Having rolled off my sleeping pad into the dirt of the open lot where I had slept among a group of fellow thru-hikers, I woke up early and decided to get going before the heat of the August day set in. I took a very cold shower in the public bathroom and followed up with a hot breakfast at the Red Moose, a B&B in town. After grabbing a few food items at the small store (the shelves were mostly empty except for pop-tarts) I walked back up the road and began the hot, steep climb out of the valley. The mountainside was mostly exposed manzanita bushes with little tree cover, and I was glad when I came across a tiny trickle of water to refill my bottles.
My friend Jason had recommend taking the short detour to the fire lookout on top of Sierra Buttes, so I took his advice and headed up the wide fire road to the summit 5000 feet above Sierra City. It was a brutal climb, the late morning sun beating down as I slowly made my way up a road so steep I’m not sure how vehicles could drive it. Eventually I reached the peak, where a series of metal stairways (also steep) scaled the rock to the lookout itself. The panorama spilled over lakes and rolling mountains into the cloudy distance. The wind was strong and I ate lunch in the shelter of the rocks, chatting with some travelers who had made the ascent from a much saner starting point.
By the time I made my way down from the Buttes I was very much feeling the combined effects of the sun, the climb, and the previous night’s beer and taco party. Needing a pick-me-up, I detoured from the trail again to visit the Packer Lake Lodge, where a chicken pot pie and ice-cold Sprite helped rejuvenate my spirits. I camped on a bluff above Deer Lake, watching the red rays of the setting sun fade over the craggy Buttes.
Russell on the Road 