From my wilderness camp near Marble Mountain, I cruised 26.6 miles to Seiad Valley this morning, arriving there at 3:30 p.m. The last 20 miles were literally all downhill, dropping a quad-quivering 6,500 feet from snowdrifts on bare mountain slopes to 95-degree heat on the valley floor; it was the biggest single elevation change I’ve yet encountered on the trail. Looks like I’ll pay for it in the morning with a 5,000-foot climb over the next ten miles, but that’s for tomorrow…

My mom met me after her own adventure with a flat tire and front brake replacement (1,600 bucks’ worth), and we’re staying in a nice cabin tonight; I just polished off two pints of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream before dinner. This will be the last civilization I see before hitting Ashland, across the Oregon border; just 1,000 miles left before Canada – really flyin’ now!

This morning I awoke to the unexpected sound of a Spotted Owl calling outside my tent, but even bigger wildlife was afoot today. About midmorning I spooked a black bear off the trail, not too far in front of me, and had a nice look at its furry backside as the beast ambled away downslope. The encounter was most notable because it took 1,591 miles of hiking before my first bear sighting on this trip; somehow I made it all the way through the Sierra without spotting much more than an occasional dry track. Anyway, I finally saw one!

I walked 20.1 miles in just under six and a half hours today, crossing the Russian Wilderness en route to a lazy afternoon at an air-conditioned motel room in Etna, and a burger and shake for dinner. Looking forward to hitting Oregon in four days.

I caught up today to a couple more PCTers I hadn’t yet met: Sniper, probably the northernmost solo female, who was laid off from two different jobs in just a few months so decided to go hiking this summer, and who now carries several bleached vertebrae and a giant pirate flag dangling from her pack; and Slapshot, who had just returned to the trail after a mystery fever landed him in the emergency room on an IV for the last three days (he seems all right now, though the doctors never figured out the cause).

Honeybuzz and I logged 27 relaxed miles between eight a.m. and eight p.m. – an exceptionally smooth day of walking since my mom intercepted us at a road crossing around lunchtime with all sorts of goodies (Honeybuzz drank seven cans of soda, for starters), and since the trail was well-graded, flat, and scenic, in contrast to yesterday’s big climb. Definitely one of the most pleasant days I’ve had on this trip so far.

I hit the 1,500-mile mark about 5:00 this afternoon, near the end of a 27-mile day. Woo-hoo! Only 200 more miles to the Oregon border… should be there in eight days.

Lots of long forest traverses today. It was fun to meet Laura and her husband, section hikers heading south, who have been reading this blog – thanks guys (and, yes, your feather was from a Red-tailed Hawk)! Even better, my mom drove down from Oregon and met Honeybuzz and me at the end of the day; we are staying in a motel in Dunsmuir tonight.

After crossing the Lake Britton Dam, it was nice to ascend slightly into mid-elevation forest today where the trail traversed shady groves of firs and pines along endless ridges. Honeybuzz and I hiked steadily all day and camped next to a creek after 29.1 miles.

In an open area near some cliffs this afternoon, I looked up in time to watch three Peregrine Falcons swooping and diving right over my head, probably a local pair chasing off an intruding young bird. It was a nice distraction; the trail was pretty monotonous today, although I did catch up to five PCTers I hadn’t met before (Red Blaze, Half Fast, Wetsmoke, Wiz, and Buttercup).

As far as I can tell, there are about 30 hikers ahead of me now, out of 400 who set off this year from Mexico intending to walk to Canada (many of whom have since quit, skipped, or flipped). Almost everyone started two and a half weeks before me (I know of only one person who started later), so I’ve now passed the majority of the northbound herd. If I stick to schedule, I should hit Oregon about August 10th.

Honeybuzz and I rolled out of Old Station late this morning, having walked into the deli one minute after opening and immediately ordered two large pizzas for breakfast. Thus fortified, we hit the famous Hat Creek Rim.

The Rim spans the longest waterless stretch on the whole PCT – about 30 miles – and much of it is shadeless, exposed, and covered with lava rock, reminiscent of some of the desert sections farther south. This afternoon reached about ninety degrees, and I was glad for my reflective umbrella. I carried five liters of water (ten pounds) and Honeybuzz carried six, but we needn’t have worried; after hiking 20 dry miles, we hit a well-stocked water cache at Road 22 (otherwise called Cache-22) with 25-30 gallons of bottled water and several lawn chairs among some juniper trees. Since it was past nine p.m. we threw down camp right there, ready for another dusty and hot day tomorrow.

Forgive me if I talk too much about food, but it’s been on my mind a lot! I never can seem to eat enough on the trail, so today’s dinner was something special.

After an easy, 22-mile day I arrived at Drakesbad Guest Ranch – a hot springs and resort within Lassen National Park – just 15 minutes before dinnertime. The resort takes extremely good care of hikers: we’re offered free showers, free laundry, free access to the hot springs, free camping, and a 50% discount on all meals. I barely had time to set down my pack before they fired up an enormous barbecue and buffet line.

