Another wonderful night under the stars.  The best camping spot thus far and I will have to start taking pictures of them.  Only possible issue is that I woke up and my sleeping pad had lost all its air.  Either a leak OR I forgot to close it completely.  I’m beginning to think it is not good to leave hiking equipment idle for too long.

Todays sunrise

And then a little later this beautiful scene of early morning sun on the trees.

Often times I find myself walking among ferns and it always makes me smile as I know Lenora would love it.  She is a big fan of ferns

I only have 12 miles to go today to get to Belden.  Most of it pretty easy but the last 6 miles is pretty steep down.  Descending from 7000 to 2200 feet.  Here are some pictures trying to show the start of that descent

Here are some wild flowers seen along the way today.

I reach Belden by 1 pm and Lenora is already there waiting for me.  Belden is right by Hwy 70 and the North Fork of the Feather River.  It is apparently quite a hot spot for young vacationers and the tents were packed in side by side.  As far as I can tell Belden consists of a bar and tents and a river to lounge in.

Lenora’s note:

One of the lessons to be learned.  When the PCT crosses a highway it rarely picks up straight across and it does matter if you are on the correct side of the highway.  I pass by Eby Stamp Mill and wait for Don and wait and wait.  I get concerned that I’m in the wrong place and walk around looking for a clue.  Just before my pull off on the right there was an old bridge crossing the river and lots of young people partying on the river bank.  I was pretty sure that wasn’t my goal so I went by but after my short wait I saw a guy in a bright orange shirt on the bridge and would have waved but he did not have a backpack.  Well it was Don and he had dropped the pack to walk over to the highway to look for me.  Once again we meet up at just the right time.

After his very rough uphill day he had been making good time and I am feeling better about things as I realize he was actually several hours ahead of goal in getting to the pickup spot.

I stitched a lot today and made a lot of progress.  When my hands go numb or shoulder hurts I just use the heating pad and stretch.  It doesn’t cure anything but it seems to help.

We have 3 days to enjoy Quincy area together because he made good time and all is good.

We eat great food at Sweet Lorraines, go birding, eat at the Knook, do laundry, rest, watch tv and repack.  The photos following are a record of some of our fun.  We also explore the candy shop and find some great treats.  Chocolate and wine is good but the wine bar serves a rich port and chocolate (we brought our own) and port is even better.

Mass on Sunday is great.  St John the Evangelist Catholic Church has a great pastor; Father Borlang.  He is one of those born teachers and loves to make a personal connection with the parish and to use humor.  I loves his teaching on the Good Samaritan and being a good neighbor.  One of the great gifts of our adventure is the chance to meet a new parish and priest every week or two and be welcomed into a wide variety of small parishes.  There couldn’t have been even 50 people there this morning and yet everyone was so friendly.  Last year I was taking pictures of all the churches we visited and I am sorry I did not think to do that this week but will keep it in mind.

Turns out I have a picture of the Quincy Church from last year.