The next morning my back is stiff but I don’t think much about it. Also seems a little harder to take a breath. I pack up and have breakfast and get ready to head out. I go to lift the pack to get in on my back and that is when all hell breaks loose. My back screams at me that this is not going to happen and goes into a spasm. I finally do manage to get the pack on and start hiking but my back aches the whole time. When it was time for a rest I was foolish enough to remove the pack. After the rest the same thing happened trying to get the pack on. I finally manage it but it is clear something is wrong. The pack does not come off during my next rest periods. I am blessed again in that I reach a paved road that goes into the town of Quincy. The plan was that I was going to skip Quincy and go directly to the next town of Burney. I was packed for 2 weeks of hiking and that was one of the reasons my pack was as heavy as it was. That plus the fact that water was again hard to find and so I was caring more water than I had since the desert. However, on reaching this road the decision was clear. I needed to hitch into Quincy and get my back checked out. When I arrived at the road there were two guys in a truck in the parking area. I go over to them and explain my situation and that I needed a ride to Quincy. They said they just came from Quincy (22 miles away) and they are headed in the other direction BUT they have a beer I am welcome too while I wait for a ride. I accept the beer, manage to get my pack off, take off my hat so the cars can see I am a harmless bald old guy and wait for someone to come by. Only about 3 cars and 10 minutes later, a truck stops to give me a ride. He can tell that I am in a bit of distress and he gets out of this truck and lifts my pack into the truck bed. I tell him my story on the ride to Quincy and he takes me the motel that is closest to the hospital and waits for me to check in and carries my pack into the room for me. I AM BLESSED AND PEOPLE ARE GOOD!!! I get cleaned up and go over to the emergency room in the hospital. Starting to get use to this emergency room thing. They are able to see me right away and after a bit of poking around and taking an x-ray they decide I have a back contusion and perhaps a cracked rib. To determine if I actually have a cracked rib would be very expensive and really not worth the effort because it would not change what I am suppose to do which is basically to rest. So back to the hotel and for the next 6 days I rest. I rest and sleep and then sleep and rest. Lenora comes to pick me up and I decide it is the end of my PCT journey for THIS YEAR. Next year in July, Lenora and I will return to Quincy and I will complete the PCT. Stopping for this year was a hard and somewhat depressing decision but I think it is the right one. Since I really can’t complete the trail this year before winter in Washington there is no point in going back out in a weakened state and risk further injury. Courage to start, strength to finish. It will just take me two years to finish, but God willing, finish I will. It was never about the destination but I do want to sit in a Canadian bar and order an Canadian beer.

This blog will continue in July 2016. Until then, be well, do good things. Be a saint, what else is there?

I got a great nights sleep. I was shocked at how clear the night time sky was considering how smokey the valley had been. The night sky was ablaze. It has also turned very warm, perhaps a little too warm. Just used the sleeping bag as a cover. Got up early and had breakfast and starting hiking while it was still a bit dark.

The trail continues to be a pleasure to hike but also continues to be rather dry. All water seems to be off the trail a ways and sometimes walking to that water yields no results. One stream that was .3 miles off the trail however was flowing, was cold, and was clear. Filled up with 4 liters of water which was enough to keep me going for the day.

It is towards the end of the day and almost to where I want to camp for the night when I have an accident. I am descending at a pretty good angle and stepping down from some rocks into what looks like some soft dirt. However, it is a thin layer of dirt on top of hard pan and my feet slip out from under me and down I go. The trail is pretty wide at this point and so there was no danger of me going over the edge but I hit hard and scrape up my left arm and hit my head pretty hard. My back also hurts but not too bad at his point and I manage to get back to my feet. I believe getting back on my feet with a 50lb pack is probably where I did the major damage to my back but still at this point I am not aware the damage is all that bad. I continue hiking for a bit to get to my camping spot and then set up the tent for the night.

