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Day 96 – 26 Jun 19. Delightful Dirt Downhill

Today 26.2 km (16.3 mi), Total Distance 1924.1 km (1195.6 mi) 6 hours 0 minutes (0655-1255)

It was a little chilly this morning but I was awake, packed and on my way in a good time due to the incentive of this being town day.

I continued heading downhill through the forest and patches of snow before emerging into the open for a short time. I followed along the ridge with lovely views to my right. There were some neat volcanic rocks looking like modern art sculptures before I headed back into the trees.

I passed a restoration area where the forest was regenerating and continued dropping with views of a reservoir below me.

At the bottom of the hill was a small road walk and bridge crossing going past a campground then back on trail.

There was a slight climb through the trees and into a neat narrow valley with a rocky hill above.

Then it was back into the forest for a short time before the trail turned onto an old road and seemed to be heading back in the opposite direction back towards the reservoir. This was only for a short time before an arrow made of sticks on the ground pointed me back onto single trail, climbing gently to a saddle. Now I had views looking into the valley I was about to descend into.

A slight detour around a hill, and a short chat with a PCT hiker coming towards me, and now I reached the steep zig zag that took me down to the valley floor.

Now it was downhill nearly all the way. The trail was mainly in forests but had a few variations in different types of trees, a couple of bridge crossings and a surprising number of day walkers. Three ladies and a dog stopped and we had a nice chat. It was beautiful walking on a lovely trail. The river had a few little waterfalls as it dropped.

At the end of the valley there was a bridge crossing over the much bigger river and then a climb, passing more day hikers and dogs. The trail climbed and I was loving the increased life around me, butterflies, dragonflies, other insects and new flowers.

At one point the trail came into the open and I had views of the Sierra Butte which I would be climbing after my rest stop in Sierra City.

A little more time on the side of the hill and I dropped a little to a bridge over the Yuba River and with views of the stepped Love Waterfall before the final gentle climb and walk past some water tanks to the road. I had been consciously taking it easy and not doing my rush to town as I was still adjusting to being back on dirt trail again. Despite this I still managed to doo the 16 miles in 6 hours.

I crossed the road to a small carpark and prepared to hitchhike by collapsing my hiking poles, putting them in my side pocket and taking my phone and wallet out of my pack and into my shorts. Not a single car went past while I was doing this but there was a man in the carpark getting ready for a walk. As he came past we started chatting. He was just going to look at the falls but offered to take me into town now and he would come back for the falls. I gratefully accepted. It was a little over a mile but I really did not want to walk it.
He dropped me off in the centre of the town.

I had been envisioning it a little bigger as the name was Sierrra City. It had a small grocery store, a couple of accommodation options and a couple of restaurants and that was it.

I headed to the Red Moose Cafe for breakfast which was great. I chatted to people at the table next to mine, Marylyn and Wendell, and when my bill came they paid it for me which was very generous.

I got a room at the Cafe which has two rooms available. It was a big room with a kitchenette and a deck looking over the trees near the river. The only complaint I had was how slow the internet was but that was the same everywhere in the town.

I spent the afternoon washing my gear and editing videos.

For dinner I went across the road to the Buckhorn and had a lovely steak and splurged for desert which was also good.

Visits: 361

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