Day 4: A Tale of Two Hikes

PCT Mile 1239.4 to 1259.9

Miles Hiked = 20.5

“It was the best of hikes, it was the worst of hikes” Charles Dickens, 1859

Nah…. just kidding, Charlie didn’t say that …I did!

So today I was up at the crack of dawn and on the trail by 6am. It was another beautiful morning with clear blue skies. I passed these pretty purple flowers growing along the trail

as the sun slowly rose above the horizon

This morning’s hike was all downhill so I made good time. I was descending to the Middle Fork of the Feather River (elevation 2955 feet) – a little over ten miles away.

A lot of thru hikers talk about doing 10 by 10 – in other words, 10 miles by 10 o’clock. That’s what you have to do to get in 25 miles per day, which is the pace you have to keep in order to hike the entire trail (i.e. thru hike) in one season. This morning I reached the river just before 10:00am – my first 10×10 that I can remember.

Bridge over Middle Fork Feather River

Middle Fork Feather River

I stopped and had a snack and basked in my glory of being such a fast hiker at my ripe old age!😊

Unfortunately, on the other side of the bridge the trail went up almost 4000 feet over the next 10 miles. It took me 6.5 hours – I didn’t feel so strong that afternoon☹️.

There were a lot of downed trees on the trail going up from the river

There has been very little trail maintenance in the back country this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic – that has been very apparent the past few days.

In the middle of my uphill trudge, I laid down in the middle of the trail on my closed-cell foam pad and took a break

Whew!

But I had a nice view looking up

As I worked myself higher on the mountain I finally broke out of the forest and enjoyed more expansive views

As I neared the top of my climb I got the opportunity to collect some ice cold water from another mountain spring

Look closely and you’ll see the spring

The reward for the afternoon’s hard work (hard work usually has rewards, doesn’t it?) was Lookout Rock with its shear drop-off and expansive views to the east.

I set up my tent next to Lookout Rock

Best campsite so far!

and enjoyed a delicious dinner with inspiring views

I even had a beautiful sunset

Thanks for following!