Section 13 - Donner Pass to Belden View Photos July 5 14 miles. We (Shirt, Packrat, and I) are back on the trail after two relaxing days off in Truckee. I ran into these two on my way down to Donner Summit and invited then back to our Truckee getaway. We met as we crossed over the 9,000 foot Tinker's Knob ridge. The wind was unbelievably strong and we leaned into it at impossible angles in an attempt to stay upright. I had experienced 80 mph winds before but these winds were stronger. We were very glad to get safely off that ridge. It was the 4th of July weekend and the four of us went to see the parade through downtown Truckee. My favorite presentation was the Truckee Drill Team--6 guys in ski boots twirling American flags from their portable electric drills. We ate like elephants and gained back a few pounds. I've lost 10-15 pounds so far, the others quite a bit more. Every time I head back to the trail it gets harder to get used to trail food again. Cynthia drove us back to Donner Summit after lunch. I probably won't see her again until Ashland, OR--575 miles away. I miss her already. We're camped tonight on a ridge above another one of innumerable valleys named Bear. It's 25 miles from here to Sierra City. We had lots of snow travel but every day the coverage gets thinner and the trail easier to find. July 6 25 miles. We made it to Sierra City in time to hit the Tuesday evening all-you-can-eat spaghetti and meatballs dinner special at the Buckhorn Bar & Restaurant. What they meant to say was "all-you-can-eat-as-long-as-we-feel-like-serving-you." It was possibly the worst service I've ever experienced. The cook was out sick, the owner was having a nervous breakdown, and the Maitress'd was drunk. We stayed for over two hours and got two servings of spaghetti. The second serving didn't have any meatballs. Sierra City--population 200--is a two-bar town with 4 motels, a couple of restaurants, a post office, and a general store. Oh, and a gas station that opens at 10 a.m. The town is perched on historic Highway 49, at the base of Sierra Buttes, at an elevation of 4,100 feet. It's the lowest elevation since Tehachapi--over 600 miles ago. We got a room at the Sierra Buttes Inn--right above the bar--and listened to the booming jukebox 'till the wee hours. No charge. At closing time, a fight broke out and a few bodies bounced off the walls but the participants were too drunk to continue. We're having breakfast this morning at the Mountain Shadows Cafe. The sign on the wall says, "If you're smoking, you'd better be on fire." We got our breakfast--eggs and pancakes--in less than 15 minutes. I like this place. We're headed up the Sierra Buttes today--a 3,000 foot climb--and hope to make Belden in about 4 days. July 7 20 miles. I'm solo again after leaving Shirt and Packrat still packing at 11 a.m. A box hadn't arrived at the post office, they were debating what meals to bring, and they had no ETD. I said good-bye and headed out. I wanted to continue hiking with them but I needed to get to Belden in 4 days and I had 92 miles to go. I'm a little behind schedule and it's time to start cranking out the miles. My goal is Ashland, Oregon by August 1. I met some new PCT faces in Sierra City: "Spice", "Little Bear", Aaron, and Jason and Lara. They all left the border a few days before me but they were down in Lone Pine when I went through the High Sierra and then passed me during my days off at Lake Tahoe. All except Aaron have hiked the AT. I'm sure our paths will cross as the hike progresses. I had a spectacular hike over the Sierra Buttes. If I had more time I would have liked to have climbed up to the fire tower on the summit of the highest butte. The view is reputedly phenomenal. C'est La Vie. I stopped, as I often do, for a late afternoon dinner before hiking on a few more miles. I chose my spot early in the day, based solely on the guidebook description. I was not disappointed. My meal on "a saddle with a diminutive pond" was lovely. I'm camped tonight at 7,300 feet on a gorgeous point overlooking both Rock and Grass Lakes in Lakes Basin--a sort of poor man's Desolation Wilderness. Far below I can see smoke rising from a lakeside campfire. With a favorable breeze I can just hear muffled voices, their tones clear but their content lost. July 8 27 miles. Aside from short stretches of morning snow, I walked snow-free trails all day. After looking at tomorrow's route, I'm quite sure this was the last of a long stretch of consecutive trail days on snow The streak will end at 31. I'm also nearing the end of another streak. I entered the Sierra on May 27 when I left Tehachapi, about 550 miles