Day 81 – 30 Miler

Miles: 1229.9 to 1259.9

Trail Miles: 30

After a good nights sleep, I was toying with the idea of doing 30 miles today. I wasn’t sure if I was up for it, but the campsite at 30 miles had a vista. Several Guthooks comments said it had a beautiful sunrise. Given today was the Fourth of July, I figured anyplace with a beautiful sunrise may have a view of fireworks tonight. It was worth trying.

I’m hoping to get to Belden Town, CA and Caribou Crossroads by Friday (today was Wednesday). Belden Town is an eccentric Resort, Restaurant and bar along the Feather River. It hosts raves, music festivals, campers, hikers and bikers year round. Caribou Crossroads is an RV park and campground 2 miles from Belden. My intent was to get a shower and do laundry there.

The trail is mostly forest with some ridge lines in Plumas National Forest. It’s not the grandeur of the Sierras anymore, but it makes for easier miles with the lower elevation.

I was a half-mile short of doing 10 by 10am, and that’s with starting at 6:20 on the trail. I guess that’s with the lower elevation will give you fantastic.

I met female hiker with the trail name Hash Brown. She told me she was a LASH – long ass section hiker. She’s trying to do 2000 miles of the PCT this year. She’s close to my age and was hiking alone. We talked briefly about the demographics you see on the trail, specifically age groups.

The majority of hikers are, not so surprisingly, 20 and early-30 somethings. After that, there’s a missing generation. People are having families, building careers – too many responsibilities to leave and go hike for six months. In the mid to late forties, people like myself return, but in smaller numbers, particularly among women. There is a definite presence of men in their 50s, 60s and even 70s, but noticeably less so among women in those age groups. Still, it’s an improvement over what I recall seeing 21 years ago on the John Muir Trail.

Mid afternoon I went for a dip in the middle Fork of the feather River. It was nice to rinse some dirt and sweat off and ‘wash’ some clothes. Unfortunately, my clothes still smelled, just a little less strongly.

It was a big climb out of the River canyon. The last seven miles in particular were grueling.

Made it to the top, Lookout Rock. Huarache and another hiker were there already , eating dinner with a nice view to the east.

It was rocky but I found a spot 100 yds away to cowboy camp. I haven’t cowboyed since sometime in May, before the Sierras. It felt odd . And mosquito-y. I’m sure I’ll have a bunch of bites on my face and hands tomorrow morning.

My hopes for fireworks didn’t materialize. The campsite vista was miles and miles of uninterrupted forests. Beautiful of course, but I was a little disappointed. Thirty miles in the wilderness would have to suffice as my celebration. Happy Birthday America. 242 years and still going strong.