[pct-l] Northern California/Oregon Section Hike Suggestions

[Eric Lee]

Case wrote:
>
My question is this, what sections of the PCT would you all recommend in
norCal/Oregon from early to late July? Ideally we'd like to cover
approximately 15 miles/day in the most scenic, contiguous section of trail
we can find. It would be cool to incorporate the Eagle Creek Trail (I think
that is the one where you hike under a waterfall?). Is the PCT "better" or
more interesting on one side of that trail than the other?
>

Two weeks at 15 miles a day is 210 miles, minus probably two zero days would
be 180 miles.  If you're really set on the Eagle Creek trail (which is very
nice!), I'd probably suggest going from Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood north to
Highway 12 at White Pass in Washington.  That's about 196 miles, though, so
you might need an extra day for that.  That lets you see Mt. Hood, Eagle
Creek, and the Goat Rocks Wilderness which are three great highlights of the
northern part of the trail.

If you wanted to stay a little further south but still hit Eagle Creek you
could start at Elk Lake Resort in Oregon and go north to Cascade Locks.
That would also be just under 200 miles and would take you past the Three
Sisters, cool lava fields, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, and Eagle Creek.

If you wanted to be even closer to your eventual destination in California,
you could go from Castella/Castle Crags at I5 in California up to either
Seiad Valley (157 miles) or to Ashland (214 miles).  If you wanted to land
closer to your 180 mile goal there are road access points in between Seiad
and Ashland.  That would take you through Castle Crags, the Trinity Alps
wilderness and lots of nice scenery north of there.

Of course you can't go wrong with the John Muir Trail part of the PCT
either, if you don't mind being a ways south of your final destination.

Loops of the length you're looking for are kind of hard to come by, though,
since the PCT is linear.  :-)  Folks on this list can give you advice on
public transportation or if you ask nicely sometimes there's someone on the
list who lives close by and will offer a ride.  Or hitchhiking works if you
roll that way.

You could also walk southbound on any of those sections if that fits better
with your plans.

Eric