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Castella to Etna
Saturday, July 22: Castle Crags State Park @ 2.5 miles (1502.0)
It was an unexpected day. We went to breakfast at the Black Bear Diner, then to the outfitter store where we bought lightweight boots and met Guy again. Kerstan is one day ahead of us. An AT friend, Mike Henderson, met us there. He lives in Eureka, about 3 ½ hours away, but came to visit. He drove us back to where we left the trail, then went on to wait for us at the State Park. We walked the couple of miles to the campground, which has a site specially set aside for the PCT hikers. It’s a noisy one, with the constant roar of the freeway and railroad traffic nearby, but otherwise it has been peaceful and cool. There is no one set up in the nearby sites, so we have this corner of the park to ourselves. We chatted with Mike all afternoon, bought some chili at the store at Castella, just outside the park gates, and walked back to the campsite in time to watch Sly and Cheryl drive up. They just finished the next section and had come back to retrieve their car. So we sat and visited with them for a couple of hours. About 8:30 Starman, a PCT hiker we had met briefly in South Lake Tahoe, showed up. It was a fun sociable day, quite restful in its way. We hadn’t planned to take a day off here, but since Mike was willing to come all that way, we were happy to take the rest. And given our chafing and sore feet, a quiet day was good for us in other ways as well. We saw a rattlesnake and a buck in the short stretch we walked into the park. It was a nice day.
Sunday, July 23: Upper Gumboot Lake @ 24.4 miles (1525.1)
We saw our first PCT bear today. Finally! I heard a rustling in the leaves above us and stopped to see what it was. Instead of the deer or squirrel I expected to see, I spotted a dark brown bear headed down the hill straight toward us. It hadn’t seen us, but when I yelled, “Yo, bear!” it turned around and ran back up the hill. There were bear boxes at the campground, but I didn’t really expect to see any bears. That was fun.
All morning we climbed, first very gently up and down in the park, then more seriously up past the crags. There were intermittent hazy views of Castle Crags as we climbed. They’re big open granite peaks, very like the domes in Yosemite. It is really beautiful despite the smog. We don’t actually climb among them, though there is a side trail we could have taken. It is enough right now to look up and see the jagged peaks. This next stretch is a couple of thousand feet higher than the last section was, and should be cooler. We’ve been walking in live oak and manzanita off and on all morning, but will climb up to sugar pines and whitebark pines — shady trees — this afternoon. I’ll be glad to leave the poison oak and rattlesnakes behind, as well as some of the heat.
Later: We didn’t actually find much shade. We were mostly out in the open, wading through manzanita and other brush. It makes for nice views, but hot hiking. We had great views of Castle Crags, Shasta, and even as far south as Lassen Peak, plus new views of jagged mountains to the west. We climbed high along a divide for much of the afternoon. Late in the afternoon, there were a few lakes below us, but they were hard to reach. We ended up at Gumboot Lake, which is only about 250’ below the trail, much better than the earlier lakes we passed. We’re both tired and sore. Jim’s foot was really causing pain today. It doesn’t like first days out of town, maybe because the pack is so much heavier. Still it was a good day with all the ridge-walking and beautiful views. Our lake isn’t even all that buggy, despite being very shallow. There’s another larger lake nearby, but we could hear voices over there, so we decided to come to the smaller one. We saw some new flowers — little green pitcher plants — plus some azaleas at a spring. Jim saw a deer sneaking away while I went to get water. It’s funny how they do that. They look so furtive.
Monday, July 24: Bull Lake — 22.6 + .5 (1547.8)
We slept late, until almost 7:00, when the sun’s heat forced us out of bed. We don’t want to rush this section as we don’t want to end up in Etna on Wednesday evening. If we arrive the next morning, we’ll have all day to take care of chores and rest, but will only have to pay for one night’s lodging. The morning hike was fairly easy: some gentle climbing, lots of hazy views, and a couple of lakes below the trail. We had a nice view of Toad Lake with Mt. Shasta rising beyond it. Lunch was at sparkling Deadfall Lake. Lots of red rock all around there. There’s a little snow up above and we crossed one drift this morning. We followed a deer up the trail for a minute or two. There are lots of wildflowers, especially around the springs. The breeze is cool. I’ve really enjoyed this section.
There were an amazing number of dayhikers around Deadfall Lake. The trailhead is only three miles away, the trail is almost perfectly flat, and it is beautiful. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the crowd. Our afternoon hike was also mostly level, contouring around a stream basin. Then we started south. For some reason, we head south for the next 40 miles. Why? Still it was easy walking, with some interesting rocks: red and black boulders, green mica, cemented glacial moraines, etc.
