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Day 52: mile 1181.8-1195.4 (Sierra City)

What a wild night! By far the loudest and closest thunder and lightening storm I’ve been outside for. The thunder echoed through the mountains and valleys that surrounded us, clapping and cracking right above me and then traveling for miles in every direction, while the lightening lit up my tent. We were in a pretty safe spot, so I wasn’t too worried about it. I went back to sleep until morning, when I was woken up by hail. 

Once it stopped I packed up and strapped on my snowshoes, hoping maybe I wouldn’t have to wear them all day. We were almost to Sierra City, and the elevation drop was significant. Little did I know, 100 yards from camp I’d be taking them back off because the snow was too patchy to wear them. 

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I celebrated with a photo shoot and then danced my way down the trail. I felt like I was flying down the mountain without my snowshoes. Ring Master and I joked later about feeling like superheroes without 5 pound weights on our feet. 

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Just as I thought this day couldn’t get better, I heard voices. I stopped and turned around to see two people coming down the trail behind me. So excited to see anyone else out here (we hadn’t seen anyone since the snow mobilers a mile out of Truckee), I yelled “PEOPLE!”. 😂This was followed by the normal greetings one says upon seeing other humans. 

We chatted about their experience the past few days and how they’d been following our tracks and used one of our campsites. I was so excited to meet up with Ring Master at the upcoming bridge, I knew he’d be just as happy to see anyone else’s face but just mine. 😂

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After the bridge we all headed down with the goal of Sierra City where we planned to share a hotel in town. This may seem odd that after knowing people for such a short time you’d agree to share a hotel, but it’s totally normal out here.

I feel like the day was already so fulfilling it could stop right there, but the descent into Sierra City was even more of an adventure! On the way down I saw my very first bear! …followed by my second and third, two cubs!! Luckily I was a very safe distance, so safe I couldn’t get a good photo for you guys. I did get a photo of the tracks and my bag of pretzels I dropped to the ground in my excitement. 😂I’ll have you know I ate each of those dropped pretzels off the ground, LNT!

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It wasn’t all dirt all day, but you’ve heard (and will hear) enough about the snow, so let’s talk about all the beautiful little waterfalls the runoff has created. 😍

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We caught a glimpse of what we’d be hiking the days following Sierra City, and it was no joke. 

Thankful for the many bridges we crossed today, the most memorable one being the last where we all met up for our final few miles to town. Whoa, the water was intense! 

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Our attempt to hitch the few miles to town was unsuccessful, which was a little bit of a surprise since we felt like celebrities when we got there. Everyone was so intrigued by our journey, wanting to take photos and talk to us. Dying to take our packs off and get some food, we finally managed to get inside to sit down. I ordered a beer and the veggie fajitas. The beer was great, but the fajitas were unlike any I’d ever had. They were covered in marinara sauce. 😂I didn’t care, I ate every bit. 

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Post dinner we made it to our hotel room for a hot shower, and now it’s time for bed. Sharing the room with a pair of gentlemen here, they let us ladies have the two twin beds. Thanks guys! I’m so excited to be sleeping in a warm bed tonight! 

Goodnight! 

XOXO Becks