Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2006 - Trip Summary
Ancient Brit on the PCT, 2006
I landed at Los Angeles International on 11th April and picked up a hire car. After collecting the supplies I
had pre-ordered from REI and buying food to last me from Campo to Walker Pass, I drove out to the ‘Hiker
Haven’ at Aqua Dulce. I spent three days there sorting out food and equipment and caching supplies between
Aqua Dulce and Walker Pass. I then headed south and dropped supplies between Aqua Dulce and the Mexican
border.
I had a day to spare so I did my first training session for the hike. I hiked 6 miles to Deep Creek Hot
Springs, spent the night there and hiked back to the car in the morning. On Sunday I drove down to Escondido to
stay with Greg and Irene High and did my second training session for the hike when I walked around San Diego
Zoo with them.
On Easter Monday, I dropped my car off in San Diego and got a lift to Campo with Ladybug. She had
contacted me by email as she wanted someone to ‘hold her hand’ near the border.
It was pleasantly warm when we set off and there was plenty of water in the streams so it was a much easier start
than in 2002. This water followed the heavy rains in March which fell as record snowfall through the Sierra
Nevada and Northern California. After a couple of days Ladybug went on ahead and I did very well swapping a
married middle-aged lady for a single 22 year-old girl who became known as Ladybird.
The weather was such that Ladybird even put water into a water cache rather than taking it out! At Barrel
Spring, Warner Springs Monte gave ladybird a can of Diet Soda which she started drinking and then said “Why
am I drinking this, it’s got no calories”. We were meeting a lot of hikers until we reached Warner Springs, which
Ladybird described as a ‘Blackhole’ as hikers seemed to go in but couldn’t get out. By now many hikers were
already injured through doing too much mileage at the beginning of the hike, but many where using any excuse
to delay reaching the snow. ‘
We reached the San Jacinto Mountains together but Ladybird had to drop down to Idyllwild to resupply and
have a day off with her sister. We arranged to meet up again at Deep Creek. The San Jacinto Mountains were
covered in snow and any steps had melted away so I had to make tracks in the soft snow as well as cope with
some very difficult navigation. It took me 13 hours and 2 days to cover 13 miles! The trail then dropped down to
1000ft and the temperature reached 100F for the first time. I was mostly on my own as I hiked to Deep Creek
Hot Springs. I had scheduled a rest-day and when Ladybird didn’t turn up I decided to give it another day. In fact
she had missed the post in Big Bear City and had to wait for the Post Office to open on the Monday morning.
Deep Creek Hot Springs is one of highlights of Southern California with several hot pools to soak in and a pool
which is warm enough to swim in. Traditionally the springs were used naked, but nowadays they are clothing-
optional and it is a pity more through-hikers don’t stick to the traditions. I spent my second rest day with a group
of locals and had an interesting time. They arranged a pipe from the top hot pool to produce a stream of hot water
into the swimming hole. One lady, a retired professional masseur, gave me a water massage. First I lay on my
front on a lilo and she directed the stream of water onto me giving a full-body massage and then when I turned
over I got the same treatment. This was rather arousing and I was getting the same affect as if the lady was
giving me an all-over massage herself! It’s fortunate I don’t get easily embarrassed any more as by now I had got
an audience. Later in the day she gave me a mud-bath followed by another water massage. She covered me all
over with the fine mud from just below the pools and when the mud had dried she washed it off with a water
massage.
I had arranged with Ladybird that we would meet at Walker Pass after my supply break if she didn’t reach
the Hot Springs, so I set off the next morning. I reached Silverwood Lake in the afternoon and found a secluded
sandy beach for a break and this was the first lake I had been able to swim in. As I did throughout the hike I
went skinny-dipping whenever I went swimming.
I had a car booked at Ridgecrest for when I reached Walker Pass and I was going to need to maintain about 20
miles/day from Deep Creek to get there on time. I was mainly walking on my own during this time. The weather
was generally hot and since I was on my own I wore my home-made breech-clout rather than shorts. Inspired by
Highlander, a former US Marine, who was wearing a kilt, I thought about increasing ventilation in the groin
region, to reduce discomfort and soreness. The breech-clout is a garment formerly worn by American Indians and
Ancient Egyptians and basically consists of bandanas hanging from front and back of a waist belt. It covers the
parts convention says should be covered but allows the air to circulate freely. A short cool spell saw me through
the Mohave Desert with little problem and I reached Walker Pass after 38 days of hiking.
