[pct-l] Ryback campsite on pct

[losthiker at sisqtel.net (Deems)]

Many of the old timers from the '70s got their pct dream inspirations from reading Eric Ryback's 1970 book The High Adventure, me included.  There were few books, no internet, and no support groups to turn to 30 years ago to solve the many intricate problems in solving a thru hike on the pct. We read his book, got maps, shopped REI, and took to the pct trail, sink or swim. Many sections of the pct from the '70s are not included in the current trail, and some of these old pct sections in northern California are incredible and seldom seen today from the current interstate trail. This summer I used my old 1973 PCT guide book to find some of those hidden old pct sections in the Marbles and Trinity Alps, and explored them. It was great. Another 30 year old puzzle I solved was where was Eric's campsite looking at King's Castle at sunset from the pct that shows up on page 105 of his hard bound book of the High Adventure. After two great long dayhikes in mid July, where I met several thruhikers along the Big Ridge pct section, "Stone" was one; I found the campsite by lining up the distant peaks and many clues that I could see in the photo. In the book, he is using a couple of large sticks from the nearby forest for his tarp, and a few decomposed dry sections were still there, 33 years later. Whatever has been written or said about Eric since paled by the feeling I felt from finding a piece of his and my past along the pct that day. Here is a link to that photo, hopefully..Hikon.

http://www.sisqtel.net/~losthiker/Ryback%20Camp%20PctMMW.jpg