Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - July 9th
Day 84: Tuesday 9th July Myrtle Flat Camp – Humboldt Summit
I soon discovered the reason for the long detour; there were three small washed out
gullies, which were not particularly difficult to cross. There didn’t seem much reason to
divert the trail except that horses might find the route impassable. In the upper canyon
the PCT became impossible to follow, possibly because it hadn’t been used for a couple
of years, and I ended up to following a logging trail up to the ridge and then on to Poison
Springs where I took a break.
I was now leaving the land where old volcanic rocks overlaid the granite and getting
into a land of massive active or dormant volcanoes, the first of which was Lassen Peak
and the most famous being Mount St. Helens which blew its top in 1980. The PCT goes
round rather than over these volcanoes. Now porous ash and lava predominated,
resulting in any rain quickly seeping into the soil and there was little surface water so
the water problems of Southern California returned.
I met Luke and Joanna just after Poison Springs and walked with them to Cold
Spring. They had come up the diverted route last night and were extremely dirty after
bivvying in a fire burnt area. I washed much of my clothing and had a bath in the trough
at Cold Spring. Being spring water it was very cold. It was extremely hot and since it was
going to be 24 miles to the next water, we had a long siesta in the shade of an oak tree.
Luke had a good supply of pot with him, which he had acquired at the Quincy Music
Festival. He didn’t like walking in the heat so he was going to stay until late afternoon
and then walk into the night.
I left Cold Spring carrying 5½ litres of water. The trail was mainly through forest
with occasional views towards Lassen Peak. It was still hot when I stopped for dinner at
6.30pm, after which I carried on to the road crossing at Humboldt Summit to camp, as it
was getting dark. Since Cold Spring the trail had been mainly through forest, but there
were occasional views towards Lassen. Luke arrived after dark and camped nearby.
Day 84: 19.0 miles 8.36 hours Camp: Humboldt Summit
I soon discovered the reason for the long detour; there were three small washed out
gullies, which were not particularly difficult to cross. There didn’t seem much reason to
divert the trail except that horses might find the route impassable. In the upper canyon
the PCT became impossible to follow, possibly because it hadn’t been used for a couple
of years, and I ended up to following a logging trail up to the ridge and then on to Poison
Springs where I took a break.
I was now leaving the land where old volcanic rocks overlaid the granite and getting
into a land of massive active or dormant volcanoes, the first of which was Lassen Peak
and the most famous being Mount St. Helens which blew its top in 1980. The PCT goes
round rather than over these volcanoes. Now porous ash and lava predominated,
resulting in any rain quickly seeping into the soil and there was little surface water so
the water problems of Southern California returned.
I met Luke and Joanna just after Poison Springs and walked with them to Cold
Spring. They had come up the diverted route last night and were extremely dirty after
bivvying in a fire burnt area. I washed much of my clothing and had a bath in the trough
at Cold Spring. Being spring water it was very cold. It was extremely hot and since it was
going to be 24 miles to the next water, we had a long siesta in the shade of an oak tree.
Luke had a good supply of pot with him, which he had acquired at the Quincy Music
Festival. He didn’t like walking in the heat so he was going to stay until late afternoon
and then walk into the night.
I left Cold Spring carrying 5½ litres of water. The trail was mainly through forest
with occasional views towards Lassen Peak. It was still hot when I stopped for dinner at
6.30pm, after which I carried on to the road crossing at Humboldt Summit to camp, as it
was getting dark. Since Cold Spring the trail had been mainly through forest, but there
were occasional views towards Lassen. Luke arrived after dark and camped nearby.
Day 84: 19.0 miles 8.36 hours Camp: Humboldt Summit
Ridge above
Poison Spring
Poison Spring
Luke
Ancient Brit at
Cold Spring
Cold Spring
Trail near Lost Lake
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