Thursday July 9, 20.0mi/32.2km

Red Mountain Creek (318.5/2720ft) to North Yolla Bolly Spring (338.5/6160ft) (CA)

I enjoyed a couple hours of walking on terrific trail, above the South Fork Trinity River.

Apparently this section is also a National Recreation Trail!

I gradually climbed along the river, with cool views to the valley.

I crossed the river, and I noticed that the map said it was 3.4 miles to this point. Ha! I walked a smooth flat trail for 2 hours, it’s probably closer to 6 miles. After finishing my jar of Nutella, I forded the river and started the roadwalking section.

The road gradually climbed 2000 feet over 10 miles, so it was easy to cruise along. Occasionally there was the random point of interest.

I could see the end of the road (far right in photo) as it weaved around the mountains.

I bet this sign said something interesting before it was burned up.

I made it to West Low Gap trailhead at 3pm and had a long break in the shade, since I knew the next part was uphill, exposed and hot.

Eventually after eating hundreds of calories I started hiking again. Within a few minutes I passed by a fence and entered the Yolla Bolly Wilderness.

The trail was neat as it slowly climbed below some mountains thru a burned area.

I could see the trail up ahead for a mile, a nice preview of the upcoming hiking.

There were a few small creeks, and these butterflies would gather by the dozens.

The trail was mostly a nice path thru grass, but occasionally would have thorny bushes that were very “exfoliating”.

I arrived to this campsite early, but the section after this is burned so I didn’t want to continue and camp under dead burned trees. Plus, it had a nice spring.

And it seemed befitting that my last night on the Bigfoot Trail had a warning about the creature.

I made my usual tuna and pasta dinner and watched the sunset. Tomorrow I’m done!

Wednesday July 8, 28.2mi/45.4km

Philpot Campground (292.3/2750ft) to Red Mountain Creek (318.5/2720ft) (CA) + 2.0mi for missing a turn

As I left the campground this morning, I noticed the sign called it a picnic area. Weird.

There was a series of dirt FS roads and I missed a turn. After a mile on the wrong road, I realized my error and backtracked, and I was back on course by 8:30am. Bonus miles! The correct dirt road was barely a drivable road.

And it had a weird sideways car. That’s some bad parking!

I walked along in the shade on the quiet old road, and started noticing paw prints. Hopefully I didn’t run into their owner.

After 5 miles I emerged onto a paved road, and walked it for a mile. It was only 11am and already hot.

Caltrans was building a new bridge, and I stopped to watch and have a snack. They have some cool equipment.

I returned to more dirt roads after that, this time in a burned area. The warning signs seem a little alarmist.

A couple hours of walking in the hot sun (no shade in burned areas), and then I finally left the road and entered the forest on the Smoky Creek trail.

It was a beautiful trail, I could tell that a trail crew had been out this year to work on it. The tread was freshly dug, all the plants were trimmed way back, and there were no branches/logs to step over.

The trail descended 2000ft down to the Smoky Creek, and of course it was even hotter down low. So I went for a swim.

I was glad to have a shaded trail for the last two hours of the day, as I followed the South Fork Trinity River upstream.

I got to a large meadow by a stream, and decided to camp. It was 6pm and still hot, my watch said 34C.

Usually I plan my days based on the mileage given by the Bigfoot trail maps. But today’s distance was definitely wrong, there’s no way I hiked 26 miles. My GPS shows 24 miles, which feels more realistic. After this hike is done, I will compare my recorded mileage to the maps for each day. Most days I think the maps will show an undercount by 5-10%, but it will be interesting to see. Only two more days until I’m finished!

Tuesday July 7, 20.0mi/32.2km

Big Creek at FR16 (273.3/3150ft) to Philipot Campground (292.3/2750ft) (CA) + 1.0mi to Fairgrounds

It was a very cold morning, and I walked with my hands in my pockets the entire time. The paved road was empty and relaxing.

Just as I was thinking about stopping to take a break, a chair appeared around the corner. Ewww, no thanks.

Finally after 6 miles, the road emerged from the forest and into the warm sunshine.

And there were cows. Hi cows!

I walked into Hayfork around 10:30.

It is bigger than Junction City, there are 4-5 restaurants and two grocery stores. I went to the Hotel restaurant, the only one that was open on a Tuesday at 11am. I ordered a breakfast omelet, and by the time I ate that, it was noon, so I ordered lunch too. I stayed until 1pm eating and charging my stuff.