I hitched down to Ridgecrest where hired a car for a week, resupplied and dropped supplies off as far as the
California/Oregon border. On my return to Walker Pass I learnt that Ladybird had been bitten by a Brown
Recluse Spider and would be off the trail for several weeks, so I was walking on my own again. I heard the injury
described as “Looking like a gunshot wound” and the bite of a Brown Recluse Spider as being “Worse than a
Black Widow” and “Like a rattlesnake bite, except ten times worse”. I later learnt that she had got going again
and was in Oregon, but about a month behind schedule.
I left Kennedy Meadows on June 6th. My back weighed about 65lb, including at least 10 days food. I was
equipped for mountaineering rather than trail walking. I had decided to use a combination of walking poles and
crampons. The first significant snow was met at Trail Pass and by Cottonwood Pass the snow-pack was almost
100%. This is a good indicator of the conditions ahead. “If there is snow on Cottonwood Pass, you will be on
Snowpack until you reach Donner Pass.” The hiking was relatively easy until I reached Mount Whitney. I was
walking with a loose group of about 8 youngsters from the East Coast of USA. They were discovering that they
hadn’t got the equipment or the skills to cope with the conditions and I don’t think any of them made it beyond
Lone Pine or Independence. At that time I was also meeting an experienced Kiwi, ‘Roaring thunder’, the Basque,
Ynaki , both of whom were carrying walking poles, ice-axe, snow shoes and crampons, and ‘Three Gallon’ who got
his trail name because he left Campo with 3 gallons of water despite the fact the streams were running and it was
raining. These three were reveling in the conditions. They left me as they were heading for the Vermillion Valley
Resort (VVR) without resupply.
I was on my own as I headed up towards the 13.000ft Forester Pass and camped in the snow above 12,00ft, so
that I could go over the pass when the snow was hard frozen in the morning. The descents from Forester Pass,
where ‘gidiup’ passed me and Glen Pass are dangerous in snow conditions and inexperienced or ill-equipped
hikers have died here in the past.
Scott Williamson passed me in his attempt to complete hike to Canada and back to Mexico. I later learnt he
had lost about 20lb in weight in the High Sierra and was physically drained. He did manage to keep going and I
saw him again on his way south in Washington.
After resupplying in the Onion Valley, over the Kearsarge Pass, I was again carrying 10 days food when I
rejoined the trail. The only through-hikers I met in the next two weeks were ‘Atomic’ and ‘Subatomic’. They
first passed me when I had camped at 3pm one afternoon, by which time the snow was much too soft for me to
make meaningful progress. I would then set off at 5.30 am, when the snow was frozen hard, and pass them while
they were still in their sleeping bags. They weren’t carrying crampons and had to wait for the snow to soften
before they could safely move out.
I lost them after an 11 hour day in which I only covered 11 miles. I went on that long so I could use their
footprints over Mather Pass. The ascent of Mather Pass in snow is the most difficult on the trail, but it is
relatively safe as even a 500ft fall down the concave snow-slope wasn’t likely to lead to more than damage to the
pride. It wasn’t the fall that damaged me but the loss of my sunhat which was blown off and away by a gust of
wind and I ended with sunburn on my ears, nose and lips by the time I managed to buy a replacement.
On the descent from Muir Pass I was to be confronted with the first really serious stream crossing, Evolution
Creek. This had been waist high in 2002 and I wasn’t sure I would be able to cross it at all in 2006, so I didn’t! I
avoided the crossing by climbing down the crags on the south side of the river (looking back I had found the only
line of weakness down the crags) and descending through the avalanche debris on the south bank of the river to
rejoin the PCT after the dangerous crossing.
By now it was getting warmer t day and night and the rivers were beginning to rise dangerously from the
increased snowmelt. I avoided the even more dangerous crossing of Bear Creek by crossing its main tributaries
high up the mountain on slippery logs. I had discovered that walking poles and crampons were a good combination
crossing rivers on fallen trees. I later met 4 through-hikers who had involuntary swims in Bear Creek, including
‘Heike’ who was washed down more than 200m.
I resupplied at VVR. I didn’t stay long as there were no through-hikers there and it is very expensive! I took
a variation over Goodale Pass, instead of Silver Pass. From the total absence of tracks I would think this was the
first crossing of the pass in 2006. I approached Red’s Meadow down Cascade Valley (Fish Creek). On the top river
crossing I got about a third of the way across before turning back with the water already well above waist deep
and getting deeper. Again I had to descend the river on the wrong side. The bottom crossing looked totally
impassable to me and I later learnt that EricD had managed the top crossing, but taken one look at the bottom
crossing and turned round and headed back upstream.
