PCT Week 14: Back on trail!

After being off trail for 3 weeks which was mentally the hardest part of the PCT for me, I’m finally back on trail. I just need to take it slow in the beginning. Everybody talks about the North Cal Blues, but actually, this turns out to be one of my favorite sections. Not because it’s so beautiful, no, it’s hot and there is not much to see. It’s because we take our time to fully appreciate all the nice things about it. Now it’s just 12km by 12pm instead of 12 miles. But spending five hours at the river just because we can? Hell yes. Not being stressed out about daily mileage and just going with the flow. And at the end of these slow six days, we have some amazing views of Mount Shasta that make us want to climb that thing. 

I took three weeks off because of the stress fracture in my left foot. After our road trip down the coast, I had the most awesome place to stay in Quincy. Trail Angels Shane and Jim, two cats and one dog take me in and nurse me back to health. I have my own bedroom, can borrow a bike to ride around town, they let me use their laptop, I can cuddle the cats and the dog and they feed me with smoothies and great dinners. Every 1.5 weeks I check with the doctor how the progress on my foot is.

It was a really hard time for me. Seeing everybody going their way and I had to rest. I know that the next hundred miles are going through a burn section and right now we have a big heatwave that would make the hike miserable. But still, I would rather be dirty, sweaty, and eat ramen than stay behind, doing nothing. To be honest, I was depressed. A lot. I could barely do anything useful.

I forced myself to ride the bike to town every day just to do something, but it was hard. And I don’t have any tips to get through that apart from trying to believe that you can get back out there eventually. But I had some dark thoughts about quitting and needing to go back to Germany. One day I took the bus to Chester to see some friends again, but that was hard too. Sitting with all these hikers around me feeling like I’m not part of them anymore. I couldn’t talk about the hardships of the recent section, I was all clean with my town clothes. I just was not hikertrash anymore.

After three weeks the doctor says I can start walking on the foot, but just for 4 to 5 hours a day, taking frequent breaks and stopping if it hurts. I’m so happy about the news, but I’m also worried about how this will go. So, the plan is to hike the 90 miles between Burney and Mount Shasta and to take my time and just average 15 miles per day. So, I skip 139 miles from Bucks Lake to Burney in order to make up some time. As my visa ends on the 27th of September and snowfalls could limit my hiking time I need to hurry up to make it to Canada in time. If I have time after I hit the border I will come back to do the missed section, which might be much nicer in cooler weather since it’s an exposed burn section.

PCT Day 78: Short testhike into Burney

Mile 1406.9 to State Highway 299 (mile 1411.3) and out to Burney
7km (4.4 mi) / 1.5h / elevation gain of 121m (400ft)

Shane is even driving me all the way through Lassen Nationalpark to Burney. I’m so thankful for everything Shane and Jim did for me. I don’t think I will ever find greater trail angels than these two. It’s an incredibly scenic drive along a mud pool, with pretty peaks, and great views of the sunset. He’s dropping me off 7km (4.4 miles) from Burney on the PCT so that I can test walk to town tomorrow.

I meet one of my hiking buddies there and the next day we walk the 4.4 miles together. It’s nice and easy as it’s mostly flat but it’s hot and humid. Still, I’m happy to be back out here. We reach the road and it’s very easy to get a hitch there as there is already a trail angel waiting for passengers to take into Burney.

Right when I get back on trail a fire started north of here. The McKinney Fire shuts down the part of the trail from Etna to Ashland. This is where the PCT would cross the border into Oregon and it’s a pity that we won’t be able to cross this on foot. I’m a bit frustrated as we would have made it through there before the fire if I didn’t get injured. And more and more fires are popping up every day in Oregon, too. So, right now, the plan is to hike 6 days to Mount Shasta and then reevaluate the situation to see what we are going to do. At the moment it’s not advised to go from Mount Shasta to Etna because of the low air quality due to the smoke.

 

PCT Day 79: Back on track!

Burney to mile 1424.7
24km (15mi) / 5.5h / elevation gain of 333m (1,092ft)

Today is the first real day back on the PCT. We are hitching back to the trail around lunchtime. It’s hot, dusty and there is lots of poison oak on the side of the trail. We are walking through trees and bushes, so no views. After 8 miles we reach the junction to Burney Falls, which is worth the short detour. We are getting a cold soda and ice cream at the little general store before we go all the way down to the bottom of the falls where it’s nice and refreshing. It’s so much cooler down here and we really enjoy that. Burney Falls are just breathtaking.

So, we spend quite some time here until we continue our hike for another 5 miles to the campsite. We reach a lake and a dam that we have to cross. Then the trail goes uphill and along a ridge with a river way down below. We arrive at a nice creek where we can dip our dirty feet in. And get some water for dry camping. Actually, there is a nice cowboy camping spot right next to the creek but it’s already been taken by another hiker. We continue just a short distance to the campsite.

