7/7/18 – More Trail Magic

Day 17

Miles: 1,195.42 to 1,179.26

Plus 1.5 miles to trailhead from town

The alarm rings at 5:30 a.m. Neither of us wants to get up. We have 4,000 feet to climb today and though we are looking forward to being on the trail again, our legs just can’t get excited about the climb.

There are many northbound hiker we cross path with in the morning. They hike fast, eager to get to Sierra City and the amenities the town offers. We recommend burger at the general store. Definitely the best value for their money when it comes to having a filling nero/zero day meal.

There’s not much in term of scenery today. We have a short lived view of the Buttes then the forrest swallows us. It’s hot today, close to 90 degrees so it feels good to hike in the trees.

About 12 miles in we bump into a sign pointing us to trail magic in a campground 1/4 mile away. We go check it out. We get treated to soda and strawberries by two trail angels who are restarting trail magic after they took couple years off and they are surprised how many more hikers there are nowadays. We spent two hours with them and about 10 other thru hikers and then we are on our way to finish the last 4 uphill miles to camp.

Roller, gal from Portland who is also southbounding, is already there when we arrive. She lets us pick sites first as she plans to cowboy camp and only needs small spot.

We set up and within 10 minutes 6 more people show up. There is only one spot left. What a great timing. We met a great amount of Northbound hikers, we’re definitely hitting the bubble, and our shorter days might come to our advantage.

Our camp is lovely. So is the stream that runs nearby. It has the most comfortable sitting rock that allows me to fill the dirty back, and filter without getting up. What else can one wish for.