Tag Archives: PCT

PCT trailwork and exploring 2021-08

This is a trip from last year, that I forgot to post. It turned out to be the last backpack of the season for me, as fires closed the national forests and the two or more trips were not made. The trip from Monday, August 9 through Friday, August 14, 2021.

I went in at Barker Pass, coming up to Truckee on the train, then bus to Tahoe City and down the west shore to Kaspian Campground, then walked up the paved and dirt road to the pass, and camped a bit north of the pass. The air was clearer both up on the ridge and down in the Tahoe basin than it had been.

The main purpose of my trip was to finish off a section of the PCT that needs brushing, and had last been worked about five years ago. It was not brushed closed, but was approaching that. Cutting brush usually goes fast, but hauling he cut brush off the trail take up more than half the time, depending on how long I have to carry or drag it to a good location. Many people who do light trail brushing just drop the cutting where they are, but over time that results in a wall of cut brush along the edge of the trail, which looks bad and blocks views. I haul the brush so that it is at least six feet off the trail, often more, and out of sight. It is interested when my brush stashes evolve over time as the brush gradually breaks down. The air was clearer up on the crest, but seemed to be getting worse down below.

Doing trail work on the ridge, I have to haul up water for my trip from one of the sources below. In this case, the springs in the north fork of Blackwood Canyon, down the switchbacks and back up, with about seven liters of water. Though the air was clear, there is a layer of smoke aloft and it seems to be descending towards the ridge. I finished the section of brushing late in the day, with a few drops of rain from increasing clouds. With this section, there are no places between Barker Pass and Granite Chief that really need brushing, though there are locations that could use some attention.

Next day I headed south along the PCT. The smoke is thick now, and I’m hiking with my KN-95 mask, and walking more slowly than usual. The smoke seems to be regional now, not just plumes from the fires. Water at the springs, and more water at the creek south of Barker Pass which is flowing cold and well, though everything else including Miller Creek is dry now. I continued on to Richardson Lake, where I camped along with eight other backpackers. I’ve noticed that all along the PCT there are more campsites, and the campsites are bigger, the result of the huge increase in the number of PCT thru hikers. I see about 40 thru hikers a day now, whereas in the pre-Wild (the book and movie) days, it was about 5. I took an afternoon walk to General Creek, tip-toeing carefully through abundant tiny frogs. Tree frogs, I think.

While around the lake, I saw a mustelidae that was moving too fast to clearly identify, many grouse, dragonflies with green and blue bodies and bright blue banded tails, bright green frogs in the grass at lake edge.

The next day I hiked on to Lost Lake, which is south of General Creek. There is a new trail, constructed by TAMBA, replacing the old road. The road had problems, but so does the new trail. It loses elevation for no good reason, and then climbs very steeply to make up for it, and winds almost a mile out of the way for a so-so view. I have never been fond of trails laid out by mountain bikers, too much like pump tracks and too little like trails, but this one is particularly bad. Trees were cut off at waist height rather than the ground, brush piles right beside the trail, very steep tread with no attempt at erosion control. But once reaching the lake, it is nice. I took a swim, walked around the lake, and watched the end of the day cloud color. I took a walk around Duck Lake, which is really a pond, shallow, but an interesting place not much visited except by ducks.

Last day I walked out the General Creek trail to Sugar Pine Point SP, and took the bus back to Tahoe City and then Truckee, and the train home.

The Caldor Fire started that day, though I was not aware of it on that day. The Tamarack Fire, southeast of Tahoe, was still going but not producing much smoke, and the Dixie fire was still going and contributing to a regional smoke.

Here in February 2022, I’m wondering when the snow will melt enough to head into the Granite Chief again. The fall storms brought deep snow, and it was looking like a very late year, but it hasn’t done much since, so who knows. I have started backpacking again, but in the bay area and Sierra foothills.

Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72157719722926893; Granite Chief collection on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/collections/72157637640215275

more PCT trailwork 2021-07

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This trip was mostly a trail maintenance trip, continuing the brushing between Twin Peaks and Ward Peak, particularly the very brushy section in the middle.

