This section is perhaps one of my favorite hidden gems of northern California. The shift in geology from the white granite Sierras to the extrusive igneous (volcanic) andesite and basalt of the Cascades was instantly noticeable. However, the extrusive volcanic rocks are not continuous across the entire length of the Cascades. Enter the Trinity Alps: an expanse of granite and diorite sprinkled with metamorphic ultramafics and marble which were thrust up in the Triassic and Jurassic periods. Glaciers carved away the younger rock on top, leaving behind awe-inspiring peaks for us to enjoy today.
Day 103 – 20 miles/1521 (7/8/22)
Maggie and I packed up and said good bye to the Dream Inn. We got breakfast at Yaks again because it was too good to pass up. ScrubJay and RoadRash met us there around 9 am. The four of us hopped in the taxi at 9:40 and we were back on trail at 10:15. This day would pretty much exclusively be uphill, the classic reward for leaving town. We stopped for lunch just 4 miles in. ScrubJay and RoadRash joined us, but they were much more efficient. Maggie and I rarely get through lunch in less than an hour. We carried on and up the big climb around Castle Crags. The weather was sunny, and warm, so naturally we were quite sweaty. We slowly gained elevation and broke through the forest where we got views of the colossal granite castle we were walking on.
Podcasts and music made the climb go by quickly. Personally, I was feeling great, passing other hikers as I ripped it uphill. Maggie had to flag me down on a switchback to get me to wait for a minute. Near the top, the plant life started becoming more interesting. I spotted an interesting parasitic plant in the blueberry family – Sugar Stick (Allotropa virgata). We also saw the blooms of Bear Grass (Xerophyllum tenax) and Western Azalea (Rhododendron occidentale).
We stopped for water 8 miles later. This was the last good water for a while, so lots of other hikers stopped for a break as well. We chatted for a while as the water filtered and we refueled with some snacks. It was a cruisey 6 more miles on top of the ridge with epic views of the crags and Mt. Shasta. We were done at 6:45 pm. We camped with two other folks, although we never saw them come out of their tents.
Day 104 – 28 miles/1549 (7/9/22)
When we left Mt. Shasta, we had set out sights to hike the 99 miles to Etna in four days. Since the first day was “only” 20 miles, we were up early and started moving quickly to cover ground. Having climbed much of the vertical the day before, we were happy to hike lots of easy miles through forest in the morning. The trail stayed up high, and we got views of the surrounding mountains in the Trinity Alps where the trees thinned out on near the top of the ridge.
Normally, we take a break every 2 hours/6-7 miles or so. We took a shorter morning break at 7 miles, then hiked fast and fought off our hunger to reach Deadfall Lake for lunch. We had made it 15 miles by noon! It was certainly a bit tougher than our typical pace, but it was very satisfying to be over half-way done by lunch on a big day. It was a Saturday, and Deadfall Lake was crawling with weekenders since a parking area was only a couple miles away. When we walked up, a campfire was roaring with a giant log sticking out from the inferno. The man “tending” to the fire was sitting in his chair 20 yards away looking at the lake. Don’t be like this guy. Thankfully, we didn’t notice a wildfire start that day. We sat beneath the shade of a large white pine, taking in the view at the lake while we ate lunch. After a little while, a group of backpackers appeared nearby. A woman was shouting orders, telling folks where to camp, and divvying up tasks. It soon became apparent this was an intro to backpacking class through REI once everyone started pitching the same REI brand tent. The instructor was talking about complicated knots, and Maggie and I couldn’t help but laugh a little knowing we had never used such a knot in over 100 days of hiking the PCT. For meal prep, some one in the group mentioned getting out the knife set – yes, a knife set – as in multiple knives. We were befuddled, but it goes to show how different thru hiking is compared to weekend backpacking. Our gear is stripped down so we can cover long distance. Weekenders can spare some weight to enjoy some simple luxuries out in the woods. We can’t wait to do that again…
We hiked on and found the parking lot up the trail where we caught up to Bennet and Burrito-with-a-J. They had gotten out of town the day before us and hiked a few miles. A little further on, I made a comment about the conglomerate. “What, like a business?” Burrito-with-a-J asked. I was referring to a cliffside of rounded rocks which looked like they had been cemented together, and we had a laugh about the misunderstanding. The plant life on this day was top notch. The Bear Grass blooms were innumerable! Mass blooms like this don’t happen every year, only when conditions permit, so we were loving the mystical feel of these white flower stalks all around. Also of note, we saw Heart-leafed Milkweed (Asclepias cordifolia), Fernald’s Iris (Iris fernaldii), and perhaps the strangest Mariposa lily yet (Calochortus coeruleus) with fuzzy petals! The latter two are endemic to California, and milkweeds are just cool to begin with, so I was pretty stoked on the botanical finds for the day.
