NORCAL, PART 2: Pushing the limits

Almost a year ago, I read on a study that explored the intersection of sensitivity to pain, memory and perception of reality. The researchers made the participants hold their hands in cold water of several temperatures during several intervals. The findings? People tend to remember the experiences more positively if they finish well, even if the experience was longer or more negative at the beginning.

That is part of the reasoning that my recent rhythm has motivated. I will have to put great miles at some point if I want to finish this path. I prefer to strive now than try to end frantically. I would prefer to let the end of the trip reach its own rhythm.

The result has been a series of long days. I do not remember the last time I arrived at the camp before 6:30. This is how my daily mileage has been seen recently: 34, 29, 34, 27, 36, 15, 40, 38, 9, 33, 33, 35, 37, 34, 9, 33, 22, 37, 12. There are a couple of days of Nero there, but now I am taking my first full day from Truckee. With luck, after all this, Oregon will feel like a breeze instead of a job.

The art of the input and exit repayment

(Not the restaurant, even if I stopped there in Medford)

It is a fact that hikers tend to be trapped by the city stops (vortices, we call them), spending much longer there we intended. It is easy to see why: fresh food, air conditioning, showers and clean beds have a much stronger attraction than in normal life. If you are not careful, the magnetic attraction of this new appreciation for the banal can completely absorb it.

I made an ambitious but reasonable itinerary from Truckee to Medford. Then, looking more closely, I decided that I would try to shave three days away. The easiest moment to cut was free time, so I domiced the art of entering the city, making errands (purchases, showers, laundry, cargo electronics, etc.) and being in one afternoon again. Was it always pleasant to cut the leisure of my free time? No. But did it save me a lot of time and money? Absolutely.

Exchange snow on ashes

It is no secret that Nortal is considered the least exciting of the five sections of the PCT. There is even a term, «The Norcal Blues», which describes the feeling of disappointment after leaving the Sierra Sierra. Now, this section of the path is not so bad. But the landscape is not up to the granite peaks before and the lush forests ahead.

In addition, this part of the path is also known that it is in quite difficult conditions. Long burns of burns and excessive dense growth can cause some of the miles to be a real job. Already bruised and mistreated by posthaling weeks, my pimples found a new enemy: the farms. The twisted and twisted logs of all sizes clogged the path, and my tired legs were often not up to this obstacle routine. They are quite scraped. The back hikers can expect the worst of these to be clarified by the volunteer paths. For those of us on the border of the bubble, it cannot be avoided.

Ah, and I mentioned that there is poisonous oak? There is so much poisonous oak.

Will walk through food

I like food, and if you have been following this, you will know. I have taken a unhealthy amount of decisions about this walk based on food. But taking into account the calorie deficit that I am executing, can you really blame me? Perhaps no incident on the road illustrates this more than the next.

When leaving Chester, I knew he would have to make great miles. Once I entered Lassen Volcanic NP, I pledged to walk until the end, since a stay during the night requires a bear can, which had fallen. When I had finally walked the 36 miles required, I realized that I was close enough for the old station for breakfast for the city in the morning. I walked another 4 miles to approach, taking the total daily to 40 (and no, I do not plan to do another day in the short term).

Things began to go wrong in the morning. When I arrived in the coffee, I discovered that they had changed their opening time from 7 am to 8. See, I had also planned to be in the Burney Mountain Guest ranch before they stopped serving dinner at 8 pm. When I received my check around 9, I had a little more than 10 hours to cover 33 miles of hot, dry and dusty paths. I did all the thrust with a ten minutes for water and snacks and I came across the cafeteria just in time for some spaghetti. The next day it was a very necessary Nero.

Have patience with me

Waiting for the heat of the day, I made some night walk towards Burney Falls. It was mainly a pleasant experience, until I found a couple of bright eyes that looked at me while looking for a place in the camp. There was nothing to do to go to sleep at that time, but I was a little nervous.

The next day, I heard a whisper sound and closed eyes with a bear about 20 yards outside the path. All the black bears that I have found in the past have not wanted to have anything to do with me, but this was not scary enough for my taste. The inexpressive look penetrated my soul. I thought about how one of Farout’s comments for a camp ahead mentioned being «harassed» by a bear. The comment had only two days.

About ten minutes later, the bear rushed down the slope of the mountain, running parallel to the path but about 100 feet uphill. Fortunately, I was planning to walk another 20 miles, often out of reach of the most determined curiosity of the Ursina. Unfortunately, because I had to wait until the store opened at 9 am to collect my package (and because I stubbornly refused to adjust my daily mileage accordingly), I would not be entering the camp until after dusk. You can imagine my relief when I found another store in the camp. A small company has long ago.

The Centennial brand

After crossing the I-5 for the first time, the path sways west, even immersing south for approximately 15 miles. Here, it deviates from the dry valleys of the southern waterfalls to climb the Klamath mountains, where views and water are found in more abundance. I arrived at my last two villages in the state, Etna and Seiad Valley, and I started the approach to Oregon.

California is great. By the time the path finally serpentea outside the gold state, the clumsy of the north have risen almost two thirds of the 2,650 miles of the path. I passed that I arrived at the Oregon border on my day 100. He felt like a special day, despite the nearby heat of triple digit. In fact, I accumulated the dodge Magic Triple Trail, which offered me fresh fruit in the morning, a cold gatorade in the afternoon, and prepared a camp next to a soda cooler for hikers for some friendly locals.

California treated me very well when I went out the door. Next? The two -week Oregon challenge (which is exactly what it seems). Can I achieve it? Are attentive to find out.

Until next time

«Switchbackjack.»