I went in at Barker Pass, walking up from Kaspian Campground to the ridge. Not the short way into the wilderness, but useful because the closest spring to my work area is along the PCT/TRT in North Fork Blackwood Canyon. Other springs are nearly dry, and streams are very low, but this one is still doing well, cold snowmelt water out of the talus slope below the ridge line.

I made progress on the brushing last trip, and this trip was able to fill the gaps between other short segments I’d done, leaving only the hardest part to do, the brushed-in ridge line switchback. So I feel good about the work accomplished, everything to the south done. But more to do. I replaced the cutting blade on my nippers before this trip, and it made a big difference. Below, the tools of the trade: nippers, folding saw, worn out gloves, and new gloves. The nippers and folding saw are both Fiskars, which make the best lightweight tools, about a pound each.

The majority of the brush I’m cutting is tobacco brush, Ceanothus velutinous, it grows faster than the others. Bitter cherry also crows fast, but the stems are easy to get to and cut easily. But even the slow growing pinemat manzanita and sagebrush do eventually encroach on the trail. The photos on Flickr (link below) show several of the brush species that I’m cutting, though not the most common tobacco brush. Huckleberry oak and white thorn are very common brush at somewhat lower elevations.

With all the time up on the ridge, I of course had ample opportunities to watch the sunsets, and this section of the ridge is one of the best places. I also watched the patterns of smoke from the fires. Last trip was mostly smoke from the Tamarack Fire to the southeast, with the smoke mostly heading north well to the east. This trip was mostly smoke from the Dixie Fire, well to the north but producing a lot of smoke. Sometimes the Tahoe basin, to the east, was socked in with smoke, sometimes clear. Less often the west slope of the Sierra was smoked in. Fortunately, at least during these weather and fire conditions, the crest is free of smoke most of the time, just a hint of smoke smell from time to time. The smoke does produce some spectacular orange sunsets. Though there are good sunsets any time there are layered clouds to the west, not just layers of smoke.

The weather was also unusual. Monday night it rained off and on throughout and into the next morning. Never heavy, but still enough to require my tarp. This kind of weather is common summertime in some other mountain ranges, but not common in the Sierra. The rest of the week it rained at least once a day, but light rain from the edges of the thunderstorms. The storms were forming over the crest before moving east to the Carson Range, a reversal of the usual pattern. It has been a while since the forest smelled largely of dampness and humus, and it was enjoyable. But the rain was never enough to thoroughly wet the soil, and it is still dry below.

The woolly mules ears are drying to yellow and brown, but not quite dry enough to rattle in the wind, that sure sound of fall. The less common arrowleaf balsamroot, however, is dry and rattling.

Early one morning when walking through a mules ear meadow to my work site, a dark sleek animal dashed across the trail, going downhill and moving very fast. The glimpse was so brief I’m not certain what it was. Probably a weasel, but could also have been a marten or fisher (all are in the same family Mustelidae). I also saw a Clark’s Nutcracker hanging out on the ground. I usually only see them in flight between trees, or in trees, but this one provided a close up view.

Tomorrow I’m headed up to finish off the brushing, probably two solid days of work. Depends on the smoke, however. The crest is often free of smoke, but the hike into the crest from Lake Tahoe level is in the thick of smoke, at least today.

Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72157719653288533
Granite Chief Wilderness collection on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/collections/72157637640215275/

PCT trailwork 2021-07

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This trip was primarily for trail work. I had noticed on my previous trip that the section of the PCT trail between roughly Twin Peaks and Ward Peak (actually, only part of that), was beginning to be brushed in again. Looking at past posts, it appears that I did some work here in 2014, but didn’t finish, and then finished in 2016. So it has been five years, at least, since this section was brushed. Most of my brushing I think of as ‘five-year’ brushing, cutting things back enough that the work will last about five years, so this works out.