This turns out to be an interesting night because it is the first time I heard something, I knew not what, outside my tent. I ignored it the first time but the second time hearing the noises I decided I had to check it out. Not too long ago I read a magazine (backpacker) that indicated the worst thing to do was to ignore the noise and hope it goes away. So I get on my boots and my coat, my headlamp, and my knife and get out of the tent to check it out. I scan around for animal tracks and don’t see any and so I just start scanning the area with my headlamp for about 15 minutes. Finally as I look out, I see two sets of eyes reflecting back at me. The eyes are moving in my direction and I have no idea what they are. I start grunting and making loud growling noises and then it occurs to me that the noises I am making might just sound like food to whatever is out there. Or worse, I might sound like a female bear in heat and the eyes out there might belong to male bears. So, I start making human noises. I shout that whatever you are out there do not come any closer…. watch out because I am well armed. And I was well armed. By this time the knife was out in one hand the rock I used to sink the tent stakes into the group was in my other hand. The eyes seemed to turn away from me and disappeared back into the woods. After awhile I got back into the tent and just sat straight up in the tent and listened. Sure enough, I started hearing the sounds again. Again I got out of the tent and this time not 10 yards away I saw a deer. The deer was not concerned and just started at me and continued browsing. Off in the distance I could see the other set of eyes acting just like the deer right next to me. Quite a relief actually. No bear, no mountain lion, just 2 deers. I got back into my tent and slept good the rest of the night.

Sorry that I have delayed so long in posting my last days on the trail but I have taken so long because these are my final posts for this year. Due to an accident I will be off the trail 2 days from today. It is easy to predict these things when you don’t write about them immediately 🙂

So I got a late start today because Lenora and I were enjoying the cabin we rented in Sierra City. It was a beautiful spot right next to the river and we had a deck where we could sit and enjoy nature and drink a little wine and also enjoy a very nice trail down by the river.

The PCT climbs right out of Sierra City to the Sierra Buttes. The climb is steady but not hard and is beautiful. The valley I was walking above however was filled with smoke from the fires and so I did not take any pictures. This section of the trail is just very pleasant to hike. Normally the trail is soft and after walking on so many rocks it is a pleasure to be able to walk normal without the worry of hitting a rock wrong and twisting an ankle and/or falling. I don’t get very many miles in when I get to a ridge with a nice place to camp. It is beautiful and so I stop for the night. However beautiful, this section of the trail is very dry. There are lakes that can be seen everywhere but the trail never goes very close of any of those lakes. At one point I crossed a dry stream but just below I could tell there was water. Just a small pool of water and it was a bit cloudy but I filled up with enough water for the evening and morning meals and water for the night. I purified the water but it was still way to cloudy I thought and so I took out some silk socks that I had not worn and used those to filter the water again to try and get the grit out. It worked pretty good and I had water that I was happy with for both cooking and drinking. Did not meet anyone on the trail today.

It was a cold windy night. I was plenty warm in the tent and the sleeping bag and was relaxed listing to the wind howl. Actually helped me to sleep. I was not all that interested in getting out of that warm sleeping bag in the morning but I did and about an hour earlier than I had been getting up lately. During the night the wind had blown one end of my tent out of the tent stakes which is pretty amazing but everything else was normal. So the morning was a two shirt, down coat, ski hat and gloves type of morning. Again most of the walk today was along a crest and especially on the crest the wind was just howling. It almost blew me over a couple times, it did take my breath away a couple times, and to walk I had to lean into the wind. When the wind would subside every now and again, I almost fell over in the direction I was leaning. It was an impressive wind. The valleys on both sides of the crest are beautiful and it is a good day of hiking ….. well a good day of hiking right until the end. It seems whenever I have a destination in mind, the last 2 or 3 miles to that destination seem harder and take forever. This was the case today and I reached Hwy 40 and Donner Pass and had a little over 3 miles to go until Interstate 80. Piece of cake. I could see Interstate 80 from where I was on Hwy 40!! However, sadly, that was not the part of Interstate 80 that the PCT was going to intersect. Rather I had to go over 2 ridges and suddenly my feet hurt. WHATEVER….. I did eventually reach Interstate 80 and Lenora picked me up and we went back to South Lake Tahoe for Thursday night and then on to Sierra City for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday I will be back on the trail for 2 weeks straight as I travel from Sierra City to Burney. It will be my longest continuous time on the trail so far. Here are some pictures from the hike today.

