Halfway and still lovin' life! Mile 1340

Been CRUISIN through northern California making miles and looking to catch up to my people (and have enough time to actually make it to California).  After leaving Katherine in King's Beach (a hard decision to make.  That place rocks!) I took a day and a half to blow into Sierra City, walking my first 30 mile day.  Cool SMALL town with one main street that's about 2 short blocks long with one general store and 3 restaurants (two of which are bars).  There are some trail angels there at Red Moose Cafe, Bill and Margaret who run the restaurant there and let hikers spend the night, use their computer, take showers, and basically help out any way they can.  Awesome awesome people who seem genuinely happy to help and serve up a mean breakfast with all you can eat breakfast (and I hear a tasty BBQ rib dinner).  Definitely like no greasy spoon I've been to before.  Great spot, I'd love to go back sometime and hang more and help out.

Left Sierra City and took a funky "short cut" to get back to the PCT right out of the backside of down.  An old forest road I guess that goes through a ton of old mines on the hill there and past a lot of private property owned by people who clearly want to be left alone (lots of signs like "beware of killer dogs" "we don't call the cops" "we have guns and know how to use them"...).  I judged the signs as more bark than bite... only saw one dog and didn't see a single person before I was back on public land.  Then it was cruisin' into Belden.  Did some leap froggin' with a hiker named Josh but he was the only other person I saw before running into 7-11 the day I arrived in Belden.  Had a hot meal, picked up my package, jumped in the river, and it was back to the trail to tackle the big climb back up to the ridge.  One more big day (31 miles this time!) and then a short walk into Chester.  Back in town again!  This time I'm going to stick around for a couple of hours and get a shower, a couple of meals, and my new shoes.  They just arrived from REI this morning right in time.  I have a photo of them side by side and you'll see it was definitely time for some new tires.

Yesterday I ran through the official halfway mark of the trail.  There were a lot of mixed emotions.  At the time I was starting to feel a little frustrated about not catching up with my crew as soon as I'd hoped.  And I've been feeling anxious about getting up to Washington quick before the snow sets in.  Plus outside of a few folks here and there I've pretty much been on my own.  The solitude was a welcome break but I'm back to wanting a little company to keep me motivated and to ramp up the fun out here.  Anyway, I was a little down and out when I hit it but looking at the register and all the names of folks I'd traveled with along the way so far reminding me of what an awesome adventure it's been so far.  To think that I have that many more good times, beautiful places, and fun adventure ahead (even if I have to do it in 2/3rds the time) was super uplifting.  Now I'm back on top of my game and ready for more.  I'm definitely still looking to catch up with Boots, Bubbs, and the rest of them up ahead but I'm not going to run past opportunities to have fun and meet cool people along the way.  We'll all be together again soon but in the mean time I'll definitely be enjoying myself.  As for Canada, if I keep cruising the way I have been it won't be a problem.  Plus the word on the trail is that it only get's faster from here through Oregon.  Onward and upward!

So you folks know, I'm moving faster than I planned on last time around.  If you're still planning on sending something out, here are some updated dates: 

Burney, CA 96013 ETA: 8/8
Mount Shasta, CA 96067 ETA: 8/12

As usual check out the mailing how-to if you want to send anything.