As always, the tobacco brush (Ceanothus velutinus) is the fastest growing of the brush and the most likely to brush a section of trail closed. As with most plants, cutting it leads to it producing multiple stems, so the result of my 2014-2016 work is that a lot of the tobacco brush has multiple younger stems, which take much longer to cut. Sometimes I can get down to the root of the plant, and get it all out, but that is unusual, and doing this effectively would require different tools than I take, a pulaski or similar. I discovered, to my surprise, that at the oldest root wad of the tobacco brush, there is a large, deep taproot. Bitter cherry also spouts from the cut base and sends its stems into the trail, but it is easier to get out by the roots. Even manzanita, though slow growing, will encroach on the trail over time. Several other brush species, less common at least in this area, also encroach on the trail, but the fast growing whitethorn is not common along here.

The photo below shows a brushed-in section of the trail, the ridgeline switchback. And it still looks like that, because I did not get to this part in my work. In fact, I only accomplished about one-quarter of what needs to be done. My excuse is that it was hot in the afternoons and I could just not accomplish much. And it was hot – the rocks get almost skin-burning hot. The temperatures are funny. Up above the bridge the wind is often blowing, and was blowing the entire time of this trip, and it is comfortable. But when I squat down or sit down to cut brush, I’m out of the wind and it is very hot.

There are no water sources on the ridge between the springs in North Fork Blackwood Canyon and Five Lakes Creek, so I have to pack in water. I resupplied, from the springs, once during my trip, and when I ran out of water the second time, headed out. The three springs close together are very low, and I’m sure will dry up this summer. Another single spring further south is still flowing well. And of course North Fork Blackwood Creek is likely to have water all season. In years with more snow, I’ve been able to melt snow from the snowbanks that last on the east side of the ridge, but this year those snowbanks were gone back in June.

I primarily use two campsites on the ridge, the one heavily used by PCT thru hikers near the PCT/TRT junction, and a small one north of Twin Peaks that is not much used. I discovered that a wood rat lives nearby. It stole my plastic spoon, so I have to make a sort of workable one out of a stick, and also chewed on my pack straps and work gloves. After that night, I put everything away and hung my pack up in a tree.

On my way out the last day, a new fire southeast was popping up, the Tamarack Fire, which is still going as I write (Sunday, July 25), now about 66,000 acres and only a quarter contained. During my time on the ridge and then down at Tahoe, the smoke was all going north, along the east side of the Carson Range, so not affecting my area, but I understand that now some smoke is coming over to Tahoe and the crest.

On this trip, I took both insect repellent and my inner netting tent. Ironically, there were far fewer mosquitoes than there had been two weeks before, but it was still nice to go to sleep without the buzzing.

For this trip, I walked from Tahoe City to Kaspian Campground, which is where Barker Pass Road leaves the highway, walked up the road and then the jeep road past Blackwood Campground to the crest. Blackwood Campground now charges a fee – it was the last of the campground in the entire Tahoe basin that was free. As a result, it was empty. I headed north on the PCT from Barker Pass to my work area. Going out, I took the TRT trail down to Ward Creek, where I camped the night, and then on through Paige Meadows to Tahoe City.

I’m falling into a pattern of wanting to hear music after my backpack trips, so I went to the Saturday afternoon music in Squaw Village, blues by Mike Schermer, which was fun. It seems it is mostly locals, people who have homes or shares in the village, who attend these. There were a lot of kids dancing, having a good time.

And then home on the Amtrak bus from Truckee.

Tomorrow, in for more trail work. Maybe I’ll get to half or 3/4 done.

Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72157719601232047; Granite Chief Wilderness collection on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/collections/72157637640215275/

PCT & Powderhorn 2021-06

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The Granite Chief Trail, up from Squaw Valley to the PCT, is in good condition. A sign indicates it has been adopted by the Truckee Trails Association, so this is one trail I probably won’t have to maintain again. Yay!

I camped just off the PCT, looking down the North Fork American River canyon, with a good sunset and sunrise, probably in part due to some fire smoke from fires to the north. There are still some patches of snow on the north side of Lyon Peak ridge (Foresthill Divide), but not much left. I walked the PCT south to the junction of the PCT and TRT, where there is a campsite well used by thru hikers and others. I’m seeing about 40 thru hikers a day, mostly in bunches but some solo. As is typical, about half look happy to be there and the other half clearly does not. It is a strange thing that people do.

