been searching for a heart of gold…

Day 102 More magic! We stayed with the Braaten’s in Belden, who have a whole little flat for hikers. The next day 103 7/7 we were enjoyed a delish b-fast complete with homemade muffins and met thru-hikers Buckwheat & Joel. Buckwheat’s been living in the Ukraine for 6 or so years now and Joel’s moving to Germany (where his wife is from) after completing the PCT. A Euro-Trash duo.

The Belden Bridge

We were map-less and bogged down with sorting out logistics, laundry, etc when thru-hiker Cjell biked up to the Braaten’s in his multi-coloured neon shorts and redneck ‘tash. He immediately offered us his maps (“I never use ‘um!”) and told us Highlander’s folks were in town and we were welcome to join their BBQ. Hallelujah!  To celebrate our new found fortunes we swam in the Feather River. We’d struck gold. Not in the mineral sense, but certainly in the hiker sense.*

We greeted Gingersnap & Highlander who’d been living the hiker high life as Highlander’s fam supported them in their McMansion RV. Seriously this RV was enormous!  Mom grilled up unlimited burgers and that night we slept with full bellies.

*There are plenty who still do search for mineral gold in the Feather River

buttes & bucks

Day 99 We faced a major climb up to the Sierra Buttes but were rewarded with this view:

Day 101 Down to the Middle Fork of the Feather River for a swim, then back UP and UP

where we were thrilled to discover NEW Trail Angels near Buck’s Lake. Nancy & her family are rice & walnut farmers in the Central Valley. They were so friendly and hospitable… you’d never know they’d only been Trail Angeling for a few days! Ice Cap, a friendly young Swiss thru-hiker, was also there. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner, s’mores round the fire and great conversation.