Within minutes I packed in a large steak, a double cheeseburger, a bratwurst hot dog, salad, two slices of watermelon, an ear of corn, three scoops of coleslaw, four slices of cheese, three white chocolate chip cookies, a brownie, and a Dr. Pepper, while other guests watched in appreciation. A quick dip in the hot spring pool helped digest, and I’m ready for breakfast in the morning…

After sleeping in a real bed last night (!), I headed to breakfast at a tiny restaurant around the corner in Belden. A peanut butter milkshake took priority, followed by scrambled eggs, French toast, sausage, and, finally, a blackberry milkshake.

When the post office opened, Honeybuzz and I hiked over there to shuffle some packages. I had three boxes waiting and mailed off my ice axe, traction spikes, rain pants, long underwear, and some extra food, which lightened my pack considerably. It’s summer, and the high Sierras are over: no more long days of slogging through snow!

By the time we hit the trail it was early afternoon, and we had a continuous, 14-mile climb from 2,400 feet (the lowest I’ve been in more than a thousand miles), where it was nearly 90 degrees, to over 7,000 feet, where we scrambled through snowdrifts before setting camp on a high ridge. Should hit Lassen soon.

Honeybuzz and I hiked 30.3 miles today, my longest yet, with a leisurely seven a.m. start and a two-hour lunch break at the Feather River.

Near the end of a 4,000-foot descent to the river, Honeybuzz was about 100 feet ahead of me when he spooked a Mountain Lion off the trail. I heard a faint rustling in the leaf litter and looked up just in time to catch the big cat sprinting away downslope at full speed through the oak trees, gone in a second; Honeybuzz also heard it but unfortunately didn’t see anything. Last week I followed cougar tracks for about a mile along a snowy section of trail, on top of the prints of hikers just a couple hours ahead of me (and heading the same direction…) but to actually see a Mountain Lion, however briefly, was unexpected and awesome! We also found a Rubber Boa on the trail this morning, my second in three days, and I was pleased to stumble into a colorful King Snake today – a good day for wildlife.

At about eight p.m. we had just hit 30 miles after climbing 3,000 feet up from the river and were searching for a flat spot to camp when the trail suddenly bisected a remote gravel road. As I stepped out to cross it in the dusk, an SUV came flying around the corner, headlights flashing – it was Honeybuzz’s dad, who had teamed up with a local trail angel named Nancy while visiting. Somehow, incredibly, they drove up to leave a note at that intersection at the exact moment we hit it; ten seconds either way and we’d have missed each other. Within 30 minutes I was being fed a burger and barbecued ribs. And, instead of my tent, I’m sleeping on the back deck of a beautiful two-story cabin in the woods tonight, showered, with breakfast promised in the morning. Who knew?

For the first time in almost four weeks I dropped below 6,000 feet, hiked on clear trail all day, and even broke a sweat because it was summery and warm outside. No snow at all! Kind of ironic, then, that today’s top headline in the Reno newspaper was “Snow Bogs Down Hikers.” I put in about 17 miles, not including a several-hour detour into Sierra City to resupply, shower, and drink a couple of large milkshakes (one chocolate, one banana).

For this section I’m trying something new and delicious. I stuffed an entire gallon-sized ziplock full of fresh produce bought at the general store in Sierra City – strawberries, blueberries, bananas, green peppers, and mushrooms – and tucked it carefully to avoid smashing in my pack. Never mind that it weighs a couple extra pounds, or that the peppers turned out to be spicy jalapeños; fresh fruit in the wilderness is almost too wonderful to be believed, and I just ate an awesome dinner at camp high on an exposed ridgetop, watching the panoramic sunset. Life is good.

Today marks exactly two months on the trail, during which I’ve walked every day except for one day off. Though I haven’t quite hit the halfway point yet, I’m hoping to be finished in another two months with bigger mileage ahead.

This morning I walked with Balls and Sunshine for a while before we met Wired in the Granite Chief Wilderness, looking a bit stressed since her GPS had run out of batteries. The four of us continued on to Donner Pass (like, the actual area where the Donner Party ate each other), then I headed north alone while the rest hitchhiked in to Truckee. Lots of heavy, frustrating snowpack today, but I still managed to squeeze in 27 miles with a few stretches of dry trail to give me hope. Onward!

This morning kicked off with five miles of heavy, continuous snowpack inside dense forest – ugh. But then Honeybuzz, Annie and I dropped down to cross busy Highway 50, twelve miles west of South Lake Tahoe (where, apparently, a celebrity golf tournament this weekend is featuring Michael Jordon among others), and walked into the Echo Lake Resort.

Echo Lake marks the end of the high Sierras, though you wouldn’t know it from all the snow everywhere this year. Still, I’m beginning to hit long stretches of dry trail, and it can’t come soon enough; if I want to make it to Canada in September, 15-mile days just won’t cut it anymore. Today I pushed 21 miles despite a four-hour break at the Echo Lake store to resupply and drink milkshakes – and I’m camped tonight well inside the Desolation Wilderness, with snow drifts and pine trees as my closest company.