I headed south on the PCT to Barker Pass, then along Forest Highway 3 to Powderhorn trailhead, and down to Diamond Crossing. There are a number of trees down on this trail, though all but one were easy to go over or around, and it could definitely use brushing and cutting back of the doghair firs that crowd the trail.

I helped two dayhikers, in from Powderhorn, to find the pools along Five Lakes Creek near Diamond Crossing, which they would not likely have found on their own. The Five Lakes Creek Trail is in poor condition, many trees down, many of them down now for years. The Forest Service has not maintained this trail in at least six years, and it was being somewhat maintained by a horse group that headed into Big Spring meadow every year, but seems to have given up on using the trail, it is so bad.

I camped at Big Spring meadow, one of my favorite spots, a great place to watch the beginning of the day and the end of the day, and enjoy the huge pines. The meadow is drier than usual for this time of year, but not fall dry. The spring is flowing well, and I don’t think it ever dries up. I explored up the east side of Five Lakes Creek, finding the old trail which used to be on that side. Some parts are easy to see, in the wet areas with willow alder and willow thickets, not, and I did not find the place where it crosses over to the west side. I’ve also explored down from the PCT/Five Lakes junction, but haven’t yet connected the two.

I hung out at Whiskey Creek Camp to meet Paul Vandervoort, who I’ve been emailing for several years but never met. He was leading a dayhiking group from Reno, going over into Picayune Valley and then climbing out to the Tevis Cup Trail, and back out.

I headed out the Five Lakes Creek Trail, PCT, and Five Lakes Trail, with some exploring around the Five Lakes area, which I usually zoom by on my way elsewhere. The lakes were low but most still had water. There are anywhere from three lakes to fifteen lakes, depending on the time of year. The largest lake, the one to the west, breaks into two lakes as the water level drops, and the one I call third lake gets smaller but I’ve not seen it dry.

From there I went up over the old Squaw Saddle Trail, no longer maintained, and into Squaw Valley. It joins the Western States Trail (one of the many alignments) and heads east along the south side of the valley. Where the trail is closed for construction of the new Alpine to Squaw gondola, I dropped down to Squaw Village and hung out there for a while.

I took the bus into Tahoe City, where I camp out for the night before going to Truckee in the morning to catch the train. It is far too noisy in Truckee to sleep out, due to Interstate 80 with its constant roar of truck traffic. Tahoe City is much quieter. While charging my phone at the plaza overlook, a band came and set up to play, so I stayed to enjoy there semi-reggae and talk to people.

I was wondering how the flowers would be in the drought year. At higher elevations, they actually don’t seem much different, except that they are about half the stature of a ‘normal’ year. Their abundance is about the same, though.

On this trip I did not take insect repellent, and did not take my inner tent with insect netting, so was quite bothered by mosquitoes. If it were cooler, I’d just hide in my sleeping bag and go to sleep, but the evenings were too warm to do that. They are not as thick as they used to be, but still…

I have some new hiking shoes. For years my toes have been turning, and as a result, I need a wider toe box, but my heel is not widening, so wide shoes don’t do it for me. I’m trying out Altra Lone Peak trail runner shoes. They have a wide toe box but normal width elsewhere. They aren’t really heavy enough for hiking shoes, so I probably won’t be doing any off-trail hiking in them, but I have to say, my toes were happy.

Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72157719601028882; Granite Chief collection on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/collections/72157637640215275/

Picayune Valley and smoke 2020-09

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My September trip into the Granite Chief was to Picayune Valley, my favorite, and then north along the PCT to Donner Summit, and Truckee, running from the smoke.

Middle Fork American River, at Picayune (Western States) Trail

I went in at Squaw Valley on the Granite Chief Trail, and camped just a bit north of the junction with the PCT. The air was reasonably clear up high, but very smoky below and in the Tahoe basin. The creeks crossed on the way up were either dry or very nearly dry.

Next day I headed south on the PCT, and took a side trip to the top of Granite Chief, which I’ve not done in a while. The smoke was thick in the valleys, and there were streaks of smoke aloft, but at this level the air was quite clear and I could see Sierra Buttes to the northwest. Also took a side trip to Little Needle Lake, which has a vague use trial leading from the junction of the Tevis Connector. The meadow has been grazed down, probably by bears, but the lake is still pretty full, sitting in a granite basin surrounded by volcanics.

