Tag: California Section M

Friday, July 24. Low-60s and sunny going up to upper 80s.

Up at 8:00. Lazy morning. Checked out at 9:00 and walked to Thunder Cafe for a big, wonderful breakfast. I’m planning on 14 miles today to give me an easy morning into Caribou Crossroads / Belden tomorrow morning. My ride will pick me up about 11:00 at Safeway after he finishes grocery shopping.

Bobbie (Infinity) stopped into the cafe and had breakfast with me. She is spending the night in town. She will pass me in 2-3 days at the speed she is hiking. 

My trail angel picked me up outside the cafe at 10:20. He is vacationing at Bucks Lake with his family and was in town to grocery shop. On trail at 10:45.

It’s hot out here! Wasn’t I complaining about the cold about 3 weeks ago?

Finally reached the top of my 5-mile ascent. Not terrible. Haven’t seen or heard another soul out here today. Good ATT service at this summit. I’m looking east back towards Quincy. Gotta be a cell tower on a mountain below me between here and Quincy.

I ordered new shoes and had them shipped to a trail angel in Dunsmuir. I’ll pick them up around August 7.

Starting to see the damage from the Dixie Fire. It burned just under one million acres in 2021. I’ll be dealing with the aftermath for many days on and off.

Zero blowdowns from mile 1269 (Bucks Lake Rd) to mile 1275. 87 blowdowns from 1275 to 1281. Only 3 of the 87 couldn’t be stepped over or had alternate paths. No blowdowns from 1281 to 1284.

Reached my camp spot at 6:30. I could go 4.5 more miles very down to Beldin, but the store/bar closed at 8:00. And people say the train noise is very bad down there in the valley at night. I got a beautiful peaceful spot up here 4000 feet above the river and town. I’ll head down early so I can get breakfast at 9:00 when the Caribou Crossing store opens.

YouTube Video of Day 92

Decent short day. Happy with my camp spot. Very amazing sunset and quite peaceful up here. The blowdowns were not nearly as bad as the fear mongers made them out to be. Not looking forward to the 5347 foot climb out of the Feather River gorge tomorrow:(

Technical Notes:

• Skillet breakfast 800
• OJ 350
• Mango (3-4p, 30g): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per 
• Mango (3-4p, 30g): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per 
• Quest bar 200 calories, 20g protein 
• Salami: 300
• Cup noodles protein (8 oz water): 320 Kcal, 38g carb, 12g fat, 16g protein 
• Cup noodles protein (8 oz water): 320 Kcal, 38g carb, 12g fat, 16g protein 
• Tuna: 90 kcal, 4-7g carb, 1g fat, 14-16g protein 
• Chips: 360
• Skittles 250
• Fritos 500
• Water liters: 3
• Miles: 14.7
• Time: 8:00
• Up: 2454
• Down: 2825
• Calories consumed: 3690
• Calories burned: 2500
• iPhone battery used: 45%

Thursday, July 23. Low-60s and sunny going up to upper 80s.

Walked to the good breakfast restaurant after checking out only to find they are not open today. Ugh. Grabbed coffee at a nice quiet coffee shop instead.

Tried to pick up my package at the post office, but it hadn’t arrived. I arranged to have it bounced north about 6 days to the post office in Old Station. Fingers crossed that works out. It’s just food, but I hate to waste it.

Hung out at The Hub. It’s the chamber of commerce building but they also have a hiker lounge. Very nice. Worked on route planning.

Had lunch with Brad. He is in town to catch a bus north to Chester and then hike 3 days south to Beldon while he waits for an overdue package to arrive in Beldon.

Worked on more route planning until 4:00. Walked to the Gold Pan Motel and checked in. FaceTimed with Pitcrew. Got dinner at a pizza restaurant on the other end of town. Took care of some bills and home administration stuff. 

Watched YouTube videos of other 2026 hikers to get a better understanding of trail conditions for the next 200 miles. There are a lot of blowdowns and overgrown trail in that stretch. 

Finalized my itinerary to Oregon including places to stay, resupply, and a few bailout options. 

Arranged a ride to the trail at 11:30 tomorrow. Will do a short 13-mile day.

I’m a bit apprehensive about the upcoming few hundred miles. Lots of burn areas and unmaintained trail. Will see how it goes. 

Wednesday, July 22. Low-60s and sunny going up to upper 70s. 

Up at 7:00. On trail at 8:00.

Arrived at Quincy La Porte Road at 10:50. My ride arrived early at 11:15. Nice. My trail angels were a retired couple who live near Quincy. They gave me a tour of town before dropping me off at Safeway about 12:15.

Quincy is only at about 3400 feet, so it’s a lot hotter down here than on trail. 

I did the small resupply shopping that I need and picked up beverages and snacks for the next 2 nights. I have a package at the post office that I’ll likely just bounce up the trail 1-2 weeks. It’s mostly breakfast food which I have plenty of to get me to Chester in 3.5 days.

Hiked a mile back into town and had a nice lunch at Salt & Sage, about a block from my room at the Feather Bed Inn tonight. Killing time until I can checkin at 3:00.

Checked into my nice expensive cottage for tonight. The county fair is going on per my trail angels. Hence why there are almost no rooms in town.

