July 2nd, 2022 by Jon
When I woke up, I was so surprised to be in a bed I sat up and almost hit my head on the ceiling because I was in the top bunk and had forgotten where I was. I felt well rested after being able to sleep with real sheets, but at the same time, the tent feels more like the place I sleep now than compared to the start of trail. I’ve noticed that as long as we out the rain fly on, it looks the same and my brain makes it a safe space to fall asleep quickly in now. So while a bed is still nice, I don’t know if I sleep quite as well in it lately.
We started packing things up having by enjoyed our extra hour of sleep since we went to bed late and did about 51 miles in two days. We used the communal kitchen to heat up oatmeal and drink our coffee out of real ceramic mugs for a change and that was super nice. We cleaned up a bit before heading out and hitting the trail around 7:45. We wasted about 20 minutes hiking up some rocks we thought were the trail, only to realize it wasn’t the PCT and had to go back down and the trail started about 100 feet to the right from where we accidentally started. Boooo. We hiked up above the road for a while, and had great views of Donner Lake far below us. We were essentially hiking around a massive 15 story builder that sat in our way making us take the long way around so we could get down to I-80. We walked through small stands of trees, hiked over large boulders and meandered our way through the rock before coming to a trail junction. One path led to the Eastbound rest stop on the interstate, the other would take us through a series of tunnels underneath the highway and we would end up at the westbound rest stop. At that junction there was a box of ice with cold drinks a sign that said it was for PCT thru hikers! Excited, we dug through it and found everything had been drank except for 3 PBR’s. It was only 9:00 in the morning, but free calories are tough to pass up so we drank them happily. We stayed for a while and talked to a bunch of day hikers who saw the sign and the drinks and wished us luck on the rest of our journey.
We continued onward and after a short flat walk, we came to the tunnels under the highway. There was water flowing through the first tunnel we came through and although it was only a few inches deep, that would be enough to soak our socks and we heard the 2nd tunnel was even deeper. We took our socks off and removed our insoles and put the shoes back on like that so we would have protection on our feet but also they would hopefully dry out quickly. The first tunnel was pretty easy, but the 2nd had water that came up to mid calf and was very murky. We tried not to think about what was in that water too much, and once on the other side we hiked up to the rest area and laid everything out to dry while to took another break.
After a snack, our shoes had mostly dried in the sun. We got lots of weird looks just sitting on the rocks in front of the rest stop bathrooms but we didn’t really care. We enjoyed some service there before putting everything back on and set out once again up the trail. We had a long, gradual climb for the next 5 miles to get up and over a ridge that would take us beyond the valley with the highway in it. The forest was somewhat thin here, and we passed probably 10 different groups of day hikers out for a quick trip. We also saw lots of people out for a backpacking trip, their packs looked about 3 times the size of ours in most cases, and we saw one person whose pack was, no joke, 5 times as big as ours. It had to have been at least 70 pounds.
We passed a few creeks running through a meadow about halfway up the climb and passed by Peter Grubb Hut which is a backcountry ski cabin built and run by the Sierra Club. Apparently you can pay to stay there overnight. It looked like a proper cabin with real glass windows and everything. We admired it from the trail before crossing the rest of the meadow. We trees thinned out significantly as we hit higher and when we got to the top, we took lunch by a small spring bubbling out of the side of the mountain and trickling across the trail. The views were really pretty from up there and it was incredibly peaceful to be back in the mountains and forests again.
I forced myself to eat as big a lunch as I could manage, and then armed my hip belt with more bars for the afternoon. I’m determined to give my body enough fuel so I don’t feel so tired, but it’s definitely a lot of work. We got going again and the rest of the day was a series of small descents and ascents over ridges. The trees were thick enough or we were low enough 90% of the time that we didn’t have much in the way of views. Thankfully, the forest has its own peaceful beauty and they were interspersed with fields of the same cabbage looking yellow flower plants we have been seeing over the last few days. I’ve been listening to an audiobook on and off for a few weeks and this was a great section to cruise through and listen to that.
We passed a few picturesque streams and took one quick break in a clearing, but otherwise it was pretty much non stop hiking for about 3 and a half hours. We came to the bottom of a hills and before we passed the dirt road to climb our last ridge for the day, we turned the corner and there was trail magic! It was the same guy (thanks, Alan!) who did the trail magic the day it rained and we were so happy to see him again. He told us he does this trail magic a week later a little ahead on trail last time and we forgot about it. He told us around 50% of the hikers he had today he had seen last week which was just amazing. He had cold drinks, watermelon, and homemade cookies that were delicious. Plus it’s just really great to sit in a camp chair instead of the ground.
We stayed for a while and talked with other hikers. It seems like we’ve gotten ahead of the bubble we were in because almost everyone is a new face lately. But we met some cool people and enjoyed our time there immensely. After telling him how much we appreciated the coffee last time, Alan actually gave Singsong a box of super fancy instant coffee from the shop that provided it. So awesome! After thanking him profusely once again for everything he is doing, we filled up water and set out for the last 2.7 miles up, over and halfway down this next ridge. Biscuit flew ahead while Singsong and I took it easy and got to just chat with each other. Sometimes it can be hard to find time for the two of us, but we try to make an effort to get a bit each day. We’re both feeling good with the increased bodies and while we feel more tired for sure, it’s going well so far and we’re very thankful for that.
The top of the ridge was super windy, but we had great views of a couples lakes in the valley below. We climbed down quickly and found the campsite where Biscuit was setting up. We found a spot to pitch our tent and had dinner with a few other hikers there before calling it a night.
We have about 20 miles to Sierra City and we need to pick up our package by 5:00 when the general store closes. Totally doable, but we feel the pressure of it because if we don’t, we probably have to take a zero with the next day being July 4th and we think the store will be closed. We don’t think we want to stay the night in town though, instead just hangout for a few hours if we get there early enough and then a few miles out before camping.
Looks like a rough place to stay at!
This is a very beautiful place 😍😍😍