I went by Whiskey Creek Camp, where there were a LOT of people, not surprising for Labor Day weekend. I headed over the Western States Trail to Picayune Valley. Late in the afternoon, a huge dark red smoke cloud towered overhead from the south, I assumed then from a nearby fire. But later found out it was just the smoke from the Creek Fire way south. The smoke in the valley came and went, but was mostly overhead and not ground level.

I explored all the way down Picayune to Talbot campground, and a ways up the Talbot Creek Trail, looking for possible shortcuts from that trail to the Middle Fork, rather than the long way around down the road. I followed out several old logging roads, but none went through. There is one more significant logging road to check, but for another time. Some maps show a trail paralleling Talbot Creek, but I was unable to find even traces of a trail going up along the creek, so I think this is false.

In Picayune, I also explored the benches between the trail and Picayune Creek, looking for petroglyphs that I’d been shown several years before on a American River Conservancy backpack. I found some of them, but not all. The trail is in good condition the entire way, someone has been maintaining it. Both Picayune Creek and the Middle Fork are quite low but still flowing. I camped near my usual spot, just above the creek in the area where the trail first switchbacks down toward the upper waterfall.

I spent the morning exploring the ledges south of the creek, fascinated as always by the micro variety of the metamorphic rock pattens and textures, but the air quality got worse and worse during the day, so I decided to head north in an attempt to get away from the smoke. So, back out of Picayune, to Whiskey Creek Camp, and north on the PCT. I camped at Granite Chief saddle, initially in a cold breeze that ascended through the night to a howling wind, and shifted from west to east.

In the morning, the crest was clear, and by mid-morning, it was completely clear to the east, all of the smoke being blown back into California. The wind increased with gusts to about 60 mph, and it was very hard to walk the ridge between Tinkers Knob and Anderson Peak, taking tiny steps and re-balancing after each one. The air east became the clearest I’ve ever seen during the summer, revealing mountain ranges across Nevada, which were later obscured by dust rather than smoke.

Seeking shelter from the wind, which I knew would not allow me to sleep that night if I were out in the open, I stayed at Benson Hut, a Sierra Club sponsored hut on the PCT that is supposed to be for winter use and emergencies, but I decided that gusts of 60 were sort of an emergency. The high winds also blew up existing fires, and the Bear Fire to the northwest produced huge streaks of smoke and cumulus clouds, and the winds aloft blew that south, initially missing the crest but eventually coming back eastward.

I continued north to Donner Summit (Hwy 80), and then west on the Donner Lake Rim Trail. To be honest, I hate this trail, at least the newer part of it. It was clearly laid out by bicyclists. There are looping switchbacks that lose maybe 10 feet over a quarter mile, adding unnecessary length to the trail. Ack! I am so tired of trails designed to keep bicyclists entertained, with no consideration for hikers. The switchback turns are deep dust pits as the bikers swoop around them and pulverize the tread. I am one of those people who believe we can’t “all just get along” on the trails. Mountain bikers need to have their own trails, which they build and pay for.

At any rate, I camped along the trail, and saw good stars for part of the night, but then the smoke descended and I was in heavy smoke the rest of the way into Truckee. Headed home on the Amtrak bus, as the train was more than five hours late, and seeming likely to lose more time before it got to Truckee.

Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72157715976003121

trail work 2020-07

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My trip July 2-9 was mostly into the Hell Hole Trail area. I went in at Alpine Meadows trailhead, down Five Lakes Creek, to Hell Hole Trail and McKinstry Trail, and then back out via Powderhorn Trail, north along the PCT, and out at Alpine Meadows ski area.

