Day 55 July 19, 2017

Daily mileage 19
Total mileage 936
Hiked from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm

The climb out of Belden is done.

These late starts are killing my hiking productivity! Because I rented a room last night (good idea as I had one of the better sleeps that I have had for a while) I had to wait around until 8 am to return the key. Well now that I am here at the restaurant to return the key, I may as well have breakfast. Long story short, it was a late start.

Pretty flowers along the way

Water water everywhere now

This was a really cool bridge that uses the side rails as the support structure

First and almost only order of the day was to tackle the 4500 foot climb out of the valley bottom. Luckily the climb was spread over about 15 miles so the average gradient was quite acceptable.

For only about the fifth time this whole hike, I donned the iPod for the climb. About halfway up, I saw a stick about 4 feet up the trail. That stick had a white end. That white end was moving. Oh crap, rattlesnake. So off come the ear buds for the duration.

If you look hard, the rattler is in there 

By about mid afternoon, I was at the top of the climb. Just as I was about to start down the other side, my phone chimes, indicating a received text. I had forgotten to put it into airplane mode and it picked up service out in the middle of nowhere. So I got to call my wife.

I had targeted Cold Spring as my potential finishing point. When I got to the junction for the spring, there were no flat spots near the PCT. So I went the 300 feet to collect water and there was the nicest collection of flat spots just for me. Yeah I don't have to carry on when I am feeling whipped.

I climbed up into the subalpine for a while

Trail maintenance crew from ACE. They told me what that acronym stands for but I forgot. (Dr Google just told me it is American Conservation Experience) Thanks for the great work guys

View near the top of the climb

I made the most delightful concoction for dinner tonight. I had packed out a mango from Burney so I cubed that up and added it to ramen, peanut butter and hot sauce. Incredible
.

Home for the night

Day 54 July 18, 2017

Daily mileage 18
Total mileage 917
Hiked from 11:30 am to 7:30 pm

That was a long nero.

I started my day in Quincy by going out for breakfast with a really great couple (Laura from Toronto and Cookie Monster from Brighton England). As we were discussing our upcoming day, I mentioned that I had to order a new pack because some bits of mine are wearing out. Cookie casually said it was too bad my pack was not an Osprey because they are so amazing on warranties. Well hang on, mine is an Osprey.

So I got on my new cell phone (who would have predicted that a phone like that could have so many useful purposes) and chatted to Christopher from Osprey and they are sending me a new pack to my next town. Amazing. If any future PCT hikers out there read this blog, do consider Osprey for your pack.

So, having completed my town jobs, I headed out to hitch back to the trail. About the tenth car by picked me up and took me to a rural area about half way to the trail. Thanks Garret. So then I am standing waiting for the first car to go by and I heat a gentleman calling out to me from the house I am standing in front of. He wanted to know if I needed a ride to Bucks Summit. That was exactly where I was headed.

So we jump in his pick up and head up the very twisty road. Then he wants to know if I want a tour of the Bucks Lake area. Giving I would not see it from the trail, I was thrilled to get the tour. John, thanks for your amazing hospitality.

Then it was off up the trail. Right off the bat, I had the only climb of the day at 1000 feet. Easy peasy. Then the trail went into cruiser mode. I even got my first glimpse oft Lassen which is the first of a long string of  volcanoes that the trail will skirt.

Mt Lassen in the distance

Alpine lakes that the trail came oh so close to

King of the castle squirrel

At about 4 pm, the trail went by a junction to a trail leading to a formal camp ground by some lakes a half mile off. I gave it a lot of consideration but decided to push on. Bad decision. Within a mile, the trail started what has to be the toughest downhill segment on the PCT to date. We are talking 3500 feet in less than 5 miles. It was so un-PCT like. It just kicked the crap out of my legs.

Q: How do you get down off a mountain?
A1: You do not. You get down off a goose.
A2: Switchbacks. Lots and lots of switchbacks. I bet there had to be 50 of them on that downhill.