With daytime temperatures over 85F and nighttime temperatures at 11,000ft well above freezing, the creek
levels were rising even more as I approached Tuolumne and even creeks too small to mark on the map were
becoming difficult to cross. When I reached Tuolumne the road had only just opened and the store, post office,
campsite and lodge were all still closed. The Ranger office was open and I had a chat with the Rangers. They
guessed the supply I had sent to the post office would be in Yosemite Valley and they said through-hikers had
been turning back at the first unbridged river crossing in Virginia Canyon. I had got my shorts wet crossing this
rocky stream in 2002 and wasn’t at all surprised it was uncrossable and this was just the first of a series of
difficult stream crossings. I came to the conclusion that the Tuolumne-Sonora Pass section was unjustifiable in
these conditions, so rather than wait for the river levels to drop I hitched round to the Sonora Pass.
Here I met EricD, ‘Scarecrow’ and ‘Bluegrass’ with whom I was to walk sections until Donner Pass. They left
Sonora Pass before me. They had met up with Tony, an English section hiker, and were approaching Sonora Peak
when he slipped on the hard snow, done a few summersaults and dislocated his shoulder in stopping himself on
the rocks below the snow-slope. EricD was running down the hill like a maniac and soon reached the US Marine
Base at the foot of the pass, from where the Marines quickly organized a helicopter rescue. I must admit I would
have been scared on thee steep traverses if I hadn’t been wearing crampons.
From Sonora Pass to Donner Pass was mainly on snowpack, but at least we were now getting below the
snowline for some sections of trail-walking. Navigation was much more difficult in this section as it was important
to follow the trail, even when it was buried, whereas in the High Sierra I had taken little notice of the actual line
of the trail.
At Echo Lake I met Trail Angel, Meadow Mary, with whom I had spent a lot of time in 2002. She took me
into South Lake Tahoe where I failed to find a suitable replacement camera for mine which had packed up
because of condensation problems over Muir Pass. I reached Donner Pass on July 4th in time to join ‘Pooh Bear’
in his Independence Day celebrations in his lakeside house on Donner Lake. He keeps open house to both
through-hikers and friends and following an excellent meal we watched the firework display on the beach at the
end of the lake.
Fortunately we ran out of snow-pack after another twenty miles and it was back to normal hiking. I consider
Northern California to be the least interesting bit of the trail. However one day stood out: I was woken at 4am by
noises outside my tent. I shone my headlight out and picked up a pair of eyes about 30 metres away. They could
only belong to a Mountain Lion (Cougar). I quickly grabbed my walking poles and got dressed. By now the Lion
was about 10 metres away and clearly visible in the torchlight. Thinking about defence I lit my stove and boiled
some water. Eventually the Lion wandered off, so I used the water to make a cup of tea, then packed up and was
on the trail by 5am, while it was still dark. I don’t suppose the Lion was really dangerous, it was just curious.
After all, it is just a “big pussy”. At 6am I saw a lovely ‘Cinnamon’ Black Bear, which, being a proper wild bear
took one look at me and ran. Rattlesnakes, mosquitoes and Poison Oak were also encountered during the day.
By mid-morning I reached a notice saying that the PCT was closed due to fire at the Middle Fork Feather River
and giving a totally impractical 56-mile detour. I had met a southbound hiker who had told me that the fire was
basically out and I should ignore the closure. He had been through the fire on the Friday, on Saturday EricD, who
had also ignored the closure arrived at the fire to see helicopters dropping water and planes dropping fire
retardant on the fire and the fire service were burning a fire-line down the switchbacks of the PCT! Surprisingly
the senior fire officers had a meeting and decided to escort through-hikers through the fire. By the time I arrived
there were still 120 firemen working on the fire. I spent a couple of hours with the fire safety officer on the far
side of the fire. He said the fire had been started by hikers, later identified as a pair of Israelis who were using a
leaking home-made ‘Pepsi-can’ alcohol stove. The fire service had burnt a fire-line either side of the fire and had
it contained, but trees were still blazing at the heart of the fire.
I found the best bits of northern California to be the Klamath Mountains and the much maligned Hat Creek
Rim. I was lucky to get through the Klamath Mountains as there were fires all around, but they didn’t affect the
trail, apart from some smoke, until I was safely through. These fires had been started by lightning.
I reached Ashland in Oregon after 62 days without a zero day and again took a week off, hired a car and dropped
supplies up the remainder of the trail. On the way south I had time to visit the Terwilliger and the McCredie Hot
Springs, where another lady gave me a mud bath!
