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man what’s even the point of writing anything that’s not about the place in the world that’s known as Butt Mountain

After England blew their chance at the World Cup i did my chores as fast as possible but then i ended up sitting in the library for a couple hours dodging the climb i had to do in the 90° heat also watching the new episodes of Steven Universe.

Norcal/Jefferson keeps being very nice country and good trail. I’ve seen many more deer in these parts than anywhere else on trail. These deer have the boldness of Shenandoah deer, i’ve gotten very close to some of them. Some comments on Guthooks tell of encounters with deer that try running away with food, hiking poles, and some backpacks. I believe it too, i’ve run at some deer, shouting and waving my poles and they just stand there unimpressed.

The trail came across another long climb down into a valley. Thankfully i didn’t do my research and i got a delightful surprise of the trail passing right by a diner/lodge in Belden.

It was a really cozy place, the owner ran a pawn shop for 30 in before getting this new place so it was packed full with cool arts covered in cobwebs. I wanted to find him and ask him questions about his life and some of the things, especially after i saw his Clampers admittance framed on the wall, but instead i just drank two pints and hit the trail.

Turns out drinking two pints and going to do a 10 mile 4500 foot climb in 90° heat is great for the spirit but not the body. I ended up hanging out at a spring in the shade for a half hour cooling off and burning away some more sunlight.

At a spring fed trough i had a nice conversation with an old guy who lived his whole life in these mountains that i was okay with cutting short because he was holding a giant knife the whole time. It was in its leather casing the whole time but like come on man you have so many pockets, you can put the knife in one of em and lose some aggression energy. Nice guy tho

The next morning i got about 5 minutes of big rain drops while an angry thunderstorm just over the next ridge loomed ominously. It wasn’t enough to dampen my spirits though, because the halfway marker was approaching that day. With reroutes and closures and how i’m not a purist the halfway post is more symbolic than literal, so in my heart the halfway point was actually Butt Mountain.

A few miles afterwards i showed up in Chester, another small town situated down a stretch of one road. Word traveled down the trail that a diner in town sold 32oz milkshakes and that was my first stop.

My body went on autopilot, i didn’t even notice myself eating it until it was already over. I sat outside and let the cold spot in my stomach warm up slowly. A group of people on vacation were struggling to finish their milkshakes so I stepped up to the plate and ended up consuming about 50oz of milkshake for dinner. Also a burger and some fries.

that night at the church that all the hikers camped at i saw a drunk englishman take off his pants and do pushups in an effort to stop a conversation about religion. someone poured gin and tonic on his exposed butt

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we was eatin good this summer, what with ye and with steven universe before they stopped taking their time with character growth and development.

you butt, past gadget, you shoulda tracked down that clamper.

lol butt mountain

that entire final paragraph with huge hiker trash energy.

an underdog story

an exercise in dreaming big

the dangers of napping

working subtitle

I woke up bright and early to hit the long climb out of Sierra City. The day before i got a burrito called the ‘really big breedo’ from the general store that must’ve weighed about 2.5 pounds. I managed about half for breakfast. On the way out i stopped at the coffee shop where i already was a regular after my day in town and said goodbye to the barista and the baker. Unfortunately the coffee shop was a cousin of starbucks and not of european style so the latte i got was foamy and boiling. The coffee was good though.

Part way up the climb out of town i hit the 1200 mile mark. Three other hikers were there already and posed a riddle to me.

Ketchup said he saw this dog the night before come by his tent, and here he was not enjoying the rocky trail and hot sun. He had a collar with whales on it but no tags. His hair was pressed down and kind of balding under the collar, he had worn it for a while. My maternal instincts from my doggie daycare jobs kicked in and i decided to sobo back to town and see if i could find his owner.

Part way down the climb i passed by a girl who had a car and was going to return to town, so i did a hand off and hopefully she either found his owner or a shelter at least. Unfortunately the sun climbed ever higher and the climb that i wanted to do in the cool early morning became treacherous and sweaty.

I rounded out that day with 15 miles of progress but 22 of hiking. The next day i woke up late but did another 22 that i spent most of listening to Hello from the Magic Tavern which is still very legit. Which brings us to my big day yesterday.

I was still 35 miles from Quincy, my next resupply. Eager to get there and not spend 60 cents for a package of ramen i woke up at 445, drank some caffeine, and set out before the sun. I hiked with Penguin for a while which was nice, i don’t usually hike with people because of my wildly unstable hiking pace. Less than five hours later i pulled my first 10 by 10.

I really slowed down after that, coasting down into a valley with a river. Took me a nice river bath and washed my socks. After that was a long climb up and out of the valley, about seven miles and 4000 feet. My snack supply was running low so i made a hearty bag of ramen i pulled from the hiker box. Sitting in the shade next to the river on a warm summer afternoon ended up disastrous as the loving embrace of a nap fell over me. I awoke at about 4 and hustled to the base of the climb.

I threw on some music and kept a solid 3 mph pace while i raced the fading sunlight. There was still a good hour until sunset when i took a seat by a campfire on top of the ridge and made the mistake of checking my map. 2.2 miles away from a 30 mile day. My feet were burning but i couldn’t stop when i was that close to greatness, even if it meant night hiking.

