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PCT Day 71, 22 July 2022 (Friday)
“Split Decision”
Start Location:
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Silver Lake Junction
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Destination:
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Myrtle Flat, North of Belden
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PCT Miles Day 71:
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20.5
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Cum PCT Miles:
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1,293.7
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Non-PCT Miles Day 71:
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0.7
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Cum All Miles:
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1386.9
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PCT Miles Remaining:
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1,358.9
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Elevation Gain Day 71:
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3,130
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Cum Elevation Gain:
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229,940
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Today the plan was to get to the Belden Town Resort, pick up my resupply package, do the usual town stuff like laundry and shower, and spend the night there.
However, I started rethinking this plan after taking into consideration that there is a very long, substantial climb getting out of Belden (~5,500 ft. elevation gain over 14 mi). Also, it is very hot, probably over triple digits. So, I thought it’d be better to do the climb when the temps were a tad bit cooler. And if I stayed at the resort, I was going to have to sleep in my tent in their campground. So, if I was going to sleep in my tent anyway, why not just sleep in my tent on the trail. So, I decided that it would be best to split the big climb into two parts; part of it this afternoon, and the rest tomorrow morning.
This would mean getting to Belden in the late morning, spending several hours there, and then hike for a few hours in the late afternoon and get a portion of the big climb done. Then, I would complete the rest of the big climb the next morning.
However, there was a little snafu with my resupply package. It wasn’t at the Belden Town Resort where it was supposed to be. The place in La Habra that shipped the package, did not follow the instructions and send it via UPS, they sent it via USPS. This might not ordinarily seem like a big deal, but in these small towns, it is a big deal. In many small towns, all the mail gets delivered to the local post office, or authorized postal representative, and that’s where people pick up their mail. To get packages delivered directly to a specific address in some of these small communities, they need to go via UPS or FedEx.
A bit stymied by no cellular connection and bad Wi-Fi once again, I did ultimately find out that the package was sent to the local post office, located at the Caribou Crossing business, which was about 2 miles down the highway. Lucky for me, the owner of Caribou Crossing offered to come pick me up and take me back to get my package. Did I ever mention the trail provides? While there, I also got some food, including a homemade strawberry shake, did laundry, and took a shower. Then the owner gave me a ride back to the Belden Town Resort.
So, while I lucked out, all this took longer than I had planned. But, I still got back out on the trail in the afternoon and did almost half of the big climb out of Belden. I am glad I decided to hike out this afternoon, but I was not thrilled with my tent site, which is in the middle of burnt trees and very fine, sooty soil. Camping in regular dirt is one thing, but camping in this stuff is another level of bad. It was like sleeping in an uncleaned fireplace.
This is my third day of hiking through the remains of the Dixie fire. It’s almost impossible to find a tent site that’s not surrounded by dead trees that are basically just standing charcoal. It’s not ideal because the trees can be very dangerous. In fact, the last two nights I’ve heard branches falling from trees, and I had a branch fall about 30 feet in front of me as I was hiking down to Belden this morning. It’s just a good thing it has not been windy at night, that would be very bad in an area like this.
The next 9–10 days are logistically tricky. So, while it’s not my best plan yet, I am going to just hike as many miles as I can for the next week, get food where I can, and see where I’m at. I don’t know how this is going to work out yet, but based on how things have worked out so far on this hike, I think I’ll be OK.
Historic Belden Bridge and North Fork Feather River
Belden Town Resort and North Fork Feather River
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