In Oregon I diverted away from the PCT on many occasions to follow the old Oregon Skyline Trail. This
route is more scenic than the PCT and goes past a lot more lakes and does not have so many long sections
without water. The beach at the western end of the large Crescent Lake would have been top of my PCT beach
guide if it had been on the PCT rather than a variation. The highlight of Southern California and a candidate for
a place in the “Seven Wonders of the Natural World” is Crater Lake, the remains of a volcano that exploded
about 7000 years ago.
Soon after Crater Lake I lost a fight with a granola (cereal) bar and broke one of my front teeth. I hitched
out from trail and discovered that dentists don’t work on Fridays because they can enough money working 3-4
days/week and they prefer to play golf or go fishing on Fridays. Eventually I found a dentist who would see me
100 miles from where I left the trail. He confirmed that the tooth couldn’t be saved and pulled half of it leaving
the root to be dealt with when I got home. He confirmed my view that dentists don’t need to earn money on a
Friday by not charging me fee!
Oregon is the fastest section of the PCT and even I was managing 3mph. I was slowed down a bit by finding lots of
Lakes for swimming (mainly in the variations)
I soon reached Mount Washington which was closed due to a fire. Two Forest Service trail workers (“I didn’t
tell you this but….”) told me that the fire was more or less out and I should go through at night to avoid meeting
Fire or Forest service workers (It is illegal to go into a closed area). I followed their advice and climbed the
volcanic lava of Belknap Crater in the dark and started the descent. I soon ran into a wall of flames about a mile
from where I had been informed was the boundary of the fire. I’d have carried on in daylight, but navigating
through an area of active fire and hotspots with a LED head-torch didn’t seem to be a good idea so I turned back
and bivouacked about midnight.
The next day I got a lift round to Big Lake Youth Camp to pick up my supply bag and immediately ran into
the Puzzle Fire on Mount Jefferson. I spoke to some Fire Service personal and was told to rejoin the PCT by the
Whiteriver Road and the Jefferson Park Trail. The road and the trail were in fact the northern border of the
closure and were included in the closure. I hitched round to the Whiteriver Road, ignored the road closed sign
and headed up towards Mount Jefferson. I was taking a tea-break when a Forest Service Ranger drove up the
road. He asked me what I was doing on the closed road. (Technically I wasn’t in the closed area since I was sitting
about 2 yards north of the road!) After a long chat, rather than giving me a citation he actually gave me a lift to
the trailhead and said he would try and get his bosses to get something sensible sorted out. (I don’t think the Fire
Service and Forest Service are good at talking to each other.)
The next day I took a long break at a lovely little sandy beach on Scout Lake, dominated by the view of the
glaciers on Mount Jefferson. I was ahead of schedule because of the section missed round the fire so I took my
time as I headed to the Washington border. The superb weather I had been having was interrupted briefly by a
little snow and rain as I traversed the slopes of Mount Hood.
By now I was at last beginning to meet a lot more through-hikers, mainly higher mileage hikers who had left
Kennedy Meadows in late June or early July. The hot dry weather resumed as I headed into Washington. I was
still in no rush and actually spent 5 hours at Bear Lake. I’ve put this top of my best beach guide. It’s a lovely
little lake with good beaches and swimming. I’m sure I wasn’t influenced by the two young ladies who joined me
in skinny-dipping!
I was much fitter than in 2002 and was only needing to do relatively short days to keep up with my schedule
of about 18 miles/day.
The weather suddenly changed and I got 9 days of wet, cloudy conditions with the temperature barely above
freezing point. The rare glimpses of the big volcanoes showed that they were covered in new snow. One morning I
woke up with an inch of rain under the bottom half of my tent. I’m certainly glad I had a good tent and I stayed
dry inside. Over 9 days all clothing and equipment will get a little damp and I was delighted when the hot sunny
weather returned for the final 10 days.
Northern Washington has a lot of steep ascents and descents and these were added to because of the
diversion round the eastern side of Glacier Peak. Heavy rains in October 2003 had washed away all the bridges
and some of the trail on the official route and it was still closed while it was being repaired. This didn’t stop a lot
of hikers attempting the official route rather than the detour. With the rivers now exceptionally low and a fallen
tree across the ‘impassable’ River Suiattle the official route was feasible. In 2002 I hadn’t realized just how
spectacular Northern Washington was, but now with the superb weather I was seeing Washington at its best.
I reached the border late on Sunday 1st October, camping in Canada and then made the easy descent to Manning
Park on Monday morning. I stayed with Canadian cousins for a few days before flying back to England.
A much more difficult hike than in 2002 and not a pure through-hike because of sections missed because of
floods and fires, but very satisfying to have completed it in a year that so many hikers had to give up in Southern
California or the High Sierra.