Another beautiful day to be hiking. It is cool’ish and perfect for hiking. I am suppose to get the one spot where I can see Lake Tahoe today but upon getting to that spot, I see nothing that looks like Lake Tahoe… nothing that looks like a lake at all. This is also pretty close to the point where the Tahoe Rim Trail and the PCT split. Once I hit that split, the number of people on the trail drops dramatically. As a matter of fact, I see no one after reaching the split for the rest of the day. There is a lot of crest walking today and on the crest the wind is howling pretty good.

Some pictures from the start of the day

I exited the Desolation Wilderness yesterday and today I enter the Granite Chief Wilderness. I shudder at the word Granite… please no more walking on sharp rocks… please.. please… Some info about the Granite Chief Wilderness

The United States Congress designated the Granite Chief Wilderness in 1984 and it now has a total of 25,111 acres. All of this wilderness is located in California and is managed by the Forest Service.

Located at the headwaters of the American River, the Granite Chief was designated a Wilderness area because of its pristine nature, natural beauty, and potential to provide primitive, non-motorized recreation opportunities. The Wilderness reserves a scenic area of exposed rock formations, granite cliffs, and glacier-carved valleys, forests, and meadows. The southern section is blanketed with a thick cover of trees: red fir and lodgepole pine higher up, and a mixture of deciduous and evergreen woodlands lower down. Several major streams drain the area. The northwest section of the Wilderness is part of the French Meadows Game Refuge.
The area is served by a substantial trail system used by hikers and equestrians for recreation activities. Most of the use originates from the east or Lake Tahoe side because of the ease of access and because of the population and recreation visitor base.

A number of trails provide access to the Wilderness. The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the area north-south for about 21 miles along the eastern boundary passing through Five Lakes Basin, where no camping is allowed within 600 feet of the water. The Five Lakes Trail crosses near the middle of the Wilderness, and from the Basin, follows Five Lakes Creek for about nine miles to Hell Hole Reservoir. Away from Five Lakes, the Wilderness receives light human use, a great attraction for solitude seekers.

Elevations in the Granite Chief range from 5000-foot valleys to 9000-foot peaks. Summers are typically warm and dry, though nighttime temperatures can be cold and afternoon thunderstorms often build over the mountains. Snow is possible any month of the year. Be prepared for changeable weather and bring clothing that will keep you warm and dry.

I go past the Alpine Meadows Ski Area and then to the Squaw Valley Ski Resort and just past Squaw is where I camp for the night. I can attest to the cold temperatures mentioned above as this was the coldest night I have had in a long time (since the snow storms). Must have been in the 30’s with a stiff wind. There are only 16 miles left to Interstate 80 for tomorrow which is where I have decided to meet up with Lenora again for a 3 day Labor Day Weekend. We are going to stay in Sierra City and that is where I will start hiking from again. So I will miss the 38.17 miles from Interstate 80 to Sierra City.

Pictures of Squaw Valley where I camped for the night

Yesterday I stopped just short of Dick’s Pass. From Dick’s pass you can see Dick’s Lake and Dick’s Peak. Ok, so I got to wondering who is this Dick. Dick’s Lake is pretty big and Dick’s peak is pretty tall and his Pass, well it was very impressive as well. Here is some information about Dick for you taken from the internet which was taken from the book Tahoe Place Names by Barbara Lekisch.

