Today’s Smell-of-the-day was bear cub. Dead bear cub as it happens, poor thing just died right there on the trail.

It sure has been a lot of uphill today. But I haven’t had an ibuprofen tablet in 36 hours and my foot still feels ok. Tomorrow has a lot of steep downhill so I’ll have to go carefully if I am to stay on the road to recovery.

All the others I’ve been hiking with for the last few days, Tiki, Troll, Oblivious and Old Corpus, took the road into Bucks Lake for food. I got to my target for the day by 4:30 and have been reading for quite a while. I took a side trail to Spanish Peak which was nice. Great views eastward and would make a nice spot to wake up and see sunrise, but I told the others I would be here. They may elect to return to the PCT further on, thus avoiding the waterless stretch and dry camp. Things we haven’t really dealt with since the desert. That seems like a lifetime ago now. To think of reaching Tuolumne Meadows at mile 702, now I’m just 3 days from half way. I’m very excited.

After finally putting my book down (Authur C. Clarke’s 2061) I lay down to sleep, when I awoke I was truly amazed. With innumerable stars above me my eyes adjusted and the milky-way come into view. I don’t know if I’ll ever see that sort of sky again but in a month’s time I’ll be looking out for the meteor shower and hoping for a clear night like tonight.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Donner Pass to Belden

Today I passed mile 1242.7 which doesn’t mean much to the Americans around me but I marked it with sticks as “2000 km”.

The last few days have been full of new and interesting smells. Today continued with the peppermint coming from Penny Royals that Troll spotted yesterday. Coming into Sierra City we passed through a sweet honey-fungus area that reminded me of the black stuff growing on some trees when I toured NZ’s South Island a few years back. For quite a while now on exposed slopes of fist-sized rocks and grit there has been a plant whose flowers look like a cross between daffodils and sunflowers, and their large leaves smell of cabbages.

There were a few switchbacks two days ago that smelled of vomit and at one point I thought I detected cinnamon toast, maybe I was just hungry.

My favourite part of the day was jumping in the river, complete with trousers and shirt thus covering my bathing and laundry requirement for the week. Just west of the bridge over Middle Fork Feather River there is a big green pool. The water has just come over shallow rapids and is quite warm compared to all the other places I’ve been.

The swelling on my foot has gone but my shin is still a little sore. I did manage a major downhill and at a good speed today, just a week after I limped to Donner Pass. I’ve got a good log to put my foot up on now and tomorrow is mostly uphill which is harder but more comfortable.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Donner Pass to Belden

It’s been a fairly pleasant day despite a bad start with confusing directions from the guide book. I was still in my bag at 7am which is the latest for quite a while. Troll, Oblivious and Tiki all left before me but chose to take the guide book’s “alternate route” and I saw them coming, and cursing, up a steep road back to the trail. We walked fairly closely for the rest of the day. A light rain shower really cooled off the air. It was never enough to warrant a jacket but I put my rain cover over Dad’s bag just in case.

I am still finding myself doing a good speed and I didn’t take nearly enough breaks but I started late and finished early-ish. Tomorrow will be a similar distance but with an earlier start I’ll be able to take it easy and be sure my leg is healing.

The four of us and Old Corpus are camped together, talking about movies and sponging off Old Corpus’ experience of the trail in Oregon.

Good news: According to Troll, Dad’s bag isn’t as bad as it looks. They all tried it on and found it to be lighter than they thought. It sure needs a better hip belt, and shoulder straps, and the back is only comfortable because I shoved my 1/2 length z-rest between the bars and my back. Otherwise it’s a dream.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Donner Pass to Belden

For a “town day” I’ve managed to put on a few miles and am now camped with Tiki where the trail crosses the Sierra Buttes jeep road. Today it rained for the first time since the morning before Paradise Cafe. That was the beginning of May. It was only a light spit but it was followed by lightning and then the fire siren.

I spent most of the day in town, starting with the traditional gatorade, ice-cream and crisps combo then finishing by sharing a rotisserie chicken and bread with Tiki. Just as we were leaving town Troll and Oblivious, last seen at Kennedy Meadows nearly 500 miles south of here, came in. I’m glad to see the kid is still going and his dad’s feet haven’t been amputated.

We got a lift in a faded orange 1970’s Datsun that had seen better days. The dashboard material was cracked like dried earth and I had to hold the passenger door shut because some major side impact had broken the locking mechanism. Luckily there weren’t any sharp corners and we got the trail head without falling out.

Walking up that steep climb was tough and looked a lot like I imagine Washington will be. It was gloomy at 5, soft brown underfoot and dark green and the rain was hanging in the air waiting for a reason to soak me.

With the start of the rain comes the end of my time without a tent. Last night was spectacular, no moon or artificial light to speak of. When I woke just after midnight it was another “wow” moment. This makes me sadder to be undercover tonight, but it’s better than being wet.

