Belden (Staying in Portola) to Campsite at mile 1295.47
There is something about the Airstream that allows for an awesome night of sleep. I woke at 7:00 AM and went back to bed till 8:00 AM. We figured we all better start moving since we have a challenging hike up a mountain today.
We got up and prepared our food for the next 4.5 days then headed into town to do laundry and eat breakfast. By 12:00 PM we were on our way back to the trail.
We arrived back to Belden before 2:00 PM. Tim parked at a rest area across from where he picked us up, so I had to walk across the street and back to ensure continuous footsteps. Brad thought I was crazy, but Share Bear joined me:
We got up and prepared our food for the next 4.5 days then headed into town to do laundry and eat breakfast. By 12:00 PM we were on our way back to the trail.
We arrived back to Belden before 2:00 PM. Tim parked at a rest area across from where he picked us up, so I had to walk across the street and back to ensure continuous footsteps. Brad thought I was crazy, but Share Bear joined me:
In the store we saw Puma who I first met over 2 months ago. The last time we saw him was when he came down Mount Whitney. We figured he would be way ahead of us, but he said his wife joined him for a couple of weeks so he slowed down.
We went back across the street to Brad and Tim and was ready to hike just after 2:00 PM.
We went back across the street to Brad and Tim and was ready to hike just after 2:00 PM.
Unfortunately Tim was still sick, so he didn't hike with us which was lucky for him since the trail leaving Belden climbs for 13 miles with the first 5 miles total exposed with little to no shade. As a matter of fact, I think this was one of the last trees we saw for a while:
We were exposed, but the views were amazing:
We finally hit some shade when we entered Lassen National Forest.
It was HOT. As I hiked I dreamt of drinking an ice cold Miller Lite, but had to settle for ice cold spring water from Rattlesnake Springs. I didn't really dig the name though.
Once we were off the ridge we stayed pretty much covered in a pine forest with lots of streams and springs. Here is a nice one:
Even under the shade of the pine trees it was pretty hit since we were climbing and climbing and climbing. We set a goal to make it to a campsite at mile 1295.5 which would take us 3 miles from the top of the climb. Finally, just after 8:00 PM we made it there. Today we climbed 4,912 feet in just over 11 miles. We really should sleep well!