Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - Day 17 April 24th
Day 17: Wednesday 24th April
N. Teulang Canyon – Fork Springs
It was still 68ºF when I woke in the morning, so I was expecting another hot day,
despite a little high cloud and a gentle breeze. I was concerned that Whitewater River,
which I was depending on for water, might be dried up and was relieved to find it
running well. I stripped off and got into a pool in the river, but had to beat a rapid
retreat, as it was extremely cold. This surprised me, but the river is fed by springs,
which tend to be about 40ºF all year. My water filter wouldn’t work, but it wasn’t really
needed for this water.
By the time I left the river it was beginning to cloud over and the temperature was
starting to drop. It started raining as I reached the top of the ridge above Mission
Creek and rained all afternoon on the long walk up Mission Creek. The creek
supported a lot of deciduous trees and the route was washed out in places and suffered
badly from windblown trees across the trail. The guidebook said that the trail forded
the stream 20 times, but this was a serious underestimate. The buckle on the waist
belt on my rucksack failed during the walk up Mission Creek. With an old shoulder
injury, I try and put the maximum weight on my hips and keep the weight on my
shoulders to a minimum. Fortunately I also wear a bum-bag, to carry things like maps,
camera and water that I want to get at without taking off my rucksack, and the bum-
bag happened to have the same size buckle so I was able to swap them over, otherwise
I would have had a big problem. The rain stopped just before I reached the camp at
Fork Springs, the main source of the creek, where “Captain Cheerio” and Alan
Schlerf were already camped.
Alan, from Flagstaff, Arizona, was an ex-diver who had been ill with Leukaemia in
the 1990s, but now seemed to be fully recovered. Unfortunately, because of his illness,
he was unable to go back to diving, as he could not get any health insurance for this
job. He had walked the AT two years ago and was now using the PCT to try to raise
money for Leukaemia research. Very few of the thru-hikers were using the walk to
raise money for charity. The PCT is enough of an undertaking without the added
pressure from fund-raising. He had recently completed a degree in Cartography and
had resorted to truck driving to earn a living. His cartography course couldn’t have
been very practical because he got completely lost in Whitewater Canyon, that
morning, losing about 3 hours. Alan got the trail name “Purboy”. Pur was a make of
water filter and when his filter stopped working he got frustrated with it and smashed
it on a rock. Later on he also smashed his stove when that stopped working. I hope he
can show more patience in his future career, because he had applied for a place on a
nursing course and later learnt he had been accepted for the course.
I took my water filter apart and after several attempts I managed to get it working
again. I also learnt from “Captain Cheerio” that he cleans scrapes his filter about
every 10 litres, which is probably why his filter worked much quicker than mine. I’m
still not convinced that it is sensible to carry a water filter at all.
I was beginning to feel that I would need to rest my left heel, rather than try and
walk through the injury, but since Deep Creek Hot Springs were only about a week
away I thought I would try and reach there before taking a few days off.
Day 17: 15.7 miles 7.48 hours Camp: Fork Springs
N. Teulang Canyon – Fork Springs
It was still 68ºF when I woke in the morning, so I was expecting another hot day,
despite a little high cloud and a gentle breeze. I was concerned that Whitewater River,
which I was depending on for water, might be dried up and was relieved to find it
running well. I stripped off and got into a pool in the river, but had to beat a rapid
retreat, as it was extremely cold. This surprised me, but the river is fed by springs,
which tend to be about 40ºF all year. My water filter wouldn’t work, but it wasn’t really
needed for this water.
By the time I left the river it was beginning to cloud over and the temperature was
starting to drop. It started raining as I reached the top of the ridge above Mission
Creek and rained all afternoon on the long walk up Mission Creek. The creek
supported a lot of deciduous trees and the route was washed out in places and suffered
badly from windblown trees across the trail. The guidebook said that the trail forded
the stream 20 times, but this was a serious underestimate. The buckle on the waist
belt on my rucksack failed during the walk up Mission Creek. With an old shoulder
injury, I try and put the maximum weight on my hips and keep the weight on my
shoulders to a minimum. Fortunately I also wear a bum-bag, to carry things like maps,
camera and water that I want to get at without taking off my rucksack, and the bum-
bag happened to have the same size buckle so I was able to swap them over, otherwise
I would have had a big problem. The rain stopped just before I reached the camp at
Fork Springs, the main source of the creek, where “Captain Cheerio” and Alan
Schlerf were already camped.
Alan, from Flagstaff, Arizona, was an ex-diver who had been ill with Leukaemia in
the 1990s, but now seemed to be fully recovered. Unfortunately, because of his illness,
he was unable to go back to diving, as he could not get any health insurance for this
job. He had walked the AT two years ago and was now using the PCT to try to raise
money for Leukaemia research. Very few of the thru-hikers were using the walk to
raise money for charity. The PCT is enough of an undertaking without the added
pressure from fund-raising. He had recently completed a degree in Cartography and
had resorted to truck driving to earn a living. His cartography course couldn’t have
been very practical because he got completely lost in Whitewater Canyon, that
morning, losing about 3 hours. Alan got the trail name “Purboy”. Pur was a make of
water filter and when his filter stopped working he got frustrated with it and smashed
it on a rock. Later on he also smashed his stove when that stopped working. I hope he
can show more patience in his future career, because he had applied for a place on a
nursing course and later learnt he had been accepted for the course.
I took my water filter apart and after several attempts I managed to get it working
again. I also learnt from “Captain Cheerio” that he cleans scrapes his filter about
every 10 litres, which is probably why his filter worked much quicker than mine. I’m
still not convinced that it is sensible to carry a water filter at all.
I was beginning to feel that I would need to rest my left heel, rather than try and
walk through the injury, but since Deep Creek Hot Springs were only about a week
away I thought I would try and reach there before taking a few days off.
Day 17: 15.7 miles 7.48 hours Camp: Fork Springs
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Whitewater Creek
Bath-time at
Whitewater Creek
Whitewater Creek
Beaverttail Cactus
Purboy at Fork
Springs Camp
Springs Camp