Sierra City was a friendly trail town but it didn't wake up early. We sat on a restaurant porch waiting for 8am breakfast, then 8:30 PO, then 9am groceries. We said hello to Retro, Hotpants (who has by now also accidentally burned her crocs and husband's gaiters, in addition to her shorts).

Last night we saw sunset color over the Sierra Buttes that rise directly above Sierra City. This morning our first goal was to climb 3000', then traverse around red rock buttes. We could look directly down into town!

Sierra Buttes are a distinctive ridge of volcanic rock that thrust above all other mountains. Not suprisingly it has a fire lookout on its top. Lower down they have green slopes with occasional trees. They are incredibly beautiful.

We shared the area with cars, ATVs, dirt bikes, day hikers and two thru hikers that we had not met. Chris and No Car are Canadians who have two friends currently on the trail hiking with them.

Finding a campsite on the ridge was a bit tricky. We were going to settle for an open sandy area but walked a bit farther for shelter in the trees. This was a good decision because the wind really blew during the night.

Our hike through Plumas NF today was pleasant but not profound: pine forest, occasional flowers, hazy views (distant forest fire?) and very infrequent, mostly off trail water.

The haze seemed to keep the temperature lower. The ridges were windy.

Since this is Saturday in a popular recreation area we expected to see ATVs, cars, day hikers and dirt bikers. The tally did not go up quickly. We saw three ATVs early in the morning, a white jeep raising clouds of dust and fellow PCT hiker Greta.

Later in the day we got up on the ridge high enough to see two volcanic plugs, then later the lookout on the peak of Pilot Peak.

We were hoping for treats at Quincy-LaPorte Road but it was very quiet. Greta was hoping for a ride to Quincy for dinner but that didn't work out either.

We all got water from a nearby creek and walked another 3 miles. The area was on a slope and had been logged. Campsites were not to be found until we got near to the road.

We smelled smoke from a forest fire before we were out of our tent. The air is very hazy with sun motes slanting between the trees. The smoke seemed to hold heat and humidity.

Hiking seemed to consist of descending to the West Fork of the Feather River, crossing over the PCT's largest equestrian bridge and climbing back up to the next ridge. The canyon had burned last year and all the smoke around us made it seem like a fresh fire. Dozens of blowdowns crossed the trail as we traversed the steep mountainsides making us find ways over, under or around the giant logs.

We seemed to drink liters of water at every small stream that we found today. I had the best ever tea when Ken found a small stream washing down a steep gully. Moss grew on the rocks from water splashing. My gatorade and M&Ms were ready for me on the moss. We really cooled down sitting there for a short time.

Once we finally got to the top of the ridge hiking and views improved. We hiked until dusk and put our tent up on a flat spot right beside the trail.

Last night was absolutely still. No birds sang, no deer trotted down the trail, no small rodents or lizards rustled in the duff, the breeze didn't stir, no insects buzzed or whined. The smoke had thinned considerably. The temperature and humidity had dropped. It's a mystery why I, who only has to get kind of horizontal to sleep, stayed awake. Ken and I had been laughing earlier in the day about a thru hiker's "Angle of Repose" (title of Wallace Stegner's book). We thought any angle less than 80° was good for repose.

I was sleepy but not tired as we raced for Belden. The sand, trees and rocks before we start down are gorgeous.

Belden Town, the highway, railroad and the river are all squeezed together at the bottom of the very deep, narrow canyon. We hiked a million switchbacks that took us forever to reach to bottom.

There are local Trail Angels that have a duplex, one portion for hikers to shower and sleep in. The restaurant was closed, the tiny store had sodas and ice cream and NOTHING for a dinner. We went to bed short of calories.

With our resupply box was another box from Janet and her niece, Callie. They made and sent banana nut bread with chocolate chips. This helps fill in the gap left by the lack of food at the tiny store.

Ten hikers are in Belden tonight. Four are women, two are Canadian and three are section hikers. All are hungry but we are the only two that are dinnerless.