@ 39.9549, -121.1594
Woke this morning to clear skies and expansive views as I finished my climb to the top of the ridge.
Decided to take the Bucks Lake alternate and avail myself of a cold drink at the resort. It has been smoky and hot and dusty and I deserve a truly thirst quenching drink.
I ordered huevos rancheros with a Corona, a common breakfast on family camping trips in Baja California. I know Mom and Dad would approve. 
Found Flaming and the Swiss hikers at the next resort down, stopped and had a cold soda with them, then stripped down to my skivvies and jumped in the lake before commencing a four mile road walk to the trail. Reports are that the PCT is still closed between Belden and Highway 36, we agreed that the most plausible plan is to hitch from Belden to Chester and thence north from 36.
Even with my chrome umbrella I was way too hot out on the asphalt and I was greatly relieved to see the sign for the PCT junction and gladly followed it into the shady forest.
After about a mile it occurred to me that the trail was mostly trending southward and (not for the first time) that I am a dumbass. I had turned the wrong way on the trail and never thought to check the map.
My plans to camp close to Belden and get an early hitch out were in doubt- it was 3:30 and I would have to cover 12 miles plus a mile just to get back to the trail junction.
Then I remembered that tonight is the peak of the Perseid meteor showers and that there are some ridgeline tent sites just 6 miles up the trail. I would be trading a few hours of hanging out in the town of Chester for an excellent campsite and prime meteor watching. That should have been my plan all along but I only came to it through a wrong turn. Call it the luck of dumbassery. 
This campsite offers views far to the north, including Mt Lassen – just its base, its top is cut off by a layer of smoke from the Redding fire.
Now that I can actually see this landscape , I like it more. It’s just rolling forested ridges, but they are spaced and arranged in a way that suggests a big and wild country here and beyond. A country of possibility. Wolves could live here. Maybe even California grizzlies, once they are cloned from museum specimens. California is one of the few places left in our fearful timid nation that is still willing to think big, and maybe it could happen.