Days 39 to 64

Sorry for the long overdue blog post…it’s a big one.

July 24, day 64 mi 1578.2-1599.7, 21.5mi
Smoke rolled in yesterday afternoon and it was pretty hazy today. Cruised some mellow and fun miles today waking a ridge to the Etna summit road crossing. Climbs weren’t too bad and neither were descents. Overall a very pretty day but I bet gorgeous when there are better views. I spent the afternoon in town eating and charging devices while hanging with others. Slept in the city park and took a shower. Hopefully the smoke clears soon!

July 23, day 63 Mi 1536.7-1578.2, 41.5mi
What a great day!! In addition to hitting my first 40 this trip, I also enjoyed walking all day! I drank a bit too much coffee this morning and was pretty amped. I hiked fast and barely made it to a vault toilet at a road crossing. As I was leaving a guy asked me if I wanted a nectarine, of course!! Fresh fruit rocks. We chatted and he gave me a small quartz crystal (very ultralight, it was small!) to ensure “I make it home safely.” Nice guy. I hiked fast for the next couple hours and jammed out to the grateful dead. Awesome views all around and just a good day of walkin’. I took a midday break after 25 miles and massaged my feet and dried my sleeping bag. I was cold last night because it had dew’d on me two nights prior. It’s dry now! Shortly after my break I entered the Trinity Alps Wilderness and it is a treat. Beautiful views and good walking. Water carries aren’t too challenging but I am paying attention to distance between water sources. Some haze from a fire rolled in in the afternoon and the sunset is pink and smoky. Tomorrow I get to do a half day into town and I’ll take the evening and tomorrow morning off.

July 22 day 62 35.6mi
I caught a 6am bus out of town, what seemed like the best part of the town. I was stoked to get out. Unfortunately I shared it with a very talkative guy and his adorable lovebug of a dog, buttercup. I got off at the trailhead and chatted with some other hikers waiting for the bus into town. I then got on trail and had wonderful conversation for the first 6mi with another hiker. The afternoon was hot and the climb was long. Food felt heavy in my bag. But the views were excellent!! I passed under the castle crags and had views of Shasta too. The backside was nice as well, lakes and ridge walking- the kind of stuff that inspired me to be out here!! Ended the evening walking with Sandals, another Sam. We camped at a lake where a third Sam played some fiddle before bed. Yes! There is a trifecta of Sams here!! As one Sam put it, Sam’s club!

July 21 days 61, 20 miles
Hiked 20 miles into town. Easy downhill miles flew by with good convo. Jumped in the Klamath river at a deep spot, got out and caught an easy ride into Mt Shasta. I resupplied fast then had lunch with Rugrat and Liam, her BF. I hung around town a bit more then tried to hitch out. After an hour and a half on the side of the on ramp, I gave up. I met up with Rugrat and Liam for dinner at a little bar then slept in a meadow near some houses.

July 20 day 60 Mi 1443.0-1481.9, 38.8mi
I did 38.8 miles today, my highest yet this year. Great beautiful morning with excellent views of the mountains around and Mt Shasta. Shasta had some lenticular clouds around the peak. I walked through a beautiful clearing from logging that was very birdy. There was also a buck with a big rack in the clearing. A couple hours later I saw a rattle snake. I know other folks had seen some up in NorCal but I wasn’t expecting it. The afternoon was hot. I dunked my shirt a couple times to try and stay cool.

July 19, day 59 Mi 1411-1443, 32 miles.
I dragged my feet a bit getting out of Burney this morning. I easily caught a hitch in just a few minutes with another hiker. We hiked together to Burney falls which was spectacular. So pretty, weeping out of the rocks and big falls. Very cool temps as well. After the falls I did about 24more miles enjoying the big trees around me. I camped with a different hiker on uneven surfaces but it was the best we could find. We talked a bit before bed while in our sleeping bags which was nice. Pillow talk, as Matt used to call it!

July 17, day 56 and 57 miles 1350.3-1385.5, 35.2mi
Woke up and hit the trail asap after grabbing my food from the bear box. It was a chilly morning, and I enjoyed the cool morning temps. I caught up to a few hikers I had seen earlier and hiked with Ping a long ways. We walked together through some tree farm with pines in straight lines and then made it to a gas station where I bought ice cream, frozen burritos, and a soda. What a treat to pick up some bonus real calories. After, ping and I hiked to the subway cave where we hung out in the shade. In the shade, we found Smokey napping! We hiked the rest of the way to a campsite with a long descent to some water. Camping with a big group of people tonight and town tomorrow.

