Category: PCT Thru Hike

At mile 1286.8. Hiked 16.5 miles today.

I ran up on a grouse with it’s brood of baby chicks. The mother hen ran around in loops on the trail in front of me all the while fluttering loudly and angrily. The hen performed its job of distraction because at first I didn’t notice the chicks. The wayward chicks that had not already disappeared in the undergrowth competed with me for  mother hen’s attention. One second the hen was charging toward me, the next it was running angrily toward her chicks in an effort to herd them out of site. It was quite a show and as I walked on it got me to thinking what chance birds like these would have against the bobcat I saw yesterday. 

People:

I continue to see people that I know or met and many new thru-hikers as well. I saw 4-Eyes again after meeting her when I was hiking south from Walker Pass. Easy to spot with her skirt and glasses. I also saw Farmer again (3rd time) sitting at the bar in Belden. Farmer is going south now, but once through the Sierras he may flip again back to Canada and go SOBO. If he does that, we should pass again somewhere between here and Canada. I first met Farmer on the trail just before Inspiration Pass near Wrightville. Farmer was at the bar with Calamity. She had been hanging out with Young Englishmen, Oscar and Shane. Those two carrât a large wooden rubberband gun in their packs. They are among the “intense” hikers. I heard that Ninja Fabric quit the trail due to foot injury so the young German men are likely bummed. NF was quite a personality. At Hikertown, I witnessed a very animated rap show she put on for her followers. This brings up another phenomena that I have observed. One or more girls tend to form the core of any sizable group. I rarely see 4 or more guys as a group. Case in point was the Ninja Fabric group, the Jenn group, and the Brits and Aussies group. I have also observed that one girl is the leader. All above observations have to do with youth. The over 50 generation is an entirely different matter. 

News:

I met a man about my age named 2nd Breakfast ((NOBO). He told me that the May snowstorm dumped 10 feet in Bucks  Lake. Maybe he meant March snow. I had just hiked through iBucks Lake and didn’t see a single snowflake. 

This morning Hollywood explained how his feet were frozen in the Sierras. It wasn’t frostbite, rather all ten of his toes became Christmas toes. That means they are numb and that it will take until Christmas for feeling to be restored. Others in the blizzard had true frostbite. 

Tonight I am staying at the Braaten’s Little Haven in Belden. No WiFi. No cellular service. Brenda is a friendly host and has thought of everything for thru-hikers. She only takes donations to cover expense.

Belden Town Info

I had a double cheeseburger at Caribou Crossroads. The new owner sat down with me and showed me old photos of the great Belden landslide of 1984. Belden is in a canyon with the North Fork of the Feather River running through. In 84 the river ran high wiping out the bridge adjacent to Caribou Crossing and under cutting the railroad in several places. This river was also the site of one of the California gold rushes. The famous gold rush of 1848 took place on the drainage of the American River whose headwaters I crossed yesterday. 

Carribou Crossing was again under threat in July of 2012 when the Chips fire nearly took it out. Firemen pumped water directly from the river to save it. 

Today Caribou Crossing hosts an annual trout fishing contest. There are some monster trout in these streams.

Rain is expected tomorrow and temps will drop. I also had a huge and heavy resupply. I’ll see how it goes.

Here is a lake view.

Here are views at the beginning of descent into Belden canyon.

 

At mile 1270.3. Hiked 20.5 PCT miles today. Hiked alternate route adding another mile or two.

My campsite with human company, again. Good! Usually my only camping companions are bear and deer. 

Today I hiked the Bucks Lake  alternate route so I could visit Haskins store. But first, I need to tell you about what I figured out.

I’ve been meeting thru-hikers of the “intense” variety who are doing 30 plus mile days and who entered the Sierras in May (early) only to be caught in a blizzard and have to backtrack. I’ve also been pushing myself with the struggle through the snow and more recently a 25 mile day. It occurred to me that this can’t continue. I won’t enjoy the hike and physical exhaustion will turn into mental exhaustion. I’ll waver mentally and emotionally and not follow through with this hike. I asked myself just how much I really needed to hike each day. Funny that I had never done that calculation. While hiking I checked my location using Guthook and saw that I was at mile 1256. I know that the trail is 2650 miles long. Rounding 1256 to 1250, I figured that I have 1400 miles to reach Canada. That is an interesting number and a little serendipitous to have come up with the very first time I tried this exercise. Divide it by 20 miles per day and you get 70 days. That puts me getting to Canada around August 17th. Then why am I killing myself with 25 mile days? What is interesting is that with these numbers, every reduction of daily mileage by 2 miles means an additional week of hiking to arrive in Canada. At 18 miles per day I arrive on August 24th. At 16, I arrive on August 31. I had already figured that I could start the Sierras as late as mid September to cover the first 350 mile portion that is at high weather risk. The last 90 miles are lower elevation and drier. Having done the numbers, I have figured out that I should avoid 25 mike days. My days should be around 20 miles and could be 18 or even 16 miles with no risk to finishing. Limiting mileage would be easier on me physically, but more importantly, it will keep me in the right frame of mind. I know I can do this physically, i need to ensure I can do it mentally. The surest way for me to complete the hike is to ease up on the mileage so that the experience is a joy, not a grind.

