PCT: CA Section M / Sierra City to Beldon

Sierra City-Highway 49 to Mile 1202.4

PCT Trail Mile 1195.4 to 1202.4

We slept almost 11 hours and awoke refreshed and ready to go back on the trail. But first the car shuttle to Beldon Town. 

It was a beautiful two hour drive and we were surprised to find out that Beldon is a quirky, old school resort and not an actual town.  We parked the truck in the huge equestrian trailhead and then had a delicious lunch back at the resort.  We decided to swim in the Feather River before returning to Sierra City.  Wow.  The Feather River wins the prize for being the perfect swimming temperature.  

In Sierra City we walk around and have an ice cream and later a Gatorade.  This is supper.  Around 5:30 we deem it cool enough to climb the mountain to Sierra Buttes.  Thunder rolls and teases us as we climb, but not a drop of water.  Sweat runs down our backs and not a branch moves. It is humid and sultry and our packs are heavy with five days of food.  

We meet Nomadic  Bear camping at the only option on the mountain. He seems like a nice guy.  He’s finishing up a section he skipped on his thru hike last year.  He warns us the trail ahead is washed out in places, narrow and rocky with a three thousand foot fall.  We hike on into the sunset with our head torches handy and our hearts light by the joy of being right here, right now.  

 The trail makes yesterday’s ‘goat’ trail look like a highway.  The washed out areas are only now a bit wider than my foot.  Thankfully they are only a step or two and we just walk across trying to not look down.  Vertigo comes a bit when I look down so I look up at the stunning sunset clouds behind the buttes.  It gets dark and we turn on our torches to light the path.  I remember that on the hiker app someone mentioned a mountain lion here.  I hear something in the bushes above me and my mind explores possibilities and I enjoy the rush of just a little fear.  We laugh and joke around and I eat a Lara bar as I’m beginning to run out of fuel on this steep hike  and we still have a lot of climbing until the first flat spot to sleep.  

We make the flat spot at nine and get our tent up quickly and hang our sweat drenched clothes on the stunted, scraggly branched trees there.  With not a breath of wind it is unlikely they will dry. It’s eerily calm.  We climbed 3450 feet in elevation and about seven miles. 

Head lights come toward us from the dirt road we are camped by.  Hikers.  Then we hear trucks coming up the mountain.  A train horn blows from one of the trucks.  The first truck passes us and it has five  guys standing in the back, like militia.  Horns are a blowing and people a whopping and hollering.  The fourth truck has Old Glory on a lighted flag pole about six feet tall.  The lights change colors, blue then green, blue then green. The last truck only has one tail light and it lags a bit from the others. It is quite the parade.    They drive up the road a bit to the lookout tower and we can hear them having a good ‘ole time.    

The hikers hike on by on the road. Talk about a long walk in the dark.  We can’t see any backpacks in the light of their lights,  but we do see them carrying water bottles. 

We sit quietly in the dark during all of this.   I’m giggling.  It was all quite the spectacle and very unexpected. This whole evening hike has been quite the rush and we like it.  We gather our still wet clothes, so critters don’t chew on them, and climb into our tent.  Sleep doesn’t come easily as I’m too pumped up.  

About an hour later the parade goes back down the mountain.   I hear girls’ laughter this time as the trucks bump down the road.  It’s a summer night in a small mountain town and kids just want to have fun.  

Overlook on Sierra Buttes to Jamison Spring :

PCT trail mile 1202.4 to 1216

The spring is good, but it tastes nothing like whiskey.   There is also a small herd of cows wearing cowbells making music, so we went off into the forest a bit to camp, so it won’t keep us awake tonight.  

Today was beautiful but difficult. First off, it was still, humid and hot.  We also got a bit hot under the collar, so to speak.  We had  interpersonal struggles from differing expectations.  As is common, I want to savor our last days on trail and Hawkeye had a need for speed.   I won’t go into the details, as they are ugly, but we weren’t always our best selves today.  Unfortunately, Hawkeye developed shin splints as well, so his need for speed got slowed way down. (Ironically funny, but that’s not nice.)  He’s stretching and massaging now, so hopefully we don’t have to turn around and walk the 21 miles south to our car.  Our truck at Beldon is about 70 miles away to the north. 

The dust and noise from all the four wheelers enjoying the wilderness didn’t help our mood much either.   They have every right to be out here too, I just wished that the trail was a little more distant from the four wheel drive roads.  

Oh well.  It is what it is.  Not everyday is great.   I write about our relationship bumps to keep it real and also, I hope, to inspire others in relationships to persist.  It’s worth it. In my view, soul mates are not discovered, but made by day in and day out commitment, love and communication.  Just have to remember our little ant buddy from a few days ago and persist over each bump in the trail. 