My foot did well today, which makes me very happy. We took it slow and with the long break at the falls, it didn’t feel hard at all. The only thing is that an hour on the trail feels really long again after three weeks of not hiking. I need to get back into the flow.

 

PCT Day 80: Ants, snakes, and a beautiful ridge

Mile 1424.7 to mile 1443
30km (18.6mi) / 7.5h / elevation gain of 1,149m (3,769ft)

In the morning I wake up to ants that are all over my foodbag. Storing your food outside of the tent is not always the best idea, I guess. My sour punch candy is lost to the ants, the rest I can, fortunately, shake out. 

We get a late start as we are not planning to do many miles today. Also, to be honest, it’s hard to get going in the morning again. I think I have to get used to the rhythm of trail life again. On the trail we encounter a rattlesnake at the side of the trail. Northern California is so hot that it kind of feels like the desert again and the sighting of rattlesnakes proves that. Actually, it’s even hotter than the desert was, except for the Mojave desert.

There is an arduous climb, but a few raindrops are cooling us down. There is no view here, we are just in the forest most of the day. I wonder how it still can be that green in Northern California as it’s so unbelievably dry out here. The few times I had rain on the trail were just barely a drizzle. It’s a wonder that fires didn’t start earlier than August. The water sources are a little bit more spread out, but still very manageable. Today there are always side trails to the water as there is nothing on the trail itself. But usually, it’s just a short walk.

We take a long lunch break until we continue our hike in the late afternoon to get on a beautiful ridge with a view of Mount Shasta. There is some more rain coming this evening, but it’s also just some drops. We are dry camping on the ridge today and have to carry the water 4km (2.5mi) uphill but the spot is absolutely worth it. We are completely alone, just us and the view of the mountains around us. It’s maybe the most beautiful campsite I ever had on the trail. I’m so happy right now to be here. I’m so grateful for a relatively speedy recovery of my foot. In the distance, there is some lightning. Lightning is what caused the McKinney Fire just recently.

PCT Day 81: The North Cal Blues

Mile 1443 to mile 1458.1
25.7km (16mi) / 6.5h / elevation gain of 642m (2,106ft)

Again, we have a late start to the day. But somehow the other hikers in this bubble appear to get a little lazy as well. They don’t make much more progress than we are. Is it a lack of motivation because of the rather dull Northern California section? People talk about the Northern California Blues. After the spectacular Sierra Northern California is more of a hot green tunnel. Or the relentless mess of the burn area that I skipped. But I actually enjoy being out here and taking it slow. 

In the morning we have a nice view of Mount Shasta in the distance. The snow on its slopes looks so tempting. The sun today is very sharp as we start the exposed ascent. I can feel both my stress fracture and my Achilles tendonitis today, which doesn’t make it much easier. I’m very slow today. 

We take a long lunch break again to wait out the heat of the day. It’s so much nicer in the afternoon and there is also not much elevation gain anymore which makes our lives easier. We get to camp right before it starts raining. This might be the most rain I ever experienced on the trail as the drops are quite heavy and there is some thunder as well, which worries me a bit, but it doesn’t take long until it stops. 

 

PCT Day 82: Getting back into the flow

Mile 1458.1 to 1477.4
31.5km (19.5mi) / 6.5h / elevation gain of 650m (2,132ft)

The day begins with an ascent but then it’s just downhill for the next few hours. It’s the best day since I’m back on trail for me. I don’t have any pain and I can go fast, around 6km/h (3.7mi/h). It’s so much fun. My hiking buddy as well as other hikers saw bears today. I was in front and didn’t see any. I’m quite frustrated about this. All I see are deer. Today we are a bit more serious about hiking and push 20km (12.4mi) to the McCloud River to take a lunch break. 

It’s a river that looks like milk chocolate but before the confluence, there is clear water and a nice swimming hole. It’s so nice and refreshing to wash off all the dirt from the last days. We spend like 5 hours here before we continue in the late afternoon. It’s actually amazing to take our time and fully enjoy places like these without feeling the urge to crush miles. 

We tackle the last 10km (6.2mi) to the campsite. Unfortunately, we both miss the last water source. I’m too lazy to go back, so we’re gonna be thirsty tonight. We are ascending over 500m (1,640ft), but we are flying up there. I feel like I found my flow again as it appears so easy today. We find our campsite on the hill right next to the trail. Two other hikers are just leaving because they heard a cracking sound in the woods and they feel uneasy about this especially as they saw a bear today. We later also hear a cracking sound in the woods, but we ignore it. It could be anything, probably just a deer. So we stay, but we are quite alerted to every sound as it’s so silent here. Later there are the sounds of something coming closer and we are first spooked until we realize that it’s just a night hiker. He stops at the campsite and we feel a little bit safer not being alone here anymore. 

