I finished the trail on 19 October. All 2,600 or so miles (fire closures, skipping bits due to glissades, and losing the trail under snow). Total hike duration starting from 6 May was 167 days, extra lengthy due to the three weeks of off-trail time during which I lost my trail legs, and for transit from the Northern Terminus to Northern California. Without the injury it might have been around 135 days. Any way, I'm calling it done.
The last two days of the hike were pretty mellow. I got to Quincy by bus at 7 am on the 18th and was driven up to Quincy La Porte road by a pre-arranged ride. Oh man, I remembered waiting there 1.5 hours with a swollen knee. It was chilly but dry, good hiking weather. There was a descent for a few miles in dense forest, and a couple of interesting bridges. The one over the middle fork of the Feather River was a huge arch, a hundred feet over the green water with small rapids. I spent an hour there drying out my tent which was still soaked from condensation. The trail climbed from there at a moderate grade. Ran across a campsite at 5 pm. I was so jacked on coffee that I decided to push it and knock out the climb, hiking into the evening. Reached this awesome rock outcropping at the top and setup camp, ate tuna and crackers while watching the moon rise. Next day was cold, and I hiked 8 miles out to Bucks Lake Road. Fired off a message via satellite on InReach to my ride, and got back to Quincy around 1 pm.
It was actually really nice ending my hike in Quincy. Probably the most livable small trail town in California. Great organic food co-op and some good restaurants, nice locals.
So, the entire NorCal flip-flop portion was way more stressful than I expected. Hiking southbound, I was basically fleeing winter weather. It was colder than the high Sierra, and the shorter days were rough on morale. From Etna to Quincy I met like four other hikers. Back in Oregon, I had talked to a couple other NOBO thru-hikers intending the same kind of flip-flop as me due to injury (everyone got hurt right around the half-way point). I didn't see any of them or their names in the registries in NorCal.
As the weather moved in in early October, there were still hikers in Washington. The trail up there got a few feet of snow. Some hikers opted for a clear, lower elevation alternate that reached the border but not the terminus, others switched to boots and postholed it. Their photos showed recent avalanches on the trail, it looked insane. One group kept hiking through the night, because they weren't sure they would stay warm if they stopped moving. Another hiker who reached the terminus borderline hypothermic said the last days were some of the scariest of his life. So I'm glad I flip-flopped where and when I did.
Future of this blog: I might do some debriefing type entries, and something about Pacific Crest Trail trips near Los Angeles. Right now errands have rushed back into my life and I'm watching a lot of TV.
The last two days of the hike were pretty mellow. I got to Quincy by bus at 7 am on the 18th and was driven up to Quincy La Porte road by a pre-arranged ride. Oh man, I remembered waiting there 1.5 hours with a swollen knee. It was chilly but dry, good hiking weather. There was a descent for a few miles in dense forest, and a couple of interesting bridges. The one over the middle fork of the Feather River was a huge arch, a hundred feet over the green water with small rapids. I spent an hour there drying out my tent which was still soaked from condensation. The trail climbed from there at a moderate grade. Ran across a campsite at 5 pm. I was so jacked on coffee that I decided to push it and knock out the climb, hiking into the evening. Reached this awesome rock outcropping at the top and setup camp, ate tuna and crackers while watching the moon rise. Next day was cold, and I hiked 8 miles out to Bucks Lake Road. Fired off a message via satellite on InReach to my ride, and got back to Quincy around 1 pm.
It was actually really nice ending my hike in Quincy. Probably the most livable small trail town in California. Great organic food co-op and some good restaurants, nice locals.
So, the entire NorCal flip-flop portion was way more stressful than I expected. Hiking southbound, I was basically fleeing winter weather. It was colder than the high Sierra, and the shorter days were rough on morale. From Etna to Quincy I met like four other hikers. Back in Oregon, I had talked to a couple other NOBO thru-hikers intending the same kind of flip-flop as me due to injury (everyone got hurt right around the half-way point). I didn't see any of them or their names in the registries in NorCal.
As the weather moved in in early October, there were still hikers in Washington. The trail up there got a few feet of snow. Some hikers opted for a clear, lower elevation alternate that reached the border but not the terminus, others switched to boots and postholed it. Their photos showed recent avalanches on the trail, it looked insane. One group kept hiking through the night, because they weren't sure they would stay warm if they stopped moving. Another hiker who reached the terminus borderline hypothermic said the last days were some of the scariest of his life. So I'm glad I flip-flopped where and when I did.
Future of this blog: I might do some debriefing type entries, and something about Pacific Crest Trail trips near Los Angeles. Right now errands have rushed back into my life and I'm watching a lot of TV.
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