Hannah the hiker

On day 71 I woke up at 6 and was pretty cold. My little thermometer told me it was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and it no doubt was colder during the night. I quickly changed out of my pjs and threw on my rain pants, puffy jacket, and beanie to start hiking for the day. I left camp by 6:40 and had some uphill for 6 miles until I reached 6,600 feet in elevation. It was a really pretty morning but smoky. I had some views of the canyon and mountains nearby once the smoke cleared. I didn’t change out of my warm clothes until about 10, it took me a while to warm up. I stopped and had lunch around 11:40 on this slab of rock right under the sun. It felt nice to have the warm sun on me after a cool morning. I left here around 12:30 and headed on to finish the rest of the day. I met a hiker who is going north on the PCT and only doing California. They are from Southern California so they gave me all the information on bear activity, the desert, what to expect in the Sierras, and just general advice about the rest of the trail. We had a nice conversation about our bear encounters and our favorite parts of the trail. They were trying to get a hitch into Quincy so I didn’t stay long to talk.

I kept on hiking and had to stop to filter water and check on my feet a couple times. I had to apply some blister cream since the underneaths of my feet were getting pretty sore.

I didn’t have much uphill to do at the end of the day, only around 990 feet over 4 miles. I decided I would have an early dinner on the top of Lookout rock so I tried to get there by 5:30. Right before I got to the rock I found some trail magic. Someone had left a tote of books next to a trail sign saying to take one and leave a note. I was almost done with “Tracks” so I figured I’d grab another book to keep me occupied. “A walk in the woods” by Bill Bryson was in there so I picked that one. I’ve seen the movie already but, I figured the book is probably better. I thought the box of books was such a unique idea and I felt really happy to get another book. Trail magic is amazing when it happens.

I had dinner on lookout rock. Just some ramen and a payday and I read “Tracks.” The view was great and it was very peaceful and quiet up there. I took my time eating, just soaking up the view and all.

I left by 6:30 and continued on to do another 2 ish miles to camp. I got to the site at 7:20 and set up my rain fly. Since it’s getting colder at night I figured it’s probably a smart idea to set up some sort of shelter so I’m not so cold. The night before was okay because it was in a pinch but I don’t need to be having restless nights like that often. I went to bed around 8:30. It feels like I’m a kid again, I have a pretty set and strict bedtime of 8:30. Any later and waking up early is a pain.

Day 72 was a big uphill day. I left camp by 6:40 and went downhill for a couple miles to Bear Creek. Here, I found out how appropriately the creek was named! I walked over the bridge and heard a bunch of branches breaking and something running through the brush underneath. Then I saw two bear cubs run and climb up at least 40 feet into two different trees. I could see the mama bear under the bridge staring right at me. Both cubs were in trees in the direction I was headed on the trail. I wasn’t sure what to do because I definitely did not want to get in trouble with the mom. I stayed out on the bridge and tried to see if maybe the cubs would climb down and run away. After 5 minutes they did. I slowly continued on the trail and kept my eyes peeled for the cubs or the mom. I didn’t see them again. That’s my first time ever seeing bear cubs which was cute but also a bit scary. It definitely woke me up more than my instant coffee.

Not even a mile after that incident I saw a mountain lion. It was walking on the trail towards me, then saw me and sprinted off. I didn’t even get to see what direction it went because the trail curved around a rock outcrop. So I had no idea if it went uphill, downhill, or continued on the trail. The mountain lion was a bit more frightening because they are a lot quieter and sneakier than bears. I saw it’s paw prints in the sand from when it was headed north on the trail which was cool. I kept looking behind me for a while to see if it would stalk me or anything, I didn’t see it again.

