This morning I dream that I am a teenager and have run away from home. My best friend’s family shelters me for a day as we all come to terms with what this means – I must seek my fortune in the world. On the day I depart, the family gathers to send me off. […]
Author: David Somers
Sliding By
I’m slow getting up. Temps are in the low 40s and I’m comfy in my quilt, delaying the rising. I finally let the air out of my air mattress and that decides the matter. I am out of camp by 6:30. Not great, but I only have to hike 15 miles today. Uh oh, I […]
Tahoe!
I did not sleep well in the hostel. The night seemed to go on forever. I had the whole place to myself. I kept waiting for the sound of someone arriving. Laughing voices, a television on too loud, chairs scraping on the floor. Nothing. I don’t have to leave for the trail so early, I […]
Donner
It cooled to the 40s last night and I slept well although I did need to take a couple ibuprofen for stiffness in the early morning. A day of hiking still leaves me sore. The Peter Grubb Hut is in one of those mountain meadows I mentioned yesterday. Here is what it looks like in […]
Mule Ears
I slept by the path to Mule Ear Creek last night under a mixture of live trees and widow makers. I normally avoid sleeping under dead trees, but I was out of options so I chose what I thought was the least dangerous spot. As my eyes closed in sleep I prayed to the one […]
Tune Up
Sierra City is not part of the modern world. It does not have cell phone service. It has television and WiFi but only through satellite links. I love it for this. You feel like you have stepped back in time 50 years. The town sits nakedly under the Sierra Buttes. In 1952 an avalanche from […]
Town Legs
The circle of protection I had installed around my tent worked like a charm. Frisky deer, inquisitive bears and bloodthirsty Druids all kept their distance. It’s Tuesday. This is my eighth day on the trail. It’s time for my weekly selfie. The Runup I have been hinting about the Sierra Buttes for a few days. […]
The Wind Giver
I slept really well last night in my cozy tent. As with the night before at the Middle Fork of the Feather River. The temperature stayed warm most of the night. It had fallen into the 60s by morning when I finally covered myself with the quilt. The goal today is to get closer to […]
My Limit
I’m gonna make this short. Today was hard. I walked through the worst of the burn taking several detours and several side trips for water. By the end of the day I was exhausted. The Good I did not bonk hard. I kept my feet moving even when I was exhausted. I drank from two […]
Bear Creek
A good day depends of an early hitch from Quincy to the trailhead. It’s Saturday and people are weird on the weekends. As I walk to the corner for the road to the trail, I call Patti. It is 6am here but 9am back home in Florida. When I turn up the road to the […]