[pct-l] conditions report for CA sections N and O

[dplotnikoff at sjmercury.com (David Plotnikoff)]

Greetings from a long-time list lurker and humble section hiker. These
notes may be of interest to other section hikers making some late season
short trips in Northern California.


The following conditions report for portions of California sections N and O
were based on 72 trail miles (Hwy 36 to Hwy 44 and Baum Lake to Peavine
Creek) done 8/30 to 9/05/03.


Overall, from Hwy 36 to Peavine Creek the trail tread is in excellent
condition and the blazes and signage are also excellent. There were only a
couple of places in this 72-mile trip where the trail route was ever in
question, even momentarily.

North from Hwy 36: Stover Spring, a very high-traffic area loaded with car
campers and OHV enthusiasts, is flowing strong from the pipe (20 yards to
the left of the trail) and upstream from the pipe. Since car campers are
camped virtually on top of the pipe outlet, consider going a few yards
further upstream for water.

On the descent to the North Fork of the Feather River, a few hundred yards
before the major forest road crossing, there's a single monster blowdown.
It doesn't present a danger to hikers, who can maneuver very carefully
downslope around it. But it may present a significant problem to
equestrians. This was the only major blowdown I noted in the area.

The District Resource Officer for the Almanor Ranger District, in e-mail
responding to my previous report for PCT sections to the south, indicated
that "the large trees requiring specialized saws and C feller
certifications may exist on isolated portions of the PCT. Generally we pick
those trees up in the late fall using fire crews with C faller
certifications.'' This Forest Service employee, in the same e-mail, also
indicated that the manzanita brush fields on top of Butt Mountain are being
cleared currently, with work expected to be completed by 9/15.

North of the river, about a half mile past the Domingo Spring trailhead,
the trail begins to climb to a ridge. And here we encounter a series of big
blowdowns. After navigating around a half dozen of them, the improvised
trail tread becomes faint and finally peters out as hikers scatter and try
multiple routes to reconnect with the true trail tread.

The trail trends UP the slope, yet the improvised walkarounds trend down,
which means the two become increasingly detached from each other as things
go on. After finding myself on a very steep manzanita and scree slope
somewhere below the true trail tread, I decided to take the safer option:
back off the slope and head west/northwest to intersect major forest road
29N16. There are two potential routes back to the trail from 29N16. I
choose the one that takes me to Little Willow Lake (just inside the Lassen
NF boundary) directly on an east/northeast branch of 29N16.

At Little Willow Lake, the outlet creek is dry. The lake itself is a wet
meadow. If you do choose to pump out of here, you're pumping standing water
from a lily-pond puddle. There are no decent campsites to be had between
Little Willow and the trail spur to Terminal Geyser. (After that point, the
Park Service prohibits wilderness camping for a couple miles.) The next
certain option for both water and campsites is Warner Valley CG, on the
Drakesbad road. There is no legal camping on the final descent into Warner
Valley.

PCT hikers who balk at laying out the $14 fee for Warner Valley campground
have the option of a no-nonsense 700 foot climb beyond the campground (the
trail continues from the road at the east end of the upper section of the
campground). At the top of this climb, there are at least two attractive
camp options, both dry. So you'll want to have loaded water at Warner
Valley.

Kings Creek is running strong. The crossing, on a two-log bridge, is easy.
There are two large campsites here and a lot of day-hiker traffic.

At the east end of Badger Flat, there's no decent camping. Badger Flat is a
big wet meadow with green scummy water. Beyond that, there's a great long
expanse of devastated blowdown area. The only plus to this dismal segment
is the first view of Lassen Peak from inside the park.

Past the devastated area, there is decent camping on a forested flat just a
half-mile before the park's northern boundary. There are also several good
spots (also dry) just after exiting the park, before the long descent along
Hat Creek. Consider Lower Twin Lake your last bona fide water source of the
day.

Descending from Lassen NP to Hwy. 44 on dusty volcanic tread across a maze
of jeep roads, several journal writers allude to getting hooked onto the
"old" PCT that trends east and ascends Hat Creek Rim. The only trail
junction I noted that might be ambiguous is the first major one: The
"Perham" /"Peckham"  trail/road crossing crosses the PCT at 90 degrees. The
real PCT is explicitly marked now on the blaze directly in front of you.
Although there are a maze of jeep roads still to cross before 44, the
crossings are all copiously well-marked.

There is water from Hat Creek a half mile prior to the Twin Bridges road
crossing and then at Twin Bridges, +.10 miles to the west of the trail.


FROM BAUM LAKE TO PEAVINE CREEK:

The poison oak near Baum Lake lives up to its billing. But that's only for
the first couple hundred yards. Although poison oak will be a factor for
the next 15 miles, it's only on this short stretch that it really intrudes
to totally block the trail.

In Burney State Park, after crossing Hwy. 89, there are two unsigned trail
junctions after the footbridge. Keep left at each of them to stay on the
PCT. Then after .8 miles, there's a major, well-signed four-way junction,
with the PCT and the spur trail to the falls.

Immediately after the crossing of the Lake Britton dam, the trail climbs
sharply 50 yards to cross the paved road to Camp Shasta. This is a
potentially tricky crossing.  Don't follow the dirt road directly across
the road. And don't follow the plastic ribbon blazes. Go 20 yards to the
right on the paved road to pick up the trail on its west side.

The much-maligned Section O is in great shape from Burney to Peavine Creek.
At Rock Creek, there are several great campsites, both immediately before
and 1/8 mile after the bridge. Unfortunately they are all well-known and
heavily used by car-campers and teen party hounds who have easy access from
nearby Road 37.

The climb of 1660 feet from Rock Creek to Peavine Creek is maybe the
easiest on this stretch of the PCT. Perfectly graded, perfectly signed and
perfectly maintained. So much for the "infamous Section O."

At Peavine Creek, note that the major road here isn't marked 38N10 (as one
would expect from the data book), but rather 37N30 "Rock Creek Road." The
creek itself is not a good water option late in the season. Standing green
water.

If anyone wants or needs my detailed trip notes, please e-mail me off-list.
Thanks. DP
David Plotnikoff
Columnist/Asst. Business Editor
San Jose Mercury News
plotnikoff@sjmercury.com
voice: (408) 920-5867