Trail Day 83: Tentsite near Quincy Le Porte Rd (mile 1233.2) to tentsite near Lookout Rock (mile 1257.6)

25.4 PCT miles

The first thing I needed to do this morning was get water. I had camped near a water source, but it ran under a road. I had enough water to get to a spring about 2 miles away, so I decided to fill up there instead.

Gone are the days where every water source is a good water source. As I am headed into a drier (and less snowy) section, I need to start looking at the water report frequently again to see which sources are reported as “bad,” “barely flowing,” or “dry.”

There was another hiker who I had seen yesterday camping next to the spur to the spring. He was breaking down his tent when I returned from the spring and asked if I had any problems with bears during the night. Apparently he had to scare off a bear that approached his tent 4 times during the night. Yikes.

The rest of the morning I crossed the easy, forested terrain I had been walking through the past few days. I made great time. I hit a deep river canyon a couple hours before lunch and decided to have lunch by the river at the bottom, several miles away.

Morning on the trail. 

As I went down the canyon I lost several thousand feet in elevation. The trees changed from pines to leafy green trees. And, it got hot. As I was near the bottom, I saw a small rattlesnake. Thankfully, it immediately slithered of the trail as opposed to coiling and rattling.

A change in scenery.

At the bottom of the canyon I hit the Feather River.  I had made a good choice to make that my rest stop. Scrambling down to the river bank was hard, but worth it. I found a shaded spot under a tree and put my sleeping pad down on the warm river rock. The river was cold and there was a nice breeze coming from it.

Feather River.

I refilled my water,  washed the dirt from the bottom of my legs, soaked my feet in the cold water, then went back to my pad to lounge and eat lunch. It was way too comfortable there and I ended up staying for an hour and a half.

My lunch spot.

After lunch I had to do a long climb out of the canyon. It was 90 degrees (F) and I had already hiked 15 miles. The trail climbed up a for a while,  then back down to Bear Creek, then started the long, 8 mile climb up.

The climb was steep, right from the beginning. After a couple miles I needed to take a break. My feet hurt pretty badly and I was physically struggling with the steepness of the uphill. I thought if I had a snack, things would get a little easier. It didn't.

I was still struggling with the uphill climb, moving very slowly. I realized I would probably only make it to the top of the climb today,  although I had wanted to go further for the day.

About 2.5 miles from the top I was passed by two other PCT hikers who also seemed to be struggling with the uphill. We lamented about how this climb shouldn't be so hard after what we faced in the Sierra.

That last stretch of the climb took forever. A quarter mile from Lookout Rock was a spring where I stopped to refill my water amongst the mosquitos. I then shuffled to Lookout Rock, which marked the end of the climb. Several hikers had decided to set up camp there for the night. I hiked 0.2 miles more to a nice campsite, with barely enough energy to set up my tent and cook dinner.