Day 17 - Prelude to Burning Man
Start Mile 1270.3
End Mile 1292.7
Total Miles 22.4
On the trail by 7-10 am and the weather, like every day since this trip started, was beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine. We had a short climb of around 3-400 feet to start our day before we started to bob along a ridge which provided glorious views down to several lakes many hundreds of feet below us. We were only 16.5 miles from Belden, but it’s almost impossible to keep a good pace going due to the footing. After 2 hours of walking, we had covered 5.1 miles, which Jim thought was excellent in the conditions. After a short break we set off again, and before long we were heading up as we had a climb of around 700 feet which wasn’t too bad. Eventually, we started a series of short ups and downs and at around 11-30 am Jim suggested a lunch break as he feared we would enter the full glare of the sun if we carried on too much further. It was a good call as we hit the full force of the sun as we rounded the next corner when we resumed our walk. We were now beginning to head down, and you could see the road 5-6000 feet below us, and that was our destination!
The trail was now exposed to the full glare of the sun, and it was searing hot. Eventually, the trail led us into a thicket of bushes and plants which made the going difficult. We persevered and pushed on, and we were finally rewarded when the trail led us into the shade offered by the trees that were cascading down the hillside. The trail tumbled down, switching back and forth but the further down we traveled the farther away we seemed from reaching the bottom. Jim had been particularly unhappy today as he was complaining about not getting in the miles and how we needed to start hiking earlier or staying on the trail later. His negativity was beginning to affect me, and I phoned Marvin, via his sister Sandy, asking if they could source me an exit from Belden, where we are headed, to either Sacramento or Reno, and it’s about a 2-hour hitch either way.
We eventually arrived into Belden at around 3-30pm, and our timing could not have been better. There had been a music festival on, but it had finished for the afternoon session. Although as I type this, (5-40 pm), there is a loud Thud, Thud as the evening set seems to have started.
Belden seems to have a little more going for it than Sierra City, but not by much. We went into a bar and entered the restaurant section for a burger and fries, it was okay but nothing to write home about. Our plan was to hang out until 6-00pm and then go up the mountain to about 1200 feet to camp. Unfortunately, a lot of other people are having the same idea. At the music festival is a first aid tent and I took the opportunity to have a blister on one of my toes treated. I want to thank Amanda for the expert care and attention and for telling me all about Free Health Care Without Judgement. Upon talking to someone about the music festival, and the wacky clothing is worn by both the men and women, I was told these kinds of festivals are held throughout California and are a prequel to the much, much larger Burning Man Festival. Upon hearing this news, I could not wait to get back on the trail.
Well, it’s time to go and climb a mountain so I’ll be back later.
After about 2 hours and 45 minutes, and a climb of 1200 feet, we finally arrived at our campsite almost in the dark. We left Belden at around 5-55pm, and we crossed a bridge over the river, and I don’t think I have ever seen a river like it. One part was raging rapids whereas the other part was rather quite gentle in comparison. There were tents all along one side of the river (the gentle side) and numerous people swimming or lazing in all manner of watercraft. They were all enjoying the weather and music.
We had to be extremely careful getting to the trailhead as there were road works and only one lane of traffic at a time. Fortunately, we didn’t have far to go, and there wasn’t too much traffic. No sooner did we reach the trailhead than we started to climb. It was pretty gentle for the first little while, but then the hill really kicked in. Jim has been on the trail for 4 1/2 months compared to my 3 1/2 weeks and is in much better shape, and he raced ahead. I now realized how much I’m holding Jim back, as he’s trying to get to Ashland by August 1st in order to meet someone. So when we had set up camp, I told Jim I was heading back down to Belden tomorrow, to hitch a ride to Reno or Sacramento. I don’t think my news caught Jim by surprise because he started to mention he has to do 25 miles tomorrow and was talking of night hiking and getting up at 2 or 3 am to start walking. I will be very sad to leave the trail as I hate to leave a job unfinished, but the past 2-3 days have not been fun. Already I feel much better now I have decided to return home and cannot wait to see Liz and Lola, and all my family.
As much as I would like to carry on, I am out of options, as everyone else out here are young, athletic and don’t want to wait around for a slow coach like me. It is very disappointing, but after last years trials and tribulations, I had made a promise to Liz and my family not to travel alone. It is way too dangerous, and I wouldn’t consider hiking anywhere alone due to the inherent dangers. Let me provide an example, one night, a youngish Danish woman of around 35 years of age arrived into camp, and we got chatting over dinner. Earlier in her trip, she had encountered a mountain lion, and after a standoff of a few seconds, the cougar took off. These animals are arguably the most dangerous to encounter on the trail as they are pure predators, and if they believe they can take you down, they will do so without hesitation. The chances of seeing them are slim, and that’s not a risk I’m prepared to take. There is also the risk of sliding off the trail, similar to a guy last year who broke his leg after sliding off the trail and down a hill. Rumour has it he lay there for 24 hours before he was found. Another example is the young fellow who disappeared on the trail last year, and they still haven’t found his body. Finally, just a couple of weeks ago, several hikers were lost on the trail and had to fire up their safety beacon and were rescued by a helicopter. It turns out they were 8 miles off-trail. If you had seen some of the wilderness areas, we both travelled through and saw I think you would have a greater appreciation for the vast array of danger that awaits if you are not paying attention,
Wanderer.
