Day 86: Looking Up

(Mile 1238.5 to 1265, Big Creek Rd = 26.5 miles!)

The Feather River. The most water we'd seen in awhile.
We ate lunch here, but, frankly, didn't have the energy to swim.

Well, today was a better day than yesterday.  And not because of the terrain.  We had a five-mile stretch of pure uphill in addition to the usual climbs and drops.  But I barely noticed.  And right now, we are as happy as can be, despite the fact that we know we're going to be soaked in the morning.  Here's how the day went.

We had a somewhat restless sleep.  Again, it was painfully quiet.  I was awoken by a deer crashing and snorting through the woods and again by a little critter rustling around underneath my tent.  The critter was ongoing for awhile.  But we were up and out by 6:15 a.m.  I couldn't tell you much about the morning past that.  I decided to take what I thought was a cold medicine tablet this morning ... it did strike me that it kept slipping through my fingers as I tried to grab it -- "Maybe I'm not supposed to take this," I thought briefly, and disregarded the thought as ridiculous and popped it in my mouth.  By 7 a.m., I knew I had made a mistake.  It was a generic benedryl that I had taken.  The exhaustion hit me like a stone wall.  I could barely keep my eyes open despite the fact that I was hiking.  I deployed all of the tired driving tricks.  I tried to talk to Gumby, I chewed gum, I ate snacks, I drank water ... none of it worked.  I finally put my ear buds in and listened to my "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" series, and this kept me awake enough to stop me from tripping over everything.  The medicine didn't really wear off until lunch.  It was awful.  I will NEVER make that mistake again!

Blurry, but a five minute interview with a very slender buck!

After lunch, I listened again until my batteries died, and then I was inspired to think.  About all of the things I am going to tackle in my personal time when I return.  For whatever reason, I found this wildly exciting and totally consuming.  We were roasting between the heat and the climb, but my head was making plans for the house and the tools I will need for my new projects.  For the books I plan to read and the movies I need to watch to accompany them.  I have two independent study projects all lined out.  I also had about twenty other ideas -- everything from learning to can and sew to getting serious about country line dancing -- but a handful of house projects and two study projects are good for now.  I'll jot the others down in the margins.  I've decided that with two months to go, it is no longer too soon to start making return plans.

Evidence of a small forest fire!

All of this got me through until dinner.  Which was in the perfect wind-free spot and included cheesecake.  Can't go wrong there.  After dinner we headed down the trail, bypassing a handful of spectacular ridge sites -- too early to stop.  Little did we know that we wouldn't find anything for MILES.  That was about 6:30.  We were still walking at 8:30.  Sigh.

And that's when magic hit.  A box of snacks for hikers at a road crossing!  Apples, bananas, and candy.  As we were picking our fruit, an SUV drove by.  The woman looked out.  And then slammed on her breaks and pulled over.  And then drove off.  And then turned around and drove by.  And turned around again with her window down.  Did we need anything?  Anything at all?  Just a flat place to sleep.  Right ahead, you'll find a couple.  A thanks, and she drove off.  We found a spot not far from there and pitched our tents.  After about twenty minutes, a vehicle pulled over and someone got out.  To pee?  The person came closer and closer ... it was the woman with the SUV!  She had a dozen homemade cookies, two peaches, peeled and sliced carrots, lettuce, and two liters of water for us!  Unbelievable.  She chatted a few minutes and sent us to bed.

Treats from the trail angel.  Delicious looking, eh?  The peaches were amazing.

And now we are tucked in our tents.  Bellies full of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  Everything came together.  We had our longest day, 26.5 miles and our best trail magic yet.  Thank you, thank you!  And with that, good night.