Watch Out for That Tree

We woke up at 0600 and after packing up and having breakfast, we hit the trail at 0730. It was uphill for the first mile than some long switch backs in a descent.

Going Up

It was very hot at first and then we hit a forested section and the shade helped make it tolerable. We hiked 3.7 miles to Milton Creek before we stopped and did a fairly good pace. The creek was a very cool, shady place and there were no bugs bothering us whatsoever. This caused us to take an extended break and rehydrate. When we were ready to leave, I told Carol to go on the bridge over the creek so I could get a picture. As I was watching her and moving along the creek looking for a good spot to take the picture from, I turned my head around and a very large tree limb tried to knock me out. I have a good cut and bump on my head, and at the bridge of my nose. If the branch would have been two inches lower, it definitely would have broke my nose. I hit it pretty good and am lucky I have a hard head.

We leave Milton Creek and the Killer Tree behind and hike a quick two miles and start to get closer to Sierra City.

Milton Creek Bridge

During this stretch, I spook a large grouse who flies off into a tree overhead. While going through the Wild Plum Campground a lady comes up to us and asks if we would like a cold beer. A thru hiker will always say yes not just to beer but anything COLD. We chatted with her and her friends. They were a group of 6 moms out camping with 13 kids between them. It seemed like a great thing to do and we appreciated the cool beverage. We continued on and hit the highway into Sierra City. While walking the road, I checked for cell service and there was none. We are a day early and I have been trying to reach the cottage where we have reservations to see if we can move them up a night. Instead, we do it in person and Lila was more than happy to move our two nights up one day. She also allows us to use her phone to talk to our realtor in Colorado. We have decided to sell as we spend much more time traveling and in other places than staying still. It appears after 7 days we have an offer so hopefully it all works out.

After our phone call, we walk down to the Country General Store and order a burger, fries, and a shake. They have two burger sizes, a half pounder and the gutbuster (1 pound). We are prudent in ordering the half pounder. While waiting, we learn of a free app called whatsapp that allows you to make phone calls through wifi when both parties have the app on their phone. I text my brother this info and am able to call him later with this. It doesn’t cost anybody a thing and someone else told me they used it to make free calls from Europe. Always learning!

Tasty

Our burgers are hugh and delicious. After our meal we go back to our cottage to relax. Later since the Store closes at 6:00 Carol goes down and gets a pastrami sandwich and surprise, surprise, a six pack of Lagunitas Beer for us to have for dinner. We eat it outside on the cottage lawn chairs, just enjoying the peaceful small town. Tonight a bed and tomorrow we are just relaxing here with nowhere to go. Feels good.