Hikers from hell

After accidentally throwing the maps away that we needed for our next section, I went dumpster diving for them unsuccessfully. Thankfully technology came through and we both uploaded the maps to our phones. I don't like to rely on this, but it certainly helped in this situation. 

I redeemed myself later that afternoon by hitching is a ride back to the trailhead in about 8 seconds. We started out of Sierra City about 3pm and immediately climbed up an exposed and hot 3,500ft. That day we hiked about 10 miles before calling it a night.

The next day we ran back into Gumby and Double-It and leap-frogged with them throughout the day. We had a break together at The A Tree which had a delicious ice cold spring! After our break, we noticed the clouds starting to build up around us and they were not looking pretty. Right before we reached treeline we decided to have dinner and just keep an eye on the clouds. They started to look a little better, so we made a run for our last 5 miles which unfortunately were mostly uphill. I was sweating like crazy trying to keep up with Katie.  Once we were above treeline the view of the storm was pretty spectacular and safe for viewing as it was a few miles away from us. The four of us all camped together that night exhausted, but happy we went for it.

The next day was again hot and humid, but we had a good destination for motivation. We had heard that the Feather River had camping and some good water holes for swimming. We hustled that day and made it to the river by 3pm. We immediately dropped our packs and went in the river. The water was refreshing and the perfect temp for bathing and sitting in with the hot sun over us. Turns out many other hikers had the same idea as us...by the end of the night there were 10 of us camped out together.

Our 4th day out was the 4th of July! We had an 8 mile climb out of the valley and then it was rolling hills after that. We had recently found out that there was a resort with 18 beers on tap and homemade pizza, so we decided that if we got 20 miles in and a ride before 4pm, we would treat ourselves to a long break at the bar. Sure enough this motivation did the trick and 4 of us were at the road to hitch by 3pm! The 3 of us girls stuck our thumbs out and the 2nd vehicle picked us up, we all hopped in the back of their pick-up truck. The Lakeside Resort was just as I imagined it would be and more! I had an Icky IPA, which was awesome, and a pizza. There were tons of people, good music playing, a wrap around bar, and views of Bucks Lake. We even got offered a ride back to the trailhead and were able to hike up a couple miles further before the end of the night. Brownie and Lint joined us in Katie's huge tent to escape the mosquitos before heading to bed.

The day into Belden was another hot one with a gruelling downhill to get to town. It was a major culture shock once we got to "town".  Belden is known for their raves and this being 4th of July weekend meant it was a big one. We had to walk right through it all. It was quite the people-watching experience, although I guess they were probably doing the same when they saw us walking through. We called the local trail angels in town, the Braatens, and they picked us up right away.

The Braatens live a mile away from where the raves are and 1/4 mile from a small grill with laundry service.  They have a separate apartment-style place for the hikers with 4 beds, a kitchen, bathroom and dining room. It was the perfect setup and a good place to relax. When we asked for our packages and told her our last names, Brenda said we get the "hikers from hell" award since we had 4 packages waiting for us and they came one at a time each day. Not only did we get our resupply package and our new NeoAir mattresses, but we had two amazing care packages from friends. Thank you to all of you who wrote notes to us, it brought smiles and tears to our faces hearing from you.

The scenery is certainly changing and we are in trees more and more of the time. It is crazy how long ago the desert and Sierras seem and how you soon get used to the new scenery.

We are also getting good at recognizing who is in front of us by their shoe print in the dirt. It is not uncommon at all for someone to come up to us and say something like "do you guys both were Cascadias" or "I knew I was seeing two prints of Cascadias." I guess that is what happens when you have lots of time on your hands and look at the ground a lot each day...

Pictures from top to bottom:
-Climb out of Sierra City
-Katie walking through the Belden rave.
-Before the descent to Belden
-Sierra Buttes
-18 beers on tap!
-Feather River
-View of the storm