This morning I woke up nice and early at my beautiful campsite. I’ve got to be honest, the silence sort of gave me the creeps last night. I think it was a combination of the strange noise that I heard just before getting to camp and the fact of how quiet my camp spot was. I just remember laying there and being hyper aware of how unbelievably quiet it was.
Typically, when you’re camped in the woods, there’s some kind of noise. If you’re by a water source, the sound of the water will be very loud. Often times there’s a light breeze, and you hear the rustling of trees and things like that. There’s all kinds of noise in the forest, especially at night. Most of the time it works out to be similar to white noise. But for some reason last night, it was just so incredibly quiet that I felt like I could hear a bird jump off a branch onto the ground.
The funny thing is I literally never heard anything all night long. I could’ve easily heard a small critter moving around at a far distance due to the silence. But I slept really well once I fell asleep, and I never heard anything at all. Just for some reason once I got set up and was laying for a while I couldn’t stop thinking about how quiet it was.
Up top of one of my first climbs of the day.
I packed up quickly this morning and was excited to push out the 31 miles to Sierra city. The terrain looks a lot easier today in comparison to the last week. Over the course of the first 12 miles of the day I had three or four short climbs. Then for the rest of the day, there was hardly any climbing. And I recall the trail being clear of obstacles.
Right off the bat when I started hiking, I decided to just set a really strong pace immediately and try to keep that up as long as I could. For the first hour I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep it moving at the same pace for too long. I think a lot of the time if I’m not thinking about my speed I tend to hike around 3 miles per hour. I have to be a bit self-aware of trying to maintain good speed in order to go much faster than that. And I don’t really like going much faster than 3 1/2 miles an hour for anything more than an hour or so. That’s usually something I’ll only do with a goal in mind, such as getting into town before something closes.
But this morning, I set a really solid pace and I just kept it going. Every couple miles the trail was falling into the same routine. I would have a gradual climb for a mile or maybe a little bit more. Then the trail would level out for a little bit and drop back down. This repeated three or four times in the first 12 miles of the day. The grade of the climbs felt pretty perfect to me. I was able to just keep moving and maintain my pace.
I didn’t want to look at my watch and just tried to avoid it for as long as I could. I think it’s nice to avoid checking the time and checking your distance as much as you can. Otherwise, you just fall into the routine of checking and being disappointed about how far you’ve gone. If you try to stave off looking, then generally when you do look you’re pleasantly surprised by what you see. I managed to put it off for at least over two hours this morning.
When I finally did check, I confirmed that I was moving at a very good pace. I had done something like 7 miles in less than two hours. Typically when I make plans for the day, I am estimating my pace to be 3 mph. Unless I have knowledge of trail conditions which could slow me down. That can even mean sections of trail that are particularly rocky or rooty. All kinds of stuff can impact your pace.
Somehow I managed to keep up this solid pace for the entire first 12+ miles of the day. Before I knew it I was wrapping up the last significant climb that I would have to do before Sierra city. The only other time I was going to be going uphill prior to town would be stretches of 200-300 feet of the time. Which still might feel like a lot of climbing in the moment, but is something I usually don’t take much notice of.
At some point in the early part of the day, I could see a hiker off in the distance. His backpack looked similar to a Palante, or maybe a Nashville pack. Then I started thinking that maybe it was an exotic packs, a brand made by Janis Joplin who runs a gear shop just off of the CDT in New Mexico. It was fun to focus on this hiker and slowly but surely catch up to him. He had a really solid pace going so it must’ve taken me 10 or 15 minutes from when I first saw him to actually catch up to him.
As I got closer, I realize the backpack wasn’t any of the brands I was thinking of. Eventually, I was just behind him and let him know that I was there. His name was Self Made, which was fitting considering the fact that he made his backpack. I told him of the different kind of packs that I originally thought his pack was. He appeared very pleased by the way in which I’d picked out identifying characteristics from other packs which he modeled his pack off.
Self Made and I wound up walking together for the next couple of miles. He set a good pace in front of me and we were chugging along the trail. Apparently his girlfriend was just up ahead at the next water source. They actually met while he was on the PCT another year. And at the time they never hiked together, but wound up making a connection later on. Her name was K Bar and after a little while we caught back up to her. Then the two of them stopped off to get some water and I said goodbye. They are also trying to get into Sierra city this evening. So maybe I’ll see them there.