I landed at Los Angeles International on 11th April and picked up a hire car. After collecting the supplies I
had pre-ordered from REI and buying food to last me from Campo to Walker Pass, I drove out to the ‘Hiker
Haven’ at Aqua Dulce. I spent three days there sorting out food and equipment and caching supplies between
Aqua Dulce and Walker Pass. I then headed south and dropped supplies between Aqua Dulce and the Mexican
border.
I had a day to spare so I did my first training session for the hike. I hiked 6 miles to Deep Creek Hot
Springs, spent the night there and hiked back to the car in the morning. On Sunday I drove down to Escondido to
stay with Greg and Irene High and did my second training session for the hike when I walked around San Diego
Zoo with them.
On Easter Monday, I dropped my car off in San Diego and got a lift to Campo with Ladybug. She had
contacted me by email as she wanted someone to ‘hold her hand’ near the border.
It was pleasantly warm when we set off and there was plenty of water in the streams so it was a much easier start
than in 2002. This water followed the heavy rains in March which fell as record snowfall through the Sierra
Nevada and Northern California. After a couple of days Ladybug went on ahead and I did very well swapping a
married middle-aged lady for a single 22 year-old girl who became known as Ladybird.
The weather was such that Ladybird even put water into a water cache rather than taking it out! At Barrel
Spring, Warner Springs Monte gave ladybird a can of Diet Soda which she started drinking and then said “Why
am I drinking this, it’s got no calories”. We were meeting a lot of hikers until we reached Warner Springs, which
Ladybird described as a ‘Blackhole’ as hikers seemed to go in but couldn’t get out. By now many hikers were
already injured through doing too much mileage at the beginning of the hike, but many where using any excuse
to delay reaching the snow. ‘
We reached the San Jacinto Mountains together but Ladybird had to drop down to Idyllwild to resupply and
have a day off with her sister. We arranged to meet up again at Deep Creek. The San Jacinto Mountains were
covered in snow and any steps had melted away so I had to make tracks in the soft snow as well as cope with
some very difficult navigation. It took me 13 hours and 2 days to cover 13 miles! The trail then dropped down to
1000ft and the temperature reached 100F for the first time. I was mostly on my own as I hiked to Deep Creek
Hot Springs. I had scheduled a rest-day and when Ladybird didn’t turn up I decided to give it another day. In fact
she had missed the post in Big Bear City and had to wait for the Post Office to open on the Monday morning.
Deep Creek Hot Springs is one of highlights of Southern California with several hot pools to soak in and a pool
which is warm enough to swim in. Traditionally the springs were used naked, but nowadays they are clothing-
optional and it is a pity more through-hikers don’t stick to the traditions. I spent my second rest day with a group
of locals and had an interesting time. They arranged a pipe from the top hot pool to produce a stream of hot water
into the swimming hole. One lady, a retired professional masseur, gave me a water massage. First I lay on my
front on a lilo and she directed the stream of water onto me giving a full-body massage and then when I turned
over I got the same treatment. This was rather arousing and I was getting the same affect as if the lady was
giving me an all-over massage herself! It’s fortunate I don’t get easily embarrassed any more as by now I had got
an audience. Later in the day she gave me a mud-bath followed by another water massage. She covered me all
over with the fine mud from just below the pools and when the mud had dried she washed it off with a water
massage.
I had arranged with Ladybird that we would meet at Walker Pass after my supply break if she didn’t reach
the Hot Springs, so I set off the next morning. I reached Silverwood Lake in the afternoon and found a secluded
sandy beach for a break and this was the first lake I had been able to swim in. As I did throughout the hike I
went skinny-dipping whenever I went swimming.
I had a car booked at Ridgecrest for when I reached Walker Pass and I was going to need to maintain about 20
miles/day from Deep Creek to get there on time. I was mainly walking on my own during this time. The weather
was generally hot and since I was on my own I wore my home-made breech-clout rather than shorts. Inspired by
Highlander, a former US Marine, who was wearing a kilt, I thought about increasing ventilation in the groin
region, to reduce discomfort and soreness. The breech-clout is a garment formerly worn by American Indians and
Ancient Egyptians and basically consists of bandanas hanging from front and back of a waist belt. It covers the
parts convention says should be covered but allows the air to circulate freely. A short cool spell saw me through
the Mohave Desert with little problem and I reached Walker Pass after 38 days of hiking.