On the walk out of town, I saw some cool artwork on various buildings.

I stopped by the county Fairgrounds to get a shower, it felt good to be clean. It was $10, a little expensive considering they don’t even give you a towel (only soaps).

I finished there at 2:30pm and walked the last 4 miles of road. It was quiet thru the forests and fields.

I finally re-entered the woods, after two days of roadwalking (since Canyon Creek trailhead).

I crossed many little streams, surprisingly without any bugs.

And then, the trail went to crap. It was moderately overgrown, mostly with poison oak and thorny plants. It was easily followable (other sections have been way more overgrown), but finding and avoiding specific plants in a sea of green was slow arduous work. Finally after two miles of that nonsense, I emerged on a nice open ridgeline.

It was great walking, sometimes very steeply, and the trail had eroded into a V-notch in places. It looked like a bunch of mountain bikers made a path a long time ago, and hikers adopted it over time. No one builds a path straight down the fall line!

I arrived to Philpot campground at 7pm, and had my choice of spots. It is an old, seldom-used campground, it kinda reminded me of the creepy Grider Creek campground from a week ago. At least it was an easy day, only 2400ft of elevation gain.

Monday July 6, 17.1mi/27.5kmJunction City BLM campground (257.5/1440ft) to Big Creek at FR16 (273.3/3150ft) (CA) +1.3mi to campgroundI was excited for town food, and I was out of the campground and on the road early.A quick 30 minutes later and I was in “town”.It’s just a general store attached to a post office.But, it was all I needed, and I spent almost 4 hours eating and recharging my electronics. A bagel, orange, and yogurt were first breakfast; then a microwave burrito and bag of grapes; finally an 8-inch pie, Caesar salad and some snapples. Yum. I was full, so I walked out of town, crossing the Trinity River.The entire day was roadwalking, but after I turned onto Dutch Creek road I didn’t see any cars, so it felt like a wide trail.Apparently people drive this route to Hayfork, the town I’ll be in tomorrow.The road was seldom used, nature is reclaiming the edges.I took a break in the shade at one if the many creek crossings. The culverts here are huge.I had a gradual 3000 foot climb over 10 miles, which I barely even noticed. I got to the top at 5pm, then started right back down.I found a nice quiet spot by Big Creek, away from the road.Tomorrow will be more roadwalking into Hayfork, the last town on this trail.

Sunday July 5, 27.0mi/43.5km

Stuart Fork River (230.5/4920ft) to Junction City BLM campground (257.5/1440ft) (CA)

I slept great in my spot next to the river, and felt recovered from my exertions yesterday. The trail was really nice all morning.
I passed thru a couple big meadows, and all of a sudden I could see the mountains around me.
The trail crossed over Deer Creek and Salt Creek, both of which had big metal bridges.
But strangely, when it came time to cross the main Stuart Fork River, I had to ford it!
This was the deepest crossing of any of the rivers on the Bigfoot Trail, I would not have wanted to cross it a month ago during snowmelt. Then there was the 3000ft climb up to the ridge. The trail was mostly nice, overgrown in just a few parts. I passed a waterfall:
And some more nice meadows:
The view from the top was cool, I could see both sides of the ridge. Looking across the Canyon Creek valley:
And down the Canyon Creek valley, which I was about to walk.

The descent to the trailhead was relaxing, mostly thru mature conifer forest.
And this other type of leafy forest, the trees are so dense.
I passed by the trailhead, I think the distances are optimistic.
There were at least 50 cars parked there, must be a weekend. I quickly left and started the long roadwalk.
I passed by a historical monument to an old mining village along the way.
These trees are so cool, lots of shade, and their bark is so smooth.
I walked longer than expected, due to the lack of public land along the road. The No trespassing signs, abandoned cars, and trashy dilapidated houses made it very clear. Finally I got to the turnoff for the campground in hwy 299.
I got to the Junction City BLM campground at 7pm, and I chatted with a nice guy from Ohio for awhile, and we ate clementine oranges, so good after a hot day in the sun.
Tomorrow, only a mile to town!

