Section 11. Belden to Burney

Section 11. Belden to Burney. 1-5 August.

Having arrived around breakfast time in Belden just as a 3 day rave party ended i initially thought everyone was a bit bewildered. In the cafe/saloon there were a small group of hikers, Benny and Chill, Isko, Hunter, Bam Bam and Myself, and about 50 revellers. The music was loud and the revellers were still lively. It was soon I realised that it was actually the hikers who seemed bewildered. It was as if Henry Thoreau himself had wandered away from Walden Pond and ended up at Woodstock Music Festival.

 

Most of us ate and drank well and then decided to move on. We had a 5000 foot climb ahead of us over the next 12 miles. The PCT pretty much followed Chips Creek from Belden all the way to its source on Frog Mountain. I tried to upload pictures to the blog but was overwhelmed by the poor wifi so gave up and decided to leave also. Thoreau wanted to go back to Walden Pond.

 

The trouble was it was now midday and the heat was intense. Furthermore there was very little shade for the first 5 miles as the forest had been destroyed by fire, perhaps 5 years ago. I sweated buckets as I forced myself through the heat for 3 hours. By the time I got to the edge of the forest, my shirt and shorts were soaked.

 

Once in the forest I felt at home at last. Here were the familiar trees, sounds and smells which I felt comfortable with. A new pine cone shredded to the core by a squirrel feasting on the nuts it contained, made more sense to me than the hedonistic excess of Belden. The path still climbed up, frequently steeply, and 8 hours after leaving Belden I had climbed 4000 feet over 10 miles. I camped in a grassy meadow where the summer had already started to turn the sedge brown. The meadow, at around 5800 fòot, was surrounded by Douglas firs which made it feel very homely.

I left quite early and appreciated the meadow as I walked through it at sunrise. It was an easy climb for a good hour up from the meadow to Frog Mountain, the end of the climb up from Belden. The PCT now descended past a cool spring to an area of utilitarian forest. There were a lot of dirt roads and it seemed an unnatural amount of cut trees. During the forest I passed the 1300 mile mark. There were a few springs and meadows but summer now seemed to be almost over here. The meadows of Mules ear daisies of the Northern Sierras were here just dried leaves rattling in the wind.

 

After nearly 10 miles of this mostly fir forest the landscape changed as i reached the drainage basin of Butts Creek. The creek was sheltered in a large amphitheatre of hard volcanic rock which formed the watershed.  For the next 10 miles I followed this watershed in a big arc to the west then north and finally east. All the time Butts Creeks was down in the valley to my right. It was a dry ridge with no water unless one dropped down into a steep side valley.

 

At a gravel road I stopped for a siesta. I noticed a pair of secretive woodpeckers in a smaller fir nearby. He had a red head while she had a rufous head. They did not seem to have a nest here but were up to something. They had bored some 2-300 half inch holes in a densely branched bit. While one guarded the holes and was busy with them the other, usually the male, was away for 5 minutes and then he would return and was busy around the holes also. I wondered if they were farming grubs in the holes or whether they were milking sap from the trees. I had heard of birds called Sapsuckers, but never seen one.

Where it was really rocky and exposed some Jeffery Pines managed to survive, but where it was more sheltered with some depth of soil firs thrived. If I saw firs further down my path I knew it would be easy underfoot. With the sun now low in the  sky Bam Bam caught up and we both decided to head to Carter Creek and drop off the ridge to get water, for both this evening and for the first 10 miles tomorrow. There was a campsite beside the creek a half mile north of the PCT path, which did not descend much. The tents went up in the dusk as collecting water took longer than expected.

 

Because of the National Park regulations in Lassen I had to traverse the whole park in a day or have a bear canister. It was only 20 miles but that meant I needed to be at the southern boundary this evening. It was 28 miles away so I got up at 4 and was off by 5 with my headtorch on for the first mile.

 

As I approached the top of Butt Mountain the orange glow of the sun was just beginning to shine through the trees. However I could see today was going to be a hazy day again and there was a smell of smoke in the air. I assumed it was still from the Quincy fire I saw a few days ago. I did get some views to the north of Lassen Peak, A huge volcanic plug at nearly 10,500 feet  which still had extensive snowfields on it.

 

The descent from Butt Mountain down to the the valley and Highway 36 was a delightful saunter down through firs. It was easy underfoot and fast to walk on. Towards the bottom was the source of Soldier Creek, a refreshing rivulet of cold, crisp water.

