PCT 64 – Sierra City

Daily miles : 14
Total miles : 1199

Very easy miles into town today.   We were pretty much camped up on a ridge south of Sierra City with about 11 miles into town….nearly all of which was downhill.  

The trail down to town was well graded and we were able to maintain a nice,  even pace.   Saw quite a few hikers en route to town.   Many of which had camped near our camp spot last night.

Sierra City is at a pretty low relative elevation.   At only 4200 feet,  it is the lowest area that we have hiked into in quite some time. The town is kind of cute.   There are some vacant buildings and business store fronts on main street,  which is too bad,  as there are some very nice looking buildings (both old and new).   The town has only a slight tourist element,  with a gallery,  and a few B&Bs.

We arrived around 11am and went for breakfast at the Red Moose Inn.   This is a place where Beardoh had eaten dinner and camped in the backyard in 2012.   The place is much different now and is not catering to the hiker clientele anymore.   Nonetheless,  we had breakfast there. It was a bit light for the price.   Doubly unfortunate,  as we were starved.   Over at the Country Store,  the wait was quite long for food…so we decided to have our next meal as a ‘linner’ (lunch/dinner)  later in  the day…hoping the wait would lessen.

We picked up our resupply boxes and hung out at a little public area with picnic tables,  a restroom and a bathroom near the store. We did sink laundry,  took cold showers,  charged our phones and relaxed.   It was quite hot,  and we had a decent climb coming out of town, so the appeal to relax in town was quite high.   Mid afternoon,  we ordered some food at the Country Store.   The burger that SweetPea  (and the Pastrami Sandwich that Beardoh received) were quite big and tasty.  

We picked up a hitch back to the trail without even trying.   We were standing out on the road checking out the scenery and looking at Mountain Man’s photos of the Alps for comparison,  and a car pulled up and asked if we needed a ride.   It was a local handyman headed to a job in our direction.  What luck!

We climbed the 1500ish feet out of the pine forest up to the butte that overlooks the Valley where Sierra City lies,  and are camped at the first campsite we found after the 3 + miles of switch backs. There are a few other people camped up here as well. It is a beautiful spot with open views of the surrounding mountains.