Day 145 – Mile 1178.3 – 1196.5

Tentsite (5) to Sierra City

Miles to go: 395.3

Miles hiked: 1196.5 + 1063.4 = 2259.9

Canada: 2655.2

Today I had to get to Sierra City (a very small town/village) to resupply as I’d managed to avoid going to ‘Truckee’ from Donner Pass which would have taken more time out of my schedule.

Some deer had been making strange noises all night so I hadn’t slept very well, so getting up with my 5:15 alarm wasn’t easy. I was hiking by 6am with the aid of my head torch.

Today’s hike would be mostly downhill from the ridge I was on. And as you know hiking into a town/down to a road inevitably means uphill tomorrow. There was a classic car festival in town but I was keen to see if there was a cheap room available at the ‘Old Sierra City Hotel’ (there was) before getting a cheeseburger & milkshake at the General Store.

There’s no laundry in town but after a shower and buying my resupply I hung out in the hotel ‘bar’ area. (The hotel doesn’t have a license to sell alcohol). After chatting to the owner ‘Rob’ for sometime about the gold rush he offered me a beer & shot, then another & another. As he’s a kind of ‘trail angel’ I gave him a donation so he could support future hikers in the same way.

Dinner was 2 x frozen burritos from the General store (there’s not much by the way of evening meals in the town)

Water filtered: 465.0 litres

PCT Miles hiked today: 18.2

Nights under canvas current streak: 0

Max streak: 18

Total nights under canvas: 109

Total nights in a building: 36

Lake swims: 1

Showers: 33

Trail Magic: 19

Thought for the day: “You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” – Dr. Seuss