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| 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
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