I stopped and had lunch around 11:40 and had my usual peanut butter sandwich, cheezits, and even made myself some matcha tea! I was really hungry on this day for some reason so I had been snacking all morning and was looking forward to lunch. I read some more of my book and just laid in the sun. I left after an hour and continued on. My feet were starting to hurt more after lunch. Since my shoes are pretty worn and have holes in the sides they let in a lot of dirt and pebbles. This stuff gets right under my feet and rubs against them which irritates the skin on my feet. I stopped a couple times to change my socks, add more blister cream, and shake out the dirt. I tried to duct tape the holes shut but that lasted all of 10 minutes. The rest of the day was just slow because my toes hurt from all that.

A lot of the water sources through this section are also off the trail a bit. I stopped at Fowler creek and had to descend 500 feet to the stream just to get some water. It was cold and refreshing but just annoying to have to go off trail since it doesn’t really count toward my total mileage for the day.

I saw a lot of squirrels and chipmunks as usual. I probably see at least 100 of them a day. They all make such weird noises too, at first I thought their chirping was a bird but turns out it’s not. It’s been interesting identifying different animals based off their sounds and calls. I feel like I’ve become a better listener out here.

I got to my campsite at 7, only doing 23 miles for the day. I thought about going another mile to another campsite but my feet were not getting any better. On this day I lost about 4,000 feet in elevation and gained 5,800 feet. It seemed like most of the day was spent going uphill which made me super tired by the time I had camp set up. I just ate and went to sleep.

Day 73 was another good day. It was chilly in the morning so I wore my puffy jacket and beanie while packing up camp. I left by 6:40 and walked about 1.4 miles to the first water source. This creek was .2 miles off trail, a bit annoying but I had to get water.

I continued on from here and had the first uphill of the day, only about 500 feet. It was really smoky even up at 7,000 feet. Normally it clears up once the sun is out but it didn’t that morning. I was worried that maybe there was a new wildfire so when I got service I looked online and couldn’t find anything new. It wasn’t fun to hike in because the smoke was so thick it was starting to hurt my chest. I kept on walking and met two section hikers. They started at Echo Lake and were headed to Belden. We talked about how smoky it was and they told me it gets worse the closer I get to South Lake Tahoe. So I have that to look forward to.

I hiked to a creek (that was on the trail!) and had my lunch. I washed my feet off a little bit but it was way too cold to soak them. I met another southbounder which was cool. We talked a little bit about the smoke and cold weather. I left the creek around 1 still with my warm layers on. I don’t think it ever got above 50 degrees Fahrenheit on this day.

I had some more uphill for the day. I didn’t mind it too much though because the trail opened up a bit and I had some spectacular views. At one of the water sources I met two hikers who were hiking 30 miles of the trail in one day. One of the hikers told me that she was 64, I was pretty impressed!

I climbed up to about 7,300 feet in elevation and for the next couple of miles went a bit up and down. There were some really pretty lakes that I could see from above, and great rock outcroppings. The sky finally cleared up to so there were blue skies, green meadows, and huge grey rocks. It was so pretty. It was one of those moments where I actually said out loud “wow” when I got the full view of the mountains. There were some really cool rocks to look at along the trail as well. I walked through one patch where the rocks were deep red and orange.

While it was breathtaking up there with the views it was quite cold. The wind was whipping hard and at times it felt like I was being moved by it. I was pretty cold up there in the exposed sections so I tried to hurry and get down in some tree cover. While I was walking I nearly got ran over by a mountain bike. A guy raced around a corner and stopped a couple inches from me. He told me there were two other bikers behind him. Mountain bikes are not allowed on the PCT, and for good reason. I was pretty irritated with how careless the bikers were because they were barreling down a hill and didn’t seem to be thinking about the people walking uphill. I didn’t say anything to them about the rules and all because I did not want to get in an argument with strangers up in the mountains.

I continued hiking and filtered some water at Sawmill Creek. Then walked .2 to my campsite. I hiked 25.4 miles on this day and got to camp by 7:20. I quickly set up my rain fly, it was windy and cold and getting dark quickly. I jumped into my sleeping bag as quickly as possible since I was chilly. I read more of “Tracks” too. It’s been nice reading about Robyn’s solo trek across the desert. A lot of what she writes about is similar to how I feel or what I’m experiencing, it’s comforting!

