A little overlap on our Section with this post. We started in section R and ended in Section Q, which begins at Siead Valley. We once again hiked this section Southbound and it was part of a longer 200 mile hike.
Somewhere to Grider Creek Campground:
Stats:
We hiked more miles than usual, but with all the descent it wasn’t too hard.
We left our ridge line camp and continued along a ridge with big views off both sides. It was quite lovely. Soon, we entered another burn scar, but all the multitude of flowers made up for the destruction. Even having to go over more blow downs didn’t lessen my joy because of all the flowers. Here’s a new one for me. It looked like little pink crowns.
This sleeping giant was adorned with flowers too.
We met APB (anal pavement beater) running up the trail. He was an angel of optimism and we were blessed by our conversation. He hasn’t missed a day of running since some specific day ( I forgot) in 1983. He’s run 68 marathons and has two more scheduled for this year. Todays run was a 19 miler.
Many of the hikers we met going northbound suggested we take a forest road down to Seiad Valley, as they said the trail was overgrown and full of more blow downs. We went for it and enjoyed it. There was even a little waterfall called Pony Tail Falls to splash in. We met a hiker at the waterfall, named Pancake and learned all about the group we saw a few days ago called Field Trip. Pancake had hiked with the group for one thousand miles and then he got sick and they continued on. You could tell he missed them a lot.
As for the group called Field Trip- it’s a family! (The mother looked too young to have birthed those strapping lads). They hiked the AT last year and enjoyed it, so came out west to do the PCT this year. The CDT is on their radar for next year. Dad stays home and works, while mom and the boys hike. Her trail name is Ms. Frizzle and the youngest boy is 12, weighs 80 lbs. and carries a 20 lb. pack; one fourth his body weight! His name is Hermes. His older brother is called Unbreakable, because he hiked 700 miles on the AT with a hairline fractured femur. They are quite the hiking family and you can find them on YouTube by typing in Fieldtrip and PCT.
The 11 mile road walk we took was pleasant, but a bit boring. Although, did you know Coors grows on trees?
It was full.
We also saw a bear, deer and. turkeys on our road walk. The wild animals apparently like roads better than blowdowns and burn scar too. Lol!
We ate lunch and bought a bit more food at the Seiad Valley store ( longest running business along the PCT at 40 years going). We chatted with hikers while waiting for the temperature to cool. It was a very warm day. One hiker named CornDog says he likes thru hiking to see what his body is capable of doing. He’s also a wild land fire fighter. Another young fellow said he’s doing this hike because he’s had a lot of failures and wants a success. He also said he hasn’t slept in a bed since he’s started the hike because he’s low on money. Boy, that in itself, is quite the accomplishment!
In the evening, we hiked the six plus road miles, that is the trail here, to Grider Creek Campground. The campground was full of thru hikers. Tents were everywhere. We found a flat spot near the creek and who should walk into camp- KZed from Australia that we had met last week by Castle Crags. Lovely chat and we exchanged digits, as he and his wife will be traveling around the US after he finishes his thru hike and they might be in our neck of the woods.
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Grider Creek Campground to Buckhorn Springs:
Stats: HARD
My legs are kaput! Done. Tapped out. Hawkeye had a fantasy that we could hike a twenty miler to Paradise Lake, and he could have, but I could not. Nope. Not today. Not even when he put my food bag in his pack. It may be only 4 pm, but I am finished.
We are camped at an idyllic spot though, and we will finally get a sunset view too. Deer graze in the meadow and follow us around waiting to eat the dirt where we pee. Per eaters, sort of like zombies, but cuter. Today was the day of deer. They were everywhere and not at all afraid of us. We had something they wanted, and they were determined to stalk us until they got it.
We walked up Grider Creek on a trail that was high above the water, except when we crossed the four bridges that traverse it. At the last bridge, I went for a swim while butterflies fluttered all around. It was like a butterfly exhibit. There were orange ones, tiny blue ones and big black ones with a bright dot on their wings. Here’s one of the orange ones on my pack. The day was still going well at this point.
Then we entered some seriously overgrown trail with many blowdowns. MANY! An Austrian couple, Anna and Lucas, just joined us at camp and she says she counted 142 blowdowns and that did not include the stepovers, just the climb overs. One climb over was huge, up to my chest and no where to go around or climb under. My legs were so weak, Hawkeye had to push my derrière to get me up and over. Often, there was a steep fall waiting for you if you happened to misstep. We did not. The path, at times was completely covered in brush that you kind of swam through. I was NOT loving the hike, not today. It was not pretty either. Just mostly burned forest and, and at this lower elevation, the flowers were done blooming. . My knee is throbbing right now and I have a bum rash. It was a hot and sweaty day.
