Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - July 2nd
Day 77: Tuesday 2nd July Interstate 80 – Peak 8,166
Breakfast consisted of pancakes, maple syrup, and scrambled eggs, a nice change
from my usual breakfast of cereal bars. I tried to catch up on my e-mails but discovered
that if you don’t use your hot-mail address for a month your address is automatically
wiped from their computer. Charlotte then took me back to Interstate 80 for a late start
to the day. It was easy walking in the morning through undulating woodland
interspersed with rough grazing and open scrub. At Paradise Creek I passed two
Rangers who were destroying a fire ring, which was too close to both the trail and the
creek. Regulations prohibited camping and lighting fires within 100ft of the trail or of
water. This rule was frequently ignored because, in many places, it was only within these
boundaries that it was flat enough to camp.
I stopped at Rock Creek for lunch and a bath. Simon and Liz passed me while I was
resting and I caught up with them later and walked with them for much of the
afternoon. Being a reporter and contributor to walking magazines, Simon was much
more knowledgeable than me and had up to date information on the trends in
lightweight backpacking equipment and was much more aware of what you could get
away with in the drier, often forested mountains of the USA, compared with the
mountains of Europe. He was a friend of Chris Townsend, a Scot, who was author of
many books on trekking in North America. Chris had thru-hiked the PCT about 20
years ago, before the trail was completed and before there was knowledge about the best
way to go about doing the route. According to Simon, he left Kennedy Meadows on May
15th with ice axe, crampons, rope and 23 days food! In those days a traverse of the High
Sierras during the spring snowmelt must have been a daunting expedition. Nowadays it
is recommended by the foremost authority on ultra-lightweight backpacking in the USA,
Ray Jardine, that you don’t leave Kennedy Meadows until 15th June. On another
occasion Chris Townsend was walking in the high mountains with Ray Jardine, when a
storm came in. Chris suggested that it was time they stopped to put on their
waterproofs, but Ray thought it was time to start running! He wasn’t carrying any
waterproofs! A big change from traditional teaching on safety in the mountains!
We stopped for “afternoon tea” and Liz was complaining that the weather was
boring. She was getting fed up with the continuous hot weather we were getting and
preferred the changeable weather she was used to in Scotland. Simon and Liz then went
on ahead, since they had a supply bag in Sierra City Post Office and they wanted to get
there before the Post office closed on Wednesday, because they wouldn’t be able to pick
it up on July 4th, US Independence Day, and they were concerned that the Post Office
might be closed for 4 days. I had a bag hanging in the woods so I was not in the same
hurry.
I stopped at 8.30pm as the sun was setting, having managed 20 miles despite my
very late start.
Day 77: 20.0 miles 8.00 hours Camp: NW ridge, peak 8,166
Breakfast consisted of pancakes, maple syrup, and scrambled eggs, a nice change
from my usual breakfast of cereal bars. I tried to catch up on my e-mails but discovered
that if you don’t use your hot-mail address for a month your address is automatically
wiped from their computer. Charlotte then took me back to Interstate 80 for a late start
to the day. It was easy walking in the morning through undulating woodland
interspersed with rough grazing and open scrub. At Paradise Creek I passed two
Rangers who were destroying a fire ring, which was too close to both the trail and the
creek. Regulations prohibited camping and lighting fires within 100ft of the trail or of
water. This rule was frequently ignored because, in many places, it was only within these
boundaries that it was flat enough to camp.
I stopped at Rock Creek for lunch and a bath. Simon and Liz passed me while I was
resting and I caught up with them later and walked with them for much of the
afternoon. Being a reporter and contributor to walking magazines, Simon was much
more knowledgeable than me and had up to date information on the trends in
lightweight backpacking equipment and was much more aware of what you could get
away with in the drier, often forested mountains of the USA, compared with the
mountains of Europe. He was a friend of Chris Townsend, a Scot, who was author of
many books on trekking in North America. Chris had thru-hiked the PCT about 20
years ago, before the trail was completed and before there was knowledge about the best
way to go about doing the route. According to Simon, he left Kennedy Meadows on May
15th with ice axe, crampons, rope and 23 days food! In those days a traverse of the High
Sierras during the spring snowmelt must have been a daunting expedition. Nowadays it
is recommended by the foremost authority on ultra-lightweight backpacking in the USA,
Ray Jardine, that you don’t leave Kennedy Meadows until 15th June. On another
occasion Chris Townsend was walking in the high mountains with Ray Jardine, when a
storm came in. Chris suggested that it was time they stopped to put on their
waterproofs, but Ray thought it was time to start running! He wasn’t carrying any
waterproofs! A big change from traditional teaching on safety in the mountains!
We stopped for “afternoon tea” and Liz was complaining that the weather was
boring. She was getting fed up with the continuous hot weather we were getting and
preferred the changeable weather she was used to in Scotland. Simon and Liz then went
on ahead, since they had a supply bag in Sierra City Post Office and they wanted to get
there before the Post office closed on Wednesday, because they wouldn’t be able to pick
it up on July 4th, US Independence Day, and they were concerned that the Post Office
might be closed for 4 days. I had a bag hanging in the woods so I was not in the same
hurry.
I stopped at 8.30pm as the sun was setting, having managed 20 miles despite my
very late start.
Day 77: 20.0 miles 8.00 hours Camp: NW ridge, peak 8,166
Round Valley
Traversing Peak 8606
White Rock Creek
Liz and Simon
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