Troll and Oblivious joined us just after dark and Troll took the opportunity to tell the mountain just how he felt about the last climb and how glad he was to have completed it.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Donner Pass to Belden

I made 23 miles today. I could have done more but my shin is still hurting and I’ve no desire to make it worse. A short term gain would definitely be a long term loss. It was really warm last night, I was sweating in my sleeping bag but I had to stay inside it to avoid the hordes of nasty mosquitoes that were attacking my face. It may mean a return to my tent (sans outer cover) which would be a real shame now that I’m more comfortable cowboy camping.

I stopped for an early lunch and lay down for an hour there. I took time to swim and cook at Jackson Meadow Reservoir and I still reached this quiet saddle by 6pm. So long as I don’t succumb to any more injuries I’ve no worries about finishing this trek before the end of September. The weather may turn bad before then but that’s up to sun spots and global warming.

I lay on the ground with my feet up on a log for quite a while. Letting the ants crawl up my arms and the occasional fly land on my legs. A few branches cracked as little creatures scurried around while I just listened to the silence of nature.

*update*
A little while after I settled down I heard some sticks breaking and movement on the other side of the log pile. “Oh dear” I thought “a bear is already here and it’s not even dark”. I got my camera and stepped around the pile only to find Tiki setting up his tent. We caught up on the last 400 miles and agreed to meet in Sierra City for lunch. I’m planning on an early start and lots of down time in town.

Here’s a couple of quotes I’d like to share, you may have heard them before.

“There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way” ~Bhudda

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there” ~Josh Billings

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Donner Pass to Belden

It’s not yet 8pm and I’ve been lying here for a little while. My feet up and a book in my hand. It’s fair to say I have learned my lesson and I’ll be going gently for a while as I build up my muscles/tendons again before trying anything as crazy as 210 miles in nine days.

Lucky Joe has gone back to Echo Lake and will be catching up soon I hope. Tiki must be somewhere between us and I expect to see him in a day or two. Blue Sky is taking some time out and plans to rejoin the trail near Ashland.

Mary and Charles drove me back to the trail head I left four days ago. They’ve been excellent hosts and along with Roger and Lori in Truckee I can honestly say the rest they helped me attain has saved my trip.

It sure has been strange sitting on a couch, eating normal food and watching tv. I kept zoning out and then coming back to reality to remember I’m not even halfway through this yet.

I’ve been in air-conditioning and away from the windows for a while. Outside the air has been hazy with smoke from some far-away fires. The drive north along Lake Tahoe shore was strange. Where I had previously looked across pristine water to the foothills of Nevada I now saw only an erie white smoke. Like looking out to sea as fog rolls in it was hard to tell there was another side out there. The sun is about to set now and it’s much redder than normal as the dust in the air lingers on.

From here on up, with the possible exception of Old Station, I think internet access is going to be hard to come by. Luckily Dad has been doing a sterling job with the site and photos to keep you entertained. I’ll send memory cards home as frequently as I can.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Donner Pass to Belden

Third zero day in a row. Lots to eat, lots of sitting down and plenty of ice. My shin is feeling a lot better and I’m ready to hit the trail for a few miles tomorrow.

Lucky Joe’s family really have been wonderful, his nephews and niece are fun to play with and their parents are very encouraging of the trail thing. It’s a pity that Vortex and Blue Sky didn’t get to experience this. I think it may have tipped the balance in the trail’s favour. But alas it was not to be. They’ve gone home and only Blue Sky plans to return, and that won’t happen until Oregon.

It’s obviously very different down here in a town than out there in the woods, but this town is something else. There’s a heat wave going on right now so there’s a lot more of people on display than you see on the trail everyday. So settling in to town life hasn’t been that hard.

I continued my resting with ice packs and the big soft couch in Truckee. More tv, more internet and then finally packing my stuff into Dad’s pack. Lucky Joe called from South Lake Tahoe where his family where checking into a suite at the Marriot and I was invited.

Phil is a friend of Roger. Roger is a friend of Lance. Lance is my parent’s neighbour. And that’s why Phil drove me 40 miles south to meet up with Lucky Joe. We caught up on trail news, where people are, those that are on/off/lost. Now I’m in the hotel with my feet up and looking forward to another zero. This time with a pool.

I’ve been taking some much needed rest here in Truckee.

Roger and Lori left me with a house full of food and a fast internet connection so I’ve been a happy bunny. I also discovered a huge array of tv channels that I don’t want to watch. Most of the news I saw focused on the heat wave hitting the south west US and it has been noticable every time I step outside. It’s hard to imagine this house burried in 6ft snow drifts but it happens most years.

The three of us went out to dinner and had a great dessert at Dairy Queen.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Donner Pass to Belden

Hi folks. I’ve reached Truckee and will be sending a proper update as soon as possible. For now all you need to know is I have ice packs, a hot tub, a lazy-boy couch and a giant TV. Thanks for all your concern, I’ll be fit as a fiddle in no time.

I’ve added some videos to previous entries

http://pct2007.org/category/movie/

I’ll be sending a memory card back to dad tomorrow and that should mean a bunch of new photos in a couple of weeks.