Washed a few clothing items in the sink. No laundromat in town again:(

I need to do a lot of detailed planning tonight so that Pitcrew can ship my next box. I need my Ursack (bear proof food storage) ASAP due to regulations in the upcoming forests. Also need to plan out my next set of meds and shoes.

Wild fires are not too bad near me, but as I approach Oregon things look grim. 

I found out that the airtankers that I have been watching the past few days are just what I thought. Old McDonnell Douglas DC-10s flying out of Sacramento. Specifically, Very Large Airtankers (VLAT) capable of delivering over 8,000 gallons of fire retardant. They are relaying back-and-forth to the massive fires in Oregon.

Technical Notes:

• Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein 
• Banana Chips (18p, 30g): 150 kcal, 20g carb, 8g fat, 1g protein
• Banana Chips (18p, 30g): 150 kcal, 20g carb, 8g fat, 1g protein
• Mango (3-4p, 30g): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per 
• Mango (3-4p, 30g): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per 
• Twix 530
• Loaded scrambled eggs 500
• Town Food 
• Water liters: 1
• Miles: 5
• Time: 2:52
• Up: 643
• Down: 922
• Calories consumed: LOTS
• Calories burned: 807
• iPhone battery used: 30%

Tuesday, July 201. Low-60s and sunny going up to low 70s.  Good chance of rain and thunderstorms from 2:00-6:00.

Up at 7:00. On trail at 8:00.

Lots of lakes this morning.

The places we sometimes must drink from …

Took a break at 11:00 with decent cell service. Found a trail angel who can give me a ride into Quincy tomorrow around noon and booked a room at B&B Quincy. It’s the only room available in town! Booked a room at the Gold Springs a Motel for Thursday night. Gotta switch places on Thursday, but I want a zero day. Back on trail at 11:55.

Stopped for lunch at 2:00 and this girl joined me….briefly.

Camp at 6:40. Storms have held off but chance of rain tonight.

I have an easy 5 mile hike to the road where I’ll get picked up at noon tomorrow. Looking forward to a zero in Quincy. I need to do some serious replanning for the rest of NorCal and Oregon including resupply packages, new shoes, etc.

Technical Notes:

• Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein 
• Banana Chips (18p, 30g): 150 kcal, 20g carb, 8g fat, 1g protein
• Banana Chips (18p, 30g): 150 kcal, 20g carb, 8g fat, 1g protein
• Mango (3-4p, 30g): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per 
• Mango (3-4p, 30g): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per 
• Salami: 300
• Chips 380
• Salami: 300
• Jerky (1 oz): 70 kcal, 12g carb, 0g fat, 12g protein 
• Mountain House Rice and Chicken 540
• Cheese crackers 250
• Fritos: 400
• Skittles 250
• Water liters: 4
• Miles: 18.2
• Time: 10:22
• Up: 3061
• Down: 3360
• Calories consumed: 3320
• Calories burned: 3122
• iPhone battery used: 40%

Monday, July 20. Mid-50s and clear going up to low 80s and humid at low altitude.

Up at 7:00. Packed and tried to find a place to stay in Quincy. Not having much luck.

Shipped bear can home when the post office opened at 10:00 and shipped some extra food 4 days ahead to Quincy. Grabbed a breakfast sandwich from the general store which also opened at 10:00. 

My pack feels much lighter and less bulky without the bear can. Awesome!

Planning on a roughly 13-mile day today with a big ascent out of town. 

Started up the alternative route to the PCT at 11:00. I’m taking a series of Jeep trails to save 3 miles and 1500 feet.

Rejoined the PCT at 2:40 and 5.9 hard miles. There was trail magic!! Sodas, chips, oranges, and ice! It’s hot out here.

Grabbed 2 liters of water at a spring and took a blue blaze headed 6 miles to my campsite for the night.

Looking back at the buttes I ascended earlier today.

Reached camp at 6:40. This guy wandered in while I was eating dinner.

Interesting day. Both blue blazes today were county-owned and they are primarily for off-road vehicles. I hiked with jeeps, pickup trucks, and motorbikes on and off today. I got back to the PCT and camped about 100 yards from the off-road vehicle trail. There are several families camped with their vehicles very near me. I move away from that tomorrow.

I also saw several large air tankers fly over today. The big two engine jet type. There are several fires north of me, so im assuming that’s where they were headed.

Also, it looks like rain and thunderstorms from 9-3 tomorrow. Yippee!

Technical Notes:

• Breakfast sandwich 400
• Hash brown 120
• OJ 170
• Salami: 110
• Orange Crush 180
• Root Beer 160
• Orange 90
• Doritos 160
• Banana Chips (18p, 30g): 150 kcal, 20g carb, 8g fat, 1g protein
• Banana Chips (18p, 30g): 150 kcal, 20g carb, 8g fat, 1g protein
• Salami: 110
• Jerky (2 oz): 140 kcal, 12g carb, 0g fat, 22g protein 
• Curry noodles: 460 cal, 8g protein 
• Dehydrated chicken: 170 cal, 25g protein 
• Cheese crackers 250
• Fritos: 400
• Quest bar: 180 cal, 20g protein
• Water liters: 4
• Miles: 13
• Time: 7:45
• Up: 4078
• Down: 1211
• Calories consumed: 3240
• Calories burned: 2868
• iPhone battery used: 39%