I had some instant pasta and a payday for dinner and went to sleep after such a big day. On that day I gained about 4,500 feet in elevation and lost about 4,100 feet.

Day 74 started off rough. I set up my rain fly the night before to shelter myself from the wind, but didn’t think much about the rain in the forecast. Sure enough it started raining pretty hard and it woke me up. I sloppily set up the rain fly and it definitely did not shelter me from the rain. All of my stuff was soaked and muddy. Waking up at 2 am to find the bottom of my sleeping bag soaked and everything so dirty was not how I wanted to start the day. I barely got any sleep from then until 6. I got a late start hoping that the rain would let up, and it did so I packed my stuff up and left by 7. I had 13.9 miles on trail to Sierra City and then a 1.5 mile road walk after that. I went downhill for about 2 miles and had my puffy jacket, rain jacket, rain pants, and beanie on the whole way. I was so cold and miserable. I tried to just get stoked about getting to town to eat at the Red Moose Cafe. The cafe closes at 3 so I hauled it to town. At the end of the downhill there was a real campground with a pit toilet and dumpsters. I delayered, through out my garbage, and used the facilities. At this point I was feeling a bit better since the rain let up and the sun came up. I went uphill for about 4 miles and honestly it wasn’t that bad. It was a 1,300 foot climb but very gradual and beautiful. I feel so much better hiking when it’s nice and cool out like it was this day. I don’t feel like I’m going to melt just walking a couple of steps.

On the way up and down I had terrific views of Sierra Buttes. There was a side trail to the summit but since it was so windy and I had no extra snacks I refrained. I sure wish I had had extra food to go up there though.

I had about a 7 mile descent to the highway which was pretty cruisey. The views were breathtaking and I could see the trail switchbacking down the mountain. It was still pretty windy so I kept my rain jacket on but was able to change into shorts. I was getting pretty hungry at this point since I only had an oatmeal packet and packet of peanuts for breakfast. So I looked in my food bag and turns out I had 2 packets of MRE crackers. Not the most filling thing ever but it staved off the hunger til I got to town.

Although the downhill was super easy, there were lots of rock fields that slowed me down. I ripped more of the fabric on my shoes walking though these rocks and they definitely didn’t feel great under my feet. But it wasn’t too bad, I managed.

I got to the road by 1 and started walking to town. No one picked me up for a ride but it wasn’t too bad since it was only 1.5 miles away. I got to the red moose cafe before they closed and ordered the hungry hiker burger. It was not disappointing. It was a veggie burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, easy over egg, pickles, banana peppers, avocado, Swiss cheese, and a basket of fries. I ate all of it to the waitresses surprise. I also had two cups of coffee. I felt so great and happy that I had made it there in time. Then I walked on to the country store where my new shoes and resupply box are. And surprise surprise they are closed on Sundays and Mondays. I have been having such a tough time getting my boxes lately. I called the store, Facebook messaged them, and asked some locals about getting my boxes. No luck.

So, I got a room at the Sierra Pines Resort for the night. It is really cozy with some rustic furniture and my own little porch. I’m going to see if the post office has my boxes by any chance tomorrow morning. If not, the worst thing will be that I have to wait til the store opens on Tuesday. I need my new shoes and food desperately so I can’t just keep going on the trail til I get them. The next possible town is 40 miles on trail to Truckee.

I am enjoying the cooler weather lately and the spectacular views of Northern California. I am going to enjoy this little hotel room, have a nice dinner, and just enjoy where I am at in the trail and not worry about the whole resupply box situation. After Sierra City I have 5 days to South Lake Tahoe! I’ve really appreciated all of the positive feedback I’ve received from this blog and my hike too, it makes me feel good about what I’m doing!