[pct-l] Section Hiker goes 0 for 5 at Quincy LaPorte Rd

[Rob Solorio]

I finished a northbound section hike 2 weeks ago from Quincy-Laporte Rd to Cold 
Springs on Humbug Rd.  Here is the Latitude/Longitude for your GPS (39.782339 
-120.891656).

Southbound PCT: Didn't look for this entrance.

Northbound PCT: You are correct when you talk about the paved road intersection. 
 When going north on Quincy-Laporte you will find the intersection you are 
referencing.  At this intersection you will see what appears to be a gravel 
parking lot but it is, as you said, marked with private property signs and 
blocked by chains and logs.  At this intersection QLP veers right.  Instead take 
a left.  The trail is a few hundred yards down the road on the right.  A tree is 
marked with the PCT logo.  If you were to keep driving another few hundred yards 
you find a gravel parking area on the left.  I parked there for a full week with 
no issues.

Good luck!

- LoneRiver


Dale Combs <comebackwalking at yahoo.com> wrote:

I wanted to hike the trail between Quincy LaPorte Rd and Gibraltar  a couple 
days ago
and I had a mountain biker with me who wanted to do the Butcher Gap ride down to 
Downieville.

After more than 2 dozen trips to the PCT, I've become more and more confident 
using trail/road intersections to break down the trail into smaller pieces.

First attempt I tried to access the trail by the Johnsonville Rd but the road 
was closed. Even if it wasn't closed it wasn't suitable for a car.

Second attempt, I tried the Quincy LaPorte Rd intersection, and without any 
signage I drove too far. So the third attempt I went back and I found the jeep 
road with signage to Pilot Peak that parallels the trail, but not the trail 
itself.

4th attempt, went down to Little Grass Valley and followed the road around the 
reservoir, on the other side of the dam is road that leads to the PCT but there 
is a bridge that is out that prevents you from going past the dam.

5th attempt, drove back to the area near Pilot Peak. The closest I got to PCT 
was seeing some diamonds sprayed orange like they were a detour. Maybe I was on 
the dirt road that is  parallel and north of the PCT?

It seems that there were 3 jeep roads coming from the south in the vicinity.
I had the Northern California PCT guidebook and I had a good road almanac
but I could not find any trail markings.

Can anybody give me clues to finding the trail southbound from Quincy-LaPorte 
Rd?

Any clues for heading northbound from Quincy-LaPorte Rd?
There's a paved Rd intersection and it looks like there was an old trailhead 
parking spot that is now marked private property with chains around it. Is this 
where the trail crosses?
Did signage get removed? I'm incompetent? Both?

The mountain biker? I drove him up the next day to Butcher Gap and that was my 
only time on the PCT this weekend. I drove 600 miles this weekend and completed 
0 miles of trail.

Dejected and Embarassed,

Comfy