Dicks peak was named for an eccentric Englishman, Captain Richard ‘Dick’ Barter, also known as ‘the Hermit of Emerald Bay’ or the ‘Hero of Robber’s Roost.’ ‘Captain Dick Barter was an old sailor (or shell-back, as he expressed it), who was employed by Mr. [Ben] Holladay to remain on the place and keep things ship-shape.’ In 1870 he was sixty-five years old and had ‘lived in this lonely spot for about seven years. There is not a residence within miles of him, and often for weeks or months at a time, he does not see a human being. He is a Robinson Crusoe in actual life.’ (San Francisco Daily Alta California, August 22, 1870.)
‘In Ben Holladay’s house at Emerald Bay is a masterly piece of workmanship in the shape of a full rigged man-of-war, with men, guns and all the usual appurtenances and appliances. This Dick made during his hermitage, and for the remainder of his time he floated idly upon the lake, took charge of Holladay’s house and grounds, or worked upon his own grave! Strange as it may appear, on a rock island in Emerald Bay, he fashioned a grave out of solid rock, built over it a house, erected above it a Catholic cross, and gave directions to have his body placed in the stony crypt. He loved the lake, and for hours at a time drifted about in his boat. At times he drank heavily, and when he felt the stupor of intoxication stealing over him he would row toward the middle of the lake, lie down in his boat and drift with the waves until he became sober. Poor Dick! he left Glenbrook one fearfully windy day much the worse for liquor, and off Rubicon Rocks his boat was seen to disappear. When the storm subsided his trusty boat was found crushed to minute fragments in the clefts of the rocks. One oar, much worn and chafed by rocks and waves, lay with the pieces of boat. The other oar was found three months afterwards in the same place, worn but slightly. The inference was plain. Captain Dick carried with him the last oar to the bottom of Tahoe. How it became detached from his death grip no one knows, but all his old friends regard this oar as a sad messenger sent to tell that Captain Dick’s body has no further claims upon this upper world, not even upon the grave he prepared.

The hiking day was unremarkable in that nothing happened out of the ordinary. It was remarkable for the beauty and just plain joy of hiking. I am still meeting people because there seem to be a lot of people that hike the Tahoe Rim Trail but there are no PCT’ers.

Lenora got me back to Hwy 50 and I started out the next hiking section at about 9 am. After about a mile got to Echo Lake and read a sign that said that hiking was not allowed between Hwy 50 and the start of Desolation Wilderness. Don’t know about you, but I did like the sound of Desolation Wilderness and I was wondering if the guy that named the wilderness was an optimist or a pessimist. Turns out he was either both or neither as the wilderness has sections that are just beautiful forested land like you would expect around Lake Tahoe but also areas that would take a million years of positive improvement in order to reach the level of desolation. At this point the PCT and the Tahoe Rim Trail are the same and I really expected to see numerous gorgeous views of Lake Tahoe. Such was not the case. Seems I am on the wrong side of the mountains to actually see Lake Tahoe. Here are a few pictures around Echo Lake.

Going past Echo Lake and his lake friends you end up in the desolate part of the Desolation Wilderness. Within this is Lake Aloha and here are a couple pictures of this area. It was at this time that I said to myself, this is not at all the scenery I was expecting when walking past Lake Tahoe. However once past this area it does turn into more of a forest walk and what I was expecting but for awhile I was thinking I was the victim of some cruel joke.

Here are some more pictures of Lakes that I passed today. Just a great day of hiking. Easy and beautiful (for the most part).

I have mentioned or taken pictures of signs that indicated me entering or leaving a wilderness area and/or a national forest and I have wondered from time to time if there was a relationship between the two. Turns out there is no direct relationship. A wilderness can be part of a national forest or parts of multiple national forests. For example the Ansel Williams Wilderness is in both the Inyo National Forest and the Sierra National Forest and it is possible for a wilderness to not be within a national forest at all. A wilderness has a higher level of protection that a national forest. Here are some facts about a wilderness

The United States was the first country in the world to define and designate wilderness areas through law. Subsequently, countries around the world have protected areas modeled after the Wilderness Act. In 1964 our nation’s leaders formally acknowledged the immediate and lasting benefits of wild places to the human spirit and fabric of our nation. That year, in a nearly unanimous vote, Congress enacted landmark legislation that permanently protected some of the most natural and undisturbed places in America. The Wilderness Act is one of the most successful U.S. environmental laws, standing for almost 50 years without a substantial amendment, and, as such, continues to be the guiding piece of legislation for all wilderness areas. The Act describes wilderness as follows:

“…lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition…” Section 2(a)

“…an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man…” Section 2(c)

“…an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvement or human habitation…” Section 2(c)

“…generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable…” Section 2(c)

“…has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation…” Section 2(c)

“…shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreation, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation and historic use.” Section 4(b)

Here is some information about Desolation Wilderness….

