Day: July 22, 2016

The day went ad planned, but the post office closed at two and I have some things I need to mail out, so I’m spending the night behind the Methodist Church until 10 am tomorrow and then heading out of town.  The weather got a little warm in the afternoon, but I was able to get into town and get my resupply box and have a nice early dinner before the country store closed.

The wind on my little private ridge last night behaved but I still had troubles staying asleep.  I didn’t use the tarp last night but I’m not sure if that had any effect or not.  I might try sleeping on my stomach more to see if that helps because when I finally did that early in the morning, I slept for over an hour straight.

I managed to get out at 5:30 and after the fifteen minute warm-up of the feet, I was making a good pace on the trail.  It was a little rocky, but it was the typical ridge and woods walk of the last few days.  I passed several hikers who had not gotten up yet and leapfrogged with two of them most of the morning.

There were two medium climbs for the day, and when I peaked the second one, it was about 11:00 and my stomach was growling so I stopped and had first lunch.  I didn’t want to dilly dally too much so I ate quickly and was off again in thirty minutes.  When I got to the bottom of the mountain, the other two hikers had stopped for lunch.  I chatted briefly and moved on.

I had done 14 miles by noon, so I was on a good pace to get there between 2 and 3 PM.  The only problem with that plan is that the last six miles into town got quite rocky and steep downhill.  It was hard to go fast with all the rocks.  I started seeing day hikers as I got closer to the road.  I finally made it to the road just before 3.

I rested a bit on a rock and drank some water because the sun had come out on those last six miles and I was quite hot and thirsty.  One of the other hikers came by as I was changing into a clean shirt to hitch and we got a ride within ten minutes.  It’s only a mile and a half, but riding beats walking on a road.

The country store was about what I expected.  A mish mash of hiker goods and some meats and produce.  I went straight to the deli to order a burger and a milkshake and then went to look for my resupply package.  They have all the boxes stacked in the back and you just go find your own package.  It took at least twenty minutes to find it.  I bought a peach and paid for my burger while I waited for it to be ready.  The online comments for this place talk about how expensive it is and how it takes an hour to get a burger.  Well, it’s no joke.  One grapefruit costs $3 and the burger really did take an hour to be ready.  Management is not this place’s strong suit.  Once it was ready, it was good, but not worth an hour wait.

There used to be a hotel across the street, but it is closed now, so all the hikers hang out over there.  About a dozen hikers were there at any one time, so the conversation was always lively.  I still had to sort out my resupply so I did that on the store side of the street.  I have a few items I need to ship home and I packed five days of food in my box but only need three so I will be shipping two days of the food plus my broken pole to Ashland Oregon where I need to buy five days of food and hit the REI to get my poles replaced.  But I will have to wait until 10 am tomorrow to do that, so here I am overnight in Sierra City.

I bough a beer from the store and hung out at the closed hotel for a few hours and chatted with the other hikers.  Most of these guys started in mid April, so I’m officially in the bubble now.  I saw Perch for about an hour when I first got into town, but he headed out since his resupply was done.  Other than him, this is a whole new batch of hikers to me.

With so few businesses in town, one thing I’m missing is a shower and laundry.  I was really hoping to get both.  They have public restrooms down the hill from the church and one bathroom had a shower head in it so I was at least able to wash my feet and legs.  The next two resupply stops do not have shower or laundry either, so this is going to be a rough stretch.  I just hope it does not get too hot, or I might have to improvise with some back country laundry.

The lady who gave us a ride into town owns the only restaurant in town open for breakfast so I intend to hit that early (they open at 7:30) then pack up and wait for the post office to open and head back to the trail as soon as that chore is done.  It’s a long hot four mile climb out of town and I want to get it over with as soon as possible.  It’s also eight miles to water, so I’ll have to carry plenty with me.

I was able to get up early today and get out at 5:30 and make good miles all day so now I am exactly 20 miles from Sierra City, where I have a resupply package waiting.  The store closes at 6 PM so I need to get an early start tomorrow so I can reach the store before they close.

