This morning I left my lovely tent spot bright and early. The sun was coming up and the views were beautiful once again. The day started with a very short climb, just the last bit of the way up the climb from last night. Then I would mostly just be riding along a ridge with small ups and downs for the next couple of hours.
This morning, I used my GARMIN to message Outside Jay. I meant to text him yesterday but didn’t. And I haven’t had service since. He had asked me if I wanted to go into Quincy, which would be toward the end of the day today. But it seemed like it was going to be difficult to hitch in and out of town. I loved the idea of going into town tonight, but also really like getting back to trail early the next day. Tomorrow I’ll be walking right through the town of Belden, so I figured it might just be easier to grab a few food items there and continue on.
The sky was stunning as I set out this morning.
Part of me was hoping that Jay knew someone who could host me for the night in Quincy. The idea of doing a 34 mile date today and ending in town sounded amazing. But he got back to me and said that he could probably leave a little bit of resupply for me in Belden. Just in case the store didn’t have anything. So to me that sounded like I closed the door on Quincy and was moving onto the next option. I was a little bummed at the prospect of not being able to go into town tonight. But it passed pretty quickly.
Sometimes it feels like a dream walking through a pasture such as this.
Plus, this morning I didn’t start hiking until 6:40 PM. Which for me is pretty much unheard of. That’s practically as late as I would get started if I spend the night sleeping in town. I was just a little bit tired and also didn’t feel a big pull to get up and going. I was only planning on doing 34 miles for the day so I would have plenty of time to get that done before dark.
The day wound up being ridiculously chill. I spent basically the first 23 miles of the day just cruising along doing a mixture of primarily flat trail and downhill. It honestly couldn’t have been any easier. I also started to enter into the section of trail with damage from the Dixie burn in 2021. It’s too bad that I didn’t make it much further north on the PCT in 2017. I actually got off at Bucks Lake, which is down the road from where I will end the day today. In 2017 the Dixie fire hadn’t happened yet. And the fire wound up burning over 1,000,000 acres. It would’ve been so interesting to see what the surrounding area looked like prior to the burn. But in 2022 when I hiked the burn was fresh. It still feels pretty fresh even today. Most of the areas with burn don’t have a ton of new growth. Which was really surprising to me. Most of what has grown back is dense prickly brush that scratches against your legs as you walk by. That was one of the main themes of the day today. Aside from all of the trees which are burnt to a crisp, there isn’t much left besides briars. Some sections of burn that I’ve gone through in the past are lush with wildflower growth. Others have a lot of new growth of small trees. But for the majority of the day, I was just walking through a completely burnt forest with some shrubs here and there.
I just loved this sign. The cursive was a nice touch.
The time really flew by for those first 23 or so miles of the day. I saw a couple of hikers but not very many. Slowly but surely I was making my way down to where I would begin my next climb. I did wind up going along a brief trail detour actually too. There is a section of the trail which is severely damaged likely due to wind storms. I imagine it has a lot to do with the initial damage of the wildfire. Sometimes years after wildfire passes through an area a storm will cause hundreds and hundreds of trees to go down. Likely because the trees are weakened by the fire. Apparently that’s the case on a brief section of trail near here. Someone had left a comment about 300+ blow downs along the trail. So trail maintainers had mapped out a reroute around it and left a sign indicating that they recommended hikers to follow the reroute.
Advice from trail maintainers, suggesting hikers take the detour.
I hate when people write on the emblems. And by god, nearly every one is written on. But I liked this statement.
That went on for a few miles, and then I was back on the PCT. Not long after that I got to the bottom of the descent and would be beginning my next climb. Which went on for about 7–8 miles. This would bring me all the way up to the area where you can hitch into Bucks Lake or Quincy. But I planned to camp somewhere between the two roads, either of which you could take into Quincy.
Making my way to the middle fork of the feather river. The burn can be really sad to witness at times.
For some reason the last couple of days I felt so tired in the afternoons. Especially while doing sections of downhill. I don’t know what it is, but I think the downhill just makes me feel really slow. Sometimes I have to watch my step more so it does slow down my pace. I’m not sure if it’s mental more than anything, but I’ve noticed it a lot this year. So I was pretty excited to start on another climb. And almost immediately after I started climbing again I felt filled with energy.
Crossing this bridge over the feather river.
I’m not sure how that makes any sense, but I kind of love it. This next climb was one of my favorites. It felt like an absolute breeze and I was keeping my heart rate nice and low. It went on for a little over 7 miles so it took over two hours. I stopped off along the way for water at least once. But I basically just put my head down and dialed in. It felt effortless and mindless and I loved it. This was the perfect way to end off the day.
This water looked so inviting!
I got up to the top of that climb sometime around 6 PM. And for the first time all day, I decided to check for service. Periodically I’ll turn my phone on and off to see if I have any. But this is the first time all day where it seemed likely that I might. And as soon as I turned my phone on, I got some messages from OutsideJay. They had clearly arrived prior to our exchange over GARMIN. And I wished I had seen them sooner!
Heading up the final climb of the day.
