[pct-l] Etna

[John Abela]

Thanks for the info everybody!

I just spoke with Vicki at the Hikers Hut, she said she had 7
thru-hikers last night and 6 the night before.

I think what I will do is head over on Wednesday morning and scope out
the area and try to get setup late afternoon. I am going to try to
spend two nights there, so that would put me there to offer rides on
Wednesday afternoon/night and Thursday all day, and than mid day
through Friday.

I would love to have some other folks there helping out, or just to
hang out with. If you are up for helping out drop me an email and lets
work out some details!

Vicki from Hikers Hut said that the Hut itself is likely to be rented
out to an entire family, but they will have a bus/rv and lots of
pleasant ground to sleep on, did not ask about pricing, forgot too,
sorry. I will probably camp out as close to the trail as I can without
causing problems nor having to sleep right beside a road.

John


On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 6:48 AM, CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net> wrote:
> Good morning, John,
>
> I did much the same thing last year before I left my car and hiked between
> Etna Summit and the Cal/Or border.  The road distance between the PCT at
> Etna Summit and the town of Etna is approximately 10 miles.  The road is
> paved but infrequently traveled by locals and light commerce.  When clear of
> snow it is easily drivable even in my low-slung little passenger car, but
> its mostly steep – peaking at 6,000 ft. -- and it has many low-speed
> switchbacks.  I did not see any of the typical closure gates.  I haven’t
> been there in this high-snowpack season but I expect it will be open; a call
> to someone – such as the local police or Hiker Hut – would probably verify
> its condition.
>
> Rides to and from Etna and the PCT were greatly appreciated because while
> the local civilian traffic is friendly and often willing to pick up
> hiker-trash, there just isn’t much traffic, and most of the
> commercial/governmental traffic is not allowed to pick up hitch-hikers.  I
> suppose some hikers have walked part, or all, of the road but that would be
> a real dose.
>
> I car-camped in the area of the summit but at that time there was no
> snowpack.  Along the upper portion of the road there are turn-outs and
> little side roads where one could camp.  I made 2-3 trips per day, hanging
> around the summit, Hiker Hut, or any of the local hiker attractions, i.e.
> restaurants, internet library, etc.  Etna is a small town; if someone is
> providing rides the word soon spreads within “the family”.
>
> Bless you for being willing to help.
>
> Steel-Eye
>
> -Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965
>
> -http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
>
> -http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09
>
> On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 6:00 AM, John Abela <abela at johnabela.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> Really considering heading up to Etna (from my place in Eureka) either
>> tonight or sometime later this week.
>>
>> My thought was, if it is possible, to drive hikers down/up the road
>> that I understand is there, that they normally would have to hike to
>> get down into Etna. Does anybody know if that is a road that is open
>> and drivable? I have a 4wd truck and know how to drive it, but what I
>> just have no idea of is whether or not it is gated off, or if its not
>> actually a drivable road, or what the deal is.
>>
>> So, does anybody know if that is the kind of road I could get my truck
>> onto and than drive hikers up/down, to save them some serious miles
>> into/out of Etna??
>>
>> If it is a road that I can drive up, I was thinking of camping out up
>> there, does anybody know if that is possible/legal?
>>
>> If anybody has done this type of thing before, how often should I
>> drive up and down to check on hikers at the trail waiting to come
>> down, and than to get those hikers who are down in town back up to the
>> trail? How does that whole aspect of such things work?
>>
>> And, if anybody would like to join me in doing some trail angel work
>> there in Etna, by all means, drop me a email asap and let me know when
>> you could help out. I would love to have some other folks there
>> helping out.
>>
>> John
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