 

Once down in the valley the landscape was tedious. It was a wide flat valley floor with Soldier Creek now flooding across the path. The woods were managed by Collins Pine ltd who to their credit harvested them by selecting individual trees rather than clear felling acres. Nonetheless it was a sterile forest with no chipmunks scurrying on the floor or birdsong in the trees.

 

In the middle of this managed forest was the road to Chester; namely Highway 36. I had heard much about Chester. It was the town many of the “Flippers” headed to 6 weeks ago to either continue north or to head south through the Sierras. It now seems some of the remaining “Thru Hikers” are losing their nerve on the coming snows in Washington and are flipping up to there to complete it first, and will return here in mid/late September to finish North California and Oregon.

 

After Highway 36 I continued through more managed forest to Stover Spring. Again this had beautiful cold water gushing out of the ground. It was delight to drink. I had taken water for granted throughout the Sierras and it was now getting scarce again. Stover Spring was an oasis.

 

From Stover the path went up and over a gentle mountain, now run by US National Forest again. It was a return to nature, with chipmunks and birdsong. The trees were huge. Ponderosa Pines with vanilla smelling bark and 3 inch cones, and Sugar Pines with their huge foot long cones towered some 150 feet. The White Fir also thrived here but was not as impressive as the Pines. There were also Incense Cedars growing here. Not the gnarly, wizened, venerable, version of the rocky dry areas in the Sierras but the grandiose stately version of better soils and less arid conditions, where they could grow to be parklike 140 foot giants. After a good few miles the path then dropped down to the North Fork of the Feather River, the same river I had crossed at Belden a few days ago, but much smaller now.

I crossed the river on a footbridge and then sauntered across a mile or two of meadow before beginning a climb up to a ridge. It was now evening and much cooler and as usual I got a second wind. The path up the climb was gradual and inspiring, with the Cedars especially, and the pines also, glowing orange in the evening sun. Once up I followed the crest of the ridge round to Boundary Spring which lay at the southern entrance to the park. Conversely to the morning I now saw the orange sun disappear into the trees and had to walk the last half mile with the headtorch.  I reached the spring at 9 and was delighted to see there was camping nearby. It was a record day for me with 28 miles under my belt. Despite that I did not feel too tired as it was on easy paths.

 

When I left camp early in the morning I had only the intention to walk the 20 km through the park and a bit more to a campsite beyond. I had no ambition to go to Drakesbad at the southern end of the park. The idea formed in the first 3 miles and by the time I reach the sulphurous Boiling Springs Lake I was looking forward to a breakfast there. It was just a further mile to the meadow on the valley floor where Drakesbad basked in the early morning sun. There was dew on the meadow grasses and rising steam from thermal springs nearby.

Within an hour of arriving I had washed my clothes, showered and was about to tuck into an enormous buffet breakfast. I was full after another hour and wrote the blog while drinking coffee. As I was about to go Isko and Sam arrived so I had another coffee and chatted with them. Then Marshmallow arrived, I had not seen him since Day 5 when I ran out of water at Scissors Crossing south of Warner Springs. He had taken 2 weeks off the trail.

 

When I did leave I bumped into Bam Bam looking up large pine. He explained there was the American equivalent of a Peregrine Falcon overseeing this year’s fledgling on its first flight. It seemed to be managing under the guidance instructions the parent was issuing. I tried to get a photo but they were too fast.

 

The path now climbed steeply to reach a ridge and then dropped down into a shallow valley where a stream flowed spilling out onto meadows occasionally. I followed the stream up to its source and over a small watershed. There were some huge trees here but there was also fire damage which had killed a few some 10 years ago. I paced one fallen giant out and it was nearly 60 paces or 180 feet.

 

At the watershed the path dropped down to Swan Lake, where there were in fact some Geese nesting, and then dropped again down to the Twin Lakes. This was the highlight of the walk today as the lakes were idyllic and still surrounded by intact forest. At the lower Twin Lake I spotted a sandy beach and went for a swim. The water was perfect and the setting very arboreal with a fringe of grassy patches round the lake. As I was leaving Isko Sam and Marshmallow appeared. I explained how beautiful the water, was but only  Marshmallow was persuaded.

The area around the Twin Lakes was the domain of a problem bear. He had be taking food, sometimes aggressively,  from hikers for a few years with the last incident being just 3 weeks ago. It was because of him a bear canister is required in Lassen if camping. After the last incident the rangers decided to induce a fear of humans again to this bear, which had been aggressive and confident. After this “re-education”  2 weeks ago the bear has kept his distance.

