NoCal Blues

When talking about different sections of the trail: the desert is hot, the Sierra is beautiful and demanding, Oregon you will fly through, Washington is stunning but what about Northern California? Well, you will get the blues, it’s a thing: NoCal Blues.

Is it now? So far it has been a joy to walk through Northern California.

We left South Lake Tahoe late in the morning and started our NoCal journey by walking through the suburbs of the town.  We opted on a nice bike path instead of the road, and then it finally happened: I saw my first bear. Yes, it was a city bear but a bear nevertheless.

Furry friend

It was roaming the streets and giving trash cans grief. I walked after it with camera in hand and my heart was full of joy seeing the furry fellow but at the same time I was sad. I wish it was surrounded with nature and finding its natural food sources instead of eating from the dumpsters.

Views of Lake Tahoe filled our day and our spirits were high. The zero at Tahoe had done its job. A new map on Farout was out and we were all excited about leaving the Sierra behind. As the sun was setting we found a spot to cowboy camp. Chrome, Spring and I laid side by side, and not long after we had fallen asleep, Spring woke us up and announced that there is something right next to us. A few seconds later we all saw it as Spring yelled bear. We had a nightly visitor just 10 feet away. Our furry friend ran away quickly after we all stood up, but we could hear it roaming around in the bushes. I told the girls that I would stay up and stand ground. The bear hung around, and once in a while I heard it in the bushes. Even if they mean no harm to us hikers, they do like to sniff around for food and fearful of it going for my pack I stayed up until 3 am.

Lake Tahoe

Hiking in NorCal is so different compared to the Sierra. In the Sierra it was always about getting certain miles down  so the next pass could be done in the early morning before the snow would start to melt. In NorCal it was just about walking forward, not really planning the mileage. It was a welcomed way to go forward. Not stressing about miles but just enjoying walking towards Canada.

We did a quick in and out at Truckee before heading towards Sierra City, where Spring would meet her dad. The trail felt amazing. Very little snow and nothing too steep. It felt good to push out big miles with ease and still be at camp early in the day. Chrome and I stopped at  Jackson Meadow Reservoir for a swim and scored a few beers from some visiting tourist.

A few days after leaving Truckee we arrived at Sierra City where our resupply package and my new shoes were waiting. My Lone Peaks had ripped going through the Sierra and for the last 200 miles I had been using tape to keep the sand and rocks out. We sat on the porch of the store, enjoying milkshakes and the shade when Spring arrived with her father. Dan or Rocket Man as I had named him was happy to see us all. We did our town chores before an amazing dinner, eating a freshly caught trout wins any burger or pizza I have had on trail. I know Rocket Man is reading this, so thank you. Ever so grateful for putting us up for the night and buying us dinner.

Rocket Man & Spring

The next day we climbed out of Sierra City. It was interesting to hear Rocket Man talk about his student years at Princeton and MIT, and his work with Intel. Even if a lot of it went over my head. We reached Pack Saddle Campground early in the afternoon, Rocket Man’s PCT section hike was over. But we were all happy that he got to experience a lot of different terrain, snow included.

Sierra Buttes

The campground quickly started filling up. In the end there was 19 PCT hikers putting up tents in the same slot. It was really surprising for our little trio, as we haven’t camped with that many people before and hearing stories about a 80 person bubble behind us sounded crazy. We left early in the morning as we had planned a marathon day. The terrain was beautiful, open ridge lines, lush forests and minimal snow patches. We camped right on the border of a burn scar, and got ready for what was coming the next day.

It is devastating how much forest has burned in California in the recent years and the fires have definitely left their marks on the PCT. There are sections that people have skipped in the last years, making the trail almost invisible as it has overgrown. This is particularly true between miles 1244 and 1248.2, but if you look at the map, there is a road that you can take to pass the worst bushwhacking. I will say that the road is mostly going over blowdowns and is slightly overgrown as well. It will probably be years for the trail crews to clear that area but they are on it, as we passed a few crews doing amazing work in scorching heat conditions. Us hikers can also do good, every time you see a smaller blowdown that can be dragged off the trail, please do so. You will make your fellow hikers journey easier and also prevent erosion around the trail.

The road

Burn Scar

We reached Quincy the next day, where Chromes friend Neea or her new name Trail Pepper joined our hike for the upcoming week. For the next day we hiked through the burn areas towards Chester. She definitely didn’t choose the easiest section to get the feel of the PCT. The descent to Belden is a brutal one, bushwhacking through Poison Oak and feeling every step as your toes hit the front of your shoes. The uphill out of Belden can be a brutal even for those with trail legs, but even harder for someone who has just joined the trail and doesn’t own ultralight gear. The Dixie fire burn scar was present most of the time, but if you can look pass the devastation and see the beauty of the life that is already pushing through, well this part of the trail is beautiful. Wild flowers are plentiful, butterflies fill your path and little pine trees are already pushing through the ashes. Mushrooms fill out the scorched trees, looking like bright stars filling out a night sky and deers roam the trail endlessly.

Even if our clothes were full of ash, our faces cover with dirt and the heat was wearing us down, we were all smiles when we turned a corner, and heard the clapping of our fellow hikers. We were at the midway point of the Pacific Crest Trail. What an amazing feeling to be closer to Canada than Mexico. Thousands of steps had been taken to get to this point and less would be required to get to Canada.

Happy hikers