The Five Lakes Creek Trail is in gradually deteriorating condition, with more down trees added to the existing ones, and more issues with tread erosion. The Hell Hole Trail is in decent shape though there are downed trees that have now been there for years, and a few more are added every year. I have been working on defining the tread, so the trail is becoming somewhat easier to follow, though some sections still have a lot of winter debris accumulation. The trail from Diamond Crossing down disappears as it approaches Five Lakes Creek, due to thick willows and downfall, but it is not too hard to find a way through. The trail from there to below Steamboat Creek (which was still flowing well) is in decent condition, though it requires close attention to follow. There are a large number of oak trees down over the trail switchbacks about 2/3 of the way down the hill to the lower end of the trail, but you can bypass them by paying close attention.

I did some more work on what I’ll call the McKinstry Trail, from the junction at the bottom of the Hell Hole Trail, so it is now defined from the point near Five Lakes Creek crossing to about a third the distance back to the junction. But the 2/3 closer to the junction is very hard to find, and I have not yet identified what the best route is. I’m sure the original trail just headed across the forested flats, but the helicopter logging that left all the debris, and a weakened forest generating downfall, has completely obscured these sections. Eventually I’ll figure and and define the best route, but for now, one just has to head in the right directly and hope to pick up the trail again.

After crossing lower Five Lakes Creek, the route again is lost in the forested flats. It shows up again where it climbs up on the ridge separating Five Lakes Creek drainage from the Rubicon River, and is marked with rock ducks to where it comes back down to the river. I have not been past the crossing of the Rubicon in years, so the condition of the rest of the McKinstry Trail is unknown to me. There are also use trails that follow the ridge between the two drainages down towards the reservoir, but I haven’t been on those in years either.

Heading back out, I took the Powderhorn Trail, which has more downed trees but is not in bad condition, walked the road to Barker Pass, and headed back north on the PCT. The PCT is in good condition from Barker to the PCT/TRT junction. After all these years, it seems the the Tahoe Rim Trail Association has finally reached the desired state of good repair: no downed trees, no brushy sections, tread in good condition. Thank you! North of that junction there are a few downed trees, and some areas needing brushing (which apparently only I do, but I haven’t done in about three years). I intended to go out through Five Lakes back to the trailhead, but realized there were going to be hundreds of people on that trail, so I went out through the Alpine Meadows ski area, which is no shorter than the trail, but I only saw one person.

I’m just about to head back into the same area, to do a little more trail work and a little more exploring.

Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72157715140370061

finally! 2017-07

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My latest trip was primarily for trail maintenance on the PCT, and after 11 years, I feel caught up. I removed the last brushed-in section, between what I call Two Towers (Lord of the Rings reference) and Twin Peaks. Of course in order to get done, I had to accept many places that could use brushing, and leave them for the future. In particular, the pine mat manzanita and sagebrush is pushing into the trail and narrowing the tread. It isn’t hard to clear, but is a lot of detailed work that I’ve often put off “for next year.”

The reason I pick this part of the PCT to work on every year is not just that it needs brushing, but that I so love spending time on this ridge. The views east are spectacular, over Lake Tahoe and the weather over the Carson Range, often thunderstorms developing when the main crest is clear. The views west are intriguing, down into the wilderness, where the real wilderness is, and beyond, to the coast ranges. When the valley air is clear, not often, the details of the coast range and Bay Area are clear, and at night the lights in the valley, kind of neat at a distance. Usually thunderstorms develop over Nevada, the Carson Range, and sometimes move west to the crest, but on Wednesday moisture coming from the west developed some thunderheads, thunder, and light rain for a half hour, while the Carson Range was mostly clear.

When there is snow on the ridge, usually in banks on the east just below the ridge where it gets blown during the winter in strong winds, I can melt snow and stay up here for many days. I use my black Jetboil pot to melt, and I can keep up with my daily use if I stay on top of the melting.

I went in on the Granite Chief Trail from Squaw Valley, which has a few trees down but easy to get around, then south along the PCT. Granite Chief saddle has a lot of snow on the north side, but the route is not hard to find. People southbound rarely have problems here, but many northbound hikers drop too far down into Shirley Canyon and have a hard time finding the trail again. The trail from the saddle south to the TRT/PCT junction is in good condition, a few tress down but surprisingly few, some trail erosion but not bad.