The night up on the ridge in the trees was a little breezy and I woke up alot through the night but I was warm and toasty with the down jacket on.  I was able to eat and pack up in just thirty minutes which helped for the 5:30 start.  The moon was out all night and almost full, so it was hard to tell what time it was throughout the night.

My heels were stiff and sore for the first fifteen minutes of hiking, which is normal.  The trail was a little rocky, so it made it that much slower.  There was another ski area that we skirted under as the trail made its way towards Donner pass.  Around the ski area, the trail was nice and wooded.  On the slopes themselves, it always seems to get rocky with big rocks.  I guess with enough snow you have no clue what’s underneath.

The last mile to Donner pass was very rocky and had lots of switchbacks.  I remember many years ago taking the California Zephyr from Denver to Oakland and it went right through Truckee and the road at Donner pass goes into Truckee.  I was excited to be able to cross the tracks I once rode.  I could hear a train in the distance, but I could never see it.

When I got down to the road, there was a parking area packed with cars of day hikers.  I had seen ten or so on the way down, but this was more cars than for ten people.  They must be on other trails.  Lots of people running on the trails here, too.  There was another PCT hiker there trying to hitch into Soda Springs which is the other direction than Truckee.  I tried talking to him, but he was Japanese and did not speak much English.  I saw him on trail thirty minutes later, so I guess he gave up on going into town.  Some day I’d like to go into Truckee and check it out.

While I was down on the road, I got so hungry, I felt like eating my arm off.  OK, so that’s bad Donner pass humor.  But seriously, compared to the other passed I have seen in the last few weeks, Donner pass seemed like it would be a piece of cake to navigate.  There’s a huge lake nearby and it’s not that steep or high.  I’ll have to review the history of the Donner party to see what other contributing factors led to their demise.  Homework for after the trip.

As I ascended out of the pass, I saw a car on a pullout of the road with a whole pile of gear on the ground.  It took me a while to figure out it was climbing gear.  I looked above me and the rocks there did indeed look like good climbing.  I also noticed there were no railroad tracks in sight.  How could I have missed them?  I looked at the map and it showed them clearly and showed them on the south side of the road.  I had already crossed them, but I never saw them.  Then it dawned on me.  The train passes Donner pass in a tunnel.  I probably walked 200 ft above them and never knew it.  As I looked across the pass, I noticed the track and saw the snow sheds that I remember in the area.  And sure enough, the track disappeared into the mountain I just hiked over.  I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to walk across them.

The next excitement of the day was crossing under I-80 and being able to go to a rest area.  Rest areas mean bathrooms and vending machines and vending machines mean Coca Cola.  It took about an hour to get there, but once I got there I discovered they did not have any vending machines.  Super bummer, I could have used a Coke.  Oh well, I got to eat lunch on a picnic table for probably only the second or third time of the trip.

The trail after that was alot like the last few days.  Deep woods, climb to a ridge walk, then back to woods and repeat.  There were two exceptions to this pattern, however.  There was one meadow and an actual hut, Peter Grubb hut.  It had a main room, a small room to the side, and a loft above.  It was maintained by the Sierra club and would have been a neat place to stay, but it was only about 2 PM.  It had a solar panel and provisions for lighting and cell phone charging.  It also had the most interesting outhouse.  It was two stories and you did your business on the second floor.  It had a ramp up to the door.  I guess when there are varying snow levels a ramp makes the most sense.  It received frequent use.

I planned on hiking until about 8pm to eat up as much distance to town as possible to make tomorrow easier.  I found a decent campsite right at 8 and it turns out to be exactly 20.0 miles from town, so that is my goal… Get out as early as possible tomorrow and see if I can hit town between 3 and 4 PM.  It should be possibly if I can get out before 6 am and the trail remains much like it has been for the last few days.  I can taste the hamburgers and smell the showers and laundry from here.