[pct-l] Sierra City to Belden to Chester

[Scott Williams]

There was still considerable snow on some sections from Sierra City to
Chester last year well into July, but the worst part of the Northern Sierra
for us was the blow downs.  Folks that skipped the High Sierra and headed
north before the trail crews had cleared things spent a lot of extra time
climbing over massive fallen trees, and countless smaller ones.  One
estimate early in the season was over 300 trees down per mile.  We're
talking hundreds of miles.

By the time my group got up there the trail crews had cleared many miles,
but we still had plenty of climbing over a horrible trail mess.  For one
typical section I counted trees in the trail we had to climb over.  I didn't
count trees that were not a problem, and got to 85 in a quarter of a mile.
 I lost count after that and just kept cussing.  That slowed us down as much
as the snow had further south, and this was in late July.  May is pretty
early for any place in the Sierra unless you're prepared for snow, and want
to camp in it.  But then, a big melt off can change everything in a week or
two.

Shroomer