Pacific Crest Trail Hike: CA Section Q & R – Mile 1600 – 1692
Pacific Crest Trail Hike: CA Section Q & R – Mile 1600 – 1692
Hello! These sections were both short and unfortunately not particularly sweet. The heat wave remained oppressive while dealing with logistics around an active wildfire. While the fire threw some unexpected challenges my way, I was able to sort through it with the help of the wonderful community. Because of this I reached Oregon!
PCT CA Section Q & R Summary
Statistics:
Days: 2
Full hiking days: 1
Zeroes: 0
Neros: 1
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 40.2
Total Miles Hiked: 38.6
Trail Elevation Gain: 11,056 ft
Trail Elevation Loss: 3616 ft
Highlights:
Crossing the California and Oregon border! Officially completing 1 of 3 states along the PCT.
The feeling of community and problem solving amongst hikers and trail angels alike.
Lowlights:
Fire closures meaning skipped miles.
Fires impacting the air quality which was uncomfortable to hike in.
And the fires impact on these small communities – which would only get worse after I left.
PCT CA Section Q & R Detailed Version
Day 109 Part 2: Mile 1600
As mentioned in my prior post, hikers in the area were encouraged to get off at Highway 3 rather than hike to Etna Summit due to the exponentially growing Shelly Fire. Once we all got a ride into town, it was a relief. Then there was a realization that there were a lot of logistics to figure out in the meantime. The next town stop, Seiad Valley, was a 1.5 hour drive away but that was the next point we could safely get back on trail. Seiad Valley was also the last stop in California before crossing into Oregon which was something that I couldn’t miss out on.
Luckily, there were a lot of hikers going through the same thing so there was a group to work through any problems that came up. Frozen, a seasoned thru-hiker, arranged rides for the following day with a trail angel for 10 of us. I’m so thankful that he was able to get that sorted so early on in the day so we could attempt to relax in the heat.
Etna, CA was a cute small town that would have been an absolute treat to be in. Because of the fire so close to town (and it would in fact get much closer to town), it was completely socked in with smoke. The Air Quality Index was 500+ ie dangerous to be in. I was thankful that I had stopped hiking for the day and was able to take it easy by doing no cardio. Etna has a great public park that hikers are allowed to camp in for $5 and offers shower tokens as well. Most of us set up in the aforementioned park because all hotels and other accommodations were being used by the fire crews. The small town was inundated with fire personnel and equipment which was a bit surreal to see.
A large group of hikers migrated to Etna Brewing Company for beverages after a sort of wild rollercoaster morning. This was one of my favorite breweries on trail – drinks and food were fantastic! After that, many of us went to the public pool to escape the heat, if only briefly. Don’t worry, I showered off the thick layer of soot covering my legs before entering. It was a strange juxtaposition swimming in the pool, watching kids having jumping/splashing contest while the sky was getting darker and smokier hour over hour.
The remainder of the evening was spent mostly hanging out at the public park where we would all sleep. Dinner at an unconditioned diner was a disappoint in over 95F heat. But the short shower at the park was more of a treat than I realized. I had set up my tent without my rain fly to help with the heat, but eventually had to put it on to stop ash falling through the mesh of my tent.
Day 110: Mile 1656.9 – 1671.8
Trail Daily Miles: 14.9
Total Daily Miles: 12
Total Trail Mileage: 1671.8
Elevation Gain: 5279 ft
Elevation Loss: 125 ft
Weather: Hot, Sun
Overall Day Sentiment: Thankful for friends, night hiking, and clearer skies.
I woke up to my tent covered in ash from the fire. My rainfly actually sustained damage in the form of holes from bits that were still burning when they fell. Our planned ride was not until midday, so I went out to breakfast in the meantime.
Our ride was a lovely new trail angel, Ann, and her boyfriend who were gracious enough to help us. Though the fires impact us hikers, these folks were concerned about the fire spreading and impacting their own homes, so it was a gift that they were willing to assist. The ride from Etna to Seiad Valley was over an hour long and on winding mountain roads so this was not a short drive/sacrifice of their days.
The town of Seiad Valley belongs in the State of Jefferson and if you have never heard of that, do look it up! Once at Seiad Valley, we stopped at the small general store there and got some sweet treats as the heat wave continued and provided us with over 100F heat again. Because of this heat, the 5000 ft climb out of Seiad Valley, and arriving at 12:00pm – I decided that I wanted to night hike this stretch. Myself, Yeti, Forest, and Jolly spent the afternoon under a bridge along a river sheltering from the heat. We all took naps at one point but just enjoyed relaxing in the shade.
Around 6:00pm we all went back to the general store and found many more hikers that had arrived from Etna. The large group of us were lamenting about the heat and the impending climb. There were two options for the climb; the PCT which was exposed and a dry stretch or a partial road walk that was in the shade and along a river. Myself, Yeti, Forest, Jolly, and Turtle set off on the road walk option at 7:00pm.
The road walk offered some good views, access to water, shade from the setting sun, less elevation gain than the trail, and some interesting sites along the way. One of those sites was a local man that biked along the road to run into hikers. He told us stories about his childhood in the area and what he likes to do with his large amounts of property. One curious thing was a quote that said “If someone comes on to my property, I’ll shoot them but I won’t eat them”. Huh. A character for sure.
The majority of this hike was in the dark and I was thankful for a larger group of people doing it together. I was also thankful that I couldn’t see the incline we were on which made me less intimidated to complete it. We all arrived at our desired tent site around midnight and stumbled upon at least 15 other tents. We set up our stuff as quietly as we could but I’m sure we disturbed some folks. This site was popular because it was at the top of the climb and had a water source – which were still partially sparse in this area.
Day 111: Mile 1671.8 – 1697.1
Trail Daily Miles: 25.3
Total Daily Miles: 26.6
Total Trail Mileage: 1697.1
Elevation Gain: 5777 ft
Elevation Loss: 3591 ft
Weather: Hot
Overall Day Sentiment: Full of pride for passing into Oregon!
The tent site was lively in the morning with the 20+ tents there. The YouTuber Kyle Hates Hiking was there (attempting to complete his thru hike from years prior) along with a host of other folks including Frozen (who also had a YouTube channel!). It was a slow morning packing up because of our late arrival but eventually we all got moving because the heat would wait for no one.
The day started with a relatively steep climb and continued meandering through burn zones. The area near the border of California and Oregon has had some terrible fires in recent years which was evident as I traversed burn scar after burn scar. At one point I lost the trail because there were so many tree blow downs in conjunction with the undergrowth regrowing so well that it covered the trail! I vividly remember standing on logs looking for the trail from a high vantage point.
The day was hot again and the water sources were few and far between. They were also a decent way off trail through brush which added to the discomfort of the day.
Eventually Yeti and I made it to the highlight of the day (or the trail so far?) as we hit the California/Oregon border! California ended up nearly at 1700 miles, though the actual mileage on signage and online does not match. Knowing that I had done an entire state despite the few fire closures was a strange feeling. I had seen the border sign in so many pictures and videos that it was a surreal experience to be there.
We celebrated with some fireball (ew, how old am I?) and got to greet another group that arrived. Looking at the logbook was also a strange experience because we were the 44th and 45th hikers to cross for the DAY. The fires really moved people around and created an artificial hiker bubble.
Hiking into Oregon felt like being slightly reborn. I’m sure it was mostly a placebo but the landscape looked and felt different across the arbitrary boundary. I camped near a spring with beautiful views of rolling hills and fields and was treated with a wonderful sunset and company. After the chaos of the past few days, this evening was an absolute treat.
Xoxo Kanga/Leeann
