It so hard to make time for updates! 3 days later, I'll try to recap...we called the fire department in the morning and he said with confidence that the town of Belden was open, all roads were open to hitch out of, and that the fire near the PCT was put out. We were pretty happy with that answer and were all ready to hike on to Buck's Lake and maybe all the way to Belden when we decided to call the trail angels in Belden, the Braatens. Mrs. Braaten answered and as soon as I even mention fire, town closed, Quincy-Laporte Road, she emphatically said, "Yep. That's right. Hitch out now." They were supposed to evacuate, but were holding up their fort. Highway 70 was being traffic controlled and we wouldn't be able to hitch out. There was no knowing if it would be closed by the time we got there. There was the option of continuing to Buck's Lake, but we had heard that it might be closed. This new info was such a contrast from what the fire department told us, we were taken by surprise. What other options were there? Could we get a few more miles in before bypassing the fire? A forest service truck pulled over and the worker was telling us about other outlet roads we could go out on that would be easier to get a hitch on, but his information didn't match up and just as we were thanking him and saying goodbye, a truck pulled up offering us a ride plus two other hikers that had come down the trail. Of course, we took it and were soon in Quincy, en route to Chester, and safely around the fire. We hung out in Quincy for a while and then took a bus to Chester. On the bus, all I could think about was whether or not we did the right thing. We could have gotten out on a different road. The fire might have been out by the time we got there. Were we doing the right thing in...SKIPPING? And when will we be able to come back to finish this section? Will we get to the monument at Manning Park and suddenly feel like we can't celebrate fully because this section is still lingering unfinished? In the end, I think it was the responsible thing to do. And we'll figure out when is the right time to come back. We didn't spend much time in Chester, but did have some drinks at the bowling alley, caught up with some people we hadn't seen for a while and ate at the Cotton Candy something restaurant that was non-profit for the local church and had bottomless fries. Then off to the trail and 18.5 miles to Drakesbad Guest Ranch. Drakesbad was really cool. Big hot spring pool, endless free showers, they take your laundry and do it for you. All free of charge. Dinner is served family-style to the resort guests and all of the leftovers are given to the hiker trash for $5-$10. And stealth camping right next door that you can waddle over to. Now we're just outside of Hat Creek/Old Station. A storm is rolling in just in time for what is supposed to be of the hottest stretches of trail--the Hat Creek Rim.