In Sierra City, I met about 8 other hikers either doing the full 2650 mile trail or section hiking like me. Sky, an ultra-light advocate, thought I had too much stuff, and he helped me to lighten my 22 lb base load by 4 lbs 6 oz. That’s 25% of my pack weight! I mailed away my fleece, much of my first aid kit, a jackknife, an extra book, and other non-essentials. 

That night, a bear visited a small church yard (about 1000 square feet of turf)  where several of us were camping out. I woke up to someone screaming “Bad bear! Bad bear!” I always thought I’d be the hero in a situation like this - jump out of my sleeping bag and scream at the beast until he ran away, but I’m afraid I did the opposite. Just out of a dream and totally confused, all I could think was “Please bear, don’t trample on me. Don’t trample on me!” as I tucked my head into my bag and curled into a defensive posture.  In other words, I freaked. Well, he ran off without incident.

 Sky wanted me to put away my watch. I was using the timer to alert me to hourly breaks. Well, his wish was granted when the band broke on the way out of town and I put it in the pack. I never really used it again.

The day off did me well. I was out by 5:30 am  and by 11:00, I had climbed out of the valley 5000 feet up to the fire lookout over Sierra City.

7/30  “Unnamed Lake”

Having dropped my daily mileage to about 15 miles per day, my trip started to feel like a vacation.

"I have the lake all to myself. It sits on an isolated bench a fair climb below the trail and looks over a wild forested valley. All is peaceful solitude. I was on trail at 6:45 today and had a wonderful morning of mostly level walking through 'viewless forest.' I love it. You stay cool and you feel comfortable - sort of in a cocoon."

7/31  Feather River Valley

Continuing my water tour, I tucked away in a tiny camp on the north shore of Onion Creek just before it meets the West Fork of the Feather River. The water was not too cold. I had a quick, wonderful bath before setting up a late camp.

8/2  Belden Town

I arrived at Belden 1 day early! During the approach, boredom was starting to set in, so I thought up some creative ways to keep myself in the moment.

"I kept myself amused for several hours – noting the shape of a rock, the smell of a tobacco bush or Manzanita, the pattern of light in the tree canopy, counting the rings on a sawed stump (150), feeling the weight of a particular rock. I observed and enjoyed (a verb!) the trail."  

8/3  Belden Town (day off)

Besides my trip to the post office, I pretty much hung out around the restaurant, visiting it every few hours.

Schedule of events:

8 am Breakfast – Strip steak and eggs

10 am Pick up food pack and new boots at the post office

12:00 Noon Lunch – nicely stacked Turkey sandwich with Cranberry and a 14 oz bag of Lays Classic chips. (~1200 calories)

1:00 Three hour nap and reading time at the Belden Beach (right next to the restaurant).

4:00 A little swimming time.

5:00 Dinner – 2/3 lb. burger with slaw and a large dessert of spiced pumpkin cake.

I went to bed only slightly hungry.

Storm Clouds Forming Below the Summit

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