Day 52:

Date: May 23, 2015

Progress: 11.9 miles - campground at mile 1185.6 to Sierra City at mile 1197.5

Today we woke up to more rain. My stuff stayed dry except for a little condensation on the footbox of my sleeping bag. I'm definitely pleased with the way my tent performed (thanks Joe from ZPacks!) and would recommend it. Even with a rushed and imperfect set up job I stayed dry inside. We agreed to get to Sierra City, CA and maybe stay the night there to try to dry out our gear a little. 

Backtrack and I hiked together, and moved pretty fast, covering the 11.9 to Highway 49 without stopping. We hitched into Sierra City and got what was described by our trail notes as being one of the best burgers of the trail at the Country Store. It was one pound, called the "gutbuster," and I got it with lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, pickles, ketchup, mayo, mustard, horseradish, avocado, bacon, and swiss cheese. It is pictured below. 

Sierra City is a really small old mining town, where everyone seems to know each other. We decided to spend the night in Sierra City and most likely hike out tomorrow, but there is a bunch of rain forecasted, so we may zero tomorrow to avoid a night of wet camping.