We did have lots of trailside chats: a couple of Texans, a man from the Netherlands, two Danes, Quizzard from Sacramento, a young German man named Sweetheart, a couple from South Africa and a few others. Anything to stop hiking! Anything! Lol! I won’t forget today.
I’m too tired to take a proper sunset photo.
Goodnight!
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Buckhorn Springs to Fisher Lake:
Stats:
We had so much fun today. Just rolling along through the gorgeous Marble Mountain Wilderness, without a care in the world. We were in the zone today, where your walk turns zen and becomes a meditation and time stands still.
After my leg breakdown yesterday, I slowed my pace down today. We took a few long breaks soaking in nature and we chatted with many interesting people.
These folks we talked with at such length, that I took a photo to remember them.
Left to right:
-UHaul and Smiles Before Miles are section hikers (not a couple) and we learned about the Camino in Spain, the big group of section hikers online and how the PCTA works.
-We remembered Yeti Legs and Basecamp from last week. They are a super fun married couple from Colorado and originally from the south. They use the trail as marriage therapy, just like we do!
-Sailor is an adventurer extraordinaire. She’s sailed the world twice, hiked this trail three times and has hiked just about every other long trail you can think of, as well as the Florida Trail. We all realized we had seen each other in Florida at BillyGoat Days in 2020. She is an amazing woman with no social media presence, but an incredible life story to tell.
-El Chapo and Not Yet are Californians, like us, and we chatted with them last week and again today. Nice guys doing the Thru hike without all the rush.
We met one rushed Austrian young lady late in the day, and I mentioned how beautiful it was, as we were passing some awesome snowy, rocky pinnacles. She kind of broke down and said she wished she had time to look around, but they were pushing it now, with 30 plus miles everyday. I felt sorry for her. It sounded like she might be getting pulled along the trail by someone else’s idea of a hike, or maybe she was just having a down moment.
There are a lot of different style of hikers on the PCT. Lazy, dazy section hikers like us, who rarely seem to be in a rush. There are the sporting types who really like to see what their bodies can do. There are the nature buffs in awe with all the flora and fauna. And, of course, most are really a mix. At least it is a mix for us. Heck, each day, we are a different style of hiker at different times. I will say though, that there are many more thru hikers doing thirty plus miles a day, than there were ten years ago, when we started section hiking this trail.
While the Marble Wilderness was gorgeous, with a marble mountain and flowers up to my waist, it wasn’t perfect. There were some parts with burn scars and there was scattered blow downs to get around. It reminds me a bit of a long term relationship. Nothing is perfect.
We got to Fisher lake in time for some sunset color and for Hawkeye to help the tiny Japanese woman we saw at Castle Crags last week. Someone had apparently told her to never filter from lakes because of worms!? She was without water and didn’t know what to do. Hopefully, Hawkeye relieved her fears and set her straight about how worms can’t go through filters. Some viruses maybe, but not worms. We wonder if it was a prank or just communication lost in translation.
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Fisher Lake to Etna Summit:
Stats:
We enjoyed our coffee watching the sun climb into the sky and then took an early morning swim at Fisher lake. It was sublime, refreshing and felt like freedom. We shared the water with cute little salamanders and waved at the hikers walking by. It’s a warm lake and was the perfect start to our day.
More burn scar today, but lots of flowers and also a few sections of green forest. Mount Shasta, our companion for the last 11 days, was shining in splendor. I’m going to miss that mountain.
We had a brief chat with Saunterre, who we met last week. We also asked a European young man why he was walking the trail. He said that COVID lockdown got him thinking about his life and what he wanted to experience. He’s taking a year off college to hike this trail and explore a bit of the world.
Hawkeye has loved all the visiting, but being a bit more cat like, I don’t think I’d choose to hike against the flow of hikers again. At times, it’s been interesting and fun chatting trailside, but over all there has just been too many people for me.
As for the mosquitoes, they’ve been plentiful too, and they never bit me. It is my new super power. I’m thinking one of the many supplements I take for my autoimmune issues must make me smell weird to them.
We have now officially completed section hiking California. Bust open the Champagne. Cue the band. Next year onward to Oregon.
Here I lie in Etna park, surrounded by hikers, waiting for Hawkeye to come back with our truck to pick me up. We used our motorcycle as a shuttle again. One European young lady is sick with Covid. I hear her coughing. She looks terrible. Poor dear. A big group of hikers are having a barbecue, and there is one guy with a computer and microphone set up doing his videos for YouTube. I saw the flags at half staff at the nearby police station and discovered that the Japanese prime minister was assassinated.
Take me to the backcountry quick, this front country is just too much.
(Post note: when Mark got to Mount Ashland, KZed, from Australia, that we keep bumping into, was crossing the road. It’s been strange how we keep serendipitously meeting him)
Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished. - Lao tzu
A slideshow of the section:
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