The Adventures of...: Days 102, 103

Day 102, 19 miles, endpoint PCT mile 1526

We only made it 19 miles today, a pretty weak total, but it was a tough 19 miles. It is also my birthday, so a present to myself was an early end to the day.

We left the campground at Castle Crags through a side trail that met up with the PCT about two miles later and entered the Castle Crags Wilderness in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

From the campground, at just over 2,000 feet, we spent the day going up along steep mountain trails to over 6,700 feet. Making things tough, besides the gradient, was the heat. The forecast in Castella for today was a high of 100 degrees. Climbing up, the sun was unavoidable on long stretches of exposed trail, and the heat was radiating off the granite rock. At one point we looked back down the trail at where we had come from and saw the air shimmering with heat. Even compared to our days in the desert, this was one of the hottest.

We needed several water breaks and the going was slow. Eventually we made it up to a ridge that I think is called the Trinity Divide. From there we were eye-level with Castle Crags, and could also see Mt. Shasta. The mountain had spun around; we were now looking at its south face, which appeared completely different from when we last saw it. On the other side of the ridge were new peaks. I felt like I was right in the middle of a thick mountain range for the first time since leaving the Sierras.

Just past the ridge we began to see darkening clouds and heard thunder. Soon it was raining. We made the compromise that since we hiked 30 miles yesterday, and we were now surrounded by a thunderstorm, that camping early was ok.

It is now just before 8pm and I am going to bed! Much better than my 11pm bedtime last night. We will put in some bigger miles tomorrow, but until then, we will get some much needed sleep while the thunder rolls along.

Castle Crags Wilderness

Nice spot for a break... shade and views

Trail views

Trail views... Shasta lurking in the back

Trail views

Day 103, 30 miles, endpoint PCT mile 1556

We were up before sunrise and enjoyed a nice sunrise from an open mountain saddle. Today is Josh's birthday (yes, one day after mine), so that was a good birthday present for him.

We got a big chunk of miles in early while the weather was still cool. We climbed up into the Scott Mountains, topping out at almost 8,000 feet. From there the trail barely went up or down; we had nearly stagnant elevation for the rest of the day. We covered the miles quickly and relatively easily, although 30 miles is still a lot of ground to cover, no matter the terrain.

Things are not all well and good in PCT land, however. This morning, over a distant peak, we noticed a white plume of smoke that looked suspiciously like a forest fire. As the day went on, the smoke grew in size as we seemed to be heading straight for it. This evening we went up to the top of a saddle and were suddenly faced with the smoke again, this time even bigger and taking up more of the sky with giant, white, windswept clouds.

We ran into a search and rescue team (they were looking for a lost day hiker) who told us the fire was started two days ago by lightning and was currently burning in the Russian Wilderness, right where the PCT goes.

We set up camp where we can both see and smell the smoke. During sunset the smoky sky turned hot pink as if the sky itself was on fire. We got a cell signal and checked on the news; it looks like the trail will be closed with a detour. We don't have all of the information on when and where, but I'm sure we will find out soon enough. We will likely miss out on a couple of really nice Northern California wilderness areas, so we are definitely dissapointed about that.