Day 87 & 88: Belden, Braatens, and Blogs, Oh Yay!

(Mile 1265 to Belden, 1289.5 = 24.5 miles, 1289.5 to 1303.5 = 14 miles)

Dan and me at Belden Town. Dan's a southbound section hiker who'd read this blog! I was thrilled to meet him.

Well, we hit Belden a day early, rolling in right around 5:30 pm.  We tackled the long downhill with Siddhartha and U-Haul -- both if whom we had met at the Red Moose Inn.  We all but ran down the big hill.  And rewarded ourselves with drinks and dinner at the Belden Town Resort.  Kindergarten Cop was taking off with Problem Bear just as we left.  Enough time for a quick catch-up.  And then we called the Braatens, local trail angels, and they took us all in for the night.  Knees, Threshold, Washout (?), Siddhartha, U-Haul, Gumby, and me. 

Gumby and U-Haul on a fancy-shmancy bridge. Silver Falls?

The Braatens run "Little Haven" and have an entire house for hikers.  A house!  Their daughter said that's part of why they got the place.  Close to the Trail and a space for hikers.  Yes, really.  It was wonderful.  A shower, a bed, cold cereal snack before bed, and pancakes and coffee in the morning.  Oh, and a lift to the PO and back to Belden Town.  Huge thanks to Laurie and Brenda Braaten for such a low-key, relaxing stay!  We could not have asked for a more perfect stop.

Botanist friends, what IS this gorgeous bloom?!

We spent the first half of the day doing errands -- PO, sorting resupply items, doing laundry, eating lunch.  While I was sitting at the resort, struggling a bit with a hard morning emotionally, a hiker arrived and stopped in front of me.  I looked up, and he greeted me.  He asked my name.  I replied, and he grinned.  He thought so; he'd been following the blog!  We talked a few minutes, and then he went in to the restaurant, saying that if I was still around, perhaps we could get a photo. Of course!  What Dan didn't know was that I was secretly on the verge of tears when he arrived.  (Nothing big; I think I am just emotional this week!)  And he was actually a bit of trail magic for me at that moment.  A smiling face full of warmth and good energy.  As soon as my food was ready, I found Dan and joined him for lunch.  He is a southbound section hiker from Washington, so he had all sorts of good information and advice.  It was quite a treat.  And brought me to another realization this afternoon.  Which I think I'll try to write about tomorrow.  But it is LATE!  And so I'm off to bed.

Holy buckets! Check out this huge cone!

Today's thanks go to Dan and the Braatens of Belden.  You angels always pop up at just the right moment.

1300 miles. Almost halfway!