[pct-l] Open North of Belden

[susan]

Coyote and H.R. HuffnPuff
This is genuinely a valuable report. Since I am struggling to get to Canada
on my horse, with one obstacle after another this is so very useful. Your
comments about passage with a horse are much appreciated and I would
certainly be grateful to any others who might note the trail with a horse in
mind.
Susan (Grayhair)

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 14:59:09 -0700
From: "Hernandez" <hernand at magicriver.net>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] PCT open north of Belden
To: "'AsABat'" <AsABat at 4Jeffrey.Net>,	<Pct-l at backcountry.net>
Message-ID: <81E01F372FA74C9C8838D0663C02DBF5 at Ada>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Trail Condition Report: Quincy-LaPorte Road to Highway 36/Chester

Hello PCT-l,

>From 5/21 to 5/27, Coyote and I hiked the 100 miles from the Quincy-LaPorte
Road to Highway 36/Chester.  After some more traveling around, I just got
back home and wanted to make a trail report.  

*** Summary: 

Snow 

Was above 6400?, but in drifts that were few and passable, with two big
exceptions:  1. An 8 mile stretch from Data Book mile 1272.8 ?Path on a
shady left where road turns counterclockwise? to a bit after Data Book mile
1280.2 ?Clear Creek? (Clear Creek?s headwaters are in a well shaded bowl,
hence the snow at 6190 feet).  We were on snow here, taking turns between
map & compass work and route finding.  It was a bit of a slog, but we had
fun.

2. The vicinity of Frog Peak: Data Book mile 1302.7 ?Wide Lumber Road? to
1306.9 ?Road 26N02?.  We lost the trail under snow, and there were no blazes
that we could see.  We wound up going cross country (map and compass) to
refind the trail.  

I do not know how the recent weather system will affect the snow.

Blowdowns  

Wow, where there ever.  I?d say at least 200 in the 100 mile
stretch.  Most were a couple to a few inches across, but there were some old
monsters in there as well.

We believe this trail is passable to hikers with stamina and experience,
including some map/compass skills, extra snacks, level heads, and senses of
humor so they don?t go to sleep pissed off.  In short, by the time thrus get
here, they will be physically and mentally well prepared.  This trail is
definitely not passable to equestrians until the pack/maintenance teams get
in there.

*** The Details for those still reading:

Some trail notes from our trip:

* the timing could not have been better, from bus schedules, to hitches, to
weather, we lucked out big time.  

* From Data Book mile 1235.6 ?Quincy-LaPorte Road? to mile 1251.5
?Middle Fork Feather River? there were just shy of 30 blowdowns.  Most were
only a few inches in diameter.

* the climb out of the Middle Fork Feather River is a doozie, with about 15
blowdowns before you reach the next data point at Deadman Spring Saddle,
mile 1252.9.  There is one in particular where the trail tread goes up and
around a monster.  The trail is also overgrown just before the saddle.  

* there is a stream about a ? of mile before (South) of Bear Creek, mile
1255.0.  Between this stream and Bear Creek there?s a 12 ? 15 foot section
of trail that has fallen away, leaving a narrow, gravelly and slippery
tread.  Even if there were no blowdowns, this would not be a good spot for
horses.   

* from Bear Creek to Seasonal Spring, mile 1259.8, there?s about 20
blowdowns.  Not big, but plenty of branches, they bar the trail to hooves.

* From Sunny Crest Saddle, mile 1261.2 to Lookout Rock, mile 1261.8, there?s
only a couple small blowdowns.  

* the climb from the Middle Fork of the Feather River to Lookout Rock felt
like forever, but a quick watering up at the seasonal spring just before
Lookout Rock, mile 1261.5, followed by a .3 mile jog to reach the rock in
time for sunset was a nifty way to end the day.  There?s good (dry) camping
at the rock.

* From Lookout Rock to Big Creek Road, mile 1265.4, there were about 10
smaller blowdowns.  Nothing major for hikers.  

* From mile 1262.8 to just past Clear Creek, 1280.2, we were walking on
snow, so could not count blowdowns.

* From Clear Creek down in to Belden there were about 20 small, but
annoying (watch for branches at eye level) blowdowns.

* the hike down into Belden is a foot tenderizing pounder, but the views of
trees and the river valley are pretty.  And no, the exposed switchbacks you
see across the valley are, thankfully, not the trail; they?re a PG&E service
road.

* Belden is a fine stop for good bar food, beer and soda, with a very small
store for a very limited resupply of snacks.  The resort is being rebuilt
under new ownership.  They hope to have the rooms ready to rent by next
(?10) summer.  