There is a trail under there somewhere

Gorgeous trail

When I pulled into Belden, I headed straight for the bar/restaurant/hotel. I got two ice cold beers, the best burger on the trail so far and a room in about that order. Belden has a bit of a rep for not being hiker friendly. Must say I have not experienced anything negative here.

So what was supposed to be a short day out of town turned out to be quite a long one.

Day 52 July 16, 2017

Daily mileage 27
Total mileage 890
Hiked from 5:15 am to 7:30 pm

Today I hiked more than a marathon.

Guess how much snow I hiked through today. That is right. None. Now guess how many magnificent vistas I enjoyed today. Right again. None.

Spent almost the entire day in the forest today. The hiking, at least for the morning was really easy. Generally downhill but gently so. But because I was in the green tunnel, there really was nothing spectacular to gaze at.

Who knew they still have manned fire lookouts

Easy trail leading to one of many road crossings in this area

All of that downhill did deliver me to a rather large river. The Middle Fork of the Feather River made for the perfect place to while away a couple of hours in the heat of the day. I already had 18 miles in by the time I reached the river at 1 pm so I did not feel the pressure to leave. There were only 4 of us spread around this perfect swimming pool, complete with shaded sandy areas to flop onto. It was 90 degrees in the shade, which was another reason not to head out.

PCT bridge 

My swimming hole

Rapids by the bridge

When I did go in for a swim it was a bit embarrassing just how significant the plume of muddy water around me was. Lately the trail tread has been been covered with a very fine layer of dust so a hikers legs (ok a hikers entire body but the legs are most noticable) are constantly filthy.

But alas, all good things must end. I was down at the river and the trail was aiming up to the ridge some 2800 feet up the hill. I was very pleasantly surprised when the climb went quite easily. It made for a long day but now I am all set up for a short day into Quincy tomorrow for a resupply and all of then other town activities like showers and beer but not at the same time.

Home for the night 

Dsy 51 July 15, 2017

Daily mileage 23
Total mileage 863
Hiked from 5:15 am to 6:00 pm

OK, I have to admit that I am trying to recall this day a month after I hiked it.  I got the original entry wrong (basically a repost of day 50) so .....

I hiked with some trepidation today because, despite what the Sobo hiker told me yesterday, I figured I would likely run into extended snow today.  And I did, but nothing terrible.  The first stretch was a bit sketchy, and a slip would have resulted in some degree of bodily damage, but luckily my microspikes remained in my pack rather than actually being any good on my feet.  Sometimes I wonder at what I was thinking.

I ran into a trail maintenance crew on my way down to the A Tree spring.  I just cannot thank these volunteers enough for the hard work they do cutting away blowdowns from the trail.

This particular blowdown will take alot of work to clear.

The afternoon involved what would prove to be the last of the snow for a few weeks.  But again, there were sections of snow that may have not been long to cross, but a slip, particularly on one section, would have resulted in sever damage to the hiker.  And again, all I could think about was what my headstone would read: "He died with his microspikes in his pack. What a dumbass".

Part way through the afternoon, I came across a father and son out scouting for deer in the upcoming hunting season.  Now, why you need your rifle out with you when doing this was beyond me, but they had the guns so I was not about to ask.  In our discussion about wildlife, the dad seemed to be a bit flummoxed when I told him that bears were omnivores, same as us.  He then proceeded to tell a fellow hiker that the trees across the trail were not the results of blowdown, but were the results of bears pushing on them.  It was really hard not to mock him, but remember he had the only gun between the two of us.  And, he was wearing the tee shirt of a certain reality show president, so his mental stability was certainly in question.  I broke away from him as politely as quickly as possible.

I was initially hoping to stretch out my mileage a bit farther today, but when I saw the campsite that I ended up in, it was too good to pass by.  And I was whipped. 

Home for the night.

Day 49 July 13, 2017

Daily mileage 20
Total mileage 819
Hiked from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm

Now that was more like it.