Days 54 and 55. July 15 & 16, to mile 1350.3, 15 miles in and 19 miles out.
We did 15 miles into Quincy. The hike started with a climb then was a good ridgewalk to the first road crossing. Off in the distance smoke was visible from the Dixie fire. We arrived at the 2nd road crossing around noon and without much waiting a lady stuck her head out the window of her car and asked if we wanted a ride! Yes, yes we do! She was supporting her husband’s hike and waited around for more hikers to come before driving back down the road. How fortunate! She explained the upcoming fire situation, gave us a tour of town, and dropped us off. We dropped our packs and grabbed delicious lunch then I picked up some food from Safeway. At that point it was clear that the fire north of us was going to close the PCT. I had maintained a continuous footpath from Mexico to the trailhead above Quincy and it ended. The next morning I said bye to Margot and took a bus to Chester to hop north of the fire closure. The bus was full of 20 thruhikers and the driving was moving fast! In Chester the town was full of smoke. I caught an easy hitch to the trailhead and jumped back on trail. First time hiking alone since big bear….over a 1000 miles ago. The hiking was nice and not too hard. The trees through here are large and tall, very pretty. Lots of logging. I entered Lassen NP this evening and am spending the night at a car accessible campground with some other thruhikers I met. Supposedly it’s a bear rich region!

July 14, day 53. Miles 1220.6 -1253.0, 32.4miles
Today started off strong. A short climb then a lot of downhill meandering through the woods with springs present in the morning. As the day warmed up, we found ourselves going off trail a ways to get water. It was Margot’s last full day on trail, bittersweet. Around midday we took a road alternate choosing to walk pavement over single track for a change of pace. It started off nice but with little shade during the heat of the day it for hot. We also saw lots of logging trucks and chatted with one guy. By the time we were back on trail it was a relief. We cruised the afternoon until a long downhill that never seemed to end. At the bottom was the middle fork of the feather river and more importantly a great place to swim with deep pools and rocks scattered about. Thete was a cool bridge the PCT took over the river. We swam in the last light of the afternoon before the sun dipped below a ridge then hiked up and out of the canyon. En route we talked about how hiking is an excellent metaphor. Analogies abound but you can only hike about 3mph and you choose to keep going or stop. Peaceful evening campsite next to bear creek tonight.

July 13, day 52 Mile 1191.5-1220.6, 29mi
Good day. I didn’t go to Sierra City and missed the initial swimming holes during the morning. There was a steep climb out of the highway. At the top there were wonderful views all around. Then the trail passed the Sierra Buttes, I need to go back and hike around there. Very cool lookout tower from the top but the trail wasn’t near it. We took an alternate trail along a ridge instead of the PCT. Along the alternate we asked a guy if this was a popular trail as we suddenly saw lots of day hikers. He said “uhhh the PCT? Yeah it is.” Well we weren’t on the PCT, though it used to be the PCT before it was rerouted. I tried to tell him that but he insisted. I would have thought the image of two thruhikers would have convinced him otherwise but oh well. The rest of the ridge stayed high with great views of lakes below. At the end of the alternate we dropped down and swam in Deer Lake with crystal clear water. We hiked out and followed a ridge to camp around 830. The afternoon/evening hiking was beautiful. Tons of great lakes below, awesome views, and some granite walls to look at. What a treat. I feel like this section isn’t talked about much but I enjoyed the scenery today.

July 12, 2021: Day 51 Mile 1162.7- 1191.7, 29 miles
Mosquitoes were bad last night. Didn’t sleep well. Woke up a little grumpy and started hiking. The trail climbed up a couple beautiful ridges with great 360⁰ views. Atop the ridges, there were occasional trees and lots of herbaceous asters abloom. Very pretty meadows. Around 2, we arrived at a reservoir. I took a swim to cool off as it’s been pretty hot hiking. Ended loitering around the lake until about 5. Some campers gave us cookies and brownies, just the stuff needed to get to camp. We ran the last 0.5mi into camp, fun!

