Miles hiked: 29.45.
Woke around midnight to the patter of raindrops on my sleeping bag and other stuff. Must keep the feathers dry! I pulled out my tarp and draped it over myself and the little bags of things around me. Using my extensive training as a meteorologist, I deduced that since I could see stars just to the west, it would probably quit raining in a minute or two. When it hadn't quit in 5 or 10, I decided I better just get up and pitch the tarp for real. That done I got back to sleep with some reading, and woke to a pretty dry camp since the rain did end up stopping soon after the tarp was up then a dry wind continued through the night. A few hikers who'd smoked some pot for dessert had the serenity of mind and calmness of heart to sleep right through the rain, without having to wake and set up shelter.
Continued along the open volcanic ridge for a few miles, with long views back south all the way to the Sierra Buttes and finally good clear looks at Lassen Peak and the surrounding mountains which from my angle clearly used to be one big tall volcanic cone. There was cell service in places along the ridge and I spent a bit of time confirming the Post Office hours in Old Station, my next resupply stop, and also make arrangements to have breakfast tomorrow at Drakesbad Resort.
Made it down to the PCT midpoint marker, which is actually about 5 miles before the current half way point, around 10. I didn't really feel some huge sense of relief or accomplishment or emotion at reaching his point, but for the rest of the day the walking seemed really easy and my feet hardly hurt either, so maybe there was some psychological benefit to being "over the hump".
Like yesterday, there were a lot of trees blown down across the trail today. The main reason this is interesting is that there were also signs every few miles saying that the Backcountry Horsemen of Butte County are responsible for maintaining this section of trail. No where else on the trail yet have here been such signs. I sort of wondered if some rival county horse club might have put up the signs as a joke. But then, at a trailhead down by hwy 36, I ran into the Horsemen saddling up and getting ready to head south to start work. They even had a bunch of backyard-grown citrus and stone fruits for hikers. Turns out they were short a couple volunteers this year and are a bit behind schedule.
The next several miles past hwy 36 were really easy through gently rolling private timber land with a few interpretive signs about forest management. I'm not sure if it was the halfway point or the grapefruit and nectarine or just the easy soft trail, but pretty much all parts of me felt better than they have in a couple days. I also mixed up he routine a bit and had dinner around 5 when I crossed the N. Fork of the Feather River again. Stopping half way through the last 10 miles of a high-20's day made those last miles so much easier. I camped up on a ridge 4 or so miles short of Drakesbad, with Common Nighthawks swooping around overhead and what sounded like a baby train locomotive who lost its mother out blowing its little whistle in the forest.
Birds:
Steller's Jay
Brown Creeper
Oregon Junco
American Robin
Hairy Woodpecker - fledglings
Mountain Chickadee
Common Poorwill
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Green-tailed Towhee-fledglings
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-backed Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
Fox Sparrow
Nashville Warbler
Common Nighthawk
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