Both of these days involved walking thru large burnt areas. The Dixie forest fire last year was a huge one and effected the largest distance of PCT ever (~ 40+ miles). Last year, this section was closed off mid-July or so as the fire raged. It was finally opened earlier this year after the trail had been cleared. Hikers, including me, this year were a bit concerned as to how the trail would be in this section. Well, we needn't have worried. Almost all the downed & dead trees were cleared from the trail and the maintainance crews had done a great job in restoring the trail. In fact, the condition of the trail was better here than in other places. It was definitely interesting/weird walking through so many burnt & blackened trees - no shade, no ground shrubs or fallen leaves and bare ground. A few pics below:
Since the trail was clean and new without too many obstacles (rocks, roots, fallen trees), we could cover good distance within a short time yesterday (D-63). And then, there was rain in the forecast for last night and this morning. So we decided to go to Buck's Lodge and stay there for the night. Luckily, got a hitch within a few minutes of reaching the trailhead and we were at Buck's by 6 pm.
My free beer from Lou, the owner of the Lodge. All PCT hikers get a free beer or ice cream (unfortunately they ran out of ice cream)
Tasty fish tacos for dinner, though as soon as I saw it, I knew this was not going to be enough to satisfy my hunger. Had to have some snacks from my stash post-dinner.
Staying at Buck's meant an unexpected opportunity to shower and get clean too 🙂.
Decided to sleep in a bit this morning as we didn't expect to get a ride at our normal start time of 5-5:15 am. Headed out at 7 am instead and unfortunately, for the second time in this PCT thru hike, I failed to get a hitch. There were only 3-4 cars that passed by and none stopped. However the weather was cool and the road was nice, and the 3.2 mile walk to the trailhead took only an hour and 25 minutes.
Once on the trail, the goal was to get to Belden (the next town) to get Sofie's resupply package, before the store shut down. There was an initial 4.5 mile climb, followed by 6.5 miles of up and down and then an 8 mile steep & continuous downhill. Though the forecast called for rain in the morning, it only hailed for a bit.
There were some thunder clouds in the distance, but luckily they never made it to the trail.
Finally reached Belden Town Resort by 3 pm
Got myself some cold coffee and a Jumbo Honey Bun for the anticipated 1.5 mile walk up Caribou Crossroads, the store where the resupply pick up was.
Luckily this time, a kind lady named Tabitha, stopped and gave us a ride in her pickup.
We were back on the trail by 4 pm and since it was a long 15 mile with 5000 feet of elevation gain next, we figured we would get a start on it this evening itself. Then the rain started. Fortunately, it was not heavy and it went on for a short while. Finally reached the campsite by 6:30 pm, after a 28 mile day plus resupply pick-up. Not bad at all! 😀
Data:
D-63
D-64
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