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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 16, 2015 - 02:41pm PT
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Nita, I just saw your edit. I asked because the music fit nicely with the video (which sure looks like the PCT).
We're heading out in a few hours for the drive to Quincy. We'll stay there tonight and get an early start tomorrow from Belden. This'll be "Volume 27" of our ongoing adventure.
It will just be the five of us (me, Tricia, and Vicki, and our two gorgeous canines). We may take one of our eight days to summit Lassen Peak (the high point of Shasta County BTW, and that's a fun oddity, but not a typo!).
We've also finalized plans for our August 3rd to 7th PCT trip, and Katie will be joining us. As much as I love hiking with Tricia, I like it slightly more when both of them are with me.
Meanwhile I laughed last night while we were getting ready. Tricia is on Bookface now. I'm not, but Vicki showed me what Tricia wrote. This is what she posted there about the upcoming four weeks (she'll be on the PCT, then at Girl Scout Camp, then on the PCT, then at Girl Scout Camp; and then she starts Eighth Grade):
Heading off tomorrow for a four-week long absence from home, with only one night (not 24 hours, mind you) in my own bed. The rest will be spent hiking and having fun at two Girl Scout camps: Golden Timbers and Two Sentinels (the second one is a backpacking camp-really looking forward to that!!). Luckily my parents get some time at home while I'm away. smile emoticon When I get back, I'll have two days to rest before school starts up again. Can't wait!!!
I can't wait for the PCT parts of this, but I will sure miss her when she's gone from home at the camps. Still, I look forward to hearing about the backpacking Girl Scout camp - it'll be her first time ever backpacking without me along.
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FRUMY
Trad climber
Bishop,CA
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Jul 16, 2015 - 03:07pm PT
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Fantastic!!
Great trip report.
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 16, 2015 - 04:15pm PT
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I don't know how you do it: still the best TR ever.
mtnyoung ; oh right! guidebook author. I just made the connection. I met you around Chipmunk Flats during that solar eclipse a couple years ago.
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nita
Social climber
chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.
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Jul 16, 2015 - 05:05pm PT
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mtnyoung, Dang..We will be at a music Festival in Grass Valley starting tomorrow morning...Maybe we can join you in Lassen Park next weekend....But that's a maybe ..
Either way..one of these days our paths will cross...
I hope it's not tooo hot for you guys..We should have a cool down on Saturday...thank God..
Have Fun...
Saludos...
Nita..(-;
ps..Love your doggies...
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Jul 16, 2015 - 09:21pm PT
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Wow, I missed a bunch while I was out of town for the week of the 4th. Glad to be up to speed, and thanks for digitally bringing all of us with you.
"halfway" to Canade
Wow again. I hadn't really put together how far along you guys have pushed until I read that. Fantastic!
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 20, 2015 - 07:41am PT
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We passed the halfway marker yesterday. It says "1325 miles to Mexico" and "1325 miles to Canada."
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Gary
Social climber
From A Buick 6
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Jul 20, 2015 - 08:15am PT
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This is so cool, your documentation of this is terrific. The girls will treasure this trip all their lives.
Last year we accompanied a friend who was finishing his section hike of the PCT. We joined him at Stehekin and hiked north. It was a beautiful section, and Manning Park was a great place to end.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2015 - 03:09pm PT
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We finished our PCT hiking in time to attend a wonderful wedding yesterday in Lee Vining. Now that we're at home, I've started posting a trip report to Mudn'Crud under the title:
"The PCT Volume 27: We're Past Halfway (Only Halfway?!)"
Here are the first two days:
DAY ONE:
The first day of this July trip basically kicked our butts. In a good way though. It was hot, hot hiking and by the time we met up with Vicki both of us were pretty wiped out.
We stayed in Quincy on Thursday night so as to be able to get an early start from Belden on Friday. We'd hoped to beat some of the heat on a long, hot, 16.8 mile slog back up to elevation (over 4,700 feet of uphill in this one hike).
But there wasn't much escaping the sun for the first five miles, and so there wasn't much chance to escape the heat either; Chips Creek Canyon is just hot:
Eventually we hit forested sections of trail, still along Chips Creek:
We saw interesting geology near the river, here quartz apparently imbedded in other rock:
Unique trail clearing work (a tree carved into seats!):
By the time we hit ten miles, we'd reached the upper reaches of the canyon. We were were running out of steam by this point though. In particular, I hadn't consumed enough water and my legs were cramping (Tricia carried our pack for the whole second part of the trip to make it easier for me). We slowed down, taking sit-down rests. We enjoyed the near-alpine views (now back up to over 6,000 feet):
Eventually we got back up to "normal" elevations.