The Desolation Wilderness, encompassing 63,475 acres of rugged alpine terrain, is a spectacular area of subalpine and alpine forests, jagged granitic peaks, and glacially formed valleys and lake basins. Here on both sides of the Sierra Nevada, averaging 12.5 miles in length and 8 miles in width, you’ll find elevations ranging from about 6,500 feet to almost 10,000 feet. Mostly lacking in dense vegetation, Desolation is a glacially smoothed expanse west of Lake Tahoe. You’ll discover numerous streams and approximately 130 lakes, some reaching 900 acres in size. Snow often blocks the high passes until mid-July. Long recognized for its mountain splendor, Desolation Valley Primitive Area was established in 1931 and then granted Wilderness status in 1969.
The Pacific Crest Trail traverses about 17 miles of the Wilderness north-south, and at one point crosses Dicks Pass (9,380 feet), the highest pass between here and Canada. 13 named trailheads open onto miles of well-maintained and well-trampled pathways. The trailheads at Wrights, Echo, Eagle Falls, and Fallen Leaf receive the heaviest use. The northwest portion of the area is less frequented and requires some map-reading or GPS skills to explore. Because of its beauty and accessibility, and close proximity to major metropolitan areas, the Desolation is one of the most visited wildernesses for its size in the country.

And here some information about a National Forest

National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States. National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned collectively by the American people through the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas focuses on conservation, timber harvesting, livestock grazing, watershed protection, wildlife, and recreation. Unlike national parks and other federal lands managed by the National Park Service, extraction of natural resources from national forests is permitted, and in many cases encouraged. National Forests are categorized by the US as IUCN Category VI protected areas (Managed Resource Protected Area). The National Forest System was created by the Land Revision Act of 1891, which was signed under the presidency of Benjamin Harrison. It was the result of concerted action by Los Angeles-area businessmen and property owners who were concerned by the harm being done to the watershed of the San Gabriel Mountains by ranchers and miners. Abbot Kinney and forester Theodore Lukens were key spokesmen for the effort.
There are conflicts between timber companies and environmentalists over the use of National Forest land. These conflicts center on endangered species protection, logging of old-growth forests, intensive logging, undervalued stumpage fees, mining laws and road-building in National Forests. Additional conflicts arise from concerns that the grasslands, shrublands, and forest understory are grazed by sheep, cattle, and, more recently, rising numbers of elk. In the United States there are 155 National Forests containing almost 190 million acres (297,000 mi²/769 000 km²) of land. These lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area of the United States, an area about the size of Texas. Some 87 percent of National Forest land lies west of the Mississippi River; Alaska alone accounts for 12 percent of all National Forest land. There are two distinctly different types of National Forests. Those east of the Great Plains are primarily re-acquired or replanted forests; that is, the land had long been in the private domain but was purchased by the United States government in order to create new National Forests. In these cases, the areas of National Forest noted on most maps do not actually represent the extent of the National Forest, but only the extent of the authorized purchase zone. The actual amount of land acquired in most cases is much smaller. Those national forests west of the Great Plains are originally-owned forests. These are mostly lands reserved in the public domain by the U.S. government, and with the exception of inholdings and donated land, were never in private hands. In these cases, the areas of National Forests noted on maps are generally the true areas of the forest. Many ski resorts operate in National Forests, such as the Loup Loup Ski Bowl within the Okanogan National Forest. The Forest Service also administers National Grasslands.

The day is going to start out with about a 2 mile walk in a meadow and so I get up early in the morning and start hiking at about 5 in the morning. The trail is soft and flat and with the head lamp is easy hiking. Cross a good sized stream and load up with all the water I am going to need to the short 11 mile day. Here are some day break pictures

Out of the meadow there is an easy but continuous ascend to the mountains around Tahoe. Along the way the PCT joins the Tahoe Rim Trail. After a couple miles I reach Showers Lake. Would have been nice to get here last night for camping but it was a bit too far.