Before I rejoined the PCT, I went out and bought a few pieces of replacement equipment. One of them was a new air mattress. My old one had three blown baffles which left it in a shape that my body simply could not conform to. So I had a difficult time emerging from my little cave of down and air this morning.

The other item I bought for the first time in my life was a cell phone. I have now joined the ranks of the phonies! I got it specifically to put a couple of apps on that allow you to find the snow hidden trail via GPS. And it worked like a charm both yesterday and today.

When I finally did get going I did have a bit of snow to cover but nothing as lasting as yesterday. I spent lots of time up in the alpine hills.

I had a very long downhill for much of the afternoon. There were some minor climbs but nothing of any magnitude.

Hiking in the alpine hills

Can you guess where the snow levels are?

Hike slowly and cast a long shadow

Hiking in the alpine

Home for the night

Day 48 July 12, 2017

Daily mileage 14
Total mileage 799
Hours walked 7:30 am to 3:30 pm

The PCT never promised that returning would be easy.

As I was sitting in my grubby hotel in Reno (never be tempted to stay at the Sands Hotel) wondering how I was going to complete the journey back to the trailhead at Donner Pass, I happened to notice that a couple I know from my hometown were also in Reno. Hmmmm I wonder when they are driving home and what route they are taking. So I called them and lo and behold, they were leaving early tomorrow and heading West.

I am here to proclaim that Clinton and Linda are now PCT trail angels. They gave me a ride right to the trail and at an early enough time to get a full day in. Thanks again you two.

This is part of my weight gain program on trail

Insert all the usual Donner party jokes here 

Oh PCT I did miss you

 So then I was off down the trail. The section over to Interstate 8 was easy. I stopped at the rest area to text the family while I still had coverage.

The trail up to the next pass (sorry, I lost all of these posts due to human error, mine that is, and am having to recreate them from memory so a lot of names of passes etc are gone) was again easy. But guess what was waiting for me on the north side of that pass. If you said dancing girls with cold beer and hot pizza, you would be wrong. It was snow. And a fair bit of it.

The trail is under there somewhere 

Now it is not to say that the rest of the day was horrible. It just featured more snow than I would have wished for. But there were pretty vistas also.

Snow free vistas

 I ran into a young lady (Express) who went through the Sierra. What she told me about her adventures solidified my decision to skip that section until most of the snow melts.

As the day wore on my energy levels plummeted. I knew I would loose some degree of fitness being away from the trail for three weeks and that did turn out to be the case. I finally called it a day at mid afternoon.

As I was about to head to bed, I heard someone calling out Silver Fox. It was Brad whom I met on about day 3 of the trail. It was great to catch up with him. He went through the Sierra and is now blasting 30 plus mile days so I will not be seing him again.

Home for the night

Day 53 July 17, 2017

Daily mileage 9
Total mileage 899
Hiked from 5:15 am to 8:30 am

Town Day!

I was very motivated to get up and beating feet to the trailhead. As an added bonus, it was easy cruiser trail.

After a fast but uneventful 9 or so miles to the Bucks Summit highway, I stuck out my thumb. Hang on, I waited several minutes to see a car before I could stick out my thumb. Pretty quiet road. But after about half an hour, I got a ride with Katy and her two young daughters. If you ever read this Katy, yes you should hike the PCT.

Now I am in Quincy. It is a very small town with limited hotels and motels. But I have a bed for the night and I have had a shower. I am staying at the Spanish Creek Motel. The probably built this motel in the 1950's and that is where we sit today.  Pretty funny to see wiring mysteriously appearing out of the ceiling to feed into a power bar which is nailed to the wood paneling. The power bar then services the tv, coffee maker and bar fridge. All stuff they did not think of in 1950! 

Sort of random here, but now that I am almost 900 miles, I have now completed over 1/3 of the entire length of the PCT. Just might be getting the hang of the long distance hiking.

Sorry no pictures today.