Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - July 15th
Day 90: Monday 15th July Baum Lake – Rock Creek
Mosquitoes were active in the morning. The marshy lakeshore and windless
conditions were ideal for them. There were American White Pelicans, with massive
orange bills and huge throat pouches, which they used as dip nets to catch fish,
swimming around on the surface. There was a Turkey Vulture searching the shores for
carrion and, before I left, a pair of American Bald Eagles turned up to do some fishing.
Having made a catch they carried the fish away to a nearby nest.
After yesterday’s hard day I didn’t set off until 7.25am. I stopped for my second
breakfast with Chris and Mike, who were section hiking, north to south, from
Dunsmuir to Yosemite. Scrub Jays, common in the Southern Californian desert, were
putting in an appearance again now we were at lower altitudes, replacing the Steller’s
Jays and Clarke’s Nutcrackers, which had been constant companions in the higher
mountains. As I set off again I met David, “Camel”, who was completing the PCT with
the section from the Columbia River on the Oregon/Washington to Tahoe.
Approaching Burney Falls the trail passed right underneath an Osprey’s nest on
the top of a dead pine tree. The Osprey is one of the few birds of prey to live solely off
fish. It had declined badly in the USA as it had done in Europe, but conservation
programmes had successfully led to the re-introduction of the species to much of its
former range. Nests are usually located in more secluded spots and the Ospreys don’t
like being disturbed, especially when, as now, there are young in the nest. They were
screeching loudly and an adult was flying around to see off intruders.
Burney Falls is one of the biggest volume waterfalls in California. Its feeder
stream, Burney Creek, is fed by hundreds of springs from a vast natural underground
reservoir only a few miles upstream. The Falls are a major tourist attraction and I
stopped at the Burney Falls store where I had left a supply package. Ben was still there
as were John and Julia who were looking for a lift into town for a rest day. Also at
Burney Falls was Dick, from Medford in Oregon, who had thru-hiked the PCT 23 years
ago. Much of the trail was not yet built and he spent a lot of time on dirt roads, as well
as a lot of time lost, just heading north.
There was a letter from my father, together with press cuttings of the sport in
England from the first half of the summer. As a supporter of Surrey County Cricket I
was delighted to get a cutting on their 50-over cup match against Glamorgan. Surrey
scored 438 smashing practically every record in the book and, astonishingly, almost lost
the match when Glamorgan replied with 429. Alistair Brown, already the only player to
score 200 in a 40-over match scored 268, meaning that he now held the World record
for both 40 and 50 over matches. He still wasn’t considered good enough for a place in
the England team! I gorged myself on orange juice, ice cream and caramel shake
before setting off again.
The route passed another large reservoir, Lake Britton, before climbing up to
Rock Creek, where I stopped for dinner. Rock Creek was in a lovely little gorge with
tempting, but inaccessible, waterfalls and rock pools. I only went on for about 5
minutes after dinner as I found a good camping site and didn’t expect to find another
one for some time.
Day 90: 17.2 miles 6.40 hours Camp: above Rock Creek
Mosquitoes were active in the morning. The marshy lakeshore and windless
conditions were ideal for them. There were American White Pelicans, with massive
orange bills and huge throat pouches, which they used as dip nets to catch fish,
swimming around on the surface. There was a Turkey Vulture searching the shores for
carrion and, before I left, a pair of American Bald Eagles turned up to do some fishing.
Having made a catch they carried the fish away to a nearby nest.
After yesterday’s hard day I didn’t set off until 7.25am. I stopped for my second
breakfast with Chris and Mike, who were section hiking, north to south, from
Dunsmuir to Yosemite. Scrub Jays, common in the Southern Californian desert, were
putting in an appearance again now we were at lower altitudes, replacing the Steller’s
Jays and Clarke’s Nutcrackers, which had been constant companions in the higher
mountains. As I set off again I met David, “Camel”, who was completing the PCT with
the section from the Columbia River on the Oregon/Washington to Tahoe.
Approaching Burney Falls the trail passed right underneath an Osprey’s nest on
the top of a dead pine tree. The Osprey is one of the few birds of prey to live solely off
fish. It had declined badly in the USA as it had done in Europe, but conservation
programmes had successfully led to the re-introduction of the species to much of its
former range. Nests are usually located in more secluded spots and the Ospreys don’t
like being disturbed, especially when, as now, there are young in the nest. They were
screeching loudly and an adult was flying around to see off intruders.
Burney Falls is one of the biggest volume waterfalls in California. Its feeder
stream, Burney Creek, is fed by hundreds of springs from a vast natural underground
reservoir only a few miles upstream. The Falls are a major tourist attraction and I
stopped at the Burney Falls store where I had left a supply package. Ben was still there
as were John and Julia who were looking for a lift into town for a rest day. Also at
Burney Falls was Dick, from Medford in Oregon, who had thru-hiked the PCT 23 years
ago. Much of the trail was not yet built and he spent a lot of time on dirt roads, as well
as a lot of time lost, just heading north.
There was a letter from my father, together with press cuttings of the sport in
England from the first half of the summer. As a supporter of Surrey County Cricket I
was delighted to get a cutting on their 50-over cup match against Glamorgan. Surrey
scored 438 smashing practically every record in the book and, astonishingly, almost lost
the match when Glamorgan replied with 429. Alistair Brown, already the only player to
score 200 in a 40-over match scored 268, meaning that he now held the World record
for both 40 and 50 over matches. He still wasn’t considered good enough for a place in
the England team! I gorged myself on orange juice, ice cream and caramel shake
before setting off again.
The route passed another large reservoir, Lake Britton, before climbing up to
Rock Creek, where I stopped for dinner. Rock Creek was in a lovely little gorge with
tempting, but inaccessible, waterfalls and rock pools. I only went on for about 5
minutes after dinner as I found a good camping site and didn’t expect to find another
one for some time.
Day 90: 17.2 miles 6.40 hours Camp: above Rock Creek
Baum Lake
Camel
PCT mile sign
Burley Creek
Showy Thistle
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