I hitched down to Ridgecrest where hired a car for a week, resupplied and dropped supplies off as far as the
California/Oregon border. On my return to Walker Pass I learnt that Ladybird had been bitten by a Brown
Recluse Spider and would be off the trail for several weeks, so I was walking on my own again. I heard the injury
described as “Looking like a gunshot wound” and the bite of a Brown Recluse Spider as being “Worse than a
Black Widow” and “Like a rattlesnake bite, except ten times worse”. I later learnt that she had got going again
and was in Oregon, but about a month behind schedule.
I left Kennedy Meadows on June 6th. My back weighed about 65lb, including at least 10 days food. I was
equipped for mountaineering rather than trail walking. I had decided to use a combination of walking poles and
crampons. The first significant snow was met at Trail Pass and by Cottonwood Pass the snow-pack was almost
100%. This is a good indicator of the conditions ahead. “If there is snow on Cottonwood Pass, you will be on
Snowpack until you reach Donner Pass.” The hiking was relatively easy until I reached Mount Whitney. I was
walking with a loose group of about 8 youngsters from the East Coast of USA. They were discovering that they
hadn’t got the equipment or the skills to cope with the conditions and I don’t think any of them made it beyond
Lone Pine or Independence. At that time I was also meeting an experienced Kiwi, ‘Roaring thunder’, the Basque,
Ynaki , both of whom were carrying walking poles, ice-axe, snow shoes and crampons, and ‘Three Gallon’ who got
his trail name because he left Campo with 3 gallons of water despite the fact the streams were running and it was
raining. These three were reveling in the conditions. They left me as they were heading for the Vermillion Valley
Resort (VVR) without resupply.
I was on my own as I headed up towards the 13.000ft Forester Pass and camped in the snow above 12,00ft, so
that I could go over the pass when the snow was hard frozen in the morning. The descents from Forester Pass,
where ‘gidiup’ passed me and Glen Pass are dangerous in snow conditions and inexperienced or ill-equipped
hikers have died here in the past.
Scott Williamson passed me in his attempt to complete hike to Canada and back to Mexico. I later learnt he
had lost about 20lb in weight in the High Sierra and was physically drained. He did manage to keep going and I
saw him again on his way south in Washington.
After resupplying in the Onion Valley, over the Kearsarge Pass, I was again carrying 10 days food when I
rejoined the trail. The only through-hikers I met in the next two weeks were ‘Atomic’ and ‘Subatomic’. They
first passed me when I had camped at 3pm one afternoon, by which time the snow was much too soft for me to
make meaningful progress. I would then set off at 5.30 am, when the snow was frozen hard, and pass them while
they were still in their sleeping bags. They weren’t carrying crampons and had to wait for the snow to soften
before they could safely move out.
I lost them after an 11 hour day in which I only covered 11 miles. I went on that long so I could use their
footprints over Mather Pass. The ascent of Mather Pass in snow is the most difficult on the trail, but it is
relatively safe as even a 500ft fall down the concave snow-slope wasn’t likely to lead to more than damage to the
pride. It wasn’t the fall that damaged me but the loss of my sunhat which was blown off and away by a gust of
wind and I ended with sunburn on my ears, nose and lips by the time I managed to buy a replacement.
On the descent from Muir Pass I was to be confronted with the first really serious stream crossing, Evolution
Creek. This had been waist high in 2002 and I wasn’t sure I would be able to cross it at all in 2006, so I didn’t! I
avoided the crossing by climbing down the crags on the south side of the river (looking back I had found the only
line of weakness down the crags) and descending through the avalanche debris on the south bank of the river to
rejoin the PCT after the dangerous crossing.
By now it was getting warmer t day and night and the rivers were beginning to rise dangerously from the
increased snowmelt. I avoided the even more dangerous crossing of Bear Creek by crossing its main tributaries
high up the mountain on slippery logs. I had discovered that walking poles and crampons were a good combination
crossing rivers on fallen trees. I later met 4 through-hikers who had involuntary swims in Bear Creek, including
‘Heike’ who was washed down more than 200m.
I resupplied at VVR. I didn’t stay long as there were no through-hikers there and it is very expensive! I took
a variation over Goodale Pass, instead of Silver Pass. From the total absence of tracks I would think this was the
first crossing of the pass in 2006. I approached Red’s Meadow down Cascade Valley (Fish Creek). On the top river
crossing I got about a third of the way across before turning back with the water already well above waist deep
and getting deeper. Again I had to descend the river on the wrong side. The bottom crossing looked totally
impassable to me and I later learnt that EricD had managed the top crossing, but taken one look at the bottom
crossing and turned round and headed back upstream.
