Undoubted businesses on the PCT: Fire closure One – Part one

A scope in recent weeks

In my last place, I celebrated the completion of the miles that I lost on the PCT in 2024 due to foot injuries. Since then, I took a three -day stay at the South Sierra Nevada mountain range with Zapatero, I descended to welcomed my feet, recover from a slight altitude wing (not sleeping and bubble guts), and I opened my way through the Eastern Sierras to Reno.

On June 18, with a lot of emotion, I greeted Sean (with the name of «undecided» path) in the arrivals area at the airport. We travel to Truckee, replenish and reach his cousin during dinner, before calling him a night at the Donner Memorial State Park.

Undoced and I at the beginning of our walk of the Fire Closing One section, Donner Pass

After the morning drinks, we obtained a quick hitch to Donner Ski Resort and the beginning of our Pacific Crest Trail sections that closed us in 2024 due to forest fires:

Fire closure one – Truckee to Mount Shasta, Ca – 340 miles

Two fire closure – The three sisters, or 118 miles

Fire closure three – Glacier Peak Wilderness, WA – 108 miles

Fire closure one – part one

Starting point: Donner Pass, Truckee, ca

Final Point: Highway 36, Chester, ca

Start date: Wednesday June 18

Finish date: Friday June 27

Truckee to Chester, 175 miles

Drawn of mileage on the path (including side trails):

15.9 – 21.5 – 19.0 – 19.9 – 23.4 – 18.2 – 5.3 – 19.4 – 21.7 – 17.5

The highlight of the fire closure one

Hiking with undecided after a month apart

So they are and I finally return after the end of the school year, and I walked in the Socal desert. He has decided to take the name of an undecided path, which is appropriate for someone who cannot establish himself in a trail name during the six years since he began to walk at a long distance.

‘Indecisive’ on the sign that marks our entrance to the mountainous chains of Cascade

We went back to our hiking routine quickly. It was good to share the store configuration again and other daily tasks. I am glad to be able to enjoy the efforts of our hiking together again, with impressive views.

Our camp the night before walking to the crossing of the road to Chester

The best of all, undecided carried additional cookies for the afternoon desert, also known as ‘Pudín’ in British English. To be fair, my package is a bit larger, so I tend to take the tent for us. We were also able to cook meals with more ingredients on our first nights outside the cities. The Mexican night with refused beans, guacamole, rice and tortillas made a refreshing change in the spaghetti.

Enjoying dinner in the average bifurcation of the Feather River

The animals, plants and the characteristics of the path

We knew when entering this section that there would be a fine floor of the burns areas, and the lack of shadow in many areas as we advance in the heat of summer. What we did not expect was the great variety of plants and animals that we were lucky to see during these miles.

The challenging nature of hiking through burning areas

Burn areas in contrast with plants and insects restoring

Some burns areas were very burned, leaving little soil life to support new growth quickly. However, other areas shone with secondary succession, demonstrating that nature bounces.

Wild flowers that bring biodiversity to burns areas

Plants that take advantage of access to more sunlight

The flowers in particular brought emotion to every day of hiking. The streams and streams hosted especially fragrant plants, and a burst of small creatures activity.

A beetle enjoying a dead trunk, for a spring in the afternoon

The biggest pine cone I’ve seen

Visit several villages of new trails

This section of the path has no shortage of places to visit. Sierra City was our first light diversion after about 40 miles. We enter the city for inner plumbing, drinks with caffeine and to recharge our stomachs. The energy impulse was excellent for the great climb of the city.

Moose Cafe Red Sierra City

Quincy itself was an easy problem for us in both directions, and there was even a vegan cheese option in pizzeria. Indeced was more excited for his visit to the morning cafeteria, yes.

Night Pizza in Leon and Rys Family Pizzeria

Bethden was expensive, as expected from such a remote space, but it was also directly on the road. The cold Dr Pepper and the hahas (potato wedges) again energized us during Belden’s long rise (approximately 5000 feet of ascent in more than 12 miles).

