Carter Meadow - N. Fork Feather River 8/4/10 23.4 miles

Woke up early and were out by 7am. We had a really pretty climb to a ridge with views of the foggy valley. We took our first break at the half way point of the trail and helped Kiwi, Bacon and Meander celebrate with a little whiskey at 9:30am. I promise this is not becoming a habit, haha. We walked some clean trail to an early lunch at Soldier Creek and then took a nice nap on the terraced campsite. Thirteen miles to go at 2pm. We had a long downhill to Rt. 36 where we found some trail magic from "Piper's Mom!" Sodas and chips! It definitely helped get us the last 9miles to camp. The last section was dry and kind of boring until we came around a corner and saw Lassen up close. We had been seeing it in the distance, but where we had been in the woods all day we hadn't realized how close we were getting. Came down the last mile to the Feather River and ran into Choc. Bandito going south. She had gotten bored so she hitched up and was going against the flow to see some old and new faces. She told us the scoop on Drakesbad Guest Ranch. We have been dreaming about it for a while. We were going there tomorrow for some showers and swimming and lots of food. Can't wait. -CM