Other news:

Saw a bobcat really close today. I was peeing in the woods and it came toward me through a clear area and down the hill. It didn’t run and it was quite close. Once it noticed me it stopped. Only after I pulled my IPhone from my pocket did it begin to move away. It moved away deliberately, not in a rush like the bear I saw last night.

There is a deer in our campsite again tonight. Yes, I said “our”. Big Foot and Peter Pan from Alaska.are renting here. I met them a couple days south of Walker Pass. I also have Hollywood tenting here. Hollywood was caught in the Sierra blizzard. His friends separated in the blizzard and they had a frantic time calling out to one another. Hollywood said he had frozen feet and that he regretted going into the Sierras when he did.

This morning I ran into Michael and the Professor and Mario. They were the first people I knew that I have run into since returned. Talking to them and catching up lifted my spirits. 

It’s going to be a colder night. Hands are already cold from typing this.

Now back to Bucks Lake Alternate. I bought instant coffee and other items at Haskins. Yay!! I’ve been missing coffee since a meth head / heroin / fetanyl addict stole it in Sierra City. I ate well today. Two meals at Bucks Lake plus a lot of snacks while hiking. I also had Gatorade and ice cream. 

I took a swim in Bucks Lake at the Lakeshore Resort. Afterwards, I had fish and chips at their Restaurant. Here is where I swam.

Here are the first good views climbing out of Middle Fork Feather river gorge.

Here is the bobcat I saw.

Here are views from Lookout Rock

Here is a nice creek.

Here is the view from the deck of Lakeshore Resort where I dined ion fish and chips. 

At mile 1249.8. Hiked 25.3 miles today.

I am finally seeing other people. Yesterday I saw Golden who moved on ahead of me. Today I saw a number of thru-hikers who flipped the Sierras. I’ve also been seeing a few section hikers. Nearly all have been SOBO. 

There were 2 types of hikers I have been seeing today. There are the smart hikers who avoided an early hike through the Sierras and there are the intense hikers that plunged into the Sierras, early  but left the Sierras early for one reason or another. Some got fed up with walking through snow. Others got caught in a snowstorm and had to hunker down causing them to be short of food. The intense hikers are also the kind of hikers that will do 30 mile days.

Tonight I am sharing a campsite on the Middle Fork Feather river with 2 of the ‘intense’ hikers named Sherlock and Watson. They were in camp before me despite having hiked 31 miles. Sherlock and Watson were among the 20 or so that got caught in a snowstorm while attempting to cross Forester Pass (elevation 13,000 ft plus). They ended up turning around and backtracking 30 miles due to lack of food. The storm dumped 12 inches delaying their progress.

Watson told me that hikers in the Sierras are now postholing through slush. He said that after the storm some hikers that made it through Forester Pass were sinking waist deep in snow.

Here is the bridge over Middle Fork Feather river. I camped next  to the river where mosquitoes were abundant, but’s my 34% Deet kept them away from me while Sherlock and Watson cowered in tents beneath mosquitoes netting. Ha ha.

Here is the Middle Fork of the Feather River. It was a long descent to the river.

Here are some photos of the scenery along the hike.

Here is one of many flowering dogwood trees I saw while descending in the MF Feather River gorge. Everything began to look more like Georgia in this area.

At mile 1224.5. Hiked 20.8 miles today.

When I stuck my head out of the tent, I was surprised to see a spectacular sunrise.

The hiking was hard most of the day. There was a lot of climbing and the trail was rocky. My legs were sore most of the morning. The good part was great views of the Sierra Butte and many lakes.

Here is Sierra Butte.

Here is Sierra Buttes after hiking away from it all morning.

After lunch the trail got easier and smoother. I was still sore and tired though. After taking a nap at A Tree Spring, I felt rejuvenated. Met and older guy thru hiker at the spring. His name is Golden.

After a long climb I found that I had cell service so I checked in with the family. Shortly after that I had a great long distance view of Mt Shasta. Easy to identify because it is white. I had actually seen it two days ago before reaching Sierra City. It was a white smudge in the horizon at that distance.

There were still a few places with snow in the trail.

 

Here are a few lake views.

I’m camped along the West Branch of Nelson Creek. A little while ago I noticed a bear on the other side of the creek grazing his way toward me I yelled in order to run him off, but after that I felt the need to hang my food. 

Blurry zoomed in photo of bear. The bear didn’t notice me saw I could have walked closer or just continue to let the bear approach and I could have taken a better photo. I decided against it.

As I was writing this I heard a loud noise outside my tent. Thinking the bear may have returned, I got up to investigate. It was a deer.

At mile 1203.7. Hiked 8.3 miles today.