With daytime temperatures over 85F and nighttime temperatures at 11,000ft well above freezing, the creek
levels were rising even more as I approached Tuolumne and even creeks too small to mark on the map were
becoming difficult to cross. When I reached Tuolumne the road had only just opened and the store, post office,
campsite and lodge were all still closed. The Ranger office was open and I had a chat with the Rangers. They
guessed the supply I had sent to the post office would be in Yosemite Valley and they said through-hikers had
been turning back at the first unbridged river crossing in Virginia Canyon. I had got my shorts wet crossing this
rocky stream in 2002 and wasn’t at all surprised it was uncrossable and this was just the first of a series of
difficult stream crossings. I came to the conclusion that the Tuolumne-Sonora Pass section was unjustifiable in
these conditions, so rather than wait for the river levels to drop I hitched round to the Sonora Pass.
Here I met EricD, ‘Scarecrow’ and ‘Bluegrass’ with whom I was to walk sections until Donner Pass. They left
Sonora Pass before me. They had met up with Tony, an English section hiker, and were approaching Sonora Peak
when he slipped on the hard snow, done a few summersaults and dislocated his shoulder in stopping himself on
the rocks below the snow-slope. EricD was running down the hill like a maniac and soon reached the US Marine
Base at the foot of the pass, from where the Marines quickly organized a helicopter rescue. I must admit I would
have been scared on thee steep traverses if I hadn’t been wearing crampons.
From Sonora Pass to Donner Pass was mainly on snowpack, but at least we were now getting below the
snowline for some sections of trail-walking. Navigation was much more difficult in this section as it was important
to follow the trail, even when it was buried, whereas in the High Sierra I had taken little notice of the actual line
of the trail.
At Echo Lake I met Trail Angel, Meadow Mary, with whom I had spent a lot of time in 2002. She took me
into South Lake Tahoe where I failed to find a suitable replacement camera for mine which had packed up
because of condensation problems over Muir Pass. I reached Donner Pass on July 4th in time to join ‘Pooh Bear’
in his Independence Day celebrations in his lakeside house on Donner Lake. He keeps open house to both
through-hikers and friends and following an excellent meal we watched the firework display on the beach at the
end of the lake.
Fortunately we ran out of snow-pack after another twenty miles and it was back to normal hiking. I consider
Northern California to be the least interesting bit of the trail. However one day stood out: I was woken at 4am by
noises outside my tent. I shone my headlight out and picked up a pair of eyes about 30 metres away. They could
only belong to a Mountain Lion (Cougar). I quickly grabbed my walking poles and got dressed. By now the Lion
was about 10 metres away and clearly visible in the torchlight. Thinking about defence I lit my stove and boiled
some water. Eventually the Lion wandered off, so I used the water to make a cup of tea, then packed up and was
on the trail by 5am, while it was still dark. I don’t suppose the Lion was really dangerous, it was just curious.
After all, it is just a “big pussy”. At 6am I saw a lovely ‘Cinnamon’ Black Bear, which, being a proper wild bear
took one look at me and ran. Rattlesnakes, mosquitoes and Poison Oak were also encountered during the day.
By mid-morning I reached a notice saying that the PCT was closed due to fire at the Middle Fork Feather River
and giving a totally impractical 56-mile detour. I had met a southbound hiker who had told me that the fire was
basically out and I should ignore the closure. He had been through the fire on the Friday, on Saturday EricD, who
had also ignored the closure arrived at the fire to see helicopters dropping water and planes dropping fire
retardant on the fire and the fire service were burning a fire-line down the switchbacks of the PCT! Surprisingly
the senior fire officers had a meeting and decided to escort through-hikers through the fire. By the time I arrived
there were still 120 firemen working on the fire. I spent a couple of hours with the fire safety officer on the far
side of the fire. He said the fire had been started by hikers, later identified as a pair of Israelis who were using a
leaking home-made ‘Pepsi-can’ alcohol stove. The fire service had burnt a fire-line either side of the fire and had
it contained, but trees were still blazing at the heart of the fire.
I found the best bits of northern California to be the Klamath Mountains and the much maligned Hat Creek
Rim. I was lucky to get through the Klamath Mountains as there were fires all around, but they didn’t affect the
trail, apart from some smoke, until I was safely through. These fires had been started by lightning.
I reached Ashland in Oregon after 62 days without a zero day and again took a week off, hired a car and dropped
supplies up the remainder of the trail. On the way south I had time to visit the Terwilliger and the McCredie Hot
Springs, where another lady gave me a mud bath!
