Old Station Nero

Day 84

10 miles

Brunch at JJs diner

Stayed the night at Hat Rim Creek Resort and Motel

I pretended to be asleep for as long as possible after our alarm went off this morning. We just had to make it to JJs diner in time for breakfast so I wasn’t in a rush. After a quick breakfast, we set out to do the mostly downhill or flat miles to town.

At one point, there was a rattlesnake in the trail and we had to go around it. We hadn’t seen one since the desert.

By the time we reached the diner we were both famished. After eating a breakfast platter, I felt like I could eat a whole other plate of food.

While we were eating there, in walked the trail angel who had given us a ride from Chester to the trail. She had come up to do some hiking in this area and was kind enough to give Kevin and I a ride to our motel! It was neat to see someone we knew again!

We are staying in Old Station overnight and into the morning so we can get out package with our new tent in it! We are super excited to get our new tent!

It was also really nice to do laundry and wash the grit, ash, and dirt out of everything. I even scrubbed my pack in the bathtub. I feel like a whole new person. It was also nice to have some wifi and be able to get more info about the fires and think through what we would want to do. It would probably be possible to take other trails through the Shasta area north to Oregon or we could take a bus/train to Ashland, OR. All in all, we can’t really make the final decision until we get to Dunsmuir in about six days because literally anything can happen with a wildfire in six days.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Day 83

26.5 miles through Lassen Volcanic National Park

Today was a 1% day. Because we hiked 26.5 miles, it was one percent of the trail.

It rained on us for a couple of hours today. It was a full out down pour. It began as an innocent sprinkle and I thought for sure it would just pass on by. Last night it sprinkled a bit and we got up and closed the tent flaps but then it stopped. So this afternoon I fully expected it to stop too. But it just started to rain harder and harder. I am so glad that I still have my umbrella with me because it was so simple to use today! We were going to stop for a siesta break after 17 miles to hang out by a lake. But this is when it was raining, so Kevin and I stopped to get water and inhale some food. Then we kept pressing on and finished up the miles before camp pretty quickly. The rain soon cleared up and it got hot and humid again. We were glad to have some sun to dry out our coats and various items. It was also a nice way to notice what items didn’t stay dry throughout the day in our packs as well so we know how to pack differently when we have a lot of rain.

My lunch today was more items like soup and tortillas instead of granola bars so it required more stopping and rehydrating my food. This didn’t work so well during the rain because I didn’t want to stop. I was famished by the time it was dinner. But I had my favorite dinner of rice and beans so it was all good!

At some point during the day we had service and got a message from a friend ahead of us on the trail. He said there is a fire closure in Northern California on about 110 miles of the trail. We didn’t have service to get any other info so it feels frustrating to not be able to plan anything else but just walk towards town. We know the fire is not near us so we are safe, and it is so sad for all the communities affected.

I knew at some point this would happen and we would have to skip around or do an alternate. But still it is rough to process the changing face of thruhiking.

The beautiful sunset seemed like a peaceful way to end a tumultuous day.

Chester

Day 82

10 miles

Camped at mile 1340.6, North Fork of the Feather River

Resupplied in Chester, CA

Today we hiked a mile to the road and then hitched into Chester. Apparently Chester, CA is where Chuck Norris’ wife is from and they still have a house here. (According to Kevin’s dad!)

The hitch into town took a longer time but we managed to get a ride with a person who was coming up to their lake house for the weekend! Once we got into town we saw our group at the grocery store then met up at the town park after showers at the local laundry mat. We could hang out at the park all afternoon as the temperature rose higher and higher. There have been a lot of excessive heat warnings in the towns north of us and around us. It has been reminiscent of the desert heat which wasn’t my favorite but we make it through.

A local trail angel took us back to the trail after some of the heat died down. Her name is Drive Thru and she has been giving rides for about eight years. Her son hiked the PCT and since then she has been helping hikers. This is often many trail angels’ story of how they got involved with the trail.

We hiked about nine miles in to get closer to the Lassen NP border. We will have to hike all the way through it tomorrow because of the bear can requirements. I ended the day with a sandwich I packed out from the grocery store (they had gluten free bread!) and a new blister on my heel.

Halfway!

Day 81

Top of climb to meadow one mile before HWY 36

30 miles plus .6 to water

Camped at mile 1330.3

When we set out this morning, our plan was to hike about 20 miles, then go into town tomorrow and stay the night. So once we got service, I called a hotel to book a place to stay in Chester. Unfortunately, it was all booked up so we had to rethink our plan. We need food, showers, and eventually laundry. So we instead decided to do 30 miles today and hitch into and out of Chester in one day tomorrow and hike the 14 miles to the border of Lassen National Park. Lassen has a bear can requirement to camp in its borders which kind of throws off normal mileage days around it. But it is good they protect the bears there. Chester has a laundromat and showers in the middle of town so perhaps we will do those errands after getting groceries tomorrow.