Late last night after I had turned in, the Sheriff dropped a homeless drug addict off at the PCT camping area at the church. I never got out of my tent, but I heard some of the conversation between her and Evan and Peer Pressure. She was asking for things and otherwise rambling. I overheard her tell the others that she stole things. I won’t go into it, but today she was still around and my things started disappearing. The missing food I didn’t mind too much since it was left over and some food I took from the hiker box. Only later did I realize that my coffee was gone and now I’m on the trail for 5 days without coffee. It’s tough being a coffee addict. My entire personal hygiene kit went missing. I spent a great deal of time completely and methodically emptying my pack, pulling out my tent, etc from stuff sacks, going through gear in search of my kit. I ended up going to the store to purchase toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. Some items like chapstick I already had backup stored elsewhere. 

At the coffee shop I heard more about the aggressive bear. The patron started listing off places the bear had broken into that included residences (in broad daylight), businesses, and even the Red Moose Cafe. She explained that there were actually 3 bears and Evan had encountered the nicer one, the one that would leave when you turned headlamps into it.

After coffee at the coffee shop ( no WiFi, but they use the guy’s WiFi across the street) and breakfast at Harrington Restaurant, I headed to the Post Office that opened at 10 AM. There, I picked up my new tent and my resupply box. Later, I took my old tent and Microspikes to the PO to mail back home. 

I was finally ready to leave town.i had bought new sunglasses at the store and bought a Gatorade for the road. I nice resident gave me I ride up to the trail almost before I could start hitchhiking.

By the way, the church or the park? has pubic restrooms that include showers. I soon found out that they were cold showers. I guess that helps keep the hikers from hanging out in town too long. 

It is a beautiful little town and I’d like to return as a tourist, but it doesn’t have much and what it does have keeps short hours. 

The hike was mostly a climb up Sierra Buttes. Much of the trail was rubble and hard to walk on. Along the way I ate lunch from my resupply and nuts from the hiker box. It was hot and after lunch I started to feel slightly ill. I stopped early, just a little before 5 PM so I could take time setting up and getting familiar with my new tent. I also had a mew stove from the hiker box, actually Peer Pressure’s old stove. Thanks PP, 

I set up everything and had dinner in my pot ready to cook. A couple came by with 2 dogs and the dogs ran up to my tent. I was worrying  about my brand new expensive tent when I realized that one of the dogs was eating my supper. He only got a lick or two, but I called out to the owners that the dog got my food. The couple walked on like nothing happened and were disappearing down the mountain. I got mad and left my tent and yelled so they could hear. “Your dog got my food!” They walked on with no response. I yelled more. “I can’t believe that you won’t even give me an apology! I don’t know what your problem is!!” They walked on as if nothing happened and I want there. 

I ate the dog licked dinner anyway. I think it actually improved the taste, but don’t tell the inconsiderate dog owners that.

What a day!

Here is my lunch spot. 

View a few steps from my lunch spot.

Here are photos of Sierra Buttes

Here is the view from my tent site and photos of the first pitching of my new tent. 

One last note. Other PCT hikers began arriving in town just as I was about to leave. Maybe I’ll have some hiking company. Only thing, they were all rail thin and had come through the Sierras so they may hike a little intense for my taste and ability.

Day 43 – From snow to heat

At mile 1195.4. Hiked 23.1 PCT miles today plus walking to and around town.

I didn’t see anyone today until I was a few miles from Sierra  City. There was some snow to navigate through, but I quickly moved out of snow and into heat. I’ve also had my first mosquitoes and mosquito bites and used mosquito repellent for the first time, but still the mosquitoes haven’t gotten bad, yet. I’m prepared with tent replacing tarp and head net. 

I hitched most of the way into town As I was getting out of the car, I felt for my sunglasses. They had fallen off, but when I turned to check, the car was already zooming off. Next time I am going to take my time getting out of the car so that I know I have everything. This is a pretty big problem since this small town has no place to buy sunglasses.

Tonight I am camping at the Methodist Church in Sierra City. They have cold showers In the morning I pick up my resupply box and new tent at the post office. Two other hikers are camping here. One, named Peer Pressure is hiking with Wounded Warriors and came straight through the Sierras. Pretty amazing to have a hiker this far along in June 3rd. Peer Pressure and I are the same age. He started his hike on March 1st. 

A man came by and warned us of a large agressive bear that has been coming down the street. The other hiker, Evan, who has been staying here about 5 days said that a  bear came into the church camping area, but the hikers drive it away with their headlamps. I put my little remaining food into the bathroom. As I was writing this, the Sheriff dropped a homeless lady off at the PCT hiking area. She was trying to borrow a blanket from the hikers. I was already in my tent and didn’t fully know what was going on. It isn’t good that the Sheriff drops off homeless people with with absolutely nothing. 

Here is. a view of Sierra Buttes which I will begin climbing tomorrow. 

Here is the trail 

Here is the trail 

Here is the river and foot bridge