It is now day two out of Sierra City and I am cozy in our tent with my Goodness asleep next to me. Midday yesterday he came down with a fever so we took a nap and then ended our day early. He is much better today although still achy and fatigued. Prior to this surprise illness, we had a different surprise in Sierra City!
On our way in on Wednesday morning we ran into the last Portlander we hadn't seen yet from the pretrail meetup. He was on his way back to the trail and if running into him wasn't cool enough, he informed us that the restaurant we were headed to for breakfast was additionally trail angel's residence! We chatted awhile and returned his watch which Goodness had picked up in the snow(!) and hopefully we will catch him down the way when he stops for a zero.
We walk into town, greeted by a giant Pacific Crest Trail emblem outside of the Red Moose Inn. Inside were Margaret and Bill Price, some of the loveliest humans ever and joining them to hold down the fort was a thru-hiker from a year prior, Coach K. We were greeted by Margaret who gave us a tour of the place before cooking us up a scrumptious hot breakfast. There was a shower for us there, laundry facilities complete with extra clothes to put on while it all goes round, a telephone, and the internet on a laptop upstairs. Not to mention space out in the back yard for anyone who wanted to camp and of course there was home cooking. Amazing. I was able to contact my Dad from there and learn that he was on his way into the wake for my Uncle Jimmy who had passed away on Saturday of a heart attack. My thoughts are with his wife and especially my cousins tonight.
The Prices had only just started Angeling last year so they still had the ability to catch a few of us unaware of their offerings. Our original plan was to just be in town for a few hours but with the company and comforts, we soon were signed up for dinner! Yum. Goodness and I were afraid of getting swooped into breakfast the next morning and wanted also to have an early start on what can be a very hot and dry climb. So we said our farewells and walked back to the trail by the light of the gloaming.
It was good to be up early and complete the climb of Sierra Butte in the shade, I was glad that we hadn't attempted it in the midday sun. There were fantastic views and we ran into a few southbound PCT hikers as well as swarms of day hikers. The day hikers were all on their way to the fire lookout to get an even broader and farther view of the surrounding area. We stayed on the PCT opting to come back and visit the Prices one day and see the fire lookout as day hikers ourselves. At this juncture, Goodness had already begun to fall ill and his fever was on the rise.
We crossed a dirt road and a young boy called out to us asking if we were hikers and wondering where we were going. When I called out that we had started in Mexico, he was so excited! He announced us to the group of parents and the gaggle of children behind him. We soon had them all gathered round as we answered questions and talked about the fun of swimming in lakes in the summertime. The kids were all super sweet and they gave us their extra picnic foods for later. (OK OK I did eat some rice krispy treat on the spot) I could see Goodness fading further out though so we pressed on.
We ate the grilled cheese sandwiches they had given us for dinner that night and I am excited to make them with hamburger buns in the future because that is genius! Both of us too wiped to cook, those were perfect... I think we each slept 10 hours or so that night!
This morning brought more southbounders our way and with that boy still under the weather, we thankfully accepted their extra foods should it take longer than expected to reach Belden. They additionally had an Alkaseltzer packet that Goodness is sleeping under now and he woke to say that the fever has broken. Phew. Today was FINALLY for real the last day with snow. Hooray! With all the snow and broken pine everywhere, it has looked and smelled like christmas threw-up in the forest. This became more apparent as well with Goodness singing carols today... good thing the heat came back today too. Gnar said that once you get carols stuck in your head, you might as well just get off the trail. In other news, the lizards are back. :-)
Today we saw four people right off the bat and then not a soul until the end of the day when we heard a young voice calling out, "Marco!" We came around a bend on Mt. Etna and called back out to a pair of 13 year-olds who said they had gotten scared by a bear growling, dropped their packs and ran, and now were unsure of how to find their group. We had passed the two backpacks about a mile back and we waited at the top on the trail as they climbed up from their bushwhacking. Brandon and Kiersten. Super cool kids. We are 34 miles out from Sierra City tonight.
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