We got our first view of Lassen Peak for this trip:
We hit PCT mile 1,300. These "big" numbers are fun; like climbing ratings, they're a way to measure "success" toward a goal:
Luckily the last four miles of the hike were pretty darn level. We finally hiked slowly onto Forest Service Road 26N02, saw Vicki waiting, and plopped down to rest. Thank goodness (and as the week went on and we ran into lots and lots of through-hikers, the theme with all of them was the same - wasn't that hike up out of Belden an ass kicker!).
We set up camp, relaxed and ate. We also performed a critical chore, foot maintenance:
And that got us back on the trail, rolling north again and enjoying our adventure.
DAY TWO:
We needed our second day to be easier. Fortunately our needs coincided with the set-up of the PCT. We knew that some miles ahead of us was a long (19.4 miles) stretch of trail leading from Humboldt Summit to Highway 36. This stretch has no possible pickup points. We knew that when we got to this part of the trail we'd then have to day-hike that whole distance. And we knew that that long stretch of continuous trail started 8.1 miles from where we'd spent our first night. Perfect; day two would start with an 8.1 mile hike to Humboldt Summit and then we'd rest. We'd then be set up for a big push on day three.
As usual I was up early in our quiet and isolated "bandit camp" (sometimes I wish I could sleep longer):
The hiking was easy downs and ups this day. Heavy forest prevented much by way of views, but we were happy just doing easy movement:
After about three miles we hit Humbug Summit:
This dirt road was familiar to us; we'd been there in 2009, all four of us. Another thing that Vicki and I and the girls have done over the years is to try to get to the tops of as many California county high points as we can (not state high points, just those of the 58 California counties). This effort has been fun. It's also given us excuses to visit parts of California that we otherwise wouldn't likely have seen.
In August 2009 all of us hiked the three miles of PCT to the Butte County high point trail junction (the high point is actually 2/10s of a mile off the PCT). Naturally we took photos. Naturally I had those photos along now for comparison:
After our "photo op" we reached the only really open (and viewful) part of this day's hike:
We then quickly reached Humboldt Summit. Although the PCT guidebook warns about rowdy and loud campers here, we lucked out; although a few cars drove by 100 yards over, we had the whole place to ourselves. And we all agreed, our camp there was one of the top three camps we've used in all of this long adventure (how could it not be when, upon opening the tent door, Lassen Peak stands right there, almost at arms reach):
Since we finished hiking at only a little after noon, we had hours in which we could read, nap, snack, and rest. And in which we could just sit and enjoy the views. And we made good and appropriate use of those hours:
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2015 - 09:43pm PT
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Days three and four:
DAY THREE:
On our third day of this trip we hit a very significant milestone, one that we'd known was coming, one that we'd looked forward to, and one that we'd heard stories about. We hit the halfway point; halfway from Mexico to Canada.
But first we had to get started. The four-leggers and I woke up early to get the morning going. If anything, our "Lassen on the front porch" campsite was even better in the morning light:
The hiking started cool and easy and soon we reached a point where we could look back and see Vicki at our campsite:
Hiking mostly on open ridge-tops, we got our first ever view (from the PCT) of California's Central Valley:
The trail then took us up. Up onto an "east/west" ridge where we encountered a side trail to this:
One of the fun things we've seen on the PCT is all the unusual, funny and clever geographic names. As I've said here before, "who names these things?"
Soon we wrapped around the ridge and started north and downhill. We didn't know what to expect of the halfway point, but we knew it was close:
Would we see a sign? Would it be sharpie marker on a plaque? Maybe a cairn? The answer we saw (from a distance) was: "none of the above." To our surprise there was a fairly formal marker, much like those at the trail's start and end points:
The concept of a "halfway point" is pretty interesting on an adventure that is this long. For our part, we've been at this now for years (more than half of Tricia's lifetime, and nearly half of Katie's). Through-hikers have, by this point on the trail, been hiking 20 or more miles a day for two to three months. Halfway? Halfway to what? Canada for sure, but what else? Enlightenment (certainly some of that no matter who the hiker)? Exhaustion (bodies wear out; more critically so do spirits - although most through-hikers just smiled and kept on going in the days to come, we saw more than one such hiker that seemed just a little numbed by the concept that all that effort had only brought them halfway).
