Day 171- In and out of Belden

Day 171, 9/26/14

1281 to 1295
14 miles

It rained more last night but was clearing by dawn.  Morning fog and clouds swirled on the ridge.  Clouds poured over the saddles.

Sun streaming through the morning clouds.

The mist.

On the descent to Belden, I met Buddha and Girly Girl heading south.  We chatted and when I told Girly Girl that I hadn't seen anyone for over two days, she gave me a big warm hug.  So sweet!

Fog rolling over the mountians.

Though Belden is known as a party place on weekends, it was still quiet at 11 in the morning when I arrived.  Just a few people drinking at the bar.  The waitress was nice and served me breakfast and brought my resupply package, and the bartender showed me gold nuggets he had found in the river.

Belden.

I was eager to keep going so I didn't even shower or do laundry.  I was out of there within the hour.

I didn't even look at my maps for the next section, or I might have noticed the warning about the mountain lion sightings in this section.  I knew I couldn't make it through the mountain lion area before dark.

 The climb out of Belden was blazing hot.  How could I have been so close to hypothermia the previous day and then drenched with sweat and sweltering today?    My feet were feeling sore from trudging through the mud yesterday too and were complaining loudly.  So I camped early, to listen to my feet.

Setting up camp, I carried around my umbrella (to ward off mountain lions), and then I bundled up in my hammock and am gonna keep my fingers crossed that I don't see any mountain lions.