[pct-l] Belden to ~Chester walk-around and related

[Brian Lewis]

Though I had almost sworn I wouldn't go south to pick up missing pieces this
year unless all of the fire-closed trail opened up, some other thru's are
thinking of doing this (soon), and a friend might help me (and maybe
them) with transportation, so maybe I'll deal with a bit more road walk and
go down to truly finish this year (still TBD, depends on my friend's
schedule).

I've got a few questions in case anyone has any solid data to help.

pcta.org says: "The PCT is CLOSED approximately 5 miles from Belden to the
Plumas and Lassen National Forest boundary. NO reroutes available! Pick up
the trail at Highway 36"
I'm not sure what they mean when they say no reroutes are available.  My
somewhat dated copy of Streets & Trips software suggests about a 36 mile
roadwalk from Belden.  The route it suggests starts by going just under 2
miles east on SR-70, then taking Caribou Road north for 12 miles and then
transitioning on that to the Prattville Butt Reservoir road for 9 miles,
then taking SR-36 to the PCT (and yes, then walking or hitching back maybe 8
miles to get to Chester for transport out).
Question (1) Can anyone with local knowledge comment on whether this is a
credible route or not?  It doesn't have to be super super safe, so long as
it isn't (actually, not just rumored to be) suicidal or otherwise
impractical.
And of course, if you're aware of a better alternative, that would be great
particularly if enough data is provided both to find the route and engender
confidence that it actually exists and works.

Also, the options to get home from Chester afterwards appear to be (a) local
bus to Quincy, or (b) hitch somewhere.  From Quincy it seems like the
options are (a) very infrequent buses to Chico (1 per week) or Reno (2 per
week), or (b) hitch somewhere.
Question (2) If anyone has any other ideas in that regard, it would be
appreciated.  ?

Question (3) While I did walk to the Etna-Summit road on the PCT in mid-July
and hitched from Etna to Seiad Valley, I don't have a super strong recall of
whether there's a good place to park a car at either end; if I go, my friend
would park and hike in a ways north from Etna Summit, then park again later
at Seiad Valley and walk south until he met up with me on trail.    I think
that just after coming off trail from the south to Etna Summit road there's
an area where one could park, and I saw cars parked at least temporarily
near the trailhead going north, so I think this would be okay and legal
? (yes, I recognize the risk of break-in if the car is left there --- but
what else is a fella to do?)

Question (4) Similar question about parking at Seiad Valley; when I was
there earlier this summer I didn't have a car to worry about.  Maybe the RV
place would allow parking for a small fee or something, or perhaps somewhere
near the store/post office?

Thanks in advance for any insights on the above (both for me, and for up to
three other thru-hikers currently at ALDA West but very soon about to try to
get down to NorCal).



               Gadget '08,  http://postholer.com/brianle