into the walk. I will leave the Sierra on July 11 at about mile 1290. As the eagle flies, the range is about 400 miles long. As the hiker hikes, it's nearly twice that long. Leaving the Sierra is bittersweet. I wont miss the snow but I'll miss the lakes, the waterfalls, the meadows, and the unparalleled vistas. I'll miss the granite walls and the late afternoon light that's unlike anywhere else on Earth. But there will be other Sierra visits and soon I'll be headed into the Southern Cascades at Lassen National Park. Except for a detour into the Klamath Mountains, I'll follow the Cascades all the way to Canada. As I walk the last few miles of the Sierra I also walk the first few miles of logging operations that extend from here to Canada. From the Southern Sierra all the way to Donner Pass, the PCT passes through protected and inaccessible lands that have never been logged. From Donner Pass to the North, the PCT passes through a good deal of National Forest land that has been and continues to be logged. The last couple of days the trail has crossed, even followed, miles of logging roads and selectively logged land. From afar you might not know they've been logged but the massive stumps tell the story. I stopped at the Middle Fork of the Feather River this morning for a snack break and a bath. The air was hot but the water was cool and I could have stayed all day. The biggest hiking bridge on the entire PCT spans its girth and it could only have been lowered in by helicopter. That would have quite a sight. I saw hundreds of butterflies today, adorned with every color of the rainbow. They must have thought I was a giant walking flower. Every few feet another one flew up, circled my pack, and then flitted off to better smelling fare. I put up my tent again tonight. Had I not done so the mosquitos would make sure I gave more than I could afford. July 9 25 miles. I detoured a few miles off the PCT this afternoon in search of food. Real food. Real beef. I found it at Bucks Lake Lodge. I ordered the prime rib because the waitress assured me the portion would be "generous." That was an understatement. It was the largest piece of prime rib I have ever seen, let alone ingested. It was at least 20 ounces of meat--a conservative estimate--attached to a bone the size of my forearm. I washed it down with a beer, a salad, a cup of soup, a loaf of bread (actually two), a baked potato with sour cream, and a slice of melon. I was too full for dessert--a first on this trip. Bucks Lake is a summer boating and winter snowmobiling resort. The lake level is "managed" by PG&E, apparently as part of their hydroelectric power system. It's brimming now but will drop as the need arises. It's home to two lakeside resorts and a number of cabins. At only 17 miles from Quincy, it's a veritable playground for Renoans (Renoites?) and Northeast Californians. After dinner, I waddled down the road to a Forest Service campground by the inlet stream. I didn't feel like paying the fee so I'm camped across the road in a lot that looks to be a Forest Service depo for winter snomobiling operations. It's not pretty but it will do for the night. July 10 20 miles. I made it to Belden on the North Fork of the Feather River this afternoon. It's hot--100 degrees at 3:30--but I'm sitting by the river, on the deck of the Belden Resort, eating a cool salad and drinking a beer. The pork chops are coming soon. Belden used to be a town but the post office pulled up stakes last winter and now it's little more than a bend in the river. Fortunately there's a resort complete with small store, bar, restaurant, and small cabins for rent. I splurged and rented one. I probably would have just camped by the river tonight but I got hassled by a bear last night and slept little. Just as I was just drifting off to a meat-induced sleep a bear came down the mountain and smelled me. It started snorting and ran back and forth along a line of trees about 20 yards from my tent. I yelled "Hey Bear!" and banged my dinner pot but it continued to snort and run around for another half an hour. I started to pack up my stuff and get out of there--where I didn't know--but it finally left. I didn't sleep much after that. In retrospect I think it panicked when it came down the mountain and found me camped in its favorite feeding spot or perhaps between it and the usual pickings at the Forest Service campground. Its behavior reminded me of my cockateel "Garvey" when he gets upset and runs around hissing at me. The trail dropped 5,000 feet today down to the 2,000 foot level in the Feather River valley. Tomorrow I'll probably ascend about the same amount. Ouch.