 

PCT Day 83: Beautiful Mount Shasta

Mile 1447.4 to somewhere at the alternate shortcut
23.7km (14.7mi) / 6h / elevation gain of 784m (2,572ft)

No bear visited us last night and we got some good sleep. The day starts with the further ascent of the hill. It’s just like 150m (500ft) left to the top. I can feel some pain in my foot today, is this the price for going too fast yesterday? But I find out that cooling my foot in every little creek helps a lot.

Then the trail goes downhill to the water source where we fill up after being thirsty in the night. I didn’t even eat dinner because I was low on water. But actually, I wasn’t hungry anyways. In the three weeks off trail I totally lost my hiker hunger. Which is kind of nice as I can limit my food carries to save some weight and money. But I’m sure it will come back. I also shaved off quite a bit of weight with sending unnecessary things ahead like cold weather gear, cooking gear (I switched to cold-soaking for now), some town clothes that accumulated while I was off-trail and some additional clothes.

The trail continues downhill to the Squaw Valley Creek where there is an awesome swimming hole with a rope swing where we spend like 5 hours again. And it turns out that there is also trail magic at the parking lot a bit further up the side trail where we easily spend another hour. We were dreaming about cold sodas for the last few days and our dreams come true. Trail Angels are the best people. Just doing nice things to us hikertrash without ulterior motives. We appreciate this a lot. 

We continue in the late afternoon and have a climb of 700m (2,296ft) ahead of us. It’s still hot and humid and we sweat a lot while we are heading uphill. I don’t even feel that hot but it’s just so humid that every pore of my body is producing sweat. Finally, we reach the highest point, and then there is a turnoff to an alternate shortcut that has the most awesome views since the Sierra. I guess it sucks to be a purist here as you would need to walk 4 miles more without the great views. For me, it’s all about the views and the experience, not walking every single mile of the trail. 

We are going downhill through an overgrown path that quickly leads to a dirt road. And here towers mighty Mount Shasta in front of us. The 4,321m (14,179ft) high volcano in the sunset is a feast for the eyes. The sky is incredibly beautiful in the last sun rays of the day and our campsite takes in all the views. It’s maybe the most beautiful campsite I ever had on the trail and just thanks to the shortcut we are able to enjoy this gem. There is also some smoke in the distance that proves of the fires further north.

PCT Day 84: Short day into town

Somewhere at the alternate shortcut to I-5 (Dunsmuir)
10km (6.2mi) / 2.5h / elevation gain of 26m (85ft)

Today just 6.2 miles lay ahead of us and it’s all downhill through the forest. Again, my hiking buddy spots a bear right before I catch up to him. We reach a river just before we hit the road and spend some time there to cool off. It’s too shallow to swim but just putting our feet in the cold water is nice. There are a lot of yummy blackberries on the way.

It doesn’t take long to get a hitch into the town of Dunsmuir where we spend the night. There is not much going on in Dunsmuir, so Mount Shasta might be the better choice, especially for a zero. But it’s Friday night and the only affordable room we could find was in Dunsmuir. Anyway, there are some decent restaurants in Dunsmuir and the supermarket makes some nice sandwiches to pack out. Meanwhile, we found out that the best days to get into town are from Wednesday to Thursday as everything is booked out and expensive on the weekends and a lot of restaurants are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. 

We finally decided to skip around all the fires in Northern California and Oregon and go straight to Washington to continue the trail. We will hopefully come back after we hit the border to do a continuous hike through the missing part, probably southbound to where we left the trail. If there is enough time left I would like to do the skipped section through the burn area as well. It’s not the prettiest section but there are some highlights like the Halfway Point and Lassen Nationalpark and I would like to finish as much of the PCT as I can before I need to leave the country. This makes it much easier with logistics as we don’t have to skip around every fire closure just to come back later in the season to skip around all the sections we did in between, too. Also, this decision has the big benefit of meeting up with the other hikers of our former group and hiking the last hundreds of miles to the border together. 

 

Side trip to Mount Shasta

On this great campsite, we had such a nice view of Mount Shasta that the idea of climbing this beauty popped up in my head. And as we have some time to spare over the weekend as we are expecting a package in Ashland on Monday this would be a good use of our time. 

Two days later we are on our way to the mountain. We actually didn’t put much research into it. I just found out which route was supposed to be the easiest in terms of snow and ice. Little did I know what we are getting ourselves into. We hitchhike from Dunsmuir to the town of Mount Shasta in the morning, do some resupply and get a hitch out of town from a guy who comes back for us. We didn’t even know if it would work out to get to the mountain today as it’s quite in the middle of nowhere. But it turned out great. The next hitch we get is from Betty, who takes us to an amazing waterfall close to McCloud and then up some dirt roads to the mountain. There are a couple of miles left to the trailhead of the Clear Creek Route. We start walking up the road and take a break half an hour later. As soon as we get up to start walking the last miles a car comes and we are able to score another hitch all the way to the trailhead. Actually, the evening is the best time to get a hitch up there as a lot of people who are doing Mount Shasta as a day hike go there in the evening to start the ascent in the middle of the night. 

