Mile 1332.8 to 1342.2 – 9.4 miles total hiked on PCT

So, after FOUR zero days in a row trying to rest my body, resupply, go see Spider-Man, and get my eyes checked, I headed back to the trail. The length of the time off trail was partly waiting for some Amazon packages and to get new boots from the REI in Chico. The tread on the Solomon X Ultra 5 Mid GTXs size 12 I got shipped to me at Kennedy Meadows South were getting pretty thin and even bald on the heals.

I went with a new Topo Trail??? WP boot that had a wider toe box, but still needed a size 12 to comfortably fit my bloated wide feet (that were NORMALLY SIZE 9.5 inch EEE) into comfortably. Hopefully, they are comfortable for the next 400+ miles.

Otherwise, I cleaned up and fixed my gear and got enough resupply food and snacks for here to Burney Falls (where I’ll resupply with a large package shipped from home). I did ship some extra food from Sierra City to Old Station that will replace what I eat in the next 4 days.

This brings my days on the trail to 119 and zero day to 27 total. Almost a whole month spent off trail as I near the five month mark.

I restarted my hike from the Highway 36 PCT junction trailhead at mile 1332.8 where I left it five days earlier.

Fortunately, the worst of the burn scars in the area should be over. But it did start with a burned area that eventually gave away to an undamaged forest close to the high point for the day.

I did get a nice view of Mount Lassen as a snaked my way across high ridge. I’ve climbed Mount Lassen before, so no reason to even think about going to climb it now (and it’s not exactly easy access from the PCT trail). Since you can drive up to the Summit Trail trailhead, it’s not a very hard climb for most fit people.

Because of bear canister requirements inside Lassen national Park, this was a short day with less than 10 miles to hike to the North Fork of the Feather River. But that’s OK for a late start.

Unfortunately, tomorrow will also be a 10 mile day because I’m going to stop at Wagner Valley Campground. This is because they have bear lockers, so you don’t have to have a bear canister for your food for the entire 20 miles that the PCT goes through Lassen National Park. I’ll split the hike through the national park into two pieces to avoid having to carry my bear canister (which I sent home from Truckee anyway).

And yes, this is the third fork of the Feather River that I’ve had to cross, fortunately all on bridges.

The first one I jumped into the water gladly because it was a very hot day and I had spent a good deal of the afternoon in direct sunlight.

The second one was near Belden and I didn’t take the time to jump into that one. Mostly it was because I didn’t want to spend the time there since I needed to split up the big, long, hot climb up from Belden.

And this third one, I did take a dip. I didn’t go all the way in because it wasn’t that hot this particular day. It was overcast and the sun wasn’t on me that much. So I just wasn’t that hot that it was necessary to go totally in and cool off. I’ve had pools and hot tubs over the past five days to enjoy, so there really wasn’t any pent-up need to clean up or cool down.

The campsite that I chose near the river didn’t have a great view, but it had good access to the water.

There might be some color from the sunset. I’ll just have to wait and see.