He never mentioned over GARMIN that he knew of a Trail Angel in Quincy. But he had texted me that he knew a Trail Angel in Quincy, who would pick me up at the trailhead, take me into town to resupply, let me stay at their house for the night, and then take me back to trail the next day. That was quite literally everything I wanted and more.
At this point I had received the message 10+ hours ago, if not longer. But he included the number of the Trail Angel Taylor. So I decided to text Taylor and just see what the deal was. I apologized that it was super late and that I was only just now receiving his information. And I was shocked by how quickly Taylor responded. He said he hadn’t expected to hear from me because Jay had told him I was bypassed in Quincy. But he said it was absolutely no problem at all to come and get me and he would love to host me for the night.
At this point in time, I was about 3 or 4 miles from the trailhead where you could get picked up and go into Quincy. So I told him I’d be there around 7:30 PM and he said that that timing worked perfectly. He also said there were a couple other hikers staying at the house and that he would help me to do anything I needed.
That sure went from 0 to 100 real quick. One minute I was thinking about how I had a few more miles until camp for the night. Then one minute later, I turned my phone on and everything aligned perfectly to get hosted for the night. What a world. At this point, I was ecstatic as you might imagine. All of the sudden I was fantasizing about the drinks I would be getting in town and the food I would be eating. I knew I’d be getting into Belden sometime tomorrow, but that town isn’t super exciting. It’s really just one building that sells hot food and a small amount of free supply.
I picked up the pace around this time and started flying down the trail. It was basically all downhill and flat until I got to the road. I was truly in awe of all of the circumstances that had just aligned. I joke all the time about how I’m a wizard who uses my brain to make magic happen for me. But after moments like this, it’s just hard to deny. I wound up getting out to the road right before 7:30 PM. Taylor was there waiting for me and picked me up to drive me into Quincy.
It was about a 20 minute ride down into Quincy. A town that I’ve actually never been to on the PCT before. In the past I stopped off at Buck Lake, which is a resupply location not too far from the trail. Other than that, I’ve just pushed past this area And headed toward Chester. Taylor filled me in on his set up and everything like that. And we had some great conversation as we drove into town.
When we got into town and we headed to the house where I got to meet his girlfriend and their adorable dog. Then he showed me the room downstairs where he had a few beds set up and a bathroom with a shower. But he was having me stay in his roommates room, because they are gone for the summer. I thought that was super thoughtful and really convenient. There are a couple other hikers sleeping downstairs, so I feel bad coming in late and leaving early tomorrow. It’ll be nice just to have my own space and be able to stay up getting some editing done and not feel like a monster.
Taylor’s house was perfectly located in the town of Quincy. I walked right out the front door and across the street to get some dinner. There is a pizza place so I got some garlic knots and pasta. And I drank two sodas while I sat there. There were actually two other hikers in the pizza place and I assumed that they must be the other two who are staying at Taylor’s house. I had met one of them actually back in the desert. I chatted with them for a little bit while I ate.
The pizza place in Quincy was delicious, and had a cute aesthetic.
After eating, I walked down the street to the grocery store to grab a few more things. I don’t really need much food because I’m going to grab a few things in Belden. But I got some drinks and snacks for tonight and a few things like that. Then I headed back to the house to shower and relax.
I took an amazing shower and washed a shocking amount of black dirt off of me. The one thing that I did forget about the Dixie burn is just how dirty you get in this section trail. The ash just goes right through your socks and gaiters and cakes all over your feet.
After taking a shower, I got comfortable and laid down for the night. I had bought some chocolate milk and a few other snacks to have for dessert. Then I wound up staying up for a couple hours to get some editing done. It certainly wasn’t going to be the most restful night in town, but they really never are. It felt good to be productive anyway. Then eventually, I wound up calling it a night once it was ridiculously late.
While I was in town, I also figured I would try to make a reservation for the next town, Chester. Honestly, I’ve been considering taking a zero day there. I would probably get in late in the evening after a 30+ mile day. That would be the perfect situation to then take a zero the next day. I’ve been maintaining really solid mileage since coming back out here. But more than anything I have tons of writing and video work to get caught up on. And Chester has a shockingly great selection of food. So it would be a really nice town to take a zero in.
But when I looked online to make a booking for Thursday night, and possibly Friday night as well, I noticed that Friday was all booked. One thing I do remember about Chester is that it was a really busy and really expensive town. Likely due to its location between Lassen and Shasta. So the hotel bookings were completely full for Friday and for the weekend. I just wound up booking Thursday so I can at least get into town for the night and resupply. Then maybe I’ll just stay until check out the following day and have a short day.
It’s funny because I very rarely zero and attempt to take days off. I think it’s even less common for me to attempt to even remotely plan a day off. Even though I am only a couple days out. But then of course I go to do it and everything in town is booked. I guess that means no zero for me! But I should still be able to get into Chester nice and early in two days. I’ll just try to get there as early as possible so I can enjoy myself in town and get as much work done as I can.
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Loved the comment here about the mental breakdown. Far out can be so entertaining at times.
