IN THESE WOODS: DAY 96: BELDEN & THE BRAATEN'S

miles: 21.5

Last night we had a hard time finding a flat/non-thicket campsite so we had to make our own for the first time. We bushwhacked up a hill and found a semi-flat spot and went to town smashing things around in order to throw our tent into action. It was a nice night because we were near a rushing creek and we could take water away from it to *sort of* bathe ourselves...

Excited to start the day off with some covered, easy walking, we were off early and ready to hit Belden by 4:00pm. There is a huge descent down into the "town" of Belden and my knees were fearful.

Also - Ben and I made a huge mistake somehow in terms of maps and did not have any maps or elevation profiles for the next section... so I borrowed some and decided I would hand draw them.

Hand made elevation profiles. Obviously these are just a "rough sketch"

TRAIL.

Honey BBQ Frito Spirals in my cous cous with string cheese. New fav.

The contents of Ben's food bag.

Suddenly we emerged from the forest and found ourselves walking along in an exposed area. I didn't realize the landscape would look like this prior to arriving in Belden.

Started getting very very very very hot.

The descent seemed to take forever, but it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be! Gradually the open, exposed ridges morphed into oak dense forest complete with poison oak. The stuff was everywhere. We were thoroughly beat when we made it down to the dirt road that empties into the towns only real establishment - the Belden Resort. This is no typical "resort" but instead is a series of trailers, run down buildings, and cigarette butts. Also - it was 100 degrees.

First glimpse of Belden - welcome to the trailer park.

The Belden "Resort"

The porch at the Belden Resort.

At the Belden Resort we caught up with the PRT (Pacific Rest Trail) which consists of Hoop Dreams, Mr. Green, Peter Pan (who was celebrating her 40th birthday there), Dishcloth and Manchurian (although he was not hiking with them at the moment). We had a cold drink on the back porch with them and caught up but were quickly picked up by Trail Angel Brenda Braaten! She whisked us away to Caribou Crossroads so that we could do laundry (time crunch!!!) and we were pleasantly surprised at how friendly the staff at Caribou were! Everyone was friendly and the waitress went out of her way to make us comfortable, make sure our devices were charged, and the like. It was so sweet!

Caribou Crossroads.

I think this was one of my favorite little places on the trail so far. The fries and shakes were to die for. Ben and I threw our laundry in the wash and proceeded to enjoy a diner meal in our sweaty rain coats and rain pants, despite the 100 degree heat. We also got a celebratory beer! We made it to Belden!

Caribou Crossroads.

The yellow bottle you see is "HEET" and it is the fuel we use for our stoves.

Caribou Crossroads had the best milkshakes.

We walked the mile back down the windy highway to "Little Haven", which is what the Braaten's call the apartment they loan out (for free) to hikers during the thru-hiker season. We were stunned at the hospitality we were receiving: an entire apartment complete with kitchen, multiple bedrooms, tables, and a porch. Brenda Braaten even forced Ben to take an Epsom Salt Foot Bath. All of the other hikers we were hiking around decided to stay at the Belden Resort and camp for free on the river, so we had the entire apartment to ourselves and it was a treat - a relaxing, peaceful night of turning in early and sleeping without disruption.