Day 91 - Quincy to Little Haven

Getting out of towns is always hard. Even getting up in the morning, from that comfortable bed, is hard. But I managed to drag myself up, eat some yogurt and a banana, and get my gear in my backpack.
Hitching out of Quincy wasn't easy as well. After a while, a car pulled over and took me only about a mile, to the hospital. Over there I tried hitching for a long while. The caretaker of the campground up near Bucks Summit (my hitching destination) pulled over and said he'd be back in about an hour, and pick me up if I'm still around. Luckily, I managed to get a ride before that.
The ride I got was with a Mercedes (!). It was an old car, though. It slowed down, and then pulled over some distance from me. When I tried to figure out if it was really stopping for me, and started walking towards it, it pulled off again. But then it turned around, and got back for me. So that was good.
I was picked up by a lady and a young girl. When they heard I was from Israel they told me the girl studied Hebrew in school for several years. She understood some of my Hebrew as well. The lady driving the car had volunteered in kibbutz Hatzerim a long time ago, and also remembered some words in Hebrew.
They really drove out of their way to get me to the summit, which was about twice the distance they planned on going. The car had other plans, and had a really hard time on some of those climbs. But we got to the summit at the end.
Up there, I met Kermit and Jeannie Bug again, just as Trail Candy was heading out into the trail. I got a tangerine, thanked them for their magic again, and also headed north.
Just before I started hiking, Banana Boat passed by in a car, looking for Trail Candy. I carried her message for him, that she is behind, and might come over to the Brattens (our destination for the day), and told him when I passed him a bit later.

View towards Silver Lake

The hike was rather easy, most of the day. Some small climbs, and a big big hike down at the end. I passed Lingo, Sugar Pine and Ticket Llama, and another hiker I didn't catch his trail name.

A nice day to be outside

The big climb we have in store tomorrow

A bit after passing them, I almost stepped on a rattlesnake. I thought we were over with the snakes a long time ago. I took some steps back, and waited for him to stop rattling. The other hikers caught up, and we waited together, trying to prod it, to make it go away. At the end it moved, and we sprinted over the spot where he had been.

The Rattler of north California

The rest of the climb down was uneventful, and I got to the Belden store and got an ice cream sandwich and a Gatorade. Trying to get to the hostel proved hard with no signs or direction, so I got back to the store, and met Hop Scotch, who just called the angels, and got us a ride there.

Going down towards Belden and the Feather River

Just a strange Panda graffiti in Belden

I met Idan over here, and got a room to place my mattress on a nice floor. There is no reception or Wi-Fi here, so I'm all disconnected. But at the moment I am playing scrabble with Stumbles and Rocket Llama.

Day 85 - Meadow Lake Road to Sierra City

After waking up too early in the morning, because the hikers nearby were not very quiet when they got up in the morning, we finally headed out to our long day.

View towards Meadow Lake

We managed to do the first 10 miles or so before it was too hot, which was nice. It included some more ridge walking, on the shady side of the mountain.
We filled our water at East Meadow camp ground, seeing many cars passing by, and fantasizing about being offered a soda from someone. We had no such luck.
Going up another climb or two, the day became hotter and hotter. We just trudged on, and made another short water stop at Milton Creek. From there, we had about 5 more miles to go until highway 49, which leads to Sierra City.

Sierra City general store

I headed out and walked this last bit with no breaks. Just before the highway, I passed two southbound hikers that started at Crater Lake, some 600 miles to the north. We might bump into Tree Hugger and Petunia again in Oregon or Washington, when they hop over to do that section next.
When I finally got to the road, I found Waterfall and Backup just as they were meeting Waterfall's aunt and uncle. They offered me a ton of melon, watermelon and pineapple pieces, and brownies and cookies. That was an awesome way to finish up a hot day of walking.
I started walking down the highway towards town, and managed to catch a ride after several minutes. I met Idan at the back yard of the Red Moose Inn, where hikers can camp for free. We wanted to inquire about getting a room there, or at least a shower, but there was nobody around to talk to.
We did manage to get a quick hose shower, and then to do our laundry by the general store. We got a buffet dinner at the Old Sierra City Hotel (no rooms for rent, only a bar/restaurant), and are now heading back to the back yard to crash for the night.
The town is full of hikers, many camp behind the church as well. We met Stumbles, which we haven't seen since around Ziggy and The Bear, and a lot of other new and fast hikers catching up from behind. It starts to feel as though we are in "the herd".