Belden town, before the climb

Finally, Chester was an extravagant city, which seemed to be mostly treated towards Lake Summer tourism. The motels were expensive, and we camped at the back of the park (as many seem to do it if they can trust Farout’s comments)! We ate well here, and we had a good selection to replenish ourselves to take us to the second half of this fire closing section.

Taking ‘showers’ out of laundry, Chester

Fire closure challenges One:

Shoegate, or how my shoe exploded

After passing through ten pairs of shoes during 1650 miles of paths in 2024, not to mention my misery of feet, I took the suggestion of a friend for this season. He had mentioned a member of La Tramilia, ‘bubbles’ on how Eva foam in trail shoes should be allowed 24 hours to expand after each use. She suggested that I walked with two pairs of shoes and alternate them every day. I did this until the end of my excursion in the Sierra Nevada.

Removing two pairs of shoes before walking our fire closure a section

I had not thought that I had made a big difference in my overpronation and compression around the interior areas of the heel of my shoes. As such, I left Truckee with a couple of new shoes.

Walking on the snow in my only pair of shoes

Later, on the path, when we entered the small ‘city’ of Belden, which consisted of a bar/general store, and some houses, I noticed that my shoe was squeezing the air of the sole with each step. I stopped and checked the shoe, noticing that the sole had given. The shoes wear out over time, but 134 miles is not a distance that shoes cannot normally drive.

There was no cushion to push up the next climb (and 140 miles)

This began a warranty claim conversation with Athletic Topo, but it also meant that I had to ask for another pair of shoes to Burney, just 140 miles north on the road. I began to experience a lot of discomfort in an unbalanced shoe, and took a sock and placing it under the template to level the imbalance.

Trying to enjoy with pain standing

Snow not

It is fair to say that during our Sierra Nevada tour in 2024, we deal with very little snow, entering at the end of June. This season, we are several hundred miles to the north, several weeks before.

Snowbank spring that shows how he received his name

This section still had winter remains in several places. Many of these were flat and quite sure to navigate. The worst consequence would be to slide two feet to a potentially wet area of ​​the ground, which I did several times (by choice).

A flat snow section north of Truckee

Other areas had more pronounced curves, with forged routes of the previous starting package. In these mountain crosses, I was more cautious and, often, I decided to navigate the areas with which I felt uncomfortable.

Indecisive in snow, showstopper in the rocks

Everything worked well, and I worked hard to overcome the feelings of panic when I did not know where to step on the few areas where it was not possible to avoid snow. I kept calm when I stomped a heel in a descent to track, and took the time to find the best angles to walk through these snow sections. That said, for walks involving snow in the future, I believe that a training course in microspikes and ice axes will be essential.

There is no snow along the way is my preference

Burn Zone-A-Palooza

Quincy is a wonderful city of trails to visit in Norcal. There is a good refueling, vegan food options and incredible paths of trails who welcomed us at home. However, to get to Quincy we had to navigate the burns areas around the Middle Bifurcation of the Feather River.

Feather River Friends – California King Snake

These are areas that had several fires in recent years, with few resources for the PCTA to organize the maintenance of paths. The path itself even has a deviation of forest roads (also weeds) to bring it closer to the most affected areas.

The explosion glove

Fortunately, there are several teams that work this summer to carry out these vital works. Meanwhile, we had to work as obstacles to climbing innumerable trees, limbs akimbo. Not to mention the steep path you are sailing at the same time. These additional challenges drained our energies, and also left us more scraped than when we had started this section.

Fire closure one – reflection of the first part

We have had our ups and downs in this section (and I am not talking about all the mountains), but we have remained motivated by beauty around the burns areas. We met many new hikers, we went out and shared stories.

Find fun on the way

Undoubted to make the most of a shaded place

Our time is already coming to the PCT, since we are with more than 2200 miles completed at this point. We are grateful to have gone through some of the areas of burning zone plus challenges, and have our views in the Lassen Volcanic National Park, and beyond.

Time is fleeting and we will disperse on this path like these seeds

Waiting for the bus to Chester