My first glimpse of Lake Tahoe. However at this point the trail starts to get nasty. Steep and rocky and my feet start to remember what it was like on the John Muir Trail. By the time I get down from the mountain to Hwy 50 where Lenora picks me up I am beat. If Lenora was not picking me up, I would have gone on to Echo Lake just 1 mile away and that would have been the end of my day. Coming down the steep slope wore me out big time.

It has been a good return to the trail. I am looking forward to the weekend with Lenora and then the next section of the trail to Sierra City. A good part of this hike is around Lake Tahoe and it is suppose to be amazing.

Must be getting back into the swing of things as I slept good last night. Wake up to another beautiful crisp morning. The weather has just been perfect. I come out of the forest pretty quickly and start hiking right against the side of cliffs. Here is a nice view:

Pretty early in the morning I see another clear track of a Mountain Lion. Here it is

Pretty soon however I head up on those cliffs and have great views of lakes and trees below while walking along the barren ridge line. This section has no water and I’m wondering why they did not take us down at least once to the edge of a lake to pick some up. This late in the year some of the creeks that have water earlier are dry now and that is what happened. I was low on water but the applications reported a reliable water source just ahead. When I got there, the creek was dry and ahead I could see the trail out in the open. I figured I really needed water before continuing. The creek where the PCT crossed was dry but I could tell from the vegetation that water had been there fairly recently. I took off my pack and sat down and just watched and before long I could see a section of the vegetation where birds were coming and going regularly. I went down to that point and bingo there was a nice big pool of cold water. I thanked the birds, loaded up with water, and continued on.

Towards late afternoon I make it Carson Pass at Hwy 88. There is a visitor center here and an outhouse. Both of these are equally nice. A visitor center normally has cool stuff like bottled water and junk food which are always welcome. The outhouse just represents a chance to go to the bathroom in a normal way without having to look around and make sure nobody is going to have to watch you take care of business….. Anyway the staff at the visitor center was super nice. They GAVE me two cokes to drink, some potato chips, and one guy went out to his car and brought me a turkey sandwich with pickles!! He said he made two for himself this morning but only ate one. I hung out at the visitor center and talked with the staff about my adventures for an hour or so and then moved on another 2 miles and found a camping spot by a small creek. Only have about 12 miles to go to get to South Lake Tahoe and so expect an easy day tomorrow.

Another night of mainly rest and not much sleep. I’m feeling good so not worried about the lack of sleep as I have plenty of energy and do not believe I will dose off while on a cliff and fall down a mountain. So nothing to worry about. I do have a Kindle with me now and I am ready the Book of Psalms at night. Perhaps that is what is keeping me awake because King David just cracks me up. I chuckle each time King David tells the Lord that he won’t be able to praise His name very well from the grave and so the Lord really ought to save him from his enemies.

Its a beautiful morning and here are some pictures from around my campsite.

Not many lakes that the trail goes close to on this section but here is one of them, Small Sherrold Lake

Pretty rapid change of habitat on this section. From woods, to barren crests, to lush meadows, and some not so lush sagebrush meadows.

Towards end of the day I enter the Mokelumne Wilderness. From a Mokelumne web site I borrowed this: “The Mokelumne Wilderness is a rugged landscape of great scenic beauty. Much of the area is dominated by volcanic ridges and peaks. The prominent feature is disputably the rugged Mokelumne River Canyon. There are many smaller streams flowing through deep granitic canyons but only a few lakes concentrated in the northern portion of this spectacular area.” I’m going to agree.

I get to Lily Pad Lake and am going to camp when I notice some Mountain Lion tracks at the end of the lake. So, I decide to just load up with water and hike another half mile or so. When I see a flat spot in the forest floor I stop and set up camp. Eat a lot of food, prepare snacks to tomorrow and go to sleep.

Psalm 33:12a Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord

In God We Trust