Jamison Spring to Whiskey Spring:

PCT trail miles 1216 to 1231.6

Total ascent was 4813 feet and we descended 4419 feet over 

15.6 miles and I melted in the stifling heat. 

The day was blessedly peaceful though.  We only saw two pleasant day hikers.  There were no revving engines and clouds of dust.  No bickering.  Hawkeye’s leg is feeling better.  There were little gray  birds chirping,  jays squawking and the hum of insects.  We saw lots of chipmunks, flowers, rocks, and one friendly doe.

 There were no lakes to cool off in, just tiny streams that I plopped into to wet my shirt and hair.  We had an occasional water fight with our water bottles. My legs felt heavy and I pushed hard with my hiking poles until my arms felt heavy too.  

At one point the sky filled with cumulous clouds and with a bit of flash and thunder.  In a dramatic fashion I raised my arms in the air, with hiking poles extended and proclaimed, “Let the heavens open and pour down water on this parched land and two hot hikers.”   And it did!   It rained big fat, cold drops of water with occasional small pieces of hail.  The heat dissipated for a while and we walked a bit stronger.  

We are camped near Whisky  Springs  in the forest. (It doesn’t taste like whiskey either.). We sponged off in the water and ate a good meal and drank our fill of the clear and cold water.  I’m laying, without clothes, in our tent because it is still very warm and windless. A bird is making a clucking like noise over and over.  I think it’s saying the neighborhood is ruined now that hikers have moved in. 

Hawkeye is planning out our day tomorrow and it’s a doozy.    These mountains are rugged and don’t make the miles easy.  The hot weather doesn’t help either.  All is well with us though, so that does lighten the load considerably.

 Whiskey Springs to Bear Creek:

PCT Trail Mile 1231.6 to 1253

Today was a big down day and it was sizzling hot!

Our day:

6 am - friendly wake up; weather forecast hot! 

6:30- Breakfast- Hawkeye has fried spam and bagel sandwich with tea and Pearl has a Probar with coffee infused with collagen, creamer and sugar.  (We each carry the food we want to eat). 

7-leave camp after packing up, and pooping in the woods.  (Always bury your poo and haul out your TP kids. Better yet use a Culo Clean Bidet top for your water bottle! That’s what we do when we do do.) 

Forest Walk. Occasional peek a boo views of ... more forest. 

8:30 - hike .2 down to Alder Spring for water.  We get buzzed by two very low flying military planes.  We see the first dark blur before the noise.  We don’t see the second one.  They are BELOW us, zooming over tree tops.  Are they supposed to do that?  Must be fun.  We hike back to trail. 

10 - We eat  snacks while continuing to hike through forest.  Pearl eats a snicker bar and Hawkeye jerky. We meet a three member trail crew.  We see five flighty sage hens. We see a peek a boo view of Mount Lassen. You might have to blow it up to see, as it is very far away. 

11 - We meet  Snickers, a thru hiker from last year, who is hiking a section he missed.  Pleasant conversation.  He tells us if a PCT hiker this year who carries a cat and that the Feather River ahead of us is great for swimming.  Pearl takes off. 

12:00 pm - hike .2 miles off trail to Fowler Springs.  Pearl decides to cool off in the little half bathtub there. 

Her feet go up and her butt goes down.  Splash!   She bruises the outside bottom  of her left foot.  Good thing she didn’t break a hip.   We eat lunch.  Hawkeye eats trail mix and granola, Pearl has peanut butter and graham crackers.  We hike back to the trail.  Pearl limps. 

We hike through forest.   Do you see the trend?  Today is decidedly an all forest walk. Which is very nice, but we’re spoiled by the grand  views that came before. 

2:00 - We are hiking switchbacks down into the Feather River Canyon.  Hawkeye see this art on a log.   What could it mean?

3:00 - We continue hiking down switchbacks, but the forest has changed.  We now see oaks, alders and dogwoods as well as evergreens. Pearl tries not to limp. 

3:30 - We arrive at the bridge over Middle Fork of Feather River.  Even though we’ve walked in shady forest all day and have mostly walked downhill, we are wet from sweat because it is very hot.  Definitely in the 90 to 100 degree range.    We follow the directions on our hiker app to a secluded beach. It is the place we saw drawn on the log.  There is a teepee and sand and seclusion on the river.  Hawkeye is giddy with excitement over finding the place on the log and he is even more excited to find benches. Pearl quickly eats trail mix, plantain chips and a Luna lemon zest bar and  then goes in the water.

5:00 - After snacking,  swimming, sunning and enjoying paradise, we eat dinner. Pearl has Parmesan  cous cous and Hawkeye has beef stroganoff. Pearl limps to the river and swims some more. 

