Monday July 13, 4.1mi/6.6km

Copper Creek Trailhead (0.0/5035ft) to Lower Tent Meadow (4.1/7810ft) (CA)

I drove most of the day, heading south on the 99 freeway to Fresno. With a couple stops for a new shirt and printing my permit, and the traffic, I didn’t arrive to the trailhead until 8pm. Sunset was at 8:45pm so I got some quick photos at the trailhead.

They even had a boot cleaning station for invasive seeds! Just like New Zealand.

The trail was very nice the whole way, the flat part only lasted a couple minutes before it started to climb.

After about 1000ft/300m of climbing, I got one last photo of the mountains across the river canyon before the sunset.

It was getting darker…

By the time I got to the campsite at Lower tent meadows, I had climbed 2800ft and it was 10pm. I had a quick snack, crawled into my tent and promptly fell asleep.

Saturday July 11 & Sunday July 12, 0mi/0km

I spent two days off my feet, and getting cleaned up and organized for the next hike!

I spent 1.5 hours driving the dirt FS roads to get back into civilization.

Eventually the road turned paved and dropped 5000 feet to the valley.

It was grossly hot down low.

I spent most of the day driving south down the coast. And I found a new flavor of pop that was very refreshing… lemonade Ginger ale!

I met up with one of my CDT trail family, Bard. He and his girlfriend had moved to California, and we reminisced hiking stories and had some delicious Thai food for dinner. I spaced on photos, I only managed to get one of the cool little old train depot building that I slept in.

I said my goodbyes the next morning (from 6ft/2m away of course), and made a quick trip down to my friend Matt’s house in Oakland. Again, I spaced on photos, but he looks the same. 🙂 I stopped for dinner #1 immediately afterwards.

I drove inland, and had dinner #2, at another In-N-Out burger. Hiker hunger is real! I also went grocery shopping for my resupply for the first 10 days on the Sierra High Route.

It’s a ton of food, and it doesn’t come close to fitting in the bear canister.

I checked into a nearby motel, it had been a week since my last real shower with soap.

Tomorrow I have a few more small errands (printing my permit, buying a new shirt), and then I make the drive to Road’s End trailhead in King’s Canyon National Park!

Friday July 10, 21.0mi/33.8km

North Yolla Bolly Spring (338.5/6160ft) to Ides Cove Trailhead (358.8/6860ft) (CA) +0.7mi to car

It’s the last day so I got an early start at 7am. And morning hiking is the best.

I could see the ridges I would be hiking all morning. And the trail was nice.

And then…the trail disappeared. For 3mi/5km, I walked a ridge thru a burn area, and the trail was overgrown with small thorny bushes and blocked by fallen charred trees. Finally, at a trail junction, it reappeared.

So I sat down and had lunch! I sat for an hour in the shade of a Jeffrey Pine, hiding from the heat. After lunch, the nice trail resumed!

And the views kept coming too. I think the peak in the distance is Mount Linn.

The afternoon ridgetops were rather sparsely vegetated, and it was sunny and hot. At 7000 feet elevation.

This tree made me laugh, all twisty.

Finally, after an 8 mile dry stretch, I came to a water source. A tiny thing called “D Spring.”

It was cold and clear, so I was happy, and drank a liter before I realized it. I went another couple miles to the highpoint of the Yolla Bolly section of the BFT, a shoulder of Mount Linn, at 7400ft. The views to the east were smoggy, you can barely see Mt Shasta.

The view back to the ridge I had just hiked:

And the views to the west were much clearer, no smog.

Mount Linn was looking tall from my spot, the trail goes around it.

I loved that someone added “BF” to the trail junction sign. Bigfoot Trail is represented!

Once I left the ridge, the trees got huge. It was a nice cool shaded forest.

A view down into the Redding valley.

I kept trying to get a photo of Mt Lassen, but it was too smoggy.

More views into the valley.

The last spring on the BFT was named Talus Spring, and it even had a plaque. How unusual.

A mile later, I was at the trailhead, with the requisite finish photo.

I walked another 0.7mi/1.1km to my car, which was parked at the lower lot, it couldn’t make it up the deeply rutted road to the upper lot.

I sat down and enjoyed the snacks and Snapples I had stashed in the trunk.
Bigfoot trail done!

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.