Day 91 + 92 : Sierra City

19th + 20th July 2013
Sierra City
Mileage : 0

I didn't intend to take more than one zero here, but the gods, the need to wait for the rest of PRT, and the pleasantness of the town conspired to make it two. I have being staying in the backyard of the of the Red Moose Inn, a very hiker-friendly establishment run by the two owners : Bill and Margaret. The first night i turned up to discover that the female element of the Wolf Pack, that is to say Smiles, T-Rex and Chick-Chack had decided to skip the last section and had hitched up to Sierra City arriving around the same time as me. T-Rex had had a couple of face plant style falls and badly sprained one of her ankles, it was as big as a soft ball when i saw it, Chick-Chack's knee was still giving her problems and Smiles just enjoyed taking the time off. It had been a long hot day getting into Sierra City so I was in bed fairly early, looking to get up early and get my chores done. Early next morning, i went to to post office to pick up my two packages. I was in for 2 surprises, one very good, and one not so good , infact fairly rubbish. I'll start with the good one. Jeanne, whom I met on the flight over here very kindly sent me a million of the best cranberry biscuits of all time. Americans as a rule tend to put way to much cinnamon in food, to the extent that i don't really like it anymore, but these biscuits had just a hint of cinnamon in them, and were gorgeous. I wish i could say i savoured every bite of them very slowly, but i didn't, instead i had scoffed the entire lot by the end of the day. The other surprise was the arrival of my new hiking shoes. Over the last couple hundred miles they have begun to fall apart. The tread is wearing on causing me to slip and slide more than usual, the laces are beginning to fray, there are holes in the sides that let even more dirt in than is the norm, and worst off all they are no longer anywhere near as stiff. This is the biggest of the issues due to the fact that i have to pay real attention to every foot position as a wrong step results in a rock being pushed hard into my eternally tender feet. A less than ideal situation. When I excitedly picked up the package from the post office i immediately knew something was wrong. The box seemed a good deal smaller than it should be. When i opened the box i saw why, it turns out that i had ordered the Merrel Moab Ventilator in Brown Size 13 - Kids. The addition of this 4 letter word at the end of my order, which i hadnt seen, is very important it turns out. As the picture below indicates, i couldnt have even got my big toe into the shoes, let alone my entire foot. The incidient caused much hilarity amongst the assembled hikers, but it caused me to wear my sad and sheepish face for a god hour or to as i came to terms with the fact that my feet would have to endure another 150 miles of my current shoes before a second replacement pair arrive. I spent the afternoon swimming with Shady Acres and T-Rex in a swimming hole by which the trail passed on the out skirts of town. It had looked so inviting when i had passed it the afternoon before, and i was glad that we got to swim in it. The next day, when the male half of the Wolf-Pack, Dr Slosh, Starfox and Rocky arrived with PRT in tow we all headed down to a similar but closer swimming hole to enjoy some much needed pool side rnr. The water at these pools was deliciously cold, at first it would be too cold for our tired and tender feet, but after a minute or two of acclimation, as an american would say, we were all soaking our tired limbs in the cold yet sunny water. Although PRT were probably going to stay another day, i was getting antsy about being in town so long and decided to head out the next morning. The last night was spent on the church lawn trying to sleep in the almost oppressive evening heat. At the beginning of my hike, i had worried about the inadequacy of my sleeping bag to deal with the cold, but now it's just to hot to sleep in. For the last couple nights i have been sleeping in my sleeping bag liner, and using my sleeping bag as a quilt, only really using it in the early morning before the dawn when the night is coldest, but even then i don't really need it. One positive thing about the heat is that it is a major motivation to get up and going in the morning to avoid the heat. So that's what i'll be doing tomorrow.

Sierra City was a pretty town

My new shoes with my feet for scale

The cookies! (i am not sunburnt in thi picture but I admit it definitely looks like i am)