Donner Pass to Sierra City, Aug 11-13, 2024 (38 PCT miles)

 

Bridge near Wild Plum Turnoff

In the 1970's the Wilderness Press guidebooks divided the PCT into 29 sections that were suggested as hike-able bites of the trail.  At 38 miles, Section L, from the Interstate 80 crossing at Donner Pass to California Highway 49 at Sierra City is the shortest of all 29 sections.  While short, climbing from the pass, which is already at 7,057 ft., this section is at a fairly high elevation, and late snow on the ground is part of the reason for the tragedies that befell the Donner Party, from which the pass gets it's name.  High snow levels also explains why I missed hiking this section in 2017.

I did hike this section southbound in 2018, and even on June 10th of that year I still had to find my own trail on the snow-covered hillside south of the Peter Grubb hut as well as deal with meadows flooded with snow melt.  In contrast though, in August of 2024 this section was an ideal combination of dry trail and plentiful drinking water from running streams.  

The last bit of PCT trail before Hwy. 49 was closed due to a bridge being damaged, and the Wild Plum trailhead at Sierra City was on the official alternate route. To get on trail, my wife Christine and sister-in-law Carol helped me drop off my car at the Wild Plum trailhead then once my car was parked, Christine and Carol gave me a ride to the I-80 Donner Pass Rest Area and dropped me off so I could start the hike back to my car.

Since my last backpacking trip was so exhausting for me, I was quite worried about how I would manage on this trail section.  As it turned out, my earlier hike had helped my conditioning, and this was easier trail as well, so it was tiring, but not too hard.

I did the hike over three days.  The first day I hiked in about 8 miles and then I did the rest split about evenly over the next two days.  I think the Wild Plum alternate cut over a mile off the scheduled hike, but I didn't try to calculate that exactly.

Northbound, the first major landmark on the hike is a ridge that divides the I-80 corridor from the backcountry.  Once you get over that ridge there is a descent to a meadow where the Sierra Club's Peter Grubb hut is located.  The hut is intended for winter use, and I stayed in the hut in 2018 when there was still snow on the ground.  This year the hut was locked up tight in August with just a sign explaining that it could be reserved in advance.

The trail is beautiful, although in a more subtle way than most of the Sierra range.  There are quite a few traverses where I was treated to panoramic views of forested hills.  The Forest Service and PCTA must have been working hard as the trail tread was almost perfect and I only had to step over a couple of downed trees.

I saw a "no mechanized vehicles" sign for the first time, which seemed like the most expansive way to express the idea of a trail meant for hikers and pack animals only.  Arc'teryx recently started talking about their powered exoskeleton pants and I pondered how that new technology will be incorporated into backcountry regulations.  It seems like they will inevitably be allowed for day hikers and probably not practical for backpacking due to the need to be recharged.  Eventually though when energy storage becomes lighter weight, who knows what the future holds.  I'm sure that there will be many people bemoaning the "good old days" of muscle-powered locomotion in the future.  

The only other hikers on the trail were weekend hikers or section hikers (like me).  The third day I was on trail for about 8 hours and didn't see a single other hiker, which I think might be a first for me on the PCT.

Here's the photo album:  Donner Pass to Sierra City, Aug 11-13, 2024

Timberline Lodge to Cascade Locks, July 28-31, 2024 (50 PCT miles)

 

Twister Falls

In 2022 I tried hiking this section but had to give up due to knee pain.  I'd started with friends Georgia and Laurie at Santiam Pass and by the time I got to Timberline Lodge it was clear that my knee was simply done.  Georgia had dropped out at Pamelia Lake, where we had to detour due to a fire closure.  Laurie and I got back on at Ollalie lake in a burned out forest.  After hiking up to Timberline Lodge, Laurie and I had their famed breakfast buffet, but then I took the bus back to Portland, while she continued on.  I had a "total knee replacement" (TKR) on my right knee in May of 2023.  This was my first backpacking trip on my new knee.

Christine and I drove up from the Bay Area and stayed one night in Portland with friends John and Mary before going up to the trailhead.  The drive to Timberline Lodge is fairly scenic and not a long drive from Portland.

The first day I hiked in just six miles and found a beautiful campsite.  My plan was to cross the Sandy (Wild and Scenic) River at about 10 am the next morning as a wet crossing when it would still only be moderately high.  My clever plan was to dry out on the other side while having a snack.  The flaw in this plan was that 24 hours of light rain started literally as I reached the Sandy River, and then that transitioned into another 24 hours of damp fog.  So while I did get wet crossing the river, I didn't really get dry until the last day of the hike.  Luckily the crossing wasn't too risky.  Even so, I asked a couple of other hikers to watch my crossing for safety.  True to the river's name, my shoes each had a sprinkling of small rocks in them after I waded across.

I put in around 14 miles each of days two and three, and then camped at the junction with the Indian Springs trail.  The only notable challenge after the Sandy River was crossing the Muddy River on day three.  The crossing is on a smooth log that simply fell over the river and is probably at least 8 feet above the water level.  If it had still been raining I'm not sure how I would have handled the crossing since the log would have been too slippery to simply walk across safely, and wading the river at the trail crossing did not look appealing or easy.  Even as it was, the crossing was a bit nerve wracking.

The Indian Springs trail will likely be renamed as part of an ongoing effort to remove names that simply use the word "Indian," but for now that's the name on our maps.  The Indian Springs trail is a PCT alternate that leads through an astonishingly beautiful gorge, with many trail sections blasted into the side of the gorge, some sections with steel cables for safety.  There are more waterfalls than I tried to count with "Twister Falls" and "Tunnel Falls" the most iconic and dramatic.  This is one of the most beautiful sections in Oregon and makes a perfect conclusion to a northbound hike of the state.

When I had hiked this section in 2018, I took the PCT main trail and the Indian Springs alternate was closed.  This time the PCT main trail was closed due to fire danger and I ended up on the alternate without needing to make a choice.

The drawback of the Indian Springs trail for my knees was that the trail was quite steep and rocky over large sections, stressing my knees and leg muscles.  By the time I made it to the trailhead at Cascade Locks, I was in moderate pain and ready to take an Uber instead of road-walking the last three miles on a paved path ... but it was not to be.  Uber (perhaps wisely due to hiker stink) "does not serve the area you wish to be picked up from."  So events conspired to keep my "connected steps" intact at Cascade Locks.  Once in Cascade Locks I only needed to wait 45 minutes for the next bus to Portland.

I spent the next few days in the home of friends John and Mary, whose two children were also home for the summer.  I needed the recovery days as that first backpacking trip after my knee surgery was exhausting.  It didn't exactly seem like I had injured myself, but I had hiked more than ideal, and it took several days to really recover and feel normal again.  I was pleased though to have completed this section and considered it a good example of "type two" fun as a result of the rain, pain, and exhaustion.  I flew back down to the Bay Area on Alaska Airlines.  They upgraded me to first class since they needed my coach seat to sell to someone else, and I admit to enjoying the excessively fawning service that accompanies the front of the airplane.  What a contrast from backpacking.  

 Here's the photo album:  Timberline Lodge to Cascade Locks, July 2024