In Oregon I diverted away from the PCT on many occasions to follow the old Oregon Skyline Trail. This
route is more scenic than the PCT and goes past a lot more lakes and does not have so many long sections
without water. The beach at the western end of the large Crescent Lake would have been top of my PCT beach
guide if it had been on the PCT rather than a variation. The highlight of Southern California and a candidate for
a place in the “Seven Wonders of the Natural World” is Crater Lake, the remains of a volcano that exploded
about 7000 years ago.
Soon after Crater Lake I lost a fight with a granola (cereal) bar and broke one of my front teeth. I hitched
out from trail and discovered that dentists don’t work on Fridays because they can enough money working 3-4
days/week and they prefer to play golf or go fishing on Fridays. Eventually I found a dentist who would see me
100 miles from where I left the trail. He confirmed that the tooth couldn’t be saved and pulled half of it leaving
the root to be dealt with when I got home. He confirmed my view that dentists don’t need to earn money on a
Friday by not charging me fee!
Oregon is the fastest section of the PCT and even I was managing 3mph. I was slowed down a bit by finding lots of
Lakes for swimming (mainly in the variations)
I soon reached Mount Washington which was closed due to a fire. Two Forest Service trail workers (“I didn’t
tell you this but….”) told me that the fire was more or less out and I should go through at night to avoid meeting
Fire or Forest service workers (It is illegal to go into a closed area). I followed their advice and climbed the
volcanic lava of Belknap Crater in the dark and started the descent. I soon ran into a wall of flames about a mile
from where I had been informed was the boundary of the fire. I’d have carried on in daylight, but navigating
through an area of active fire and hotspots with a LED head-torch didn’t seem to be a good idea so I turned back
and bivouacked about midnight.
The next day I got a lift round to Big Lake Youth Camp to pick up my supply bag and immediately ran into
the Puzzle Fire on Mount Jefferson. I spoke to some Fire Service personal and was told to rejoin the PCT by the
Whiteriver Road and the Jefferson Park Trail. The road and the trail were in fact the northern border of the
closure and were included in the closure. I hitched round to the Whiteriver Road, ignored the road closed sign
and headed up towards Mount Jefferson. I was taking a tea-break when a Forest Service Ranger drove up the
road. He asked me what I was doing on the closed road. (Technically I wasn’t in the closed area since I was sitting
about 2 yards north of the road!) After a long chat, rather than giving me a citation he actually gave me a lift to
the trailhead and said he would try and get his bosses to get something sensible sorted out. (I don’t think the Fire
Service and Forest Service are good at talking to each other.)
The next day I took a long break at a lovely little sandy beach on Scout Lake, dominated by the view of the
glaciers on Mount Jefferson. I was ahead of schedule because of the section missed round the fire so I took my
time as I headed to the Washington border. The superb weather I had been having was interrupted briefly by a
little snow and rain as I traversed the slopes of Mount Hood.
By now I was at last beginning to meet a lot more through-hikers, mainly higher mileage hikers who had left
Kennedy Meadows in late June or early July. The hot dry weather resumed as I headed into Washington. I was
still in no rush and actually spent 5 hours at Bear Lake. I’ve put this top of my best beach guide. It’s a lovely
little lake with good beaches and swimming. I’m sure I wasn’t influenced by the two young ladies who joined me
in skinny-dipping!
I was much fitter than in 2002 and was only needing to do relatively short days to keep up with my schedule
of about 18 miles/day.
The weather suddenly changed and I got 9 days of wet, cloudy conditions with the temperature barely above
freezing point. The rare glimpses of the big volcanoes showed that they were covered in new snow. One morning I
woke up with an inch of rain under the bottom half of my tent. I’m certainly glad I had a good tent and I stayed
dry inside. Over 9 days all clothing and equipment will get a little damp and I was delighted when the hot sunny
weather returned for the final 10 days.
Northern Washington has a lot of steep ascents and descents and these were added to because of the
diversion round the eastern side of Glacier Peak. Heavy rains in October 2003 had washed away all the bridges
and some of the trail on the official route and it was still closed while it was being repaired. This didn’t stop a lot
of hikers attempting the official route rather than the detour. With the rivers now exceptionally low and a fallen
tree across the ‘impassable’ River Suiattle the official route was feasible. In 2002 I hadn’t realized just how
spectacular Northern Washington was, but now with the superb weather I was seeing Washington at its best.
I reached the border late on Sunday 1st October, camping in Canada and then made the easy descent to Manning
Park on Monday morning. I stayed with Canadian cousins for a few days before flying back to England.
A much more difficult hike than in 2002 and not a pure through-hike because of sections missed because of
floods and fires, but very satisfying to have completed it in a year that so many hikers had to give up in Southern
California or the High Sierra.