Anyway, we looked at the halfway point like this: We are on an adventure. We've been on it of years. The ostensible "goal" of the adventure is to reach Canada (the real goal is to have fun and grow as a family, and I'm going to cry like a damn baby if/when it ever ends, but I haven't told the girls that). A halfway point is just that much more fun along a long, long path.
We kept hiking, gunning for Highway 36 and the end of a 19.4 mile day.
On our way we got our first view of Lake Almanor:
We hiked through mostly forest now, some of it fairly shattered:
And, lo and behold, as we neared the highway we could see across it. And there was our trail angel, chatting with various through-hikers:
On this afternoon, having finished at Highway 36, we were only six miles from the town of Chester. We decided to go there for the night rather than look for a campground. After "shuttling" us into town, Vicki was able to give rides to six through-hikers in two groups going into and out of town (she gave several more rides the next day too; she's really gotten into being part of the trail, helping and visiting with lots of the long distance folks, some of whom she sees several times each as she leapfrogs farther up the trail tracking our movement).
DAY FOUR:
Most Americans live within 100 miles of a coast. And many of this majority refer to the states in the interior of our country as "flyover states." It's kind of a snotty phrase, implying as it does that these states are nothing but obstacles to be "flown over" on the way to real places. Certainly people in the "flyover states" have lives; mostly happy and productive lives it would seem.
But, if it isn't really polite, maybe even unjustified, the concept is at least understandable. And it's what came to mind during most of the 19.0 miles of our fourth day this trip. You see, not all of the PCT can be wonderful; it can't all involve great views and wonderful milestones. Sometimes one passes through "hikeover miles," and that's what we did for most of today. Pretty forest, worthwhile forest, and gentle trails for miles and miles, but nothing spectacular:
We crossed the North Fork Feather River (again, the same river - we crossed this at the town of Belden too; the river flows west at Belden, up here farther north, it flows east to Lake Almanor before it curves south and then west):
We broke the day up with a lunch meeting with Vicki (she had to divert three whole miles on her way to the next campground to meet us at midday):
And then more miles of "the same:"
Even the boundary of Lassen Volcanic Park was in deep forest:
We did have some fun though. Tricia's been taking "selfies" lately, and I try to "photobomb" them when I can:
Finally, after 18 pretty average miles we reached a place that was different and unique; we were after all now in a "volcanic" park. Boiling Springs Lake is only a few hundred feet off the PCT. It's a well know attraction in Lassen, and deservedly so. Boiling water and steam vents together with a hot lake surface and mud fumaroles were new to both of us. We walked over to look:
The "lake" was fascinating. Tricia loved it. I did too. But what I'll always remember about Boiling Springs Lake is Tricia's reaction to being near it. We were both pretty tired after 18 miles of hiking. We had another mile to go to our endpoint and to relaxation and comfort. It was starting to rain while we watched the steam vents. I was ready to let a quick look be enough, to turn around and head back to our trail. Tricia, although also tired, was fascinated. She really, really wanted to walk the extra half mile around the lake.
So we did. And we didn't regret it:
After circling the lake we still had that additional mile to go, but it didn't seem any harder for having spent the extra energy. We soon came out of the forest to view the Drakesbad resort (kind of an "Awahnee" of Lassen Park - I'd never heard of it before planning this trip):
Soft meadows led to Warner Valley Campground (in Lassen Park). "La Victoria Salsa" (Vicki that is) was waiting there for us (wearing my jacket!):
Eventually the rain stopped. We then enjoyed a nice evening in a National Park that I'd never been in before. Tomorrow we'd see more of it; the PCT goes right through the wilderness "outback" of this park, east of the peak itself.
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nita
Social climber
chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.
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Jul 26, 2015 - 11:54pm PT
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Hells- bells
Totally traveling through all of the stomping grounds that Timid and i hike every summer...mostly Butte county- butt mt, Humboldt summit, to the Lassen area....sigh.....sorry we didn't connect...
Lassen Park is a great park to visit..We can leave Chico late on Saturday morning and always get a space in the campground.....so far that is..
Love the picture of your daughters from 2009....So sweet!...actually love all your pictures...
Thanks and...Keep posting...
Cheers...