Days 48, 49, and 50 July 9-11, 1130.6 to 1162.7
After camping on the edge of a ridge, we did about 20 miles into Truckee. Most of the miles followed the ridge and we crossed under a few ski lifts. The last 8 or so miles were hot. Not far from the road we crossed a snow field and Margot and I had a snowball fight there. Caught an easy hitch into Truckee and were just exhausted. We stayed at the redlight hostel and zeroed the next day without planning too. It was hot in Truckee but swimming in the river was a blast. I scored a new hat when I saw it floating down. We did about 9 miles out of Truckee on Sunday seeing Amanda and some other hikers at the road crossing. We listened to some fun music and passed the Peter Grubb hut, opting to sleep a bit further.

Day 47, July 8 miles 1099.7-1130.6
Long day. I swam in a gorgeous lake with islands. I swam in another lake without islands and a murky bottom. That swim wasn’t as great. The morning hike followed the trail connecting lakes to another lakes. I felt like I was walking the string on a necklace and each lake was a unique pearl connected by the trail. It was warm in the evening. Tonight I’m sleeping on a 5 star ridge between a couple boulders with a bit of a breeze and a view to Lake Tahoe. Tomorrow is Truckee.

Day 46, July 7. Mile: ~1076.7- 1099.7
Beautiful hike. Great flowers. Trail magic at Carson pass at the NF visitor center from volunteers. Fun time hanging and chatting with them and soda is delicious. Climbed up and through a beautiful meadow with amazing flowers. Saw some irises and many indian paintbrushes. Swam at shower lake, fitting name. Then hit up the Echo Lake Chalet. I ate a pint of ice cream, some chips, a pound of macaroni salad, and drank two beers. Resupply was a little pricey but not too bad since I only grabbed about a day, day and a half of food. Walking along the lake was fast, with the confidence of the beers. Sleeping near Aloha Lake which is a large lake under beautiful alpine granite with lots of islands scattered around. Very cool spot! This section of the PCT shares trail with the TRT.

Days 42-45, July 3rd-6th, to mile 1076.7
Somehow my journal got messed up. The hike from Tuolomne Meadows to Kennedy Meadows Resort (North) was beautiful. Lots of mosquitoes and some gorgeous passes and granite rocks, also very cool trees! I crossed mile 1000 just after leaving Yosemite NP and then caught the shuttle to KM resort. I spent the 4th there with other hikers, chatting and doing chores. Food was alright and the atmosphere was interesting….lots of horses and cowfolk. I caught the morning shuttle out to Sonora pass and did about 25mi starting around 11am. Today, the 6th I hiked about 30 miles. Tomorrow I will resupply out of Echo Lake Chalet, skipping S. Lake Tahoe. I’ve been swimming when I can and it’s been pretty warm temps lately. The section from Sonora pass has cool geology. There is granite, conglomerate, rhyolite, and maybe pyroclastic flow among volcanic cones. Very cool!

Day 41, July 2nd: 962.5-983.3, 20.8mi
Slept in a bit, my body needed the sleep. It rained overnight so dried out some gear and had a lazy morning. Hiking today felt good, I didn’t check my phone often and just walked because I looked walking. I lost the trail at a stream crossing and ended up meeting another hiker named uncle possum. It seemed fitting to bushwhack with him. Not too much further, after a climb, I swam in a lake. Between the late start and the lake swim, I guess I see why I only did 21 miles today. Oh well mosquitoes were bad this evening. I also was able to pay it forward and pass on some food to hikers who were hungry.

Day 40: July 1, mi 942.5-962, 19.5mi
I took the bus out of Mammoth to Yosemite. Great breakfast of pastries, cinnamon rolls, left over pad thai, some wine, bananas, and Klondike bars. The bus dropped us off at the Tuolomne Meadows General store/grill and we hung out there for a bit. The folks who worked there are awesome, just cool fun people to be around. Eventually the trail called andnit was time to walk. The trail meandered through some meadows and then dropped down to the Tuolomne Falls, what a great waterfall! It passed Glen Aulin camp then meandered over some rocky ridges and outcroppings. A storm threatened all afternoon but it never rained. Right before camp there was hail on the ground but never fell on us. We must have dodged it!

Day 39: June 30: zero day (no miles)
We hung out in Mammoth doing our town chores. In the afternoon we were going to hitch back to the trailhead but it was raining hard. After sheltering in an abandoned mall for a couple hours, We decided to stay another night and catch the morning bus out. We had Thai for dinner.