"I'm all about setting low goals and failing to meet expectations." - Shake n' Bake
The night before we entered the town of Belden, we camped seven miles out on a lovely ridge where we were treated to the beats of electro house music from the music festival taking place all night long. In the morning, we spent an hour or so weaving our way down the switchbacks feeling pumped up by the ongoing "ns ns ns."
We stumbled out of the woods like a couple of nutters into some sort of LSD-fueled, spandex-infused festival attended by LA & San Fran's hippest. The day was hot, so hikers were strewn about on the porch of the general store, smack dab in the middle of it all. Most were wearing yellow bracelets, forced on them by the festival crew, which signified that they had not paid and were not welcome to enjoy any of the music or festivities up close. We navigated our way through the crowds to the shower and laundry. While waiting in line for a shower, one airy girl with dilated pupils encouraged me to stay the night, saying it was good to calm the mind by effectively rendering the mind useless. She then encouraged me to share the shower stall with her while she was changing.
[wearing hot clothes while doing laundry, wearing no clothes while doing laundry, trippy resupply boxes c/o M&M, clear instructions on dryer, beating the heat, views from above]
Boom and I spent the day resupplying and washing clothes and people watching. We had lunch at the general store with Hawkeye and Skippy, who unfortunately decided to get off trail again to have Skippy's foot checked out because it was hurting her just as bad as it had been before.
We were trying to wait out the heat; I've had a headache every day since I got back on trail. So we sat in a grassy spot overlooking the river, where hundreds of people floated on rafts shaped like unicorns and pizza while listening to the performing DJs. It was all fun and games until someone started having a seizure on the beach, and then it was about time for us to hike out. We had a big climb ahead of us that would last several days. But I didn't mind it. The evening was beautiful, and the mountains rose up around the river. As we walked the rafts faded into colorful specks on the water, and the music faded into the background. We hiked into the night and set up camp in the dark.
[from up close to up above]
The next day was a long one of climbing and obsessive podcast listening. The day after that we made it to the halfway point on the PCT! 1325 miles, equidistant to Mexico and Canada. I must admit I felt some relief that I wouldn't be repeating this distance. It was the first day since Reno that I didn't have a headache.
[halfway point photo shoot]
Unfortunately, the headache came back with a vengeance the next day, evolving into a migraine that made it hard for my eyes to focus in the 100+ degree heat. We needed to make big miles to make it to Old Station where we would be meeting my dad, brother, and sister who were coming out for a visit, but instead, we stopped midday at a river and napped. The migraine started dissipating in the evening, and we made dinner on the bridge to avoid mosquitoes. In the morning, we would need to turn back toward Chester because we wouldn't be able to make it to Old Station, 35 miles away. The North Fork of the Feather River was my Manning Park.
The last day of hiking was a bit sad. We were walking south, meaning we passed at least a dozen hikers who were very curious about wtf we were doing and wheretf we were going. I wasn't really in the mood to explain I was quitting. Not to mention, this 9 mile section back to Chester was uphill through a privately held logging forest, so the sounds around us were motorized vehicles and trees crashing to the ground. Maybe there's some deeper meaning here. And lastly, my mom texted me that I had a letter from the IRS, I suddenly remembered our car registration had expired, and Adam was denied additional leave from his job. So we spent our last few hours on the PCT together worrying about real life and feeling a bit grumpy.
Once we hit the road, it wasn't too difficult to catch a hitch into Chester, where we ransacked the hiker box and took showers at the "pay shower" in the middle of town, which was part of a joint business that included a few apartments, a public laundry facility, and a dog wash.
We got a milkshake across the street, and I started feeling excitement descend upon me thinking of my adventures in Virginia that lied just ahead. We were lucky to catch Animal and Jetpack for lunch, and then we made our way to the grocery, where my dad, brother, and sister would arrive looking a bit out of place in the California backcountry.
[my last day, shirt found in hiker box, Animal "sweating from everywhere"]