The trail continued on a long flat stretch, contouring around the ridges. We made it to camp a little after 6 pm, worn out from 28 miles of hiking, but proud of our progress and how we managed to maintain a solid pace all day. I set up the tent while Maggie fetched water from a spring nearby. When she returned, she informed me of more interesting plants to come… We camped with two other hikers, Momma Peach and Hell Bent, a pair of retired women. Hell Bent was on her third attempt to truly thru hike the PCT, since the other attempts were thwarted by fire. We were all feeling fortunate having made it this far through California without any wildfire issues. We ate dinner in the tent as the evening mosquitos honed in on our scent. We did step out for an amazing sunset that lit up the bottom of the clouds a blazing orange.
Day 105 – 27 miles/1576 (7/10/22)
We woke up around sunrise, ready for another big day. Our camp friends had already packed up and left by the time we stuck our heads out of the tent, a bit surprising because we both thought we woke up early. Up and moving, we found ourselves hiking through the nearby spring, which was covered with carnivorous California pitcher plants (Darlingtonia californica). This plant is straight up alien. They grow exclusively in seeps and bogs with cool running water. Typically, these are nutrient poor soils. Its highly modified translucent pitcher leaf lures insects into an opening at the top. The translucent nature of the upper part of the pitcher confuses the insect, so it tries to fly through the leaf. As the bug tires, it falls down into the digestive fluids at the bottom, providing the pitcher plant with extra nitrogen the soil lacks. Simply amazing!
After our little nature break, the trail took us down a long, easy 11 mile descent to Hwy 3. There was a small campground where we sat at a picnic table for an early lunch. A scruffy, older hiker approached us after we sat down – it was Goat! We hadn’t seen him since about mile 400, nearly three months prior. Running into familiar faces would start to become a theme as other hikers picked up their pace in NorCal. On the PCT, that which goes down must go up, so we began the climb up into Trinity Alps Wilderness. This is as good a time as any to talk about “Wilderness” in the United States.
More so than just being wild lands, wilderness is quite literally a legal definition with federal protections akin to those afforded to a national park. Signed into law, the Wilderness Act of 1964 set out to safeguard “undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain…” Recreation within designated wilderness areas is restricted to activities that do not involve mechanized equipment – no motors, no chainsaws, and even bikes aren’t allowed! Logging, mining, and road building are all prohibited as well. As an avid outdoor enthusiast, this is probably my favorite piece of legislation to come out of congress. Ever. Today, 4.5% of the U.S. (174,000 square miles) is designated wilderness, so get out and enjoy some of that sweet, sweet public land!
The trail took us over more exposed ridges with great views of the mountains beyond. We wound around every knuckle and into every drainage, passing through sparse forest. Near the end of the day, we entered a burn scar, and that was the story for the final miles of the day. The first tent site we considered was occupied, so we pushed on for an extra three miles. At least the next day would be a little shorter.
I was feeling weary as the day dragged on, but we finally reached our tent site a little before 8pm. We ran into Bennet and Burrito-with-a-J at the end of the day, eating dinner at the tent site. They hiked on into the night, leaving us alone to camp on a lovely little saddle. We were graced with yet another nice sunset before going to bed at 9:30.
