July 9th, 2021
Mile Marker: 1205.4
Miles Hiked Today: 18
This morning we woke up ready to go. We only had 8 miles to hike to get into Sierra City for a resupply and it was all downhill. Planner and I walked the first half and naturally started running for the second half.
I can’t get over how nice it is to be running. I obviously wished I didn’t have a big backpack on but nonetheless, it feels so good to get the legs moving fast!
Before we started running, I had received a message from Bottleneck on my Inreach and we also saw a message from her left on trail. She was safe and we would meet up with her right before town.
We reached highway 49 where Bottleneck was and figured out how we had missed each other. She had thought we had already went to trail magic and back to trail by the time she had reached it, so she kept on hiking and ended up ahead of us.
We all walked the mile and half into Sierra city together. Sierra City’s population was marked as 225 and proved to be an extremely small, adorable town.
I had found myself loving these small towns on the AT and this was the first one on the PCT that had similar vibes.
We ate breakfast at the Red Moose Cafe where I ordered a breakfast burrito and drank endless amounts of coffee.
As the sun was coming up, we were starting to feel the heat build. Today was supposed to be close to 100 degrees so we made the decision to stay in town until 5ish so that we didn’t have to hike in the heat.
We migrated across the street to a coffee shop that felt like heaven for us hikers. It was this big area with a ton of seating, electrical outlets to charge, and WiFi.
We really couldn’t have asked for a better spot.
We scoped out a corner and then all set out to the post office and general store to resupply on food for the next 4 days.
After that was done, we didn’t have much else to do but shower at a public shower, eat, and rest until the sun started to cool off.
The public shower was located in the center of town in a public restroom where all you had to do was press a button and ice cold water would come out for 30 seconds at a time. It reminded me of my bucket shower days in Ethiopia.
Around 3 some of us went to the local general store and grill and I got a half pound burger, fries, and blackberry milkshake. I will say, it is close to being one of my favorite meals on trail.
5 o’clock rolled around and we headed outside for a hitch back to the trail and snagged one fairly quickly. There were a lot more people traveling through Sierra City at this time, plus it was only a mile and half up the road.
Once we were at the trail, we had decided on 10 miles to the next water source and lake.
This was also 7.5 miles of incline. It felt like the trail was taunting us, making us think we were so strong and powerful when we could run down the trail this morning to now making us do switch backs up a huge mountain. And on top of that, having a big part of the trail covered in rocks.
Conrad said it perfectly, it’s like walking on legos barefoot.
Conrad, Journey, and I kept a steady pace with Conrad leading and it felt like we made it up the mountain in no time. It was actually nice not leading and having someone else focus on it. All I had to do was look at Conrad’s feet and keep a chugging.
Once up top we flew easily back down and found a great camp spot next to the lake.
Even though it was already close to 9, it was so hot I still wanted to take a dip in the lake. We quickly set up our tents and hopped in enjoying the cool water washing over our bodies.
It felt like such a full, eventful day. I love when we can get a solid meal and still put in miles! I think we may have to go back to siesting if the temperature keeps up. Hoping it doesn’t but we will take it one day at a time!
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 