It’s already 6pm when we reach the trailhead and start walking. It’s an easy hike up to the campsite near the Clear Creek spring, the only water source on the mountain. But that’s the only easy part about that mountain. It takes us 1.5 hours for the 550m (1,800ft) of elevation gain on 3 miles. First, the route leads us through the forest and then the terrain opens up and we can see the summit of Mount Shasta towering above us. We can easily spot the spring as there is green grass all around it and not far from here there are tentsites. We have a nice view of Mount Shasta and it doesn’t look that daunting from here anymore but it’s still 2,000m (6,500ft) above us. After all the weeks in the heat, it’s finally nice and cool up here at 2,660m (8,727ft). It’s the first time I feel cold in a long time and hide in my sleeping bag soon. 

At 1am the first people start their ascent to the top. We are starting at 6am right when the sun comes up behind the mountains. Mount Shasta is glowing in the red morning light as we start our climb. After the first few minutes, it’s getting serious. It’s a steep ascent through loose scree. Trekking poles are very helpful to go up through that. Soon any vegetation retreats and it’s just rocks and scree around us. Below us lies the lush valley floor and it reminds us that we are not on the moon as the landscape around us could suggest. The higher we come the wind picks up and it gets quite cold. As this side trip was a spontaneous decision I already sent ahead my cold weather gear. So, I just have my rain gear to protect me from the cold wind but it works out great. Also, I use socks as gloves. Dirty socks, by the way. Ultralight, baby. 

At around 3,100m (10,100ft) there are two different trails, the left goes straight up through soft scree and the right one takes some switchbacks. Unfortunately, we miss that one and go up the steepest possible way. After a while, there is another fork where we can take a route with switchbacks. If you ever doing that hike, do yourself a favor and take the right route up. Soon there is not a real path anymore as we are approaching a wall full of big rocks and lots of loose gravel in between. In front of us is a bigger group and we wait a bit as they make their way up very slowly. They are quite done after an ascent of over 1,500m (4,900ft). They started at 1am and they really show some grit to make it all the way up here. This section is prone to rockfall, especially with all the people above us. This is the sketchiest part of the hike and we are thinking of turning around at that point.

But then we decide to leave our backpacks behind and just go with some snacks and water to make the scrambling easier. This works out well and we are able to make our way through the rocks fairly quickly. I try to navigate us more to the right side where the rocks are more solid and we are soon passing the group. Fortunately, we don’t have to scramble long as it’s not more than 50m (160ft) until the terrain gets easier again. It’s still unbelievably steep but at least there is a real path to follow. We reach a plateau where we can see a little glacier to the left and the rocky summit to the right. I’m glad that we didn’t turn around. 

We have to cross a snowfield and then go around the summit to make the final push to the top. Then, we reach the extremely windy summit of Mount Shasta where there is a register. We take in the views for quite a while despite the cold. We are proud of ourselves. But there would be no way I was able to do this without being in the shape of my life because of the PCT. I had never done such a brutal elevation gain ever before. 2,000m (6,500ft) in just 3 miles which took us 4.5 hours. A lot of people attempt this as a day hike, making a total elevation gain of 2,550m (8,366ft). Crazy. Actually, I don’t even feel exhausted or tired. So, there is still more in me. But for today I’m very happy with what we accomplished. But to be honest we probably wouldn’t have done this if we knew how hard it really is. It’s harder than anything on the PCT.

After a while, we head back down. The descent is much faster and even the sketchy part is easier going down than up. We are picking up our backpacks and then we are taking the direct line down. It is steep but it’s fast as we can scree-ski. Of course, you fall on your butt a couple of times with that, but that’s not a big deal in the soft scree. It’s nice how it’s getting warmer and warmer the further down we go. Finally, we reach the campsite again, take a little break at the water source, and then it’s an easy way down to the trailhead. My feet are getting tired here and hurt a bit, so I’m not that fast anymore. 

At the parking lot, we can score a ride with the last person who is leaving the mountain. He was camping next to us last night and we saw him going down when we were on the way up. The hitchhiking to and from Mount Shasta was easier than I thought. He’s taking us all the way to the town of Mount Shasta, where we spend the night. 

The next day we are hitching to Weed and then to Ashland to pick up a package and make our way to Medford by bus. Our plan is to catch the Greyhound to Portland tomorrow. Unfortunately, this bus never shows up, so we get stuck in Medford for another night. And to be honest, Medford is not the nicest place to stay.