Crossed the 1200 mile mark today.

Woke up at 5:30am and could hear a couple tents coming down. I went back to sleep and got up around 8am. Most of the tents were gone. I was planning on leaving around lunchtime so I was in no hurry.

Went into the Red Moose Inn and there were a few hikers in there eating breakfast. I ordered biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns. Margaret (owner) said that she could never find biscuits and gravy in LA so she had to improvise a recipe.

Spent the morning loading up my 22 pounds of food into my backpack and getting this website updated. The other owner Bill (Margaret's husband) quizzed a couple hikers on their political leanings. They said liberal so he turned the TV station to Fox News since he wanted to see what was going on in Egypt. (apparently MSN or one of the others gets tuned in if you say conservative)

Texas Poo was waiting around for his tent but Stilts and Muppet were trying to hitch a ride out. Bill was driving to Reno and had room for one more hiker so I hopped in. I kind of wanted to get a soda and then as we were leaving I realized I hadn't updated my podcasts. Marc Maron just interviewed Nick Cave. A new Best Show on WFMU which I didn't get to hear all of, Josh Groban on The Nerdist (don't know much about him but this sounds interesting)...they will all have to wait.

Oh, speaking of music, I forgot (I think) to mention that when I woke up yesterday on the 4th, I did my usual tradition of putting on X's "Fourth of July" song for Lightning Rod and I to listen to. I do this on New Year's Day also...not U2..but Twisted Sister's "I am, I'm me".

Got to the trail and started the long climb up to the top of Sierra Butte. Stopped at the 1200 mile mark and took a couple photos. Walked with Stilts and Muppet for a bit and took a break with Texas Poo who had gotten ahead of us. I couldn't decide if I wanted to do the 1.5 ile 1500 foot side trip up to the top of the peak. I figured if I just sat there forever the answer would come to me. The only reason I really wanted to go up there was to retake some 1996 photos anyway.

Decided to keep on walking for the time being since there was another path up to the top in about a mile. I needed water anyways at the next spring. While at the spring I had the realization that this was the spot where I had my only argument on my 1996 hike.

Long story short I had been hiking with this guy _____ . He seemed to want someone to hike with but could be a little bit of a jerk at times. This is the same hiker that Jack Fair wanted to kill BTW, I think I mentioned that story. Anyways, he kept saying "when we go down to the Packer Lake to get dessert". I had no interest in going to Packer Lake since I had just been in Sierra City, plus it was 2 miles and 1500 feet down a hill. I told him I didn't want to go down there.

"Why not?" was his reply.

"I just don't, I just got out of civilization and don't want to go back", I said".

"Dude, if you want a wilderness experience you are not going to find it here on the PCT, you need to go to the Canadian Rockies or something". He continued into a rant about PCT hikers wanting to hike the whole trail and not spending time seeing stuff. (he was hiking California only)

Somehow me not wanting to take a three mile side trip just to get dessert meant that I was looking for some zen-like wilderness experience or something in his mind. I had already taken a three mile side trip going up to Sierra Butte.

I walked off and told him I'd leave my address in the next register (which I didn't).

Anyway, back to 2013. I got to the next road and stashed my pack off in the woods. It took less than an hour to get to the top. I retook my 1996 photos the best I could. The funny part is that I would have put money on the fact that they were taken on the west side of the tower, but no, they were taken on the north.

My phone went off, somehow on the south side of the tower I had cell reception. Cora wrote to say that my Canon G15 camera showed up and they fixed it free of charge! I think she sweet talked the phone operator or something.

Spent a while up on top, met a couple on the way down who took one of my 1996 photos for me. (I am sliding down a rail). Got back to my pack around 6:30pm and continued on.

There was no more water for a few miles until Summit Lake, so it looked like I was going to have to hike until dark. I figured Texas Poo and them were camped there so I would just roll in late even though they might be asleep.

I came around a corner at sunset and saw two tents perched on the ridge right above the trail. A guy in a fleece was holding a child, a couple other people ate dinner in chairs. It looked like an REI car camping photoshoot. I told them this and they all laughed. They asked me a few questions and if I wanted any water. I didn't at first, but then realized I could just make camp wherever, so I took them up on it.

It was a nice night to be walking. The bugs were not out and the temperature was just right. I wish all nights were like this.

I hiked a bit longer until dark and made camp in a flat spot a few hundred feet from the trail. The jeep road is somewhere down over the edge, I just heard someone drive by and I had to double-check to make sure I wasn't camped in the middle of a jeep trail.

Been listening to the Tina Fey "Bossypants" audiobook and have been enjoying it. At one point today I found a small rock that looked like a heart. When I held it up to take a photo, Tina said the phrase "heart-shaped ass". Cosmic.

The audiobook was a present from my friend Jim, who sent a bunch of comedy stuff down to me with Cora. Will get to listen to it tomorrow and am looking forward to it. Lightning Rod's family is meeting him at a road about 25 miles from here. He said they were gonna be giving out stuff. Hopefully they (or something) will still be there when I get there. I did out the math and it looks like if I do at least 25 miles a day, plus get up early next Saturday I should be able to get to the Old Station post office before they close at 3pm. If not I will have to wait until Monday, that or just slow up a bit and get there on Sunday night.

Ok, enough writing, time to eat. I have a huge mound of food I need to work through. Found it is easier to write these journal things if I do it before eating.