Saturday July 4, 18.7mi/30.1kmLady Gulch trail jct (211.8/6150ft) to Stuart Fork River (230.5/4920ft) (CA)It was a cold night up at this higher elevation, and I was glad for the 1700ft climb to the summit of Packer Peak. Halfway up the climb, I passed an old ranger cabin.It used to be housing for the firetower watchperson. The summit was warm by 9am, with views in all directions from the 7822ft (2384m) peak.Looking back north to where I’d just come from:The summit benchmark.Mt Shasta in the distance to the east.The trail down was very steep, dropping 3000ft in 3 miles, but it was nicely maintained and easy to follow.At the bottom, I had a one mile dirt roadwalk to the next trailhead. It passed thru some meadows along the way.The was one house on the road, and it had the best mailbox holder…an old tree stump!I got to the Big Flat trailhead and campground and had lunch, taking advantage of the picnic tables and trash cans. I was a little worried when I almost ran out of hot sauce for my wrap, but a nice car camper had extra Frank’s. Reenergized, I began the 2000ft climb up to the Caribou Lakes. I entered the wilderness again, and the river crossing was easy.The trail was insanely good, it was graded for easy climbing, and before I knew it, I was up 1500feet.The next section of trail traversed a blindingly white section of rock. So bright!Then it wrapped around the ridge, and I got to see Packers Peak that I had climbed this morning.The views just kept coming, as the trail turned south, I could see the snowy mountain I had been eyeing for days.The trail was a feat of engineering, as it was cut into the side of a cliff here.I was dropping down to pass these two lakes, Snowslide Lake and Lower Caribou Lake.I stopped for a swim in Snowslide lake, it was cold.The view of the same two lakes from Upper Caribou Lake.I walked past Upper Caribou Lake. You can see the pass I was about to climb in the center of the photo.The climb up the pass still had snow!The view down into the Stuart Fork River Valley was amazing, looking 2500 feet down.Amazingly, there was a trail that went down the steep hillside. Impressive engineering again. After 85 switchbacks, I was down at the river. I hiked a quarter mile to a good camping spot, and gave my feet a rest for the day. So much steep descending!

Friday July 3, 19.0mi/30.6kmMeadow by South Russian Creek (192.8/5320ft) to Lady Gulch trail jct (211.8/6150ft) (CA)Since I was camped at the base of the climb, I got warmed up quickly on all the switchbacks.The trail climbed up 2000ft first to Russian Lake, and then Waterdog Lake, which was still very calm at 9am.I meandered in an out of the Russian Wilderness as I traversed the ridge above the lakes. In Russian Wilderness, trail hikes you!At the end of the ridge was Siphon Lake, and I took a nice long Nutella break there.The trail had turned into a two-track when it reached an open meadow with views to the next ridge.The junction with the PCT was a little haphazardly signed.I turned off onto the Trail Creek trail, which dropped steeply down 2000ft to a campground. With picnic tables! Time for lunch.I also got too excited about the trash cans. I can lighten my pack and get rid of all the food wrappers from the last 4 days!After lunch, I followed a dirt road for a couple of miles to a trailhead. There was just one at parked there, not surprisingly a Subaru. And another Massachusetts export!I climbed back up 2000ft to a ridge above Fish Lake, and I could see snowy Mt Shasta in the distance.I think this was Long Gulch Lake.The trail quality was great all day, until right after I took this photo.I think the snowy mountain in the distance is Thompson Peak, a glaciated summit in the Trinity Alps.As I walked around Rush Lake, the trail meandered thru nice open meadows.I climbed my final ridge for the day, and on the other side of the ridge, the trail became much more obscure. I worked hard to follow it, using clues such as candlestick blazes, waterbars, switchbacks, and cut logs. It was just so covered in fallen sticks & branches.I did pretty well, and only lost the trail for 200m before I found it again. I got to a saddle/pass at 6pm, and decided it was a nice flat area to camp. There is a trail junction nearby, down to Lady Gulch. Today was 5500ft of elevation gain, tomorrow should be similar since I climb the highest point of the trail.

Thursday July 2, 22.0mi/35.4km

Abbott Lake trail jct (170.8/4840ft) to Meadow by South Russian Creek (192.8/5320ft) (CA)

I woke up later, it was perfect sleeping weather. I had a gradual downhill all morning, but of course it started with a river ford.

The trail was really well built and maintained, some places were impressive sidehill cuts.

And in the forest, it was smooth walkin’.

I forded the North Fork Salmon River like 4 more times. At many of the crossings, someone had kindly left walking sticks to assist with balance while crossing. I don’t use hiking poles, but I recognize their utility at river crossings.

