Hangout for hikers. The country store. Bust a Gut 1lb hamburger, beer & ice cream. Note the cashier lighting up while customers wait inside. Really casual.
FC cooling off in Love Creek Falls.
Ok . Now we're in a hot California. Yesterday in Sierra City it was 100 degrees. The dirty room we stayed in had no fan or air conditioning of any sort. It was a bit grim. We slept naked on a sheet. The owner had put an electric blanket and big heavy quilt over the sheet. What was she thinking?Firecracker woke up a number of times thinking she was suffocating. The air did cool off but that took some time. The Red Moose Inn has seen better days. It's a bar-breakfast place that rents out 2 rooms to hikers. For 80 dollars you get a four poster bed on an unswept, filthy floor, with a bathroom and shower that has been rented out to dirty hikers at 5 dollars a pop before anyone rents the room. Who knows how many hikers showered before we got there. This wouldn't have been so bad if the room had been cleaned before we entered. Unfortunately, we went to lunch before really taking a look. When we got back we felt it was too late to back out. FC asked for a broom and proceded to sweep. The toilet was bad so she wiped it down, shook out the dirty bathmat, the one 10 people had stood on. After the fact, on further thought this could have been handled differently but isn't this the way of it? To handle situations skillfully, without causing harm takes some thinking To bring the best out in people and yourself. It took FC almost a whole day to figure out the most helpful, least injurious thing to say and when she did she was miles away. The other room was occupied by a 55 year old woman who had to clean out her bathtub with Clorox before she dared step in. She was incensed believing that the owners think hikers are dirty so why clean the rooms. They sleep outside in the dirt for months. Outside dirt and human created dirt are different. Outside dirt is not scary; it's comprehensible. Human dirt takes the imagination to places it would rather not go and once there cannot escape or forget. This room made America's Number 1 Best Inn look deluxe. Unfortunately, the owners of this "inn" have had some bad experiences with PCT hikers (theft, drunkenness, rowdiness, etc) and no longer trust a lot of hikers. Now they are not so friendly or welcoming. It's a shame. It is true many hikers, (especially young males ) when in town drink to excess and cause all kinds of trouble. What to do?
FC and TC will not be recommending Sierra City as a destination spot. It is a town without a restaurant. It does have two bars and one is for sale but still operational. Anyone interested?
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