7/4/18 - Cleaning Up 2016 Parts 2 & 3

Daily Miles Hiked: 11.8

Miles This Trip: 16.9

Total PCT Miles Completed: 1717.7

Lake Tahoe on the 4th of July is a zoo.  It was because of this that I was back up and out by 6AM today to try to get north and clean up my last 2 small sections from 2016.  About a mile after driving away from the hotel all of a sudden my tire pressure light came on.  This happens at a fairly regular rate to me back home.  I figured it was probably due to either the drastic shifts in temperature, or the constant shifts in altitude I have put it through the last 3 days.  By the time I got to Truckee it was still on so I stopped and checked the tire pressures.  Three of them were at 32 with one at 30.  I filled the 30 back to 32 and the light instantly went off.  Gonna have to monitor that tire.  I still have 400-500 miles to get to Ashland.  

After about another 2 hours I reached Sierra City.  For those who don’t know this is a very small town with 1 general store with a grill, a couple cafes, post office, and a church you can tent behind.  Hikers will come in to either resupply at the store or pick up resupply boxes sent to them.  Very similar to the last clean up spot.  When I was here 2 years ago I walked a side trail trying to get to the store before it closed, camped behind the church and got a hitch back out.  All I needed to do was walk from town to the trailhead and back to complete my steps.  Its only a mile and a half, so the 3 miles round trip took me just under an hour with a minimal pack.  I was also lucky enough to be able to give one hiker each way a ride into town and out of town.  

From here I was still on a good pace.  I now had to drive another 75 miles to Bucks Lake through the town of Quincy.  I have never actually gone into Quincy as a hiker, however 10 years ago when by first hike ended, this town was the farthest north I ventured while helping run support for that years hikers.  The final clean up spot was about 16 miles away near the resort of Buck’s Lake.  2 years ago we hitched into the resort to get some food and resupply, but then when it came time to depart we hitched out a second road to where it met up with the PCT instead skipping 4.4 miles of trail.  After a quick stop to get water, I headed out of Quincy and headed up Buck’s Lake Road.  

When I got to Buck’s Summit I parked my car, strapped on my pack and filled it about halfway full with gear so I could have some weight on my back, and headed south on the trail towards the other road into Buck’s Lake.  The trail through this section was relatively flat with some small ups and downs and for the most part very well shaded.  I passed 9 thruhikers headed north before I reached the other road after about an hour and a half.  I decided I would try to hitch back for a total of 15 minutes and if I didn’t get a ride I was prepared to hike back over the same 4.4 miles to my car.  Which is exactly what happened.  I actually did the same section back in an hour and 15 minutes and was back to my car by about 3:30.  There were 2 hikers waiting for a ride into Quincy so I scooped them up and brought them into town on my way back out.  Finishing those 4.4 miles now means that I finally have a continuous footpath between Mexico and Oregon.

Once back in Quincy, the final goal of the day was to get as far north towards Ashland as possible today and have a short trip into town tomorrow.  I was willing to find a campground, but the more I thought about it I figured I would see if I could find another hotel cheap because I’m gonna be camping almost every day and why not enjoy a bed while I still can.  I found a cheap room in Yreka, which was a little farther than I planned on going, but it would give me more time to get stuff done tomorrow once in Ashland.

Being the 4th of July the roads were barren as I cruised up CA 89 past Lassen National Park, Old Station, Burney Falls State Park, the Hat Creek Rim, and eventually got dumped out onto Interstate 5 near Mount Shasta.  From here it was 40 more miles to Yreka and I arrived just around 9PM.  Very long day but tomorrow I finally get to Ashland and start my final days of prep before I head out on trail on Saturday morning...

Keep on Keeping on

- Patch