiny little frog in a little pool that I was getting water from and a few crashes in the forest and the glimpse of the ass of a big black bear. The civilization that I got to was Ammarati’s in Castilla. They had great sandwiches. It was the end of a very long day as I got into the PCT camp.