Section N is 134 miles long and runs from Belden to Burney Falls State Park. However, the PCT midway point is in this section and we took a triple 0-day halftime break so section N will be split into two posts. July 25th - 29th.
Day 80, 22.3 miles to camp at mile #1309.
We knew that the 5,000 foot climb out of the valley would be miserable in the heat so we hit the trail at sunrise. I snapped some photos of the old Eby stamp mill across the river and then we hiked in the shadow of the hill for a good bit. The sun poured over right as we entered Lassen National Forest which is where the tree cover began. It was still boiling hot and I was happy to take a dip in the freezing water of Chips Creek. Further up the climb I startled a squirrel who was enjoying his lunch and he ran up a tree then barked at me while giving me the death stare. That gave me a good laugh. We took a nice long siesta at the top of the climb then mozied down to Frog Spring to refill our water. There were a dozen hikers passed out in various shady spots, looking like corpses after the big climb. We ate and gathered enough energy to squeeze out some more miles and then slept like logs that night.
Ye Olde Eby Stamp Mill.
Cobwebby Thistle.
Bees sipping up water.
No idea what this bug skeleton used to be.
Further up Chips Creek.
The angry squirrel from the video above.
Day 81, 22.2 miles to Chester.
We slept in a bit since and then took off with excitement to cross the halfway marker today. The trail soon emptied out into fields with big lava rock formations that were just to tempting to climb. I kept finding more and more routes to climb and topped out on three before noon. We then met up at Robbers Spring which was an annoying 0.3 off trail but it was the last water for 12 miles so I slackpacked down and returned with 6L for Sea Lion and I. We then climbed up a hill, took another break up top, then began the dip down to highway 36 to Chester. We took another rest at the PCT midpoint marker and broke out our celebration beers, 1,326 miles complete! From there it was an easy downhill eight miles to the road where we had a rare hitchhiking occurrence when two car pulled over at the same time to pick us up. It was like they had to court us to win the right to drive our stinky selves to town. Once in civilization, we set up at the Luthern Church, which gracious let's hikers camp in the yard, and then went to dine at the Pine Shack Frosty. I had a ribs dinner and then a jumbo 32oz shake for dessert. We met the crew there and finalized our plans for halftime. Sam would be arriving Saturday morning after a long drive down from Seattle and will take us back to Belden. He has a big van he's been converting and can fit at least six of us.
Day 82, 0 Day in Chester.
We took a day to relax and get all of our chores done before heading to the festival. We first got brekkie at the Kopper Kettle where we reunited with Squirrel and Shark, went down to the thrift shop to get zany outfits for the weekend, did laundry, and picked up supplies to grill out at Chester Park. I also stopped by the post office to mail my warm gear ahead since it is just dead weight. See ya later gloves, beanie, thermal pants, and smartwool shirt! There was a huge hawk residing in the park and making laps up and down the river. We planned to camp at the park but as darkness fell the mosquitoes came out in full force so we retreated back to the church. I also took some photos of the blood moon.
I caught the hawk looking derpy.
Blood Moon.
Day 83 and 84, 0-Days in Belden.
I worked on the blog for a bit in the morning and then a familiar van arrived at the church. Sam and I sat on his newly built roofdeck and had a brekkie beer before a big group of us went down to the Kopper Kettle. A few more hikers wanted to catch a ride with us and Sam kept assuring me there was room. He was on a cross country road trip while still building the van so he was lugging all his life, tools, bicycle, and motorcycle with him but we still squeezed nine hikers and their packs inside. It was tight. We pulled over and pulled out to resort our packs and only take what was necessary for one day and one night at the festival. We parked at a nearby RV park and walked a mile and a half down the road so we'd appear to be hiking through town. The rumor was that hikers can volunteer for a shift in exchange for a full weekend pass so we didn't want to be driving up like some non-hikers. The rumors were true and we were assigned some easy tasks for a four hour shift. Sam, Moose, and I were on trash duty and collected empties around the beach then rode in a pickup to gather bags from the trashcans. After two hours we were cut loose and got our wristbands so it was equivalent to being paid $125/hour! We then partied the night away, woke up the next morning and half of the crew decided we may as well stay another night since we have a full festival pass. We joined a yoga class in the morning, laid around on some floaties in the river, and relaxed for the day. Night two was a bit more mellow and we got to see a great jam band, called Jazz Mafia, while laying on huge comfy pillows in the pillow pit.
How many hikers can we fit in here?
Space Jam, Sea Lion, Moose, Shark (front), Sam, Lego, Squirrel, Midge, Twizzler, Raynow. All bright eyed and ready to party.