[pct-l] Oregon Section Hikers

[Bob Bankhead]

One of the advantages of section hiking is the ability to choose your dates
and directions. I really dislike long, multi-thousand foot elevation gains.
There are 3 of these between Castle Crags State Park and the OR/CA border.

I started at Siskyou Summit and went south (DOWN) that 4000 foot monster,
affectionately known to thru-hikers as "Cardiac Hill", into Seiad. 

>From Seiad, I hitched to south to Eureka, caught a bus to Etna, stayed at
the B&B and hitched up to Etna Summit. Then I walked north, DOWN the
opposite side of that monster, back to Seiad. Repeated the trip to Etna
Summit and went south, DOWN that long hill to Castle Crags State Park, then
caught the Greyhound and returned to Portland. Greyhound no longer stops in
Dunsmuir, but Amtrak's north-bound Coast Starlight does, albeit at a very
inconvenient time.

Thru-hikers don't usually have such options. 


My sleeping bag for the past 15 years has been a 25° Western Mountaineering
Hooded Aspen MF - now called the Sycamore MF (Microfiber shell). It has been
from Mojave to Canada on the PCT and I've never been cold. It opens fully to
make a quilt for those times when a closed bag is too warm. One can also
unzip the zipper across the footbox and stick one's feet out when they're
too warm, and pull them back inside as the night cools. See
http://westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=Products&page=Sleeping%20
Bags&cat=Microfiber%20Series&ContentId=21
My wife and I have a pair and zip them together on occasion. Ahh....true
comfort!





-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Dennis Phelan
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 9:26 PM
To: R. Patton
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Oregon Section Hikers

I also live in Portland and my wife and I are planning on finishing the
southern half of the Oregon PCT this August.  We have done the northern part
already.  My wife uses a 15 degree bag, but she sleeps cold.  I used a
20 degree bag.  This year I have gone to a 35 degree bag, which is plenty
warm enough.   You can reach the Oregon border two ways; (1) drive to less
than 100 yards by taking some forest service roads out of Ashland for about
25 miles.  The problem is what to do with the vehicle once you get there.
(2) hike out of Siead valley in CA, but as mentioned it's a huge 4000 ft
climb out of there.  We are planning on taking the road option.  Use Google
earth to locate where the trail crosses into Oregon. Downloading half-mile
maps onto Google earth makes this easy and helps plan your water and camping
spots.  As mentioned by others all the permits are available at the trail
heads.  You will not need any snow gear, but you may have to deal with snow
in some places.  The only challenge we had to deal with was finding the
trail when covered with snow.  This will be a fun experience for your family
that will take about 30 days

Dennis
On Mar 20, 2012 5:24 PM, "R. Patton" <give_a_rip at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Hello oh wise and esteemed hikers,
>
> I realize we're a bit late to the party, but my 16 year old son, 
> Soren, (just turned so today) and I (his mother Ripley) are planning 
> to hike the Oregon section of the PTC this summer. We live in 
> Portland, so our plan is to enter the trail at the CA/OR border in 
> late July or first of August and hike home via the Eagle Creek option at
the end.
>
> We have begun to train. have read Ray Jardine's book, have ordered our 
> Eric the Black Atlas for OR (eagerly waiting for it to arrive), and 
> have just begun to gear up.
>
> I am finding it hard to find info on what we may or may not need 
> gear-wise just for the Oregon section in August. I am thinking we 
> won't need snow gear (crampons, ice axe etc) or a bear canister, but 
> wanted to check with those wiser than I.
>
> Anyone have a guestimate on average temps at night for selecting 
> sleeping gear?
>
> Suggestions for roomy but light two-person shelter options (wherein 
> the occupants aren't toocozy- he's sixteen and I'm his mom, remember 
> this:)
>
> Also, where it the best place to enter at the CA/OR border- what 
> trailhead? And where to get permits for that section alone? I have 
> only seen CA fire permit info. Does OR require fire permits?
>
> Hope to see and meet some of you on the trail. Am I correct in 
> thinking thru hikers will also be on that portion of trail at the time?
>
> Any other section hikers doing what we are, we'd love to hear from you 
> and share info, etc.
>
> Been farming the forum for wisdom. Thanks to all
>
> Rip and Ren
>
>
>
> website: http://www.ripleypatton.com/
> blog: http://rippatton.livejournal.com 
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