Right around the next corner i came upon a clever trap to prevent me from hiking: a box full of books. I walked away about 10 minutes shorter of sunlight and now carrying 3 books. With the fuel of the 00s Rock Anthems playlist on spotify i continued until just after dusk and collapsed in the first open space i could find.

This morning i felt great which was a nice surprise. My hitch down to Quincy was a local who was listening to The Adventure Zone which was delightful. We talked about those beautiful boys and D&D 5e and the other hiker with me was so confused.

Now i’m at a pizza buffet, i’ve had about 2 pies and i’m watching the semifinal England/Croatia World Cup game with some very rowdy Brits.

i enjoy some footy and all but like we have the technology to stop clocks and start them again why is stoppage time a thing

ah jeez now there’s overtime come on lads i wanted to do at least 15 miles today

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that dog walk from sierra city lol. the next few days all the hikers were singing praisies, ‘did bonus sobo miles just for a dog.’ the dog did make it back home, but i bet i mention that in the next post.

yep, digital screenshots of a smartphone, that proves it. that 30 day was very rough, the chill day i had at quincy following was a boon.

stoppage time is silly i still feel that way

-the gottadomiles-

I showed up at Donner Pass hungry enough to eat a person, allegedly. Unfortunately it was on the 4th and the ski lodge wasn’t open for breakfast. So i watched Poohbear and Mitch do a meme race in Mario 3 which was fantastic. I stayed very hungry though and demolished a large pizza after they opened.

It weighed me down hard and i sat around for a couple hours digesting. When i finally got the motivation to hike i got stopped by some trail magic and ate a giant hot dog for America. The idea of hiking up to Castle Peak for the fireworks was planted in my head and i started to make motions to watch them up there.

About halfway up the very steep climb i ran across a guy and his son who had the same idea but were blown off the summit and settled on watching from a little saddle. I sat with them for two hours as the son practiced his slingshot aim and admired the hazy sunset.

When 930 rolled along i was very cold in the sunless wind. The fireworks tried their best but they couldn’t crest the ridge and i climbed back down for some disappointed night hiking. Near the bottom i could see some of fireworks, just in time for the finale.

Night hiking was slow because of my abusive backpack, same went for the next day on trail. I was passed by a lot of people i know though so that was nice seeing them all again. Norcal kept proving to me that it’s way cooler than the rest of the trail though and I was way cool with that. After a very long climb down a valley i ended up in Sierra City.

Its a very small gold rush town with a pricey general store. I’m stuck here until 1030 so i spent a while exploring. The history here is interesting, i read an investigative article about how some of the buildings in town weren’t built when the history books claim they were. A coffee shop is in an old building with that good old room smell.

also now it’s almost 1030 it’s time to start making moves. this poor wifi is getting abused, looks like i won’t be putting this on the internet for a bit womp womp

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-hungry enough to eat a person, allegedly-

i like how this one ends with my morning in sierra city. i will end up taking a zero day there and exploring and learning and being blind to the advances by a pretty girl oof. sierra city was so rad tho, look at it in the last post

okay so my guide app is split into five sections: desert, sierra, norcal, oregon, and washington. the sierra section ends at echo lake. now that i’m 60 miles past there, i can’t easily look back at the bit from bridgeport to tahoe so it’s all fuzzy but here we go.

I rolled out of Bridgeport late and caught the sunset up on the ridge. The miles the next two days were very small, i think i got around 12. It was pretty and all but i was dragging.

Thankfully i hit some trail magic, Grasshopper was cooking eggs and beans. He also had coffee and chocolate milk, which i used to fuel a juicy 24. Also i got to see Howzer and Madam Cheesesteak so win win.

Trail magic ran plentiful the next day. I chatted with an older couple who was climbing up to a saddle where they got cell service to hang out and maybe do some office work. They gave me some fancy cliff bars and info about Mount Shasta. A few miles later there was a visitor’s center for whatever pass i just did and they gave me a coke and a good plate of food. Some former thru hikers drove by and told me about the trail magic they did across the street. They offered me cookies and gave me the treasure map to their stashed beer.

The last bit of trail between there and Tahoe was beautiful.

Tahoe has the Lime bike and scooter rental app. It was delightful seeing all the thru hikers with their backpacks on cruising around the city on these scooters. It was liberating. That night i split a room at a hotel so i could watch SGDQ. Puncay and Cheese raced Mario 64 70 star, followed by TAS block, then Pokemon 2 games 1 controller but Shenanigans wasn’t on mic for it so it was a bit disappointing.

also i got this new pack but it’s whack and hurts my body. that’s been consuming my mind for the past 60 miles and will continue to do so until i hit Sierra City in 40 more miles.

Which is a shame because the trail is pretty nice here. Wildflowers are all about and the climbs are pretty gravy. Also cell service is more common, i got to watch two new episodes of Steven Universe in my tent last night. Also i downloaded Acid Rap this morning and that album is fantastic.

i liked the climb up to there

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maan, that ding dang granite gear pack. what a spirit breaker. just look at how light on words this one is. i sure am glad it was pretty because it kept me aloft at least a little.

nice nerd break in the middle there. shen with the insane pokemon knowledge, i enjoy passionate nerds.