Week 16: Summit Lake Road - Etna
- scarlson51
- Sep 13
- 4 min read
Approximately Mile 1,454 through Mile 1,601
Sunday, August 3rd - PCT day 99
Stunning sunrise this morning. I had a buck wake me up with his moaning. Again, not many views today because of the trees, but when one did appear, it was of rolling green mountains as far as the eye could see. Down in the creek bottoms, there were some truly titanic trees, 10, even 15 feet thick at the base. True elders of the forest. Around 18 miles in I swam in the McCloud River, exceptionally cold due to a dam just upstream but very refreshing as it was 90° in the sun and not much cooler in the shade. Camped in a gulch along a creek. Goodnight.
Monday, August 4th - PCT Day 100
Ran into Robin on the climb out of the McCloud River canyon this morning. Stopped for water and used my gold pan, some black sand but no gold unfortunately. Ran into Lilac & friends at the creek, always nice to see them. The terrain today was a mix of deep, shady forested glens & rocky oak forests. Found a few fossils in some blue limestone, very cool. Ended the day w/ a ~10 mile climb but the view from the top was awesome. Shasta is much closer now and directly to the north. I cannot wait to climb it someday! Camping on an old logging road w/ a pretty breathtaking view of the mountain. The sunset tonight should be epic. Not so epic was all the bear shit I passed going into camp. Oh well. Shasta town tomorrow! Also, less than 200 miles from Oregon!! Goodnight.
Tuesday, August 5th - Rest Day 101
Slept in till 7:00 this morning. which was very nice. The walk down to the Sacramento River and I-5 was ~5 miles. Very shaded and pleasant. Got a ride into Shasta from Doc. Resupplied, replaced the cord for my solar panel, and then went for food at Drizzle. Got a burger w/ homemade fries, a 24 oz 505 Blonde to wash it down with. Met a dude named Sparrow, totally awesome hippy. Big into all day drum circles and full moon festivals on and chem trails. Ran into Robin and Fruit Loop while eating, very fun. Sadly, they are skipping to Etna so most likely it will be a while before I see them again. Got a ride from Doc back out of town w/ Stitch, Union Porter & I gave a ride to Cottonwood Pass. Frickin' hot climb to camp at Indian Spring Creek. Bathed in a small waterfall and washed my clothes. Goodnight.
Wednesday, August 6th - PCT day 107
Very beautiful oak forests this morning as I climbed up Castle Craig. The oaks eventually gave way to spruce, pines and manzanita bushes. The sky was overcast most of the morning, which was a blessing as it was one hell of a climb. Almost stepped on a rattlesnake just before noon which wasn’t fun. Amazing views once I climbed above Castle Craig Ridge. Walked for the rest of the day. 5,000 feet of elevation gain over 20 miles. Very tired, goodnight.
Thursday, August 7th - PCT Day 103
Met Rice this morning at my first water stop. She just finished her PhD in Civil Engineering. Her & I walked together until ~2:00 pm. She was great company & the miles flew by. They were easy miles as well, not much uphill but mostly traversing in and out of pine forests. Some pretty epic vistas of the Northern Cali green clad mountains. After Rice and I parted ways, the terrain was still easy. Cool metamorphic rocks as well. Watched an incredible sunset from camp w/ Tiger & some others. The full moon was amazing as well. 24.5 miles today. Goodnight.
Friday, August 8th - PCT Day 104
Got up before the sun as last night I decided I was going to walk the 32 miles into Etna (10 trail, 22 road). The pink blush of the sunrise upon the distant Trinity Alps was beautiful, almost as beautiful as the turquoise and gold of last night’s sunset. Did 10.3 miles to Hwy 3 by 9:50 am. ~8.5 miles into the road walk I stopped in at the Callahan Emporium for a French dip and pint. Very, very cool bar built in the 1860s. The rest of the day was very hot, long, and thirsty as there was not much water along the way. Made it into Etna after 12 hours of walking. Ran into Bush Pilot. Got a pint at the Etna Brewing Company. We then went to the distillery for dinner w/ Breakfast Monster and another dude. Got some more beers at the grocery store afterwards. Very fun guys’ night. Goodnight.
Saturday, August 9th - PCT Day 105
Zero day today due to some minor food poisoning, not fun. Got an amazing breakfast sandwich w/ Bush Pilot, Bug, and dude from last night. Chilled the whole day. Got tipsy at lunch. Goodnight.
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