It was very satisfying to complete the major elevation gain for the day seemingly very quickly. I was in awe of the fact that the morning had gone by so fast. That’s the funny thing about hiking. Some days you can work your mind just right so that daydreaming and zoning out allows the time to just float away. And other times it feels like you’re truly just living minute by minute. I’ve had hours that go by slower than half a day in the past. Especially if you make the mistake of accidentally focusing your mind on the time.
I find I have to do everything in my power not to think about time or just at all. Which is hard sometimes because my watch beeps at me every time I go a mile. So I actually try to make it so that I don’t pay attention to how frequently it beeps. And I try not to count it. Also, I’m sure I could probably look up online how to turn that feature off on my watch. And it’s definitely something I’ve thought about many times before. But I haven’t done it yet.
Once most of the climbing was done for the day, then I was just walking along some pretty leisurely trail. It was primarily dirt and pine track. There were very few obstacles but it was just as mindless as walking can get. I found I was able to maintain my good pace for most of the day. Unless I’d get to a section with a few more rocks. I’m sure I could keep going just as fast all the time. But I just get scared of tripping and falling. So when there are more obstacles on the trail, I just naturally slowed down a bit to check myself.
As I got closer to town, I saw a handful more thu hikers. And I was finally within range where I knew just about everyone I saw was heading to town. Sometimes in the mornings it’s hard to tell where people are going. I could be going 30 miles to town for the day, but that doesn’t mean that everyone else is. I think for a lot of people it makes more sense to cut that mileage down and then go into town earlier in the day and spend the whole day in town. That’s the type of things that I would do all the time on any other hike. If I could afford to do it, I’d be taking a whole lot more time in town.
A beautiful section of the trail. I vividly remember being here when all of these plants were blooming back in 2022.
It turned into quite a hot day as I made my way to Sierra city. I stopped off at some point to get water just to be sure that I would have enough for the rest of the day. And that way I didn’t need to stop off again. Originally when I left camp in the morning, I was thinking I could be to town around 5 PM. That felt like a safe bet and didn’t involve going much more than 3 mph. But as the day went on, it became clear that I was certainly going to get to before that. If I had hiked at the same pace during the first 12 miles as I did for the rest of the day, I was going to be to town at 3:30 PM. But I wound up getting in right around 4 PM, which was fantastic.
It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these big push strong days. And maybe it might not seem that way from the outside. But I remember a lot of days from earlier in the year where I would do 30 miles and get to town before 4 PM. Those are the most glorious days you can have on trail when you’re doing a hike like this. It’s the only way to balance getting in the average miles per day that you need, and spending a lot of time in town. I think that was definitely a secret weapon that I utilized for the first half of this hike.
I would find a way to make myself think that I’m resting and relaxing a lot. Even though I wasn’t resting and relaxing a lot, spending time in town in bed sure makes you feel that way. So for a lot of the year I think I was spending two or three nights a week in a bed. On the Appalachian trail I did a pretty great job of working out the miles accordingly. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But that’s definitely something that worked as a strategy for me this year. And I feel like I’ve been getting back into that more recently.
There are definitely a lot of sections on the PCT and the CDT where you can’t be in town more than every four or five days. And that’s even doing pretty significant mileage. But, sometimes you can. So it feels very satisfying today to be able to line up another town stay so close to the last one. Right now physical and mental rest are at the top of my priorities. I think today is going to be very satisfying, especially in the long-term.
Popping out onto some random road.
Before getting out to the highway, the trail goes over a huge gushing river. It was a really beautiful section of the trail and there were some people down there swimming. Around this time I had just finished the last climb of the day. Which wasn’t super long, but would’ve snuck up on you if you hadn’t checked the map. At that point of the day, it felt like I’d been going downhill and cruising for a while. And then all of a sudden you have to go up a few hundred feet fairly quickly. But, I was actually excited about the climb because I knew it meant I was just by the road.
Walking past this big ole pile of rocks. And perhaps a mysterious smudge on my camera?? Or a ghost??
After that, the hill leveled out and I got up to the road. Then quickly crossed over so I could start thumbing. After a few hundred feet of walking on the road you come to a pull off where the PCT picks back up into the woods. That’s also the best place to attempt hitchhike from. But Sierra city is only 1.5 miles down the road from the PCT. So at least you could walk if you couldn’t get a ride. When I walked by there were a few other hikers sitting there trying to hitch. I asked how long they’ve been there for and they said about 10 minutes. So I just kept on walking down the road.