Day 106 – 23 miles/1599 (7/11/22)
Maggie and I were moving around 7:30 am. We wanted to move quickly in order to get to the town of Etna before dark. We escaped the burn scar after a couple quick miles in the morning. Would you believe it, we saw some more cool plants! Too many to share honestly.
**NEW CONIFER ALERT**
Time to spruce things up around here! I was surprised to make it through the entire length of the Sierra Nevada without seeing a single spruce, but it is true. Finally, here in the Trinity Alps, we saw Brewer Spruce (Picea breweriana). I must say, spruces don’t really excite me, but Brewer Spruce is definitely special. This species was the first to evolve from pines, and it did so right here in North America. Spruces spread across the northern hemisphere when the Bering land bridge allowed trees to migrate and diversify into new species in Eurasia. Today, Brewer spruce is listed as a vulnerable species, limited to a handful of mountains in northern California and southern Oregon. Behold its noble, pedulous, weeping foliage:
The two stunners of the day were White Bog Orchid (Platanthera dilata) and Cliff Maid (Lewisia cotyledon). I’ll spare you more botanical discourse, just enjoy some pretty pictures:
The trail generally stayed high on the ridge for most of the day. The diorite spires around Russian Peak were absolutely spectacular. There was some interesting, gnarly geology in the mix along the way.
We found another old burn scar with no shortage of blowdown to climb over, but it didn’t last too long. We were rewarded with a nice lake view at the end of the day. We didn’t take too much time to enjoy the view however, we needed to get to town.
We got to the road to Etna around 6 pm. Five other hikers were there waiting to hitch, one guy had been waiting for two hours already. This is not a busy road, so we got comfortable and waited. In half an hour, 3 cars passed, but none stopped. Finally a truck passed by, stopped beyond us, and reversed, offering a ride. All 7 hikers of us piled in, 4 in the bed, 3 in the back seat: Trash Panda, Ketchup Daddy, Sloppy Jo, Sourpatch, and Hotdish. Our driver took us straight to the park in Etna.
We set up our tent and walked over to the brewery for dinner. They were swamped. There wasn’t an open table, but two seats were available with a couple of hikers we had been seeing for a several weeks, Sourpatch and Hotdish. They were pretty quiet on trail, but we finally got to know them a little better. Turns out they had hiked the CDT the year before, an ambitious first thru hike, but they said it wasn’t any harder than the PCT. Encouraging beta!
The brewery staff took our food order around 9 pm, and it was worth the wait. We shoveled beer and food down after this speedy 99 mile push from Mt. Shasta. We wandered back to the park, where the sprinklers were running. We heard the heavy drops hitting everyone’s tents in the dark. Maggie and I moved the tent. I checked the sprinkler schedule-map and we moved the tent again. Worn out and exhausted, we slept hard.
Day 107 – 3 miles/1602 (7/12/22)
It was resupply day in Etna. We hit the bakery for breakfast. Checked out the gear store, which was surprisingly good for this little town. There were no shoes for Maggie, but she was able to replace her stove since the old one was struggling to screw on to fuel canisters. We got groceries, then lunch from the coffee shop. Back at the park, we took our time packing up, delaying the misery of hiking with a full pack. While we sat at the picnic tables, a drum circle of old ladies was practicing in the park. It was kinda fun to listen to, but they left before us.
The weather was stupidly hot. The sun was roasting us here at low elevation. We started trying to hitch around 4 pm. Again, not much traffic in this tiny town. We waited about half an hour, at which point Maggie got a custom ice cream sandwich from the bakery – huckleberry ice cream between an oatmeal raisin cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. Just what we needed. Before we could finish the ice cream sandwich, a nice fella in a truck picked us up. He stopped and picked up Trash Panda on the way.
When he dropped us off at the top of the pass, the drum circle ladies were at the top, drumming and taking in the view. They sent us off with an epic drum sesh! Back on the trail, we hit the 1600 mile mark, then hiked a few miles to the first good tent site. We were making dinner before 7 and enjoyed a couple hours of relaxation.
Distance Over Time 