Day 46-56: California, Oregon, California.

Day 46

20 May 2019

Mi 702.2 - 725

After a great breakfast at Kennedy Meadows I got on trail at 10am. The climb out of Kennedy Meadows was pleasant and I met a lot of day hikers.

Today also marked my first evening and night in the snow at about 6000ft.

Day 47

‌21 May 2019

Mi 725 - 745.3

The goal for today was Cottonwood pass, a way to get to Lone Pine. I was on snow for most of the day but the weather was actually pretty nice. I only met two hikers, from China.

Once I got to the campground to access Lone Pine I got really lucky as another hiker had drove up with a trail angel to pick up his group (which wasn’t here). There was close to no traffic on this road as the campground opened only a few days ago. I was glad to make it to Lone Pine at around 7pm.

We all got beer and pizza, it was great.

Day 48

‌22 May 2019

Mi 745.3 - 750.2

My plan was to do laundry, resupply and head back up to the trail. I managed to get back on trail at 2pm but got caught in a snow storm. I hiked with two other hikers, « goon » and « yoda ».

It was pretty bad, about 15-20cm of fresh snow which made our pace really slow. We had to sleep on snow, which was my first time. It’s very frustrating to be knee deep in fresh snow and we managed to do only 5 miles in 4 hours. I normally average around 3/hr.

Day 49

‌23 May 2019

When we woke up and looked at the weather there was another week of snow planned for us. That is when we made the decision to « flip ». We decided to go north to Ashland, OR and hike south to enter the Sierras in early July.

I am glad I got to see what the Sierras were instead of flipping at Ridgecrest like many people did. Ultimately it was doable but miserable. When everything is soaked and freezing and you have to look up the trail with a gps as there are no tracks in the snow it’s not fun anymore.

Day 50

‌24 May 2019

Travel! I spent the day and next night in 5 different buses / trains. I did most of the way with « goon » a 40 years old dude from Belgium who is an engineer at Siemens. It’s always interesting to hear why people are hiking this trail and dig deeper than the usual small talk.

Day 51

‌25 May 2019

Mi 1718.6 - 1708.2

I got to Ashland and decided to ship my micro spikes and bear canister to Chester. After getting some food and other miscellaneous items I got back on trail early in the afternoon. It feels good to be at lower elevation again.

Day 52

‌26 May 2019

Mi 1708.2 - 1702.6

Unfortunately the decision to ship my micro spikes back to Chester was a terrible idea. There is still snow in NorCal, in fact a lot of it. I should have probably checked beforehand to be honest. As you can see this is my tent before and after last night, snow is very much still a thing.

I decided for my safety to backtrack to Ashland and get new micro spikes. I got a ride back to Ashland by a theater professor from Illinoi. He was here for the Shakespeare festival, a fairly popular festival with a lot of different plays throughout the summer.

An annoying day as I didn’t make much progress but a necessary evil I think.

Day 53

‌27 May 2019

Mi 1702.6 - 1679.3

I spent most of the day on slushy snow. The melt was in progress so I walked on a lot of snow bridges and sketchy slopes. It slowed me down quite a lot.

I slipped on a slope and my ice axe was ineffective when I tried to self arrest as the snow was so soft it couldn’t find a decent anchor point. Fortunately I didn’t fall that far as I was able to grab onto a tree and stop myself. A scary reminder that hiking on snow can be pretty dangerous!

I found a nice opened cabin to enjoy lunch though which a really nice surprise. The owners recently renovated it and welcome PCT hikers to enjoy shade and some chairs.

Today also marked my return in California! After a very short stay in Oregon I am already back in California to tackle its northern counties and then the Sierras.

Day 54

‌28 May 2019

Mi 1679.3 - 1655.9

I wanted to get to Seiad Valley today, a very small town which marks the last stop before Oregon if you’re going in the other direction.

It has an interesting history. It’s unincorporated and considered part of the imaginary « State of Jefferson » an area they included many counties in NorCal.

I managed to get there at 2pm and stayed at a hostel in the process of being renovated with many hiker including a family of 5 which hikes with a dog.

Day 55

‌29 May 2019

Mi 1655.9 - ?

I made the decision to do the next stretch on road. The trail is covered in snow and in the process of being melted causing very icy and sketchy sections. I talked to a ranger who recommended that I don’t go up there.

I think it was definitely doable by trail but very slow going. I kinda have a required number of miles to do every day to meet up with my sister at the right town which is why I ultimately decided to do this stretch on a road.

The walk in itself was surprisingly pleasant. I went through many small villages and talked to some interesting characters. It turns out that this valley is the home of the second most profitable gold claim in the US. A local told me a few billions worth of gold were extracted here.

Day 56

‌30 May 2019

Mi ? - 1599.7

I got to Etna at around 12pm. Once again those small towns in California are incredible!

I was greeted by almost everyone walking down the street and felt very welcomed. Not sure how I feel about kids asking me if I was a miner though, I’ll have to get back to you on that one. I can’t blame them though the smell and look of hikers is, I imagine, quite similar to what miners used to look like.

The highlight of this town is definitely its bakery! Who would have thought that in the middle of nowhere I would find some Kouign-amann. The baker was very nice and I got to enjoy real bread on trail for the first time since I started. His Kouign-amann were very tasty and for a few minutes it felt like I was back in Brittany!