Start: 1419.1
Stop: 1433.9
Today’s miles: 14.8
Total PCT miles: 52.8
Today was my first real day on my own, and I’m already missing Andrea. I wish she was here, but for her sake I’m glad she’s not currently laying slightly slanted in one of the very few places without snow where I am. Wowza. Just. Yeah. Ok, let’s start from the beginning.
I set my alarm for 6:30 and pushed snooze til 7:15. Some habits die hard.. some habits just don’t die at all. I quickly got dressed and mostly packed my gear-I got frustrated with this pack and quit trying after a while and decided breakfast was more important. So, I walked across the street to McDonald’s and got an egg and cheese biscuit. Then came back to my beast. Whew. Five days of food in that thing plus the 3lb bear can is atrocious.
I walked up to the front office right at 8am and the motel manager was walking out his door, ready for me. He was a kind, older gentleman, maybe in his 60s, originally from Long Island. We chit chatted the whole way to Burney Falls State Park and he dropped me off right at the main entrance. He wouldn’t let me pay him anything for the ride, just said to make sure to spread the word about his motel and how hiker friendly they are lol: Shady Pines Motel in Burney, California is very hiker friendly 😉
I put my pack behind a bench and walked the little paved trail to the bottom of the falls. They are just as gorgeous as you’d expect them to be! What you wouldn’t expect, or at least I didn’t expect: I was the only person there! I had them all to myself! I eventually made my way back up the path and finally saw another living person walking around. It was eerie.
I put on my trail runners and followed the side trail to the PCT. I put my pack down again, this time by a tree, and hoped to God it was still there when I got back.. then I walked southbound to highway 89. I had to make sure I connected my trail, since we started at the highway the other day. I didn’t even want to attempt to get that cute guy to slow down that main road and creep up to the trail crossing for me. What this does mean is that I then had to turn around and walk that mile again. Haha. Oh well, two miles without a pack is easier than one with it.. at least today anyway.
I got back (after taking advantage of the pit toilets I passed at a campground), got my pack on, and finally started hiking north to Canada. I was pretty giddy, and I saw a deer off in the distance, too. I was much more positive this morning than I currently am sitting in my tent surrounded by snow. Up until the last 2 ish miles, I was pretty giddy all day!
I finally had an actual incline that kicked my butt, steeper than anything so far, and I still loved it. Then, I hiked downhill and over a huge dam on Lake Britton. Absolutely beautiful! On the way up the even steeper incline after the dam, I met a couple out day hiking to a waterfall to celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary! They are incredible! They recently moved to Burney and love when it’s hiker season. I walked with them for several miles, and somewhere in there, Cruiser appeared.
The four of us were standing at road crossing taking a breather from the incline, and chatting away. Cruiser also lives in California and she’s section hiking. She has my same pack, and she definitely has hers packed way better. We all talked and snapped gorgeous pictures of the valleys below when we got to the ridge line. At some point, Cruiser and I got ahead of the sweet couple, and then she got away from me, too. I caught back up to her when another thru hiker passed southbound. They were talking snow, and the guy made it out like it was no biggie.. that really boosted my spirits! I’ve been so anxious over this damn snow!
I stayed with Cruiser, talking back and forth all the way to this bridge with a fast racing river below it. This is where the couple was coming to, too, and they walked up as we were setting our stuff down, so we decided to eat lunch there. It was already noon anyway. She made it down the Little Rock steps to the water before me and saw a huge rattle snake! She said it stood up some and hissed at her! Thankfully it was a bit farther down than where we were, so I steered clear. At one point I was getting curious, and crept closer to that side of the bank-and then chickened right out. Man, I hate a snake!
We ate and chatted more with the couple, soaked our feet when we felt safe enough to do so, filtered water and relaxed. It was seriously picturesque. Once they headed back the way we came, Cruiser and I packed up. We said our “see ya laters” at the bridge and just like her name says, she started Cruising. I didn’t see her again, but I knew the next chunk of miles were all uphill, so I took my sweet sweet time.
My feet started to really hurt and at some point I crossed a creek that wasn’t listed on the FarOut app, so I took my shoes off and soaked my pups. I got more water just in case I didn’t like the next water source, and kept on hiking. I ran into someone coming southbound who said, “the snow doesn’t really start for like 6 more miles.” Awesome! I was only planning on hiking 4 more from where we met! I just knew I’d get to a dry camp and just deal with the snow tomorrow! Perfect!
And then it quickly changed. With maybe 2.7 miles to go, I saw my first patch of snow. It wasn’t even on trail, so awesome! It’s all gone! Ha! That turned into seeing more patches, into walking into overgrown brush and fallen trees..Climbing up and over and around and through all kinds of branches and getting scraped legs. Fun times! Even still, the snow wasn’t a problem.
A mile to go: snow. I didn’t even see it at first, for a good quarter mile I was suddenly having to walk through water, snowmelt.. and then I got to the bigger patches that I had to walk over.. not too bad.. the issue is it was already 5pm and the top layer of snow was wayyyyy soft. I’d sink in on some steps and not on others, so I felt very odd balance.. cursing myself for having to carry 5 days of dang food.
Literally, only 0.4 miles from where I wanted to camp, it went from patches of snow surrounded by ground to patches of tree wells surrounded by snow and I could hear fast moving water somewhere. I was petrified! Simply because I was now alone, it was almost 6pm, I thought there was somewhere dry to set up camp here, thanks to comments saying as much on the app..And I didn’t see Cruiser, so she must have gone ahead or off in another direction looking for a spot, too.
Since I had water, I followed what was supposed to be a forest service road a little ways to look for somewhere to camp. The road, completely covered in a minimum of several feet of snow felt safer to me, because it is indeed a road at some point during the year, so it’s less likely if I postholed through the snow id jam my leg on a tree or branch or deeper hole or a rock.. sure, stuff could have fallen in the road of course, but it calmed me when I was so worried about what to do.
I only made it less than a tenth of a mile when I saw some wide, snow free tree wells.. some bunched together even. I walked over to the actual ground, and it didn’t even feel soaking wet like I expected it to. I dropped my pack and walked around every spot I could see, until I settled on this spot. It’s not the flattest ever, it’s got a slight slant, but a lot less of a slant than the other options I saw. So, I set up my tent, my gear, and made dinner. It got dark up here real fast. It’s now 9:15 and I’m a little paranoid if I’m being honest.
So. I’m going to bundle up (I’m actually cold tonight), and try to get to sleep quick. That way when morning comes in, I can pack up and figure out how I plan to get through this mess. We shall see! Please say a prayer! Although, I guess by the time you’re reading this, I’ll have already made it to my destination with WiFi. That somehow gives me some comfort. Anyway, sweet dreams 🙂