It was interesting to see the fire damage as we walked through a large section of the forest today. Many plants have begun coming back such as the manzanita bushes, some wildflowers, and mushrooms on the trees. Around the water sources is where these flowers come back to life the fastest. Many of the rocks seem brittle and break easily as if they have been chard. The dirt is a mix of very fine sand and ash so it gets all over everything and I feel very dirty til the end of the day when I try to wash off at the last water source of the day. I’m grateful this section has already opened back up to hikers and for the hard work of trail crews that have already cut through a lot of the downed trees.

Today also marked the halfway point of the trail! There is a concrete marker to commemorate this and it felt surreal to arrive there. Perhaps because we have been counting down the miles to this point and maybe also because Northern California still feels about 1,000 miles long. We are halfway and still in California with a couple hundred miles to the Oregon border I believe. Our hiking group had been to the monument earlier in the day since they are ahead of us and we were sad not to be at this big achievement with them. But Kevin and I celebrated arriving here just the same.

When we arrived to camp, we were super proud of ourselves for making it through our first 30 mile day on the PCT! My feet are a bit sore but I still feel strong and hopefully can hobble out of the tent in the morning still!

1300 miles

Day 80

Belden tree house to top of the climb, 1300.6ish

13.3 miles plus 1.6 off trail road walk

5,000ish feet of gain

A group of about eight of us slept in the “treehouse” structure last night. I heard their alarms go off early to get a good start up the hill before the heat. I wished we could leave with them but alas we had to go and get our boxes. Yesterday after the post office people told us we couldn’t get our box, they opened for another hiker and she got her packages and could start the climb earlier in the day. That felt frustrating that the business did that but what can ya do?

After a breakfast of oatmeal and sweet tea, we walked down the road 1.6 miles to Caribou Crossings. It was a tiny campground and even smaller store. There wasn’t really enough food in the store to even resupply with so I was glad we had boxes. After getting our boxes and packing our bags, the store owner offered to drive us back to the trail. This was super kind of them. On the drive, the campground owner told us about how the valley of Belden was settled because of its gold. The “treehouse” we had slept in was a renovated stamp mill. They would bring rocks, usually quartz, to the mill to be smashed so they could get the gold out. People still pan the river for gold.

We began the climb up the hill at 10:30. Right about when it was starting to get so hot. The whole climb was about 13 miles and 5,000 feet of gain. So long and uphill the whole way. It was also very exposed for most of the climb because of the fire damage. Thankfully, there were a lot of streams to dunk our hats and shirts in and try to stay hydrated. I was pouring sweat the whole afternoon as we were in the sun and it felt a bit humid too. There was a surviving tree about three miles up that we could sit under for a siesta. We stayed there from about 12:15 to 3:30 then continued on. I was super grateful for more forest farther up the hill too. I also started listening to a new book. “Beartown” by Fredrick Backman. This town is set in Scandinavia and they talk about winter a lot so I think that helped me stay cool too! Thinking about snow, ice, and hockey! Camp arrived at 9pm. We had to push to a certain spot to camp that didn’t have a bunch of dead trees and the sunset there was amazing!

Beldentown

Day 79

16.7 miles into Belden

Camped in Belden at the “tree house”

When I woke up this morning, there was a deer romping around our tent. It was timidly walking around, sniffing the ground, then looking up at us if we moved at all. It was neat that we almost seemed to be a part of the deers day and it was unbothered by us…until we decided to get up.

Today the air smelled different. It wasn’t smoke or the trees but almost a humid smell. Today seemed like the first day there have been clouds in the sky except for when it rained or the smoke. There were a couple of days in the desert that weren’t full sun but it has been awhile so the clouds were a huge relief.

The first few miles this morning were uphill and in some unscathed forest. The rest of the miles were through a burnt forest from the Dixie fire which I believe is the largest or most destructive fire in California history. We will be hiking through the fire damage for the next few days. It is dusty and ashy so we have been getting filthy.

The end goal of today was getting to Belden and hopefully getting our resupply boxes. When we arrived, the shop was not open and not willing to open their post office to give us our boxes even though they said yesterday they would. So we will be staying near Belden tonight and getting our stuff tomorrow then heading out.

Belden is an interesting establishment. It calls itself a resort probably because they rent out rooms and cabins and it probably had a hay day about 50 years ago. The people who live in that area have been resilient through fires, a flood scare from a dam, and the trials of living in a not easily accessible town. Which is probably precisely why many of them live there.

We haven’t been seeing as many hikers along the trail in the last few days because quite a few people have skipped this section because of the burned area. It hasn’t been as bad as the general hype made it sound. Our goal is to walk every mile we can but we understand if someone was concerned about the ash or chemicals used in firefighting and their health.

Day 78

20.6 miles

Camped at mile 1270.3

Went to general store in Buck Lake

This morning consisted of a long well graded climb for a few miles as we climbed out of the Feather river ravine. It grew hot and almost humid pretty quickly. I was super grateful for the trees along most of the climb. Today’s forest was mostly unburned. Yesterday we walked through the Bear Creek fire area until we got to the river. But it might have been the Dixie fire. From now until Old Station, we have to choose our campsites well based on what areas are burned or unburned.

