[pct-l] quincy to burney falls trip report

[go4ahike at pacifier.com (Brian Bowlsby)]

<If you have any specific questions on things I didn't mention, feel free
to ask.>

Just one. Besides all of the below mentioned mess, how was your hike? :-)

I remember Section O being miserable, especially climbing out of Middle Fork
Feather river. I deemed it Section "Oak" for poison oak. But I guess time
heals all wounds, since I only remember a few sections being particularly
bad!

This section definitely needs some TLC and some committed volunteers!

Steady
PCT'04

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net]On Behalf Of Judson
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2005 1:56 PM
To: Pctl
Subject: [pct-l] quincy to burney falls trip report


Howdy, y'all-

I just returned from completing the Quincy to Burney Falls section of
the PCT. What a wonderful trip! I could easily write a book about my
experiences, but let me winnow it down to the important stuff.

Areas of difficult trail conditions:
1. Ascending from the Middle Fork Feather River canyon- the first bit up
to Deadman Saddle is ridiculous, as bad as anything I've ever seen,
including Section O. Not markedly better than if there had been no
trail. Better from the saddle to Bear Cr. The ascent past Lookout Rock
was brushy, but not in a way that made things difficult, just a bit
annoying. Perplexingly, there was one 2-mile chunk going up to Lookout
Rock that had been freshly, and very nicely, maintained. The trail both
north and south of this, however, was notably unmaintained. Quite odd.
*IMPORTANT NOTE!* There have been reports of crazed raptors attacking
hikers south of Sierra City and in the Bucks Lake Wilderness. You can
add the Middle Fork to that list. Perhaps 0.5 mi. past Bear Cr., the
trail passes directly under an active hawks' nest, about 40' up in a
tree. There were 2 adults in attendance, and I could hear the young
ones. I hot-footed it up the trail, but one of the adults followed me,
diving every 10 seconds or so, for a freakin' mile! It just would not
let it go. I defended myself by waving my trekking poles above my head,
but it was still an unpleasant experience. Perhaps "Hawkbait" should be
my trail name?

2. Ascending Chips Cr. from Belden: The first bit to Indian Cr. was
covered in brush to the point where I was wading chest-deep and feeling
with my feet. ("Brushbuster" wouldn't be a bad trailname, either) After
that, it was better until the trail levels out at the top of the 4
switchbacks. VERY brushy from there to near the site of Williams Cabins,
when you re-enter forest. Slowed progress to about 1 mph.  Throughout
the rest of Chips Cr., water was a big issue- having too much of it,
that is. There were 3 crossings where I was forced to wade, 2 of them
the reroute which crosses Chips Cr. twice. Nothing difficult, just wet.
This reroute is horribly marked- well, actually, it's not marked at all-
and the trail was quite faint in places. In the meadows at the top of
the canyon, before you switchback up to Poison Spring, the trail is
almost non-existent in places and is marked poorly with widely-spaced
cairns.

3. Descending from Butt Mtn. jct.: there is a section of perhaps 1/2 mi.
where the chapparal completely obscures the trail. Not a good day for
shorts. In places I had to lean forward with all my body weight just to
force a way through the stiff manzanita.

4. Hat Cr. Rim: in burned area, brushy but actually not bad, and easy to
follow. After Cache 22, things change. The trail becomes a stock
driveway, with tons of cow trails leading off which look every bit as
established as the PCT. There are pink ribbons, but these are not trail
markers. There are no PCT markers anywhere in this section until after
you begin to descend from the rim. At the bottom of the descent to the
small reservoir 1.9 mi. N of Cache 22, it gets really confusing. Right
when it levels off, there is a very well-beaten trail forking off to the
left, marked with pink ribbons. This is NOT the PCT. An unmarked trail
continues along a fenceline to the scummy little reservoir. This is the
PCT, though there is nothing to indicate that's the case. Upon reaching
the bovine-besmirched cesspool, head left across its earthen dam and
through a gate. For the next mile and a half, until the trail reaches
the rim again, cairns are the only indication that you're on the trail,
which is very faint in places.

Water situation: there was plenty. Virtually everthing mentioned in the
guidebook has water. In Chips Cr. canyon, I crossed 15-20 running
streams of various sizes! The grassy swale (Soldier Cr.) south of Hwy.
36, which the book mentions as always dry, had enough water to go
canoeing. On Hat Cr. Rim, there are now 2 caches. Cache 22 had at least
20 gallons. Between the new Hat Cr. Rim Viewpoint and the trailhead off
Hwy. 44, there was another one of perhaps 6 gallons.

Oh, yes, I forgot. In Lassen, there was a significant trail closure when
I was there. They were doing a planned burn on Prospect Peak (in
July???) and had closed the PCT from just past Lower Twin Lake to Badger
Flat. Hikers were supposed to take the alternate through the Cluster
Lakes area. Well, no surprise, the fire got out of control and they
closed the alternate, too. From Corral Meadow, I headed up to Summit
Lake- one wet ford involved, and kind of a sketchy one- and walked the
road north for 2.4 mi. Here I descended the Nobles Trail- actually a
gated jeep road- down Hat Cr. 4.1 mi. to rejoin the PCT. This was
actually 4 mi. shorter than the official PCT, so I didn't mind it too much.

If you have any specific questions on things I didn't mention, feel free
to ask.

Judson
Ashland


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