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 27, 2015 - 06:46pm PT
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And a nice stomping ground it is Nita. I've never been at or near Lassen National Park and have really enjoyed it (and after seven days on the trail we used our last half day to summit the peak - wow!).
Here's days five and six (with an apology for dragging this posting out - our internet at home isn't very fast and between work and sleep at night, and uploading many more photos than I post here, it's been very slow getting what I need onto Flickr):
DAY FIVE:
Tuesday, July 21 was fun. We had a relatively gentle 13.7 mile day right through the heart of Lassen's back country:
A quick uphill led over a ridge to Grassy Swale Creek (another of those cool names). That creek led us in turn to Swan Lake and the Twin Lakes.
As a Sierra Nevada aficionado, I'm used to back country lakes. They're open and granitey places, filled with fresh water; they have inflow and outflow streams. The lakes aren't quite the same up here. They're shallower and they don't have such big inflows (at least the several that we saw don't). And so in low years or by late season they've receded noticeably (they're still pretty places though):
We lunched at Lower Twin Lake and then continued for miles and miles on nearly flat terrain. This second half of the day was remarkable for two reasons. The first was the state of the forest - there'd been a really severe fire through here about a decade ago and it showed:
This part of the trail was also unique in that the PCT follows two old emigrant trails here. One, pioneered and cleared by William Nobles, was first used in 1851. Although this trail was mostly abandoned for better/easier ways after only several years, the incoming traffic then was heavy enough that there are still two noticeable, distinct wagon tracks through most of this area (presumably, traffic also didn't stop completely on this "road" for many years after it fell from popularity):
The skies threatened through all of this flat part too, and we heard lots of thunder in the distance; but we felt not a single drop:
Near the end of this part of the hike we emerged from the forest and came out from behind a ridge. We were able to see Lassen from here for the first time today. But this time Lassen was different; at last we were viewing this big peak from the north!
Once we finished our day's hike we drove west to Highway 89 and the Hat Creek/Old Station area to look for a place to camp. All the campgrounds along Hat Creek were completely full, which was actually fortuitous; in looking for alternatives we happened across a tiny little campsite near waterless Mud Lake. We set up our tent here, 50 feet from the PCT:
This spot was also only a few hundred yards from the Hat Creek Overlook. Camped here, we could see Shasta from our tent (through trees and in the distance mind you) and from the overlook we could see Lassen, Shasta, the whole Hat Creek Valley, and most of the Hat Creek Rim:
We liked this location so well that we decided to camp here for the rest of our trip.
Tricia continued to play with her camera, taking sunset shots:
And finally, in order to prove that my girl isn't just tough, she's smart, I present this photo (with the following explanation). In the evening, after dinner, Tricia wanted to go back to the overlook to see the sunset. While there we read the historical and geological information plaques that discussed the area. As she often does with my writing, Tricia read these carefully. And then, on this one, on this official (and presumably professional) plaque, she pointed out to me a typographical error that I had not noticed (and that many of you might not find either):
DAY SIX:
On day six we exited Lassen Volcanic Park and got our first clear views of Mount Shasta from the trail. Lassen receded further to the south:
We worked our way down to the forest floor near and east of Hat Creek and then just flew on the flat, easy trail. We enjoyed the temperatures and the pace:
This is lava tube country too (the PCT passes within 100 yards of "Subway Cave," a well known, larger lava tube). We saw this other/smaller tube that is right over the trail (making the trail about three feet thick!):
We finished at Highway 44, about three miles from our camp. We returned to camp at the end of the day to a new finding and a new discovery.
The new finding wasn't actually completely new. What we discovered is that the ultra-fine dust in this area penetrates into lightweight hiking shoes even more thoroughly than does the dust on other parts of the trail (although like I said in an earlier post, isn't it cool to have a girl who gets just filthy and doesn't give a heck?):
Finally, the new discovery is Tricia's and it might be worth patenting. Although we brought marshmallows on this trip, we ended up not having any campfires and so they went unused. Casting about for an alternative to SMORES, T-Girl came up with this beauty, the Oreo/Strawberry SMORE:
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 27, 2015 - 09:00pm PT
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Alright, the end at last; day seven of seven:
DAY SEVEN:
Climbers learn and know the history, mystery and challenges of their sport. Safety, fun and a level of adventure all depend on such learning and knowledge. What climber planning to do the Salathe Wall doesn't learn about, dread, and therefore prepare for the Hollow Flake pitch? What climber doesn't admire a fellow who goes for it against hard odds and succeeds? We all do.
