Start point
Saloon Creek Junction, mile 1577.8
End point
Paynes Lake, mile 1595.1
Miles hiked
17.3
Wilderness area
Trinity Alps Wilderness
Klamath National Forest
Russian Wilderness
People I met
Half Pint
Sam
Baby Holder
Roy
The day on trail
Let’s go!
Cookie, Flamethrower, Nonny, and I all decided to camp at the same place.
Right off the bat I saw this mushroom. I took a minute to look it up because it’s super common. I learned it’s a veiled polypore, which grows on pine trees after pine bark beetle infestations.
So it’s basically a marker of climate change as these beetles are able to spread farther and farther into forests.
It really breaks my heart to see how much climate change is affecting this world, and it’s so illustrated by this magnificent trail burning more and more each year, with more and more trees dying.
Yet we do what we can.
At least the flowers are still blooming.
And the trail is still fun to walk as it twists along.
I found this shell which I thought was interesting.
We passed mile 1,000! It feels a little hollow having skipped much of the Sierra, and I also don’t know who laid this marker down. They might have put it down as their 1,000th mile, or marked it as the official 1,000th mile on trail.
I didn’t bother to look it up, but I suspect it’s the former because I believe the 1,000th mile is in the Sierra, since Kennedy Meadows South is at mile 702 and the PCT midpoint (mile 1,325) is in the Sierra.
Regardless, I know it’s not my 1,000th mile because of what I did in the Sierra and what I skipped. But it’s still a monument and it still feels amazing to walk by it.
I also walked by this caterpillar nest.
And got to enjoy these views as the trail wound around mountains.
I came across this stump that was crumbling into large wooden chunks.
Seriously the views.
When I got to camp I beat Nonny, Cookie, and Flamethrower there. I found a spot that was a little breezy and put down some sticks on trail to show where to find me. The side trail was a little hidden.
After setting my stuff down, before setting up, Nonny found me. She ended up missing the sticks and found the side trail and set up. We met some local day hikers who let us know there were more campsites on the other side of the trail and lake, sites which had better shelter.
I set up over on the other side because I have an aversion to wind right now, after the incident on the ridge on Father’s Day. Cookie and Flamethrower joined me there, and we all went over to Nonny’s side to cook dinner and eat. We don’t want anyone to feel alone!
Cookie ended up not setting up his tent until after dinner, though he was able to claim a campsite.
It was a really lovely day. I was excited to go to bed having had such a nice day.