As I went downstream, the river got deeper, with many great swimming holes.

Towards the end of the trail, they started providing bridges. Old and rusty, but my feet were dry!

I passed an old homestead just before the trailhead, all that’s left is the stone fence walls.

I left the Marble Mountain wilderness, and crossed the final bridge into the parking lot.

I had a long lunch at the trailhead, and enjoyed the picnic tables, trash cans, and bathrooms. I walked for awhile down a dirt road, and passed a campground.

With a payphone! These are more rare than bears or moose out here.

From there, I had a gradual 5 mile uphill roadwalk. It went by quickly, and both cars that passed me offered me a ride. I got to the trailhead after 4pm and took a break before entering the woods. The trail turned out to be surprisingly good!

I stopped to camp early at 6pm, since there is a 2000ft climb to a ridge and nowhere to camp until the top. Even though it was a 22mile day, it felt easy, probably because of the good trails and only 3700 feet elevation gain. The next two days look harder, since both involve a climb up a 7000+ foot tall peak.

Wednesday July 1, 19.9mi/32.0km

Ridge above Kelsey Creek (150.9/6490ft) to Abbott Lake trail jct (170.8/4840ft) (CA)

I slept great in my hidden little camp spot, and woke up when the rising sun came thru the trees. I packed up and was treated to this spectacular view from the trail.
Looking east:Looking south along the trail:

I could see Black Marble mountain up close now, I had been approaching it all afternoon yesterday.

There was even still some snow on the trail!

And some incredibly white rocks too.

Just before I left the PCT, I came across a cabin. I remember hiding from the rain on the porch of a similar cabin back in 2015, I think this was the same cabin.

At the junction, I left the PCT and hiked down towards Big Elk Lake.

I entered a burned forest, so of course the trail was hard to follow. But I saw these cool hollowed out trees.No keebler elves in that one!

I eventually made my way all the way down to Wooley Creek and had lunch.

I really wanted a swim, so I continued on a couple miles to where the trail crosses the river. I saw all sorts of interesting wildlife down here in this low, wet valley.

I went for a swim, rinsed my hiking clothes, and got some sun on a rock. I crossed the creek, carrying my shoes to keep them dry. I accidentally dropped one, and learned that (unfortunately) they float. It took off rapidly downstream, and I swam after it! I nabbed it quickly, close one! The rest of the day was uneventful, just a re-climb of the 4000 feet I had just descended this morning.

The trail was much nicer, and almost no poison oak! As I got higher, the views opened up again too.

The view from the ridgeline on top.

I descended down to the North Fork Salmon River and setup camp at 7pm. Long day!

Tuesday June 30, 19.1mi/30.7km

Grider Creek campground (131.8/1700ft) to Ridge above Kelsey Creek (150.9/6490ft) (CA)

I was up at 5:30 and hiking by 6am, I wanted to get most of the 5000ft climb done before it got hot. I crossed the first of many large metal bridges over Grider creek.

The trail started off pretty clear, with not much overgrowth and only a little poison oak.

I slowly climbed 1200 feet over 6 miles, crossing several more bridges.

I climbed up to 3000ft, took a break at a camping area. No poison oak up here! Just curious deer.

And then, the PCT… disappeared.

An hour of this hiking was very tedious, and I had to pay close attention. Finally, I hiked out of the burn area and the overgrowth.

I had lunch at a trailhead, and then entered the Marble Mountain wilderness!

Once I was up on the ridge, the views kept coming.

And fields of Mules Ear plants.

It was hard work to get up here to 7000ft, but it was worth it. The mountain in the far distance on the right still has a snow cornice on it!

The trail (which is also the PCT for this section) traveled thru some postcard worthy terrain.

The rock stairs were a nice addition.

The rocky ridge above looked fun to climb.

I started to see more fallen boulders with cool white rocks embedded in them.

I stopped to camp at 6pm, 12 hours after I began the day.

I was very tired, but my Bigfoot trail map says I only did 19.1 miles. Of course the huge elevation gain (6300ft) and rough trail slowed me down a bit, but it still seemed off. I checked my GPS app, and my Halfmile PCT app, both showed 21.2 miles.
Hmm…I’ll have to compare the other days mileages now.

Tomorrow, I leave the PCT and descend (and reascend) 4000ft. This trail is tough!