* We had heard rumor that the climb out of Belden was closed, but it is open
as far as we know.  I talked with the rangers in Quincy over the phone
before the hike, and applied in person for the California Fire Permit at the
Lake Almanor ranger station.  The station is located on the outskirts of
Chester.  I told all of the rangers our route (the PCT), and no one
objected.  (I got the permit in Chester because I left my car up North, and
we took a bus and hitched South to the trail head on the Quincy-Laporte
road.)  The locals in Belden warned us of an exposed climb for the first few
miles (it is), the blowdowns (there are), and the emerging bears (we saw the
butt-ends of two running cinnamons), but otherwise told us of how beautiful
the Chips Creek canyon is (yep, it is), and wished us luck (we are now fans
of ice cold Blue Moon beer served in pint glasses with orange wedges... and
the Belden Burger *drool*).  There is also no closed trail signage (zip,
zero, nada) as you ascend out of Belden to begin the 13 mile
climb.  

* yeah, the climb out of Belden is 13 miles.  There are dozens of
blowdowns; there is grass with thorny seeds.  The first two or three miles
are exposed.   

* there is no cabin at Williams Flat, mile 1295.5.

* This is important: About a mile North of Myrtle Flat camp, there is a
split on the trail.  One trail goes up, and the other down.  The trail
going up has a pile of sticks across its path, a traditional indication
that says ?don?t go this way?.  However, the official PCT Guidebook
map, as well as the Plumas County National Forest map, shows that this
?blocked? path is the PCT.  According to these maps, the PCT parallels Chips
Creek up the valley, but never crosses it.  Coyote and I were confused.  We
decided to follow the new tread, which goes down towards the creek.  It
looks like the PCT has been rerouted to a ford across Chips Creek.  When we
came upon this ford, however, it was looking dangerous: white water above,
churn with no view of river bottom on the ford proper, and white water just
below the ford.  We turned around and decided to check out the ?official?
route.  Oh my.  It is overgrown, to the point that we had to take out packs
off, and crawl on our bellies while pushing our packs ahead of us up hill.
We found out the reason for the reroute: a tributary flooded and gauged out
a large swath of trail.  We wound up climbing down a cliff to a rocky beach
at the meeting point of the tributary and Chips Creek.  We managed this
cliff descent because halfway down we discovered that someone had left a
rope looped and carabineered around a log? in the middle of a cliff (!)
Talk about trail magic.  Anyway, we made it down the cliff, forded Chips
Creek in a spot much more amicable than the location we had seen downstream
(in fact, someone had erected two cairns on the other side of Chips Creek,
which is why we forded at this spot).  We then made our way away from the
creek and found trail (!?) that led up to a refording of Chips Creek further
upstream, and a junction back to the official trail.  

So long story short, this section of trail needs, at the least, some
blazing to show the new route.  I know bridges are expensive, and labor
intensive to build, and can be washed away the spring after they are built,
and yeah, we were passing through way early in the season, but I think it
would be worthwhile considering one for the new ford route.  Also, let?s get
the word out that there is a new route here.  I dug through my pack and
looked more closely at our maps.  I noticed on my printout of Halfmile?s
maps, that there is a data point on the ?wrong? side of Chips Creek, right
where the ford is.  So, his map is the only one I have seen, so far, that
even hints at the new route.  

* Route finding in snow is fun, especially if you know darn well that you
*will*, eventually, encounter either the trail or a forest service road? and
have no worries about your food. 

* Bears emerging from hibernation are gangly and cute: when they are far
away, and/or are running away from you.  

* Bears run very, very, very fast, even over very uneven ground.

* I?m guessing that the halfway monument, mile 1325, came after the data
book ? it isn?t listed.

* The Data Book point ?Highway 36?, mile 1335.8, lists a gradient of 0.9
over 1.5 miles.  The reason for this is because you walk over a simple but
lovely wooden bridge, through a picturesque grassy field, wind your way
through scattered pines, go through a livestock gate?. and then climb a
dusty, dusty, f-ing grade 12 slope over the last quarter of a mile.

* It would be cool if Chester were the center of the PCT.  Then we could say
that Chuck Norris is the center of the PCT.  

* The Heitmans are awesome angels.  Be sure to say ?Thank You,? and
leave a donation.  Oh, and cover your nethers (Rule #4).  

Happy Hiking All!
Coyote and H.R. HuffnPuff
Team Bad Wizard '08



-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of AsABat
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 2:02 PM
To: Pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] PCT open north of Belden

A few weeks ago it was posted that the first 5 miles of trail north of
Belden were still closed because of last year's fire.

This was posted on the PCTA Trail Conditions page today:

"As of June 1, 2009 the trail is open A section of the Pacific Crest Trail
(PCT) near the town of Belden and north to the Plumas and Lassen National
Forests boundary has been re-opened. The PCT sustained some fire damage
due to the Canyon Complex fires which swept through the area in June,
2008. For local trail conditions, contact the Mt. Hough Ranger District,
(530) 283-0555, or visit http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas, "

Hopefully the trail will stay open this year (or at least until I get
there!). Unfortunately, there were a lot of lightning strikes yesterday
and more expected through the weekend.

For a scary map of lightning strikes in the 24 hours ending at 6 this
morning go to
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas/pdfs/lightning_strikes_ca_6.4.2009.pdf

AsABat