Me 2007-07-14 Belden
July 14th, 2007After last night’s light show I found it hard to leave the saddle this morning, but once I got moving I was really moving. All that down hill with no pain killers was a good feeling. The trail spent a lot of time in the trees, no view and no bears to sneak up on. So I just plopped on the iPod and powered away. There were occasional breaks, like looking down onto the perfectly still Silver Lake with its lone island covered in firs. Or looking east into the smoke-filled valleys downwind from the Antelope fire I’ve heard about.
Trundling down the 36 switchbacks (!) to Belden I caught Oblivious then Tiki and Troll just before we crossed the train tracks in to Belden Town Resort. That resort building is a funny one. Looks like a real old-time saloon. Red wood panels, big veranda, huuuuge bar. We called the local trail angels and Brenda Braaten was there to pick us up within minutes. The Braatens are really nice people. They bought their house here specifically to retire near the trail and help hikers. It’s sort of like a granny-flat and tonight fits us four plus Old Corpus, Two Dogs and a south-bounder called Tarantula.
Since we stopped walking well before noon it’s been a relaxing day. I resupplied, sorted my bag and took the time to swim in the river with the others. Sitting around and waxing lyrical about our pre-hiking lives has been interesting. A few of the conversations have been things I have no experience of or interest in, but I can sit there and people watch quite happily.
More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Donner Pass to Belden
Distance today: 14.9 miles. Total distance: 1288.3 miles