Leaving such fabulous amenities as those at the Old Station Hiker Hideaway is never easy. After two zeros I was keen to get moving but it was still a struggle to put on that heavy pack and start the slow shuffle north, especially when heading towards the infamous Hat Creek Rim.

Things were helped by starting with Chigger and Stretch. We talked as we started but soon settled into our own paces. We took the detour to Subway Cave to fill up on water for the hot, dry rim, and walked through the lava-tube formation. Nice and cool in there compared to the midday heat up above.

You could tell by the way I was dropping my feet that I was having a hard time readjusting to walking the trail. My bag gained too much weight during the stop-over and I was wallowing in it. Contrary to what I said before I may very well start counting down the miles until I’m done. For now I’m putting this down to the first-day blues and hope that I’ll be more positive tomorrow.

We got some nice views of Mt. Shasta today and it’ll be in sight for at least two weeks as the trail bends west, then even south for a bit, to stay with the crest. Now I’m lying down on the ridge above Hat Creek watching hang-gliders do their thing silently hundreds of feet above me

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Old Station to Castle Crags

No point beating around the bush, I’ve made it half way up the PCT. Quite where half way is can be debated ad nauseum but for me it was mile 1327.5 which is the midpoint between the Mexican and Canadian border ignoring the eight mile walk to the road at the end.

Tiki, Troll, Oblivious and FireBall also made it across the line. I assume Old Corpus did but I haven’t seen him since we re-found the trail this morning. I’d come off it at a dusty saddle and found him stomping around looking for it in the scrub. It was easily fixed by returning to the last marker and trying again.

So, half way, what’s that like. Well it doesn’t look much different but I sure do feel good. It’s not that I want this to be over but I came into this wanting to complete it and I’ve been gradually seeing it become realistic. No-one back home ever told me I wouldn’t finish, they thought I was a loon for trying but that’s understandable. It took me 89 days to get here and I think it’ll be 65 to do the rest. I’m stronger, the terrain is (mostly) easier, and there are less places to take time off.

I know this year has been much easier than others with the low snow fall in the sierras but there have still been challenges and it is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I won’t be counting down the miles just yet, but I am aware that the end is closer than the beginning. In Echo Lake Steve told me that his son (class of ‘01) wouldn’t think about the end until it really was in reach. The size and scope of the endeavour was too much. I’ve thought about the end lots. About achieving that goal and completing a country sized walk in one go. That’s what has kept me on the trail. I know the high sierras are the highlight of the trail and I could skip up ahead to other good points, but it’s the whole thing that I’m here for and I won’t be done until I’m sipping Canadian Club and eating moose.

P.S. I passed a place called Butt Mountain today and thought that was funny.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Belden to Old Station

I’m on a ridge looking down over rolling hills of pine trees all the way to the horizon. I know there is a lake down there, appropriately named Lost Lake, that I can’t see, but there is another one in the distance that enhances the view. The sun will set in the next half hour and I’ll be alone with the stars again.

I’ve tried to take it easy today with three proper stops and an early finish, but I still managed a good distance and I’m going to get to a big milestone tomorrow. I haven’t fully checked the numbers but I think it’s going to be a similar deal all the way to Oregon. I’m really enjoying stopping with plenty of sunlight left. I could be putting in miles but I don’t have to. I can enjoy the view instead.

This morning I woke from a bad dream and took a moment or two to trace back how I ended up in a house on a bed near noisy train tracks. Eventually I pieced the last few days together and was glad to realise there was no way I’d just been sent to jail for being eight (yes exactly eight) minutes late on paying a parking ticket.

The Braatens dropped us back at the trail before 8 and the long slog up the hill began. It was quite a push and I was on the lookout for poison oak which is apparently prevalent around here. Didn’t see any but it can be a day or two before I find out if it saw me. There were a few good springs today which I drank without filtering or treating and now I’ve bottled up enough to make the next dry 20 miles without any side trips.

More photos of this day’s journey can be found at Belden to Old Station

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

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

Steve was ready before I was and after a proper breakfast of cereal, milk and *fresh strawberries* I was kindly driven back to Echo Lake and set loose on the PCT. I thought I’d see Blue Sky and her parents today but they must have been on a side trail as I whizzed by. I pushed on like crazy so that I could make tomorrow shorter and get to Truckee at a reasonable time. Getting up to Dicks Pass was like being in the high sierras again. Lake Aloha was gorgeous. A chilling blue colour set against speckled granite and dotted with countless islands it was just begging to be swum in, but it was too early and too cold for me.

The only PCTer I saw was Rest Stop and he was able to give good info on the whereabouts of a few people.

I made Barker Pass, 32 miles from Echo Lake, within 13 hours of setting off and took a photo by the sign to prove it. Dinner was short and sweet and now I’m up on the ridge with a view across Lake Tahoe. I was told by a south-bounder there’d be fireworks in Squaw Valley, but that’s 10+ miles away and here will do quite nicely. I think I can hear something exploding over the hill though.

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

The wonder drug ibuprofen is my saviour. Two at breakfast, two at lunch and two after dinner and I’ve felt almost fine the whole time. I’m buying much more of it at Echo Lake for next time my legs start to swell.

The day was undulating lots, though staying in a fairly narrow band. I had lots of bars to eat knowing I will resupply at Echo Lake tomorrow. At lunch I found a grassy spot at a point labeled in the data book as “saddle southwest of The Nipple”. With various colourful wild flowers in bloom around me and the warm sun above I lay on my back and totally relaxed, it was marvelous. I did need to press on though because I’d lost half an hour this morning when the guide book said to follow the road 70 yards south when it should have said “walk straight across the dirt road”. I walked almost half a mile up hill before turning back. Grrr

I saw Heidi again, this time the dogs were need…

Something large just made a thump in those trees over there. Usually it’s deer, but sometime it’s going to be a bear.

…needing a rest so all three were sitting in the shade. Siestas, oh how I miss them.

I carried on at my normal pace until finally popping out at Carson Pass to find six other hikers in residence and two more to pass through before I left. Eating dinner at a table was a treat, and with a phone there I checked my email and got terrible news. Vortex has withdrawn from the PCT. After returning from his brother’s wedding the miles were too much so he left from Sonora. He said Blue Sky is at Echo Lake and also debating the trail. That sure got me going. I shouldered my pack, popped two ibuprofens, set my iPod to a faster playlist and almost ran up that hill. I hope to get to Echo Lake early tomorrow to catch her and her mum before they set out. It’d be a real shame if she pulled out too and maybe her continued presence will motivate Vortex to come back. We’ll see.

Now I need to lie down and ignore the monster in the darkness.

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