On 17th September 2023 I completed Country Walking magazine’s #walk1000miles challenge. In unison with this challenge in January 2023 I decided to start the #Myvirtualmission Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). On the last day of December I have completed 1,423.5 miles on the PCT. The last three months of 2023 I wasn’t well with chest infections which led to five weeks off work. Now I am on the way to recovery and I am keen to complete the PCT before the deadline of the end of June 2024. So, every day during the first six months of 2024 I need to complete at least 5.8 miles per day! Back to 2023 and periodically #Myvirtualmission provides a postcard from the PCT and what follows comes from this sent via e-mail on the last day of 2023.
A mile (1.6km) after crossing North Yuba River, the trail, through a series of tight switchbacks, sharply gains 1,400ft (426m) and continues to climb as it rounds the flanks of Sierra Buttes Peaks some 2,000ft (610m) above the town of Sierra City.
Travelling along the ridgeline, I’m taken by the vast views, especially the large Gold Lake flanked by Deer Lake and Long Lake to the east of the trail and a little further along the lovely peaks of Mount Elwell and Mount Washington.
As I reach McRae Ridge (elevation 7,200ft/2,194m), I leave Tahoe National Forest behind and enter Plumas National Forest. The forest was established in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Within its boundaries is Bucks Lake Wilderness. Named after a primary watershed, Rio de las Plumas (translating as Feather River), the forest has a land area of 1,146,000 acres, of which 127,000 acres are old-growth, mostly mixed conifers. Due to extensive logging during the gold rush era into modern times, much of the original timberland has disappeared.
Descending into a valley to 6,000ft (1,829m), the trail skirts around the foot of Beartrap Mountain, then around the two closely located Mounts Stafford and Etna, across Bunker Hill Ridge to swing around Pilot Peak and then continues with a long, gradual descent to Grass Valley Bald Mountain and Little Grass Valley Reservoir below. The reservoir, accessed via the Bald Mountain trail, is an artificial lake created when the dam was completed in 1961. Used as a recreational area, the lake is 2mi (3.2km) long, one mile (1.6km) wide and 65ft (20m) deep. Its shoreline is 14.5mi (23.3km).
Travelling through woodland across a ridgeline, the trail further descends to 3,000ft (914m) alongside Onion Valley Creek, where the trail crosses Middle Fork Feather River via a bridge. A major river, Middle Fork, is nearly 100mi (160km) long, of which just over three-quarters is designated National Wild and Scenic River. A remote and rugged landscape with huge boulders, cliffs and waterfalls, it is seldom visited due to the difficulty of navigating the terrain and river.
The trail travels up and down in the forest, across Bear Creek and onwards to Bucks Lake and Bucks Lake Wilderness. Encompassing 21,000 acres, the Wilderness was established in 1984. The Wilderness is filled with conifers, oaks and red firs, with lakes to the east and small meadows to the west. Its elevation is from 2,000ft (610m) in the Feather River Canyon to 7,017ft (2,139m) at Spanish Peak. The lake is a result of damming Bucks Creek in 1928.
Passing Spanish Peaks on the right, the trail travels along a steep escarpment with views of Silver Lake below, onto Mount Pleasant, then Three Lakes to the left before a long and gradual descent to 2,400ft (731m) at Feather River near Belden.
At its main stem, Feather River is 73mi (117km) long and is a major tributary of the Sacramento River. Starting at Lake Oroville, the River is joined by its four branches: South, Middle, North and West Branch Feather Rivers. During the 19th century, the river and its forks were a centre for gold mining. Today, it provides water to the state and hydroelectricity generation.
Happy 2024 to everyone!
chrisnavigator 