Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - July 7th
Day 82: Sunday 7th July Above Bear Creek – Three Lakes
In the morning I made the mistake of not getting water at the first spring. The
second spring was grotty so I carried on with only half a litre to keep me going until I
could find another spring. At 8am I passed Joanna, aged 52 from Oregon, who was still
packing up her tent. She was in her third year of a 5-year plan to hike the PCT and
hiking from Donner Pass to Ashland. She had already walked the Southern California
section and Oregon, saving up Washington and the Sierras, hopefully to walk with her
husband who was looking after his sick mother.
Until Buck’s Summit there was the usual combination of shaded conifers with
occasional clear-cut and brush. However the climb from Buck’s Summit was logged
before 1950, when there was no requirement to replant, and chaparral had taken over. It
was very hot climbing these open slopes. Fortunately I came across a small creek not
mentioned in the guidebook so I was able to replenish my water supplies. Joanna caught
up with me while I was stopped for lunch. During lunch Luke turned up. He had just
spent 4 days off the trail at the Quincy Music Festival, where “Restless Wind”, “D-low”,
and the two Joes had also found there way. Some people would argue with the description
“Music Festival” for what was actually a Pop Festival. He was carrying several cans of
beer and returned one of the ones he owed me from Walker Pass.
I walked with Joanna for most of the afternoon and when I left her, I was joined by
“Purboy”. We intended to camp at Clear Creek but we saw a couple of young bears
nearby and thought it better to carry on. Unfortunately we seemed to run out of
campsites on the PCT, so I dropped down to the lower of the “Three Lakes”, where there
were plenty of sites and enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes away. This was another 23-
mile day.
Day 82: 23.2 miles 9.07 hours Camp: Lower, Three Lakes
In the morning I made the mistake of not getting water at the first spring. The
second spring was grotty so I carried on with only half a litre to keep me going until I
could find another spring. At 8am I passed Joanna, aged 52 from Oregon, who was still
packing up her tent. She was in her third year of a 5-year plan to hike the PCT and
hiking from Donner Pass to Ashland. She had already walked the Southern California
section and Oregon, saving up Washington and the Sierras, hopefully to walk with her
husband who was looking after his sick mother.
Until Buck’s Summit there was the usual combination of shaded conifers with
occasional clear-cut and brush. However the climb from Buck’s Summit was logged
before 1950, when there was no requirement to replant, and chaparral had taken over. It
was very hot climbing these open slopes. Fortunately I came across a small creek not
mentioned in the guidebook so I was able to replenish my water supplies. Joanna caught
up with me while I was stopped for lunch. During lunch Luke turned up. He had just
spent 4 days off the trail at the Quincy Music Festival, where “Restless Wind”, “D-low”,
and the two Joes had also found there way. Some people would argue with the description
“Music Festival” for what was actually a Pop Festival. He was carrying several cans of
beer and returned one of the ones he owed me from Walker Pass.
I walked with Joanna for most of the afternoon and when I left her, I was joined by
“Purboy”. We intended to camp at Clear Creek but we saw a couple of young bears
nearby and thought it better to carry on. Unfortunately we seemed to run out of
campsites on the PCT, so I dropped down to the lower of the “Three Lakes”, where there
were plenty of sites and enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes away. This was another 23-
mile day.
Day 82: 23.2 miles 9.07 hours Camp: Lower, Three Lakes
Lookout Rock
Tiger Lily
Joanna
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