Best part of the day was a swim in Bull Lake, which we have to ourselves. It felt wonderful. A breeze is keeping the bugs at bay. Such peace and quiet. It’s lovely. The jumping fish are the noisiest thing out here.
Tuesday, July 25: Meadow at 1570.8 — 23.25 miles
We had a quiet morning, mostly contouring around ridges. There were some lovely views of the snow-covered Trinity Alps to the southwest. Also, some not so lovely views of clear-cut forest. It’s hot again, so the forest stretches feel very nice, though they have no views. We saw Starman again, off and on. We saw another bear as we rounded Scott Mountain. It was another young one, thin with dark brown fur. It was walking up the trail in front of us. When it heard us, it ran off the trail, then stopped to watch us. It walked beside the trail for a minute, then went down the hill. That was fun.
The afternoon had lots of good views of rugged saw-toothed mountains. Shasta continues to appear from time to time. There were lakes and ponds and occasional snow patches. All in all, it’s beautiful country. I like Section P best of all the sections in California so far. At the end of the day we found a tiny creeklet in a green meadow. There were four or five deer grazing below, but they left while we were setting up. All in all, it was a good day.
We met a group on a three-day bike tour at Scott Summit. Their support vans were giving out water, fruit, cookies etc. We talked a bit and got some water, but didn’t manage to yogi anything else. We must be losing our touch. We met a man out section-hiking with his 70 year old father and teenaged son. Dad has only 200 miles to go to finish the PCT in California, so they’ll spend the next two or three weeks doing that, using a car to break it up into short two-day sections.
Wednesday, July 26: Payne Lake -- 23.5 (1594.3)
It was a lovely morning, with beautiful views and lots of springs. There was a lot of steep up and down, both on and off the trail. Many of the ridges and peaks come to sharp points. There are also lots of glacial bowls. They’re related. This was an active glacial area, and there are a lot of signs of their activity.
I’m feeling happy and peaceful, but hungry. I’m ready for town tomorrow, but also a bit sorry to end this section. It has been a good one for both of us. Seeing the bears helped; it felt more like a wilderness than anyplace else we’ve seen in California. Having lots of water and lots of nice options for camping also made this a nice section to walk. No death marches were necessary. We could have pushed to get to town in four days, but we both agreed not to even try. Yeah!
The afternoon was much the same, with some good views of glacial cirques, granite cliffs, and green forest. The climbing was greater than expected — lots of up and down — but the views were worth it. We saw one deer, who wasn’t at all afraid of us, and some cows with bells on, clanging with every step, and some friendly dayhikers and two more backpackers, plus the section hiking family we met yesterday, heading south. It was a busy day. This area feels like wilderness, but isn’t quite, though it’s called the Russian Wilderness. It looks a lot like the Sierras, but wilder. We finally stopped for the day at a long narrow lake in a steep-walled valley. The guidebook said there were no campsites for another half mile, but was, fortunately wrong. It felt good to get cleaned up, though I didn’t go for a real swim this time. It was too late and too windy. It’s not much of a site, but it will do.
Thursday, July 27: Etna — 5.9 miles (1600.2)
We had a peaceful night by the lake, listening to the fish jump. I had fun filtering water, watching three big tadpoles try to make sense of the bobbing pre-filter. They couldn’t decide whether it was friend or foe. Their curiosity was amusing to watch. From there we had a lot of climbing, just to get up above a small lake, but then afterward there were other views that were terrific.
We had a long wait at the highway for a ride to town. There were only three cars in two hours that were headed our way. A construction driver going the other way, who saw us yesterday when we crossed a road 20 miles back, offered to pick us up if we were still there when he passed by 3 ½ hours later. Fortunately, a local man who runs a kayaking school picked us up eventually. In town, we got a sandwich at the deli, went to the post office to pick up some new pants and socks I had ordered from REI to replace the holey ones I’ve been wearing, and got a room at a local B&B that is very hiker friendly. Joyce Bradley has a beautiful home and is very particular about things like no boots or packs in the house, so she opened up a hostel in the barn for $12 night. She said we could stay in the house if we were willing to leave the smelly gear outside. We opted for clean sheets, even if it is more expensive inside the house. We spent the evening out on the porch talking. There are five other guests here, including a couple who are acting as trail support for their daughter and son-in-law, a guy on a motorcycle and a man and his father who came to look for an old friend of the father’s. I may have met the son at church in San Francisco, many years ago. Small world. Dinner was another sandwich at the deli, then ice cream out in the garden by the fountain. Jim wasn’t in the mood for Thai food, which was the only other option within walking distance. It is a lovely garden. Just for fun, I climbed up into the tree house. It was a nice stop.
Created: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 Copyright © 2000-2009 Spirit Eagle