It'll come as no surprise that PCT though-hikers face the same types of issues and react to them in the same way. And to them, the Hat Creek Rim is very much like the Hollow Flake pitch is to us. The Hat Creek Rim is the edge of a long plateau:
It's at relatively low elevation, exposed, burned over, and it's hot. And there's no water along it for nearly 30 miles (sometimes trail angels leave cached water on Road 22, about 13 miles into this hike, but who wants to depend on maybes?):
We saw many different reactions by through-hikers to this part of the hike. Many hiked it at night in one long stretch (yeah, 30 miles non-stop at night). Some just gutted it out in a "I'm gonna die some day" fashion that was reminiscent of those few climbers who are nuts enough to climb at Pinnacles National Park in the summer. Others changed nothing but the weight they carried; more water (some carried in bottles they held in their hands) and the same pace.
One young lady impressed me in particular. She'd never (as in never in 23 years) slept out-of-doors before committing to the PCT almost 100 miles south of this point (and yes, she really had lost her mom recently and she'd seen that movie). We crossed paths with this young lady several times during the last 40 miles of our trip. She was slow and obviously somewhat unsure of herself. But I could literally see her confidence growing as time went by. She paused at Old Station (a small settlement from which hikers set out on the Hat Creek Rim). And then she went for it, all by herself. When we last saw her she was well; I'm quite sure she made it and that she grew in the process.
Tricia and I had it easier. And that's OK since, as a tough, tough climber, I've paid my dues; I've led the Hollow Flake pitch and I've suffered plenty in other ways and at other places. I get to do the Hat Creek Rim the easy way (and Tricia's just a kid, right, surely she shouldn't have to suffer). We hiked the first ten miles of this section in a day, passing through our own campsite for lunch as we did so, and meeting Vicki at the end of the day, to be whisked away, back to the "camp" of milk and honey.
On the way we had some fun. Tricia tried (unsuccessfully) to push this burned out snag over:
We had more great views of Shasta (it's coming up; we'll get closer and then skirt it to it's south and west):
We passed along Long Creek's edge too, a huge indentation into the main Hat Creek Rim. With this edge we turned east and then south (back toward Mexico once again!) before resuming our trek to the north:
That evening we all walked up to the overlook again. This is a wonderful spot with great views that don't get old:
And that wrapped it up. In seven days "T" and I hiked 101.1 miles. We've now done over 225 miles for the summer. We're over halfway/only halfway. And we had a lot of fun.
We stayed another night in camp and left early the next morning to summit Lassen Peak on our way south to Lee Vining for a wedding (might as well summit the thing - we've been entranced by it for months).
Vicki and I are back at home now and Tricia's at Girl Scout camp. We pick her up Friday to travel to another wedding, this time in Eureka. And then we meet Katie in Redding to get back on the trail (all four again) for what may (or may not) be our last PCT trek this year.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Jul 27, 2015 - 09:12pm PT
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Thanks for the great photos and views..Was that Jim's wedding in Lee Vining..? rj
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 27, 2015 - 09:43pm PT
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RJ, no not Jim's wedding, Roger's. Is it possible to have two weddings in tiny little Lee Vining in one weekend :)
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Jul 27, 2015 - 10:03pm PT
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I just showed pics of this to my daughter (from the beginning), and her first comment was that the dog with a pack was cute, like a donkey dog.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 27, 2015 - 10:04pm PT
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Oh, and maybe end with a few photos of our Lassen ascent. I totally enjoyed how thrilled Tricia was by the location and the view:
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Jul 27, 2015 - 10:06pm PT
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I think Jim's was a Mono Lake Park..? So techincally yes it's possible for 2 weddings...Your daughters are very lucky to have such caring parents...rj
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 27, 2015 - 10:10pm PT
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Thanks, RJ for the compliment.
And, um, Roger's wedding was at the Mono Lake County Park too (on Saturday, and no, he didn't marry Jim). It is a pretty place to get married and, I think, is commonly used.
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looks easy from here
climber
Ben Lomond, CA
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Jul 28, 2015 - 05:12pm PT
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Found myself in the cookie aisle at Nob Hill today. Immediately though of this:
Snagged some Oreos and strawberries and tried it out as soon as I got home. Deeeelish!
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crankster
Trad climber
No. Tahoe
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Jul 28, 2015 - 08:13pm PT
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Fun stuff, mtn, dirty feet with the kids.
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