Date: 2014-07-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 121: Friday, 11 July 2014 On Point gets back on trailWith an abundance of home baked yummy things, we decided to have breakfast in our room. FAHthur went to the restaurant to get 3 glasses of orange juice to bring to the room, and I served up peach cobbler, walnut roll, and lime glaze pound cake to On Point, FAHthur and myself, and sat out on our deck. The dogs, of course, thought that they TOO should have a share of the food!We sat and chatted for a while, but On Point wanted to start hiking before the REAL heat of the day. (It was already getting rather warm!) I cleaned up the utensils and packed up. On Point wanted to check the store registry to see who has passed through and to sign and to also leave off stuff at the Hiker Box. Unfortunately, we got to town at about 9:00am and the store didn¢t open until 10am. I guess getting on the trail was more important, so On Point left the rest of the soda and some packaged snacks with a couple hikers outside the store and asked them to put the stuff in the Hiker Box.Going to the trail, we saw 2 people hitching - "We'll be back!" FAHthur dropped off me, the dogs, and On Point at the trail head where we were yesterday, and went back to get the people. While Shady and Stiff Willie were getting out of the car and ready to hit the trail, Enduro was coming out off trail to go to town. Enduro had seen bears this morning! Everyone chatted for a while; On Point asked them if they knew any of his friends, as he rattled off names. They had heard of some of them, and may have run into a few, but sounds like they were all behind. This could be good for On Point, as he is planning to take it easy for a few days to see how his feet are doing. Maybe his group will catch up, and by then he may be ready to power on!Oh, On Point had mentioned that he¢d gotten some new equipment and lightened his base weight to 13 pounds! His new pack, an Osprey and a size down from Buffalo¢s, was just a little over a pound, and his new sleeping bag came in at, I think, 18 ounces! He did have an insert that brought the bag¢s temperature rating down, but all together, the sleeping bag-insert combo wasn¢t much more than 2 pounds! I think he figured that with food and water, the total pack weight shouldn¢t go over 25 pounds. That is pretty darn good!¢Well, On Point, we¢re glad we could do this for you. It was fun for us to find and experience yet another PCT Trail Town! Buffalo has some great friends!¢ ¢Thanks! And I think I¢ll be hanging my bear bag tonight!¢ And he disappeared into the woods.We drove one last time through Sierra City to head out. Twelve miles down the road is Downieville, apparently the county seat for Sierra County. We drove through it yesterday and commented that it looked like a quaint little town. FAHthur and I decided to drive through it. We cross the bridge over a stream, turned right into the town, and within about two blocks, the ¢street¢ became a one-lane road going both ways! Welcome to mountain towns without much flat area! And this one not only has mountains as a backdrop on one side, but it then drops off to the stream on the other side! Looked like parking was not easy, so on we went.Heading back north on I-5, we decided to again get off at Castella, CA and go to Castle Crags State Park. Because dogs cannot go on the hiking trails, we just drove up to the lookout and hiked the .25mile lookout trail, where dogs are allowed. We saw the beautifully rugged crags that Buffalo so loved to go through last year. He commented that ending the hike with the Russian Wilderness and Castle Crags was as climactic as ending at the Canadian Border.Saturday, 12 July 2014 ¢ FAHthur and I, and the dogs, are home now, and we THINK that this is it for Trail Travels until next year! So from here on, you¢ll be getting Buffalo Bits, as he calls us. I do want to say, however, that we have discovered how widespread and intertwined the long-distance hiking community really is. I think it started with Buffalo meeting Mango on the Oregon PCT two years ago, and Mango, from Tennessee, offered Trail Magic to Buffalo (and me, if I was still hiking) when on the AT. Buffalo was taken in by a family on the AT, whose son we all had met on the PCT last year. Buffalo even ran into hikers this year on the AT, who he had met on the PCT last year.I hope that journaling about our travels to the PCT on Buffalo¢s AT blog didn¢t take too many of you by surprise. In the long run, this is ultimately for Buffalo, and he¢ll get to remember what went on ¢behind the scenes¢ as he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.Thanks for staying tuned! The Mum of¢¦..