Trail Day 84: Tentsite near Lookout Rock (mile 1256.7) to Beldon Town Resort (mile 1284.3)

26.7 PCT miles

I got up early again this morning. I had a lot of miles to do and I wanted to get to Beldon while the store was still open. I was in desperate need of a shower and laundry. When I had stopped in Sierra City, I had showered, but not shampooed my hair and it was incredibly greasy. There had been no laundry facilities there either so my clothes had not been washed since I returned to the trail.  They were so dirty that they were itchy.

I was doing a lot of ridge walking this morning, sometimes through forested area, sometimes in exposed areas.

As I crossed a highway I came across another hiker trying to hitch into the nearby town of Quincy. He had been waiting there an hour and complained that no one was coming by. I was glad that I had a resupply box sent to Beldon, instead of using Quincy.

After the highway I had my only major climb of the day, about 4 miles uphill. It honestly wasn't too bad of a climb. It also wasn't quite midday so it wasn't hot yet like the climb I suffered through yesterday. As a bonus, I was walking through lots of wildflowers and passing meadows.

The PCT. 

Wildflowers and mountain views.

Mountain meadow.

Green vegetation. 

When I reached the top of the climb, I undulated on another ridge for a while, alternating between forest and nice views of the forest.

Mountain views.

View from the trail.

Finally, I started my descent towards Beldon. The first 2 miles were nice and easy, crossing stream and forest. I freaked out a deer by one of the streams who bounded away, then watched me cautiously from higher ground.

The terrain nearing the switchbacks. 

Headed to the bottom.

The last 4 miles were switchbacks. They were steep switchbacks all the way down to the bottom of the valley. The top half was fairly exposed, consisting of low lying shrubs. When I hit the tree line I took a break to rest my swollen feet for the 4 more miles of switchbacks I still had to do.

I finally reached the bottom after what felt like forever. I crossed the train tracks and headed towards Beldon Town Resort.  The road was teeming with people setting up tents. I figured it must be a popular camping spot, but I quickly learned that it was some sort of hippie music festival.

The place was noisy and swarming. I made my way through the crowds to the main building. Incredibly friendly hippies were engaging with me like we were best friends. Others were curious about the trail. I kept telling them my goal of a shower and laundry. Every one of them told me to use the river. Hippies.

Even among the sea of hippies, I could still pick out the thru-hikers. Thru-hikers have a very “worn” look about them. They let me know what the shower and laundry situation was, even though few of them had used either.

I had to have the bouncer to the main building point me in the direction of the store. It was a side room to the bar, which was one of the venues for the music festival.

I went to the left of the stage to a room where merchandise was both haphazard and crowded on the shelves. I asked the man at the counter about showers and laundry. There was something off about him. Maybe he was stoned? His answers to my questions were very slow and kind of vague.

In the end, I bought a shower token, small bottle of shampoo, a Gatorade,  and a load of laundry. I tried to follow his directions to the bathhouse, which would have been difficult, even if there hadn't been swarms of people and food trucks.

The bathroom/shower had its doors permanently open. There was only a curtain between me and all the people running around outside. The shower itself was swarming with daddy long legs. But, at least I was able to wash the grease out of my hair.

Next, I changed into my rain gear and went to do my laundry. Based on the attire everyone else was wearing, I didn't feel weird walking around in it. I had to get better directions from the bouncer about how to get to the washer and dryer,  since the store clerk's directions weren't too specific.

The washer and dryer were in a dirty and messy storage room, but at least there were no people there. It was probably all the privacy I was going to get at this place. There was laundry in both machines when I got there. I took the clothes out of the dryer and transferred the clothes in the washer to the dryer, starting the cycle. Eventually I had to take those clothes out to dry my own load.

When my clothes were in the dryer, and I was working on uploading blog posts, a lady poked her head in. She was a resident of the resort and had lived there for 13 years. It was here laundry I had moved, but she was in no hurry to get it. She said she tries to get her laundry done in between hikers.

We chatted for a little bit and I worked on uploading pictures until I was just too tired. My battery pack hadn’t charged yet either. I folded the woman’s laundry for her, grabbed my electronics and went to set up my tent. I had to walk all the way back to the trailhead because the festival goers had claimed all the spots by the river. I could still hear the music clearly and now I was also right next to the train tracks. I guess I am not sleeping tonight.