Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - July 6th
Day 81: Saturday 6th July Saddle 6,510 – above Bear Creek
In the morning the route was through undulating viewless forest reminding me of
the Forest of Dean in England. Brent, from Washington, was the first hiker to pass me
at 6.30am. He, along with Randy, Todd, Simon, Liz and several others, had left Sierra
City on the evening of Independence Day after they had ate their fill at the barbeque. He
had hiked the northern half of the PCT from Belden to Canada in 2000 and started from
Campo on April 18th 2001, intending to complete the route. Unfortunately he broke his
foot kicking steps in the ice on Mount Baden Powell (2001 was a heavy snow year), so he
was back to complete the PCT this year and had only a couple of days to go to get to
Belden. He was a wildlife biologist, who tried to get 9-month contacts for the winter so
that he could hike in the summer. He was heavily loaded with camera equipment, since
he was hoping to publish a photographic book on the PCT.
The only feature shown on the map was Chimney Rock. It was only after I passed it
that it dawned on me that the tiny outcrop I had just passed was in fact Chimney Rock.
When Todd came past me, having had a day off at Sierra City, I got the comment “That
was Chimney Rock!” when I told him where we were. Todd had worked as an
administrator for the Boy Scouts of America, but had had to give up his job to walk the
trail. He walked part of the Oregon Coastal Trail before starting the PCT and intended to
go back to complete it in September; a glutton for punishment!
We also met Tim who was section hiking north to south from Shasta to Whitney. In
common with most of the non thru-hikers he was heavily laden. So far the trail had been
descending gently from 7,000ft, but now it dropped steeply down to the Middle Fork of
the Feather River at 3,000ft. The river was crossed on a massive arch bridge, the largest
equestrian bridge on the PCT, high above the river.
I joined Brent, Randy and Todd for lunch, down by the rock pools directly below the
ridge. We bathed in the rock pools and then sunbathed on the smooth granite-slabs. Todd
made the mistake of wearing his “water resistant” watch/altimeter when swimming and
now found it wasn’t working properly as somehow water had got inside. They left me and
I had a long siesta in the hot sun. I didn’t want to start the 4000ft climb out of the
canyon until it cooled off a bit.
Simon and Liz came through as I took a break on the climb and I walked with them
for a little. They intended to take a couple of days off in Quincy to celebrate Liz’s
birthday in comfort. I stopped for dinner and then continued up the hill. I was expecting
to have to continue into the night, as finding somewhere to camp on this steep wooded
hillside looked very unlikely, but luckily I found a small flat spot at 8.45pm, as it was
getting dark. This had been my longest day so far at 23 miles.
Day 81: 22.9 miles 8.42 hours Camp: Spur above Bear Creek
In the morning the route was through undulating viewless forest reminding me of
the Forest of Dean in England. Brent, from Washington, was the first hiker to pass me
at 6.30am. He, along with Randy, Todd, Simon, Liz and several others, had left Sierra
City on the evening of Independence Day after they had ate their fill at the barbeque. He
had hiked the northern half of the PCT from Belden to Canada in 2000 and started from
Campo on April 18th 2001, intending to complete the route. Unfortunately he broke his
foot kicking steps in the ice on Mount Baden Powell (2001 was a heavy snow year), so he
was back to complete the PCT this year and had only a couple of days to go to get to
Belden. He was a wildlife biologist, who tried to get 9-month contacts for the winter so
that he could hike in the summer. He was heavily loaded with camera equipment, since
he was hoping to publish a photographic book on the PCT.
The only feature shown on the map was Chimney Rock. It was only after I passed it
that it dawned on me that the tiny outcrop I had just passed was in fact Chimney Rock.
When Todd came past me, having had a day off at Sierra City, I got the comment “That
was Chimney Rock!” when I told him where we were. Todd had worked as an
administrator for the Boy Scouts of America, but had had to give up his job to walk the
trail. He walked part of the Oregon Coastal Trail before starting the PCT and intended to
go back to complete it in September; a glutton for punishment!
We also met Tim who was section hiking north to south from Shasta to Whitney. In
common with most of the non thru-hikers he was heavily laden. So far the trail had been
descending gently from 7,000ft, but now it dropped steeply down to the Middle Fork of
the Feather River at 3,000ft. The river was crossed on a massive arch bridge, the largest
equestrian bridge on the PCT, high above the river.
I joined Brent, Randy and Todd for lunch, down by the rock pools directly below the
ridge. We bathed in the rock pools and then sunbathed on the smooth granite-slabs. Todd
made the mistake of wearing his “water resistant” watch/altimeter when swimming and
now found it wasn’t working properly as somehow water had got inside. They left me and
I had a long siesta in the hot sun. I didn’t want to start the 4000ft climb out of the
canyon until it cooled off a bit.
Simon and Liz came through as I took a break on the climb and I walked with them
for a little. They intended to take a couple of days off in Quincy to celebrate Liz’s
birthday in comfort. I stopped for dinner and then continued up the hill. I was expecting
to have to continue into the night, as finding somewhere to camp on this steep wooded
hillside looked very unlikely, but luckily I found a small flat spot at 8.45pm, as it was
getting dark. This had been my longest day so far at 23 miles.
Day 81: 22.9 miles 8.42 hours Camp: Spur above Bear Creek
Brent
Tim
Middle Fork, Feather
River Canyon
River Canyon
Bridge over Middle
Fork, Feather River
Fork, Feather River
Ancient Brit in Middle
Fork, Feather River
Fork, Feather River
Ancient Brit in Middle
Fork, Feather River
Fork, Feather River
Ancient Brit in Middle
Fork, Feather River
Fork, Feather River
Ancient Brit in Middle
Fork, Feather River
Fork, Feather River
Ancient Brit
crossing tributary
of Bear Creek
crossing tributary
of Bear Creek
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