Today we added the adventure of walking into town to visit the little general store for snacks, cold drinks, and ice cream! The town was called Buck Lake and it has several campgrounds and quite a few vacation rentals. There are two restaurants, one of which was closed today the other one was only open for drinks. The bartender was very kind and patient as he was the only one working. One of the locals bought all eight of us drinks. Along the way into camp yesterday and then into town today, our group had picked up other hikers who had been hiking on their own. One of our friends in another hiking group that is usually behind us, calls our group the “get alongs”. Meaning we get along with and welcome everyone we see into the campsite, hiking groups, or dinner time we are having. I really appreciate this part of our group. But sometimes it means there are a lot of us so I was impressed we got our drinks bought for us with such a big group!

The bartender was telling us how last year at this time, their entire town was evacuated for six weeks because of the fires. It is wild the vast impacts fire season is having now.

On the way back from town, we got a hitch and piled six people plus packs into the back of a truck. What an adventure!

Sierra Buttes

Day 76

25.1 miles

Camped at mile 1224

We finished a large climb this morning it of the trees and around the large Buttes!

The mountains changed today. They went from the large rock Sierra Buttes that we have been able to see for miles. Then shifted into green rolling hills. The mountains are now around 6 or 7000 feet tall and have large forests of conifers blanketing the slopes. I love the huge trees. My plant ID app says they are red firs but I’ll have to double check that. Either way, the tall tall trees with the bright green wolf lichen growing on the bark with white and purple floral blanketed ground.

At one point today I looked down the mountain to see a huge lake with a ton of cars and boats. It looked fun. Then I realized it is the weekend so most people are outside recreating too! Just in a different way than us!

Currently as I try to go to sleep, there is a large animal or two roaming around the tent site in the thicket just beyond my sight. Perhaps a deer or a bear. It is inhibiting my sleep as I keep listening in the direction of my tied up food bag. There have been a lot of deer in this forest and so I’m sure it is a deer.

Sierra City

Day 75

15.1 miles

Resupply in Sierra City

Camped at mile 1198.7

The first seven miles of the walk went by pretty quickly. Kevin and I talked about what we needed to do in town and the food we hoped the tiny store would have. (Spoiler: the selection was very limited, we are in the middle of freaking nowhere, the owners have to travel a few hours to restock their store.)

The next five miles before the road to town went by more slowly. It was starting to get pretty hot. We are in lower elevation now than we have been in quite a while so it gets hotter during the day. When we were almost to the road we passed a couple who were on a day hike. We stopped to talk to them, they were on a hike to find an old mine in this area. We told them we were headed to town and they said “oh, we are going to take you to town”. They were excited we had a friend right behind us on the trail so they could give her a ride too.

It was very kind of them!

Sierra City was an easy place to pick up our box, get a sandwich at the deli, get a few snacks at the general store, and shower at the free showers in the park. The shower was colder than some alpine lakes so it was more of a splash bath but felt so refreshing on a hot day!

When we were getting ready to leave, some friends came into town that had been near us hiking but we hadn’t seen in a few days. It was fun to catch up and exchange phone numbers to stay connected down the trail.

The climb out of Sierra City is a long steady climb. We only went up three miles of it today and will finish it in the morning before it gets too hot again. Perhaps tomorrow I will do better at not complaining about the heat so much. Sorry Kevin.

28 miles

Day 74

27.9 miles

Today was our longest day of hiking yet on this trail, basically 28 miles. We picked up a few resupply snacks at the Donner ski ranch so we could skip Truckee today and get into Sierra City tomorrow. We have a package at the post office and since it is a tiny town, the hours are from 10am to 2pm. So we are going more miles today to get into town in time tomorrow to get our package. We tried to start out the day early and we kind of did, except we went to the rest area on I80 that the trail literally walked right past. When the trail crosses interstates, we usually do so by the drainage tunnels under the highway. Much safer and less illegal than crossing the actual road but I always think the tunnels are super creepy. This one usually has shin deep water running through it from draining the highway but today it was mostly dry. I was so glad. It was nice to go to the rest area to use the bathroom, get water, and have service for a bit. I got to FaceTime mom and Allison which I was grateful for. Then we got walking.

Sometimes Kevin and I have in-depth conversations about life and topics important to us. Today our important topic was what candies we would want to have in a candy trail mix.

They are as follows:

Ashley: nerd clusters, tropical mentos, mini starbursts, Swedish fish tails (different flavor than the red ones), Black Forest gummy bears,

Kevin: tropical Swedish fish, nerd clusters, mini starbursts, and sugar fruit slices,

Now we just have to find a dollar store to make our trail mixes!

After we hashed this out, we went back to listening to our books. Kevin is going through the Harry Potter series. This is sentimental to him because his mom read the books to him when he was small. It is one of his core memories he mentions often. And I am listening to The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, about neuroscience, kids, and trauma. But I space it out with podcasts since that is a heavy topic.

We got into camp a bit late today since we went more miles and so we ate dinner a few miles before camp.