Start: 0845 - PCT mile 1242.5
End: 1900 - PCT mile 1256.5
Miles (today): 14
Miles (cumulative): 1296.5 (1148.5 PCT, 91.5 alternate, 56.5 off)
Nick is feeling a little better but he's still pretty weak (those Cheerios were a great gift, we already ate the entire box). My only goal for the day was to hike the 5 miles to Middle Fork Feather River, where there is water AND camping, and then let Nick rest and recover the rest of the day.
It was an easy 5 miles to the river, all downhill, and Nick even beat me there. As he passed me he chuckled and said he felt like Captain Jack Sparrow (from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie) because his sense of reality felt off. I laughed with him but also thought to myself "uh oh, he's going to crash later".
We took a long break at the Feather River - it really was a beautiful place! A lot of other hikers showed up, too, to include Ruby/Golden (she's not as far behind as Far Out thought) and Bivy. I thought we were going to stay at the river but Nick said he wanted to press on for a few more miles, so we did - we hiked another 3 miles to another campsite with water, where Nick decided to take a nap. A nap sounded nice so I took one, too. Napping in the middle of the day is wonderful, we should be taking naps every day!
Once again I thought we would stay there but when Nick woke up he said he wanted to go a little further. Why? Well, we modified our plans and decided to hitch to Quincy tomorrow to take a rest day (or two). Our plan HAD been to take a day off in Belden, a town on the trail, but Belden is still 30 miles away (consequently, we should have been in Belden today). Anyway, the more miles we do today the less we have to do tomorrow and the sooner Nick can get to a legit bed, hence his wanting to hike on.
i love all the bridges!
Middle Fork Feather River - I wanted to swim down there!
a view of the bridge from below
The last 6 miles of the day we're all uphill, though, and the entire time I felt horrible for Nick - uphills are not his favorite when he's healthy so I knew he was really suffering. That being said, he made it a point to tell me when he got to the top that he still hasn't had a bad day on the trail. I call bullshit on that but whatever. :)
Towards the end of the long uphill I stopped to say hello to a couple who were camping close to where our planned campsite would be. They, Firewoman and Nohawk, are section-hiking southbound. Right away Firewoman asked if my name was Apples; When I asked her how she knew my name she said they ran into Coppertone this afternoon. Coppertone! I was excited to think that he was just ahead - it would make Nick's day (and mine as well) to see Coppertone - but my hopes were soon dashed. Per Firewoman, Coppertone had been waiting for us at the road up ahead. Had been. He had to move on but he asked her to tell me where he'll be next. I'm incredibly bummed we didn't get to see Coppertone (So close! We were so close!) but it makes my heart happy to know that he tried to wait (he couldn't know we were delayed by Nick's illness) and that he sent a message to us! Coppertone rocks, I really hope we don't miss him at Hat Creek...
Nick survived hiking 14 miles with a 6 mile steady incline at the end. He even ate his entire meal all by himself tonight! I hope we're able to get a hitch to Quincy tomorrow and that we get there at a decent time, he needs all the rest he can get.
Along the trail:
I get a kick out of the marked up trail markers - I look forward to seeing what the next one will say.
