Friday Aug 30 1pm update from Mt Creek Restaurant in Sierra City.
After leaving the Pizza Place in Quincy yesterday evening I headed east on
hwy 70 toward Gold Lakes Basin Rd but managed to not see an obvious route sign in the dark resulting in a bit of wasted gas - I initially took a turn that was signed
to the Plumas-Eureka Sate Park, but because i didn't see the hwy89 sign nor a mention of Graeagle, after doublechecking the map I
concluded it was one of several shortcut roads heading southwest before the main hwy 89 turnoff So i continued on hwy 70 abt 10 more miles to Beckworth
before realizing I had missed my turn. Backtracking, I saw the hwy 89 sign
from the other diection - on the same road I had originally thought was
wrong. Ordinarily this would have been another photoop for me, but in the dark, just a waste of gas. made it to a hill-top side-road informal campsite
again and listened to some news programs I had downloaded to my laptop
earlier in Quincy till the battery got low.
Next morning (today, Friday) I headed to Packer Lake road (which has
trailheads to the Sierra Buttes and the PCT) but took the branch to lower
Sardine Lake, the paved rd ending at a resort and jeep trail with a small
interpretive nature loop trail around some small ponds. Parking there I
grabbed my camera but out of habit, locked the doors - then realized I'd
left the keys in the ingition with the radio on. All the windows were closed
tight. Cell phone charging inside. Well at least there was civilization a
few steps away, went to the resort, had a cup of coffee, bought an area map,
and borrowed their phone to call AAA. Got a call back from driver in
Downieville, about a 45 minute wait. Since I had my camera (what luck), I
walked around taking picts of the lake and ponds, both backdropped by the
Sutter Buttes. Got my car opened an hour later and headed off to the
Packer Lake Rd branch, which did lead up to the ridgetop and PCT trailhead, and
further down, TH to the Sutter Buttes lookout, verifying that it would be a
straightforward downhill on bicycle to, ultimately, the Wild Plum CG where I
could catch the PCT for a one-night backpack past the Buttes back to my car
at ridgetop.
So, I'm planning to set myself up to do that tomorrow. This will entail
first leaving my pack at Wild Plum, hopefully with the CG Host there,
driving back up the ridge at Packers Lake Rd, bicycling back down to wild
plum & starting my hike.
But frrst, I wanted to check email for any "takers" to my "invitation" to
hike with someone this weekend at Sutter Buttes, and let everyone know I've
thoroughly scouted out the area... I thought I'd have to go to Downieville
for that, but thought I'd check the library in Sierra City first. It was
closed with no wifi evident, but this Restaurant further down has wifi, so
decided to splurge on a nice Salmon salad while I worked on my laptop for a
bit. Except, their wifi is set up mainly for outside use, and I'm inside
with no connection, so I'm just typing this into notepad for later upload
when I'm done with the salad I,ll briefly go outside on battery power to
check email and send this.
Then, if inbox shows no interest in joining me, I'll probably have time to leave my
Backpack at Wild Plum and do the bike-commute this afternoon, and be on the
trail today, finishing tomorrow evening. Then I'll again overnight in the
area and figure out logistics for a longer hike in the area. I'm not quite
ready to bicycle on hwy 70 during a big holiday weekend, but unless I can
put together something more substantial, I may do that on Tuesday to hike from the Bucks Lake saddle to Belden.
Wellll... after moving to the patio to send this, turns out their internet connection is down. Could connect to the wifi locally, but no IP address available. So... drove to Downieville, walked around there a bit - has some nice ammenities for tourists enjoying the river such as hose to wash up, and here I am on the bench in front of the theatre with a free wifi connection.
I think thre's still time to start my bike ride this afternoon, so I'm going to rush back up to Sierra City to get myself set up.
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