Crossing over a delightful little bridge.
As I walked down the road, I stuck my thumb out. The hikers behind me would be the ones to get passed first by oncoming cars. Which means they had the primary opportunity to catch the hitch. I figured it was worth trying to hitch and maybe pick up a straggler car that somehow didn’t see them or couldn’t fit all of them. But if I needed to walk all the way into town, I figured it wouldn’t take that long to do that either.
I think I was only walking for 100 or so feet when a car drove by and then went in reverse to come back to me. The guy said he hadn’t picked up the other group because he could only fit one person. A lot of times drivers won’t pull over to tell you that. But if you’re hitching with a large group of people, you would definitely be better off having one person stand there. Or separating if possible.
Finally starting to hike past some sections with lava rock! Which is all fun and games until the trail turns to stone.
Today it just worked out in my favor to start walking. Sometimes I think fate favors the person who’s willing to go the distance. And before I knew it I was in town! Sierra city is the cutest and tiniest little town. It’s really the type of place that only thru hikers could love so much. To anyone else, the town barely has what you need. But to a hiker, it has a small grocery store, a motel, and a restaurant. If you’re able to resupply, eat, and do some laundry and shower, then you have everything you need.
Once I was in town, I saw hordes of hikers and was so glad that I called yesterday to make a reservation. I’ve heard that there’s a ton of people around and I’ve just tried to plan accordingly. But some days I don’t see a lot of people so it’s hard to imagine. At the general store I got a BLT with grilled onions and avocado. That sounded absolutely amazing. And I got a blackberry milkshake, along with tons of other drinks and snacks. Then while my food was made, I went across the street and checked into the room.
The general store in sierra city!
This motel has been in town for a really long time, but only recently opened up again. The guys who bought it just got it about four months ago. But the place is really cool and has tons of private rooms and bunk rooms. I got a private room that actually had its own bath and shower, which was awesome. It’s just so nice to be able to completely relax and do everything on my own terms. I can narrate and do videos stuff. Having my own space is priceless every now and then.
There’s a Trail Angel who’s been staying at the property and helping the guys get things situated. Her name is Michelle and she showed me to my room and everything like that. Then I went back to the general store and ate my food and hung out with some hikers there.
The old sierra city motel, where I spent the night.
There wound up being 10 or 15 different hikers there. After somebody asked who I was and I introduced myself, it opened the can of worms. Somebody recognized my name and they were asking me about what I was doing. I hung out there for a while talking with all those guys and answering loads of questions. It was such a fun group of hikers and reminded me a lot of that group that I met ages ago back in Aguadulce. Everyone was just super nice and so welcoming. It’s such a treat when you don’t know anyone and are able to get into conversation quickly with strangers.
The general store was closing and I couldn’t be sure whether I had enough drinks for the evening.
Before the store closed, I got my last drinks and goodies for the night. Then OutsideJay actually came by because he had some resupply for me. When I was in South lake Tahoe, I bought extra food because he said he would drop it off here. Sierra city does have a general store which has some pretty solid options. I just opted to do this because it allowed me to pick out a little more variety. And these days I’m definitely a bit sick of most of the generic things you can find in the gas station or general store. It was nice to see Jay and he hung out for a little bit. But then a hiker wanted a ride back to the trail so he headed out to do that.
The trail register for today at the old sierra city motel.
After a while, I headed back to the hotel with all my goodies. Then just lounged in my room and took an incredible shower. I’ve been so insanely dirty lately. I just take my shoes and socks off and my feet are black from ash and dirt. My legs are are absolutely coated as well.
After a wonderful shower, I just lounged for the rest of the night. The only unfortunate thing was that the hotel basically didn’t have Wi-Fi. I think it just wasn’t strong enough for the number of people who were on it. But once I came to terms with the fact that I just wasn’t going to get a bunch of work done, then it was fine. I just rested and hung out. And I did the type of editing things that I can do without service.
Later on in the evening, I hung out with a handful of the hikers I met earlier. They were also ridiculously nice and it was so fun talking with them. It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve been able to really hang out with anyone on trail for this long. Which I guess sounds kind of crazy. After hanging out with them for a while they went downstairs to play pool. But I just wanted to chill out and relax for the rest of the night.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll hopefully have a nice early start to the day. I’m going to have to try to get a ride or hitch back to the trail. And the day is going to start with a really long climb which I recall was pretty hot last time. So it’ll be nice to start it as early in the day as I possibly can.
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