My hike from Sierra city to Belden has been all about unexpected stops. On my third day out, I came to the middle fork of the Feather River, which had deep crystal clear pools for swimming, lined with granite boulders to dive off of, in canyon oriented just so to catch the sun’s light through most of the day. I arrived by 1:00 in the afternoon, and swam and sunbathed in this beautiful river in otherwise dry stretch of northern California until after 6:00 in the evening. In my time at the river, problem bear, kindergarten cop, patch, lampshade, threshold, and washout came through. I camped at bear creek later in the night with threshold, washout, and knees, who pulled a big day to catch up. This morning I hiked north from bear creek toward Belden, and opted to take the bucks lake alternate route, which adds a few miles to my thru-hike, but also adds a few resorts, and a resupply shop. On the way to lake shore resort, I found a rubber boa on the side of the road in a ditch. This is the first rubber boa I’ve ever seen in the wild, so I caught it and took some photos. It’s gut was distended by a fresh meal, and he was docile and slow. After the photoshoot, I released him away from the road, and continued to the lakeshore resort, which had great food and drinks. I’ll probably grab a meal in Belden tomorrow, but I managed to resupply on food at the Haskins general store until at least Chester, which will mark the halfway point of the PCT!