The 4 of us walked north west now through the remaining 8 miles of the park to the northern boundary. It was a sad walk as most of it was devastated by fire some 5 years ago. It did mean we could see Mount Lassen which was still covered in snow despite being just 10,500 feet. It was a volcanic plug which last erupted 100 years ago.

 

It was a very easy path down to the boundary, and with our chatting the time passed quickly. However dusk was upon us when we reached the boundary. Isko and Sam continued into the night, while Marshmallow, who had already done 33 miles, and I, who had just done 20, camped. I was a bit disappointed in Lassen National Park. It was really the fires and the dull landscape of the northern half which failed to convince me. However, others assured me there were some spectacular features in other areas of the Park.

 

The next morning I hiked down to Old Station through a managed forest of smaller pines which were solely grown for harvest. They were cut long before they could reach a mediocre size. Again the forest was quite sterile with no critters or birdsong. On the other hand the path was easy and soft underfoot and the 8 miles was quick. When I reached Old Station I decided not to  stop here, as it was a RV park and the cafe had poor reviews, so I continued another easy 4 miles to the northern hamlet of Old Station where there was a cafe a little off trail with great reviews

 

I was not disappointed and had a great veggie burger and milkshake. I had hoped to update the blog on their wifi but there was, unsurprisingly, a technical hitch. Frustrated i decided not to dwell on it as I did not have time to waste. Just to the north of this cafe was a geological feature near the PCT. During recent eruptions and volcanic activity there was a river of subterranean lava nearby. When the flow stopped the molten river emptied without fresh ingress of lava and the tube it was flowing in was left empty. It was possible to descend into the lava field and walk along the half mile of this empty tube; which I did.

 

The trail then climbed up out of the Hat Creek Valley onto a high bench or escarpment to the east. It was about 600 foot higher than the valley floor and it ran north/south for about 20 miles. It was called Hat Creek Rim. I was easy enough to climb up, and once up it afforded great views over the Hat Creek Valley and back to Mt Lassen.

 

I had been warned that the rim was no place to be during a thunderstorm and I could see there had been loads of fires here. In one evening a few decades ago 47 fires were started by lightning strikes in one afternoon alone. However there were no cumulus on the horizon. I soared along the edge of the escarpment keeping an eye on the track because the soft pine needles had been replaced by jagged chunks of lava. There was also no water up here save for a couple of dams where cows drunk from, and they were filthy.

 

After a good few hours the path reached Lost  Creek. I had already decided to spend the night here as it was the only water for 30 miles. It would mean just 20 miles tomorrow to the next water. The trouble was it was down a side canyon for a good 30 minutes round trip. When I got to it the water was cold, fresh and beautifully clear as it welled up out of the ground nearby. It was worth the trip for water of this quality. I returned to the top and set up camp in the dusk.

 

The next day I started my walk along the remaining 15 miles or so along the edge of the rim with its great views down to the grasslands in the valley. It was easy walking notwithstanding the occasional lumps of lava. After a few miles an Alaskan hiker, P Step, caught me up. We started chatting and it was soon obvious P Step was well educated and articulate, as in fact most PCT hikers are.

We walked together for a few miles chatting and I managed to keep up. Before long we had done 5 miles to where there is sometimes a water cache. However it was empty but luckily we both had enough water to walk the remaining 12 miles to the next water. We chatted the whole way along Hat Creek Rim pausing occasionally to look over the side. After a few hours we dropped down off the escarpment to Baum lake and a creek with water. It was mid afternoon and I had already done 23 miles! We had wanted to swim in Baum Lake but there was nowhere to get in easily and there were a lot of  Canada Geese swimming around which we would disturb. Instead we did there last 2 miles to Burney Mountain Guest Ranch, where I knew there was a pool.

 

Reaching Burney Mountain Guest Ranch was like walking into a eco-retreat. It was run by a Christian couple so there was no alcohol or drugs allowed. However there was an very hiker friendly shop run on an honesty basis. Simple, wholesome food, laundry showers and a pool. The whole place was perfect for PCT hikers. P Step camped in the grounds and I took a bed in the bunk room. I went to get my resupply box once I have settled in to find it covered in messages from other hikers who walked with me, but were now a few days ahead. Top’O even wrote a message saying he had already prepaid a soda for me, continuing our tradition.

 

I spent the whole of the next day relaxing, doing emails, ordering gear, relaxing in the pool, charging batteries, chatting with hikers and doing the website with the best wifi of the trip. Burney Mountain Guest Ranch was exactly as I hoped. It had been ostentatious to spend a whole day here (A zero day) but my next zero day would be in 700 miles at Cascade Locks on the Oregon/Washington border.

 

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