I am currently sharing journal entries from my section hiking of the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon, transferring them from Trailjournals.com which has not been a reliable platform lately. In 2016, I finished the section from the highway below Crater Lake National Park to the city of Ashland. For 2016, you can start here, for Oregon in general this page will get you started.
Snuffy’s 2016 Pacific Crest Trail Journal : Day 4
June 27, 2016
Last night as I got ready to hike out today, I pondered my options for what was basically the second half of my trip, about 54 miles on the PCT and 2 miles up from Fish Lake. Would I do it in two days or three? I guess that would depend on what happened today.
I had set my alarm for 4am and got up to make breakfast. The microwave was handy again and I cooked up some mashed sweet potatoes. Turned out it was a meal from last year, I could tell by the lime flavor. Not bad. I also woke to find that the dry air here is doing a number on my sinuses and took some time to apply coconut oil to abate the bloody tissues. Gross, I know.
It was still dark when I wandered out at 5am and I took the main, wide trail out as I didn’t want to do the downed trees in the dark. As I made my way up the extra 2 miles because I wasn’t hitching a ride on HWY 140, I heard a rustle off to my left. Deer probably, as I didn’t see anything. A few minutes later, a large black bear sauntered across the trail in front of me a hundred feet up or so. Didn’t even see me. Before I had time to get out my camera, he turned his head, took one look at me and flew off into the woods toward the lake. Sweet! Made the extra miles totally worth it.
At two miles, the trail meets back up with the PCT and begins a trek through course lava rock interspersed with a few section of trees. There are these plants with burrs on them you have to watch out for, they like to stick to your clothes.
As I’m walking through this section I think about how many times someone has asked me about whether or not I had GPS when I talk about losing the trail and I get a little mad. Yes, I have GPS and can tell where I am if needed. Do I prefer my compass and map? Yes. Do I want to look like your typical teenager glued to their phone as I walk down the trail with a video game in front of me so I can stay on the trail at all times, no. You can keep those apps, thank you.
I also think about how you really have to want this trek, the snow, bugs and trees can really be demoralizing. Why put yourself through this is there isn’t something on the other side to get to? Also, NOBO hikers are favored. Trail signage is geared towards those heading north, you have to work a little harder when going southbound.
I made it 12 miles to the Brown Mountain Shelter for my first opportunity at water this morning by 10am. Another hiker was there, “Grunt” and I stopped for water, a snack and to take meds as my feet continued to be sore. I thought I would only stay a few minutes but the conversation with Grunt took my visit to 11:20am. I wrote about my conversation and time with Grunt on I Will Never Know.
After filling my water bottles and rinsing my feet in the nice cold water, I continued down the trail. The lava had lessened and the path took on more of the famous “green corridor” that people think of when they think of the PCT in Oregon. There were lots of road crossings, both paved and unpaved and more trail work with logs being cut and out of the way.
I had to pause at the Dead Indian Highway and wonder why on earth was it still named that? I passed a few more section hikers, some from California and some from Ashland and let them know about the snow. They didn’t seem to eager to commit to the glissading and I think they may have started thinking about skipping up. This included a group of four women (Ice bath and Two Tone among them) and the Lucky Wild Cards, a couple that started in Seiad Valley.
I stopped for another break with a view of Mt. Shasta and had a quick lunch. I think it was here that I discovered something attached to the back of my neck and without any regard for proper tick removal, I ripped whatever it was off and flicked away. So much for lab testing. About this time a family of 5 with two dogs in tow passed by on their backpacking trip. They barely said hello, so hopefully they didn’t need any trail report for what was ahead.
The trail continued to alternate between expansive views and shaded forest trail. I thought it was interesting that at the border for the national forest and BLM land a tree had strategically come down on a fence there.
The spring at 1753 is in weird spot, more of a gravel road than the PCT. I got there at 4pm and realized after I crossed the road and went up the trail a bit, you went back down to that road, crossed it and went to the spring. I might as well have turned on the road and went directly. The spring was piped with a nice boardwalk and I must admit hard to leave. I took my shoes off and washed my feet with a bandanna and set them up on a log. Divine little break. I needed at least 10 more miles tonight to make it half way between Fish Lake and Callahan’s, but I wasn’t sure I could do it. I took some more pain reliever and carried on.
Today is also when I started having some problems with heartburn. And when I say problems, I mean I could see why people confused heartburn with having a heart attack. I rarely get it these days since going paleo, but when I do it usually has to do with low stomach acid (contrary to what the pharmacy industry would have you believe). I imagine all the water I was drinking wasn’t helping. Ouch.
About 7pm I ran into a true thru hiker, Legend, who said he had come from Mexico without skipping and he looked every bit as weathered. I asked him if this wasn’t his first long distance trail and he confirmed it wasn’t. We both had our headphones on at this point so I imagined he was hoping to put in long miles like I was, so I kept our conversation brief. Obviously, he is probably putting in double what I am. Jeff Garmire AKA Legend, held the FKT (Fastest Known Time) for hiking the Triple Crown in 2016 until 2024.
About PCT mile 1746 and 7:30, in the middle of nowhere (and mile 26 or so) I started to feel lightheaded so I decided to call it a day and found a flat place to stealth camp before what looked like the trail was going to begin an ascent. Luckily there were very little bugs here and camp was an easy set up. I did a little tent yoga and noticed I had developed a few more bruises and bug bites since last night. Good grief. So much for shorts when I get home.
I sent off a SPOT signal (which I now know was not received) and fell asleep wondering if I could make the 30+ miles I needed tomorrow to make it to Callahan’s. So far, section B has been NOTHING like section C, and I had a feeling I could make it happen.
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Was one of the team who helped you off the Cape Scott trail and back to Port Hardy. Been following ever since. Love the articles and recipes!
Hi Craig, so nice to hear from you! I am happy to hear you are still joining me on my adventures. I hope all is well with you up in Canada, one of these days I will get back up there to finish the North Coast Trail!