I hiked out the TRT to Tahoe City, so don’t have anything to report about the TRT/PCT south to Barker Pass, but I’d guess many snow banks but no big issues. Other than snow banks on the upper portion, the TRT trail down into Ward Creek and Tahoe City is in good condition, having been logged out already by a TRTA trail crew.

The PCT thru hikers are out in force, but interestingly, about half were going south, having skipped over the high Sierra to Donner or even Ashland and now heading south to pick up the section with somewhat less snow. Looking into the Desolation Wilderness, however, snow there is still deep and must be much deeper at high elevations to the south. Dicks Pass is 9400, but the highest pass on the PCT is 13,143, Forester Pass. There were people who had come through the high Sierra headed north, but I have to say that they all looked beat and not very happy. I think the route flippers were much happier.

The next big project on my list, for next year, is to work on the Powderhorn Trail. If anyone hikes that and has conditions to report, please do so. I think the middle section is in horrible condition, brushed closed in spots, but I haven’t been there in two years, so I’m guessing.

Photos on Flickr (more later, these are ones from my iPhone which are easy to upload, but I also used my regular camera)

PCT trail maintenance trips

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I’ve had two backpacks this year doing trail maintenance on the Pacific Crest Trail through the Granite Chief Wilderness. Since almost all my time was up on the PCT, I don’t have anything to report about the rest of the wildneress, but since I have two more backpack trips coming up, will have a report on much if not all of the trail system.

I brushed from Granite Chief trail on the north to Five Lakes Creek in the middle, and the trail is in good condition except for a short 0.1 mile part between Whiskey Creek Camp trail and Five Lakes trail that I didn’t get done, though it is not bad. I also did the Whiskey Creek Camp trail since it was getting a bit brushy. While in this area I spent some time exploring around Five Lakes Creek and Whiskey Creek, looking for the old trails that were there before the new PCT alignment was completed. In some places these old trails are easy to follow, but no always. I still think there is a trail on the south side of Five Lakes Creek to Big Spring Meadow, but so far I haven’t located it.

On the second trip I focused on the PCT north from the PCT/TRT trail junction near Twin Peaks. There are several sections here that are very brushy, and a few that are essentially closed in. I got all but one of these opened up again, to a point where they should be OK for about five years. But there is one very brushy section that I did not get to, and will be very bad by next year. It is about 0.2 miles. I did spot brushing on the remainder, and it is in decent shape but could use work. I think this year I accomplished what I have not in several years, keeping up with the rate of brush growth, though not gaining on it, which is why there are some badly brushed-in sections left. Next year perhaps I’ll get those last very brushy parts done, and be “caught up” at least for a couple of years.

PCT trail before brushing, overgrown with tobacco brush

PCT trail after brushing, cleared to five-year width

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short PCT and brushing

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north along the PCT across Whiskey Creek basin

A short three-day trip into the Granite Chief Wilderness this week. I went in at Squaw Valley on the Granite Chief Trail, which is the most convenient entry point for me because the TART bus stops a hundred yards from the trailhead. I’m glad to have completed brushing on this trail last year, as it makes for a nice walk. The trail has been logged out, so is in good shape, but there are erosion problems on some of it that make it rocky going. I turned south on the PCT where there is a new trail sign to replace the one that had deteriorated and eventually disappeared. Two small creeks still cross the trail here, but both are small and will probably dry soon.

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First trip 2012-06

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I did my first trip through the wilderness June 24-27. How much difference a year makes! Last year, a month later, I was crossing regular patches of snow on the trail, and sometimes walking on snow for long distances, but this year I only crossed a couple of patches. Last year the creeks were so high that they were difficult or impossible to cross, this year all were easily crossed.

I went in at Granite Chief Trail, and did an afternoon’s work brushing the trail, and then much of the next day. I’ve completed the portion to about half way up where the trail crosses a creek near a mules ears meadow. Probably another day’s work yet to do to finish it off to the top. Huckleberry oak, white thorn, and pine mat manzanita have died back in a number of places along the trail. Is it from too much snow last year, or too little this year, or some other reason? I camped out on a granite ledge that hangs over Squaw Creek canyon, but slept very little with the wind howling all night.

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