Section Hike – Page 2 – Mexico to Canada 2023 (and beyond)

PCT Section K Southbound – Day 1 – Donner SNO Park to Camp 7/15/24

July 26, 2024July 26, 2024Ian

Monday, July 15, 2024

13 miles – PCT mile 1157-1145 (plus one mile from SNO Park to PCT junction)

For reference, here is the map of my track over the whole hike, which took four and a half days. For some reason it didn’t start tracking until a little ways in, but I actually started at the red arrow (I-80).

First day on trail! My pack was HEAVY with a full bear canister and 2.5 liters of water. No stove though!

My trail angel from the PCTA Trail Skills College, Abel, drove me to breakfast and then the trail head. He’s from Tehachapi, CA, another trail town down in southern California and trail angels hikers all the time. Hundreds a year, he says. He has also biked across the US and climbs and hikes all the time too. He’s a great guy and I have his contact info for when I do his section of the PCT one day!

I had a mile to hike from the trail head to meet up with the PCT. Within 5 minutes I saw my first wildlife. Marmot!

I took a lot of videos on this hike to try and illustrate the trail experience a bit better.

The trail started to wind up the mountain towards Donner Ski Ranch.

I put on my sun gloves like a good husband of a dermatologist would and hiked on to the Ski Ranch.

Then I came to a very nice section of trail.

As I strolled into Donner Ski Ranch with the other hikers who were there at 9:30am, the bartender insisted on me getting the 40 oz malt liquor and I figured it was hiker tradition, so what the hell. I tried to trade it for a beer, but she said “nope, it’s the 40 at Highway 40” and that’s what I had to get. I only had the one cup and wasted the rest, but oh well.

I charged up my phone a bit and continued on trail, up a 1000 foot climb to the ridge overlooking Donner Lake that I would be on for the rest of the afternoon.

First big climb

Hey, still some snow! But not really wanting to risk the traverse.

That’s better.

I continued on the exposed ridge as clouds started to form overhead. I knew I had quite a long exposed section, so when it started to thunder, I made the call to get down off trail into some trees a couple of hundred yards below.

The rain intensified and soon became a not very fun experience. It lasted almost an hour and I had to take lightning precautions, which involved spreading out my pack and my poles away from me (metal) and also standing on my sit pad as an insulator, while at the same time keeping my body moving to avoid hypothermia as the temperature dropped probably 30 degrees and I was getting wet.

I continued on the trail being chased by more rain clouds the rest of the day, but thankfully nothing more materialized. I also got my first view of Lake Tahoe.

The hike then took me over some scree fields around Anderson Peak and Tinker Knob around 9000 feet before descending down into a valley where I would make camp.

PCTA Trail Skills College

July 25, 2024Ian

Saturday-Sunday, July 13-14, 2024

To start off my section hike, I participated in a two day trail maintenance course put on by the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA). This was a great way to get into the hiking world again, acclimate a bit to the higher elevation I would be hiking at on this trip, and make some new friends who are just as into the trail as I am.

We camped for three nights at Hobart Work Center (a forest service campground) just a few minutes north of Truckee.

The way I got to this location was a bit serendipitous, as I met my trail angel Rayna outside of Wrigley Field back when I went to Chicago for my birthday in June. She was visiting a friend in Chicago and we randomly shared a table with her at the bar outside center field. When she discovered I would be hiking the PCT in July near her home, she offered to pick me up at the Reno airport and drive me out to the campground.

I got my tent set up and hung out with the other volunteers and PCTA crew for the evening. We then woke up, ate breakfast, made lunch for later, and headed to the trail.

We hit the trail with loppers and other tools to start clearing some brush that was encroaching on the trail near Donner Pass Ski Ranch. Incidentally, this is where my hike would take me on the first day.

The views were beautiful and the people were great to work with. The first day was mostly manual labor, but I think they do that on purpose to break people in. Trail maintenance isn’t easy, but it’s very rewarding and all of us hikers appreciate the volunteers that do it. Interestingly, I would say the majority of the volunteers don’t ever really use the trail. They aren’t hikers. They just like to give back.

The second day we learned a bit more about trail construction techniques and water drainages. We hiked north on the PCT, past I-80 (my official starting point for my section hike), and cleared out some of the drainages along the way.

Matt (PCTA) explaining drainage techniques

After we got back to camp, I got a ride with my new buddies (Abel and Kevin) into Truckee for dinner and a quick soak of the feet in the local reservoir. I was very happy I attended this course, as it got me in a great headspace, even if I did end up getting sick from it (more on that later). I got some good sleep and was ready to hit the trail to start my section hike the next morning.

Packing Up For Tahoe

July 12, 2024Ian

July 11, 2024

I spent today packing up my gear and laying out my food for the next week that I will be spending in the Lake Tahoe area. My plan is to take two days on Friday and Saturday participating in a Trail Maintenance course near Truckee, put on by the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA), and then hike Section K of the PCT starting on Monday morning.

For those who don’t know, the PCT is divided into sections in each state. A, B, C, etc, going from south to north. I am going southbound (Sobo) this time, but I incidentally picked a start and end point that are exactly the boundaries of Section K in California. For me, that means Donner Peak (Interstate 80) near Truckee down to Echo Summit (near South Lake Tahoe). Total mileage is right at about 65 miles.

There is a fire about 12 miles to the west of the beginning of my trail right now (Royal Fire), but the US Forest Service and firefighters have done a phenomenal job so far of keeping it contained to only a couple of hundred acres. Hoping that the wind and weather cooperate over the weekend and the PCT stays unaffected. Worst case scenario, I could probably pivot and hike part of the Tahoe Rim Trail going east, but we’ll get to that if need be.

As I said, I went over inventory and laid out my food plans today. This section of the trail requires a bear canister, by law. Basically, it’s a big plastic can filled with your food that you place a couple hundred yards from your tent when you sleep at night, instead of keeping it all in your tent like in non-bear country (debateable).

I’m guessing it’s actually a bit too much food, but we shall see. Very excited about those Walking Tamales. It’s a different thing having to fit everything into a bear canister at night and you also have to put in any toiletries, sunblock, lip balm, etc. Anything that has a scent.

So here’s my bear canister, minus a couple of items I will buy in Truckee that will make up most of my dinners (tortillas, salami, and cheese). 8.13 pounds, so far. I’m going stove-less this hike and am very excited to not have to worry about the excruciating minutiae of dealing with cooking at the end of a long day. I will eat my bars and tortillas and trail mix and be very happy.

I am typing this as I wait for my final load of laundry to be done (I won’t have a shower for 7 days after tomorrow morning) and then it’s into the mountains! It will be interesting going solo, knowing it’s only going to be for 5 days this time. I am looking forward to seeing how I react mentally. I’m going to try and only average 10-13 miles a day, so I should be able to take my time.

I will do my best to blog from the trail, but if nothing else, I will get everything up when I get back next weekend. I’m also going to try and video a lot.

Hike on!