Pacific Crest Trail 2009 Part 17

From Donner's  Pass, our internal compass was now set for Sierra City, a mere 41 miles away.  We would be there by the afternoon of the next day.

Sierra Buttes is the next biggest geological feature along the length of the trail, just above Sierra City as seen on the Horizon from the above photo.

It's as if we were now following an ancient and modern string of volcanic extrusions all the way to the border of Canada.  Some mountains erupted long ago, while others are steaming to this very day. 

After enjoying the views of Sierra Buttes, we hitched a few miles into Sierra City.  Often our rides are filled with long talks about how to be able to get away from the entrapments of society to walk such wonderous long distance trails, what the logistics entail, and what kind of light weight gear people are pursuing and identifying with these days. Going Light is a metaphor on so many levels which anyone can embrace.

These small towns have country stores such as this one which sometimes doubles as the post office.  We extended our supplies here to hike 92 miles to the next on-route major road town of Beldon.

At Sierra City, a lawyer by profession by the name of Sleuth, rented a room at the Buckhorn Hotel which is on the top floor of a restaurant/bar.  All of the hikers that were passing through this particular week had a comfortable place to recooperate. There must have been 15 to 20 wayward warriors bunking out here....some for several days.  People washed their clothes, ate big meals at restaurants, and watched movies on satellite televison.  Sleuth offered this luxury in exchange for the stories and the feelings that the hikers were experiencing, because she too was planning a thru-hike in 2010. 

The next day we climbed up to and around Sierra Buttes and we certainly had great views of this mountain for days to come.

There were many high mountain lakes in this region with some medium and large sized  resorts below us catering to the outdoors-person.

On a few occasions we crossed paths with some round trip day hikers coming from these resorts.  They must have been hiking at least 10 to 15 miles to enjoy and align themselves with these ridge line vistas.

This region definitely was more volcanic in nature, and held much more heat in its soil than in the granitic world we recently left behind us.

Flowers were an everyday treat and buckwheat was now in fashion.

Long Lake and Mount Elwell in the distance.

One of the things about a continuous hike is that you are always flowing with change.  You may see a particular landmark for days or weeks at a time, but one's point of view and reference to this object in space is always changing.  Its a metaphor for life, where if we let go and travel with the flow, one will always be seeing life and one's environment with fresh eyes.  One can then see that every point of view is unique and important which emits a feeling to be experienced.  In essence, it is what we are here to do....to feel the moment that we immerse ourselves into.  By feeling the object of our attention, we come into resonance with Life its self.

Keep on trekking forward in the Now!

Part 18 ~ Enter Here

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