6:30 -  We decide to hike on, as there is a ten mile climb to leave this canyon. We also hope a higher elevation might be a bit cooler.  Pearl limps a bit. 

8:30 - We arrive at Bear Creek drenched in sweat and wearing bug nets  to keep the gnats away from our eyes.   We see the clouds change color, but cannot see sunset.  The canyon is too deep.  We put up our tent and then go sit naked in the creek to cool off.  Pearl limps a lot. 

9:00 -  We lay in our tent and feel a bit of coolness. Maybe.  Pearl has her foot elevated on both backpacks.  She takes ibuprofen.  She complains about her throbbing foot.  She one finger types out this post. ( So please forgive any typos!)  She wonders if she will be able to hike tomorrow.  They sleep. 

 Bear Creek to just past Buck’s Summit:

PCT Trail Mile 1253 to 1270.3

We climbed almost 5000 feet and descended 1500 feet today and there was once again heat and stillness.  We sure hope this hot spell breaks soon.  

Leaving Bear Creek at seven am, I barely limp,   as my foot is much better.  I’m very grateful.  I still feel like I’m walking on an acorn, with the swelling, but it’s not very painful. The climb isn’t as bad as we thought either.  It’s steady, but gradual, and shady with trees.   As we get higher, we feel a tiny bit of a breeze and we stop, open our arms and embrace it. 

Lookout Spring is flowing well and we fill up on water and then proceed to Lookout Rock for a snack with a view.  A view! With that tiny hint of a breeze we are two happy campers.  

Looking ahead at the map we realize that to get a refreshing swim in we will need to take the alternate road walk to Buck’s Lake.  

Thru hiking the Florida Trail schooled us on road walking and I turn on some music and we fly down the road.  We alternate between walking the white line and the dirt alongside the road.  This will hopefully save us from getting shin splints.   The 2.5 miles are covered quickly and we get sandwiches, Gatorade and beer at the little deli and General Store.  The folks here are very nice.   Then we head to the lake and swim and lounge for a few hours.  Then back to the road and then to the trail.  

As the afternoon fades into evening a cool breeze blows in.  We are very pleased.  The weather has turned. We make camp and we actually  put on our lightweight base layers.  We will sleep well tonight.   

Buck's Summit to Beldon Town:

PCT Trail Mile 1270.3 to 1286.8 

(plus a side hike to Three Lakes)

Well.  We are done with this backpacking trip.  We are sitting next to the Feather River on the patio in Beldon Town waiting for a burger. We were here last week dropping off our truck and I know that their burgers are delicious and my mouth is watering and I’m a little impatient.  Hawkeye is happy waiting with his 805 beer. 

In 16 days (some partial hiking days due to car transfers) our feet took us 239 miles.  Overall, we climbed 41,707 feet and descended 47,799 feet.  We had a good time and we’re happy with how are bodies functioned. 

The last day on the trail are usually a melancholy kind of day, but we awoke well rested and happy.  I jumped up to go catch the sunrise on a rocky knoll below our forested campsite. Hawkeye, like everyday, brought me coffee.  He is very thoughtful. 

We were very happy that today the air was brisk.    It is easier to hike when it is cool.  Everything seems lighter. 

We have plans to have one more hundred mile hike on the PCT before winter sets in and that also helped to keep us from feeling blue.  

Except for our final seven mile switch back descent into Beldon Town, it was a very balanced walking day.  We hiked a bit up and then a bit down.   We experienced forest walks, then granite openings with views of lakes.  It was not monotonous.  We took a side trail around lunch time to go to Three Lakes and met two local ladies who’ve been out exploring for a few days.  We were the first people they’ve seen.   This area does not seem to get many hikers. 

Three Lakes is another PG and E reservoir and we enjoyed swimming and sunning on a granite rock.   We made a friend too. 

This little water/racer snake just floated beside us sitting on a rock in the lake.  

It is a  stark land with great views right before the trail plummets down to Beldon Town.  I realized I really like stark places;  distinct lines, clear air,  and open space  all excite me.  My mind feels free to fly. 

Hiking a long distance in general, frees our minds.  The simplicity and natural environment, in conjunction with physically exertion, naturally releases pent up tensions.  We are able to step back and see ourselves and our lives in a different perspective.  We grow.  We think of new ways of doing things and make  some break through in our personal relationship, as well as in our own personal development.  We also spiritually feel how interconnected we are with nature, each other and God.  We feel ageless too.  No mirrors to remind us of our wrinkles and gray hair and somehow, walking everyday all day, keeps our joints, muscles and ligaments looser. We find ourselves squatting easily  and jumping out of the tent, with no creaking joints, to go see the sunrise.  We experience  a hiker high everyday and we drink it sloppily in every step of the way.  

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” – Henry Ford