Twig Adventures

Category: Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail

2023 Recap and 2024 Wish-list

Bigfoot Trail, Hayduke Trail, Oregon Coast Trail, Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail

I always enjoy marveling at Google bread-crumbs of my ramblings over the past 6 years…mostly by foot. I love how distinctly so many of my trails are depicted. Such a presentation really drives home how much ground I’ve covered on my hikes. In 2023, I added a significant number of dots in Utah and down the coast of Oregon, the result of hiking the Hayduke and Oregon Coast Trails. I also connected the Bigfoot Trail to the PCT to the Tahoe Rim Trail, for a total of about 2300 miles for 2023…notice the nice symmetry of those figures, completely unintentional:) This brought my total to over 17K miles since I began thru-hiking in 2017. I figure I might as well[…]

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PCBCRT Summary and Stats

Bigfoot Trail, Oregon Coast Trail, Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail

Since the Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail was my conglomeration of 4 named long distance trails (Oregon Coast Trail, Bigfoot Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Tahoe Rim Trail), it was difficult to summarize such a journey in one post. I struggled between breaking the summary into distinct parts to cover each trail, or lumping all the data together. In the end, I did a little bit of both. Several of the trails were pretty intermingled, especially the PCT and BFT. I also followed a spur trail down the California Coast, which I characterized as part of the Oregon Coast Trail, yet it was really just an extension to connect to Crescent City (terminus of the BFT) and see parts[…]

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PCBCRT Bonus Hike: The Pinecrest Loop Trail

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail

Scott and Sailor, the hosts of the Sonora Pass PCT Hiker Cabin, were keen to share a 78 mile loop hike that they created. I met them at PCT Trail Days, which is where they told me about their cabin and the Pinecrest Loop Trail, or PLT. You can read more about this trail here. The idea behind it is for PCT hikers to be able to connect to Pinecrest on foot, if so desired, but to also provide the local community with a route encompassing nearby trails that connect all the way to the PCT and Yosemite National Park. I had some extra time at the end of my thru-hike from the Columbia River to the Tahoe Rim Trail[…]

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PCBCRT Day 69: Sonora Peak

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail

Saturday, Sep 16th, 2023, 0630-1440NE of Disaster Peak to Sonora Pass, then ride to Pinecrest, plus side trip to the top of Sonora Peak 20.5 miles, Gain 5100′, Loss 4600′, elevation 6200′ I got on the trail early as usual, but my neighbor got an even earlier start, disappearing into the dark. It was barely light by 6 am. I greeted some pink clouds at a saddle first thing. I recalled this vista from before, which then seemed parched and barren. This morning there was still snow and a green valley below. It felt like early summer. I descended for a bit but there were many short and punchy bumps as the trail worked through some rugged terrain. I had[…]

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PCBCRT Day 68: Wolves or Huskies?

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail

Friday, Sep 15th, 2023, 0630-1840South of the Nipple to just NE of Disaster Peak31.5 miles, Gain 6330′, Loss 5730′, elevation 9110′ Oddly, I was hearing tree frogs creaking a few times overnight…at least I think that’s what they were. What a strange place for them to be. Speaking of strange, when I camped in this section in 2018, I was next to the Lost Lakes only a few miles north of where I woke this morning. That night, I woke abruptly to something sniffing around my tent. I yelled at whatever it was to GET! Another hiker was cowboy camping nearby and he calmly explained “It’s ok, they’re just huskies.” They had been sniffing him too and he woke seeing[…]

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PCBCRT Day 67: I Just Can’t Get Enough

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail

Thursday, Sep 14th, 2023, 0630-1900Finish TRT into Tahoe City, then ride to Carson Pass, then 10.5 mile hike SOBO on the PCT12 miles, Gain 1800′, Loss 1850′, elevation 8520′ The TRT was supposed to be the finish to my PCBCRT thru-hike. But I had some time to kill and the Sierra were calling me. A couple of other hikes I was interested in at the beginning of the summer seemed either too logistically complicated or not feasible due to weather events. To do the Uinta Highline trail required a rental car, buses, and difficult hitches. Sky informed me that the Lowest to Highest route was still not accessible because flooding from the hurricane had damaged many of the roads in[…]

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PCBCRT Day 66: The Homestretch

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail

Wednesday, Sep 13th, 2023, 0630-1840Desolation wilderness border to Tahoe City 26.5 miles, Gain 2940′, Loss 4640′, elevation 6360′ It was a beautiful morning among the boulders…but wet. My tent had some condensation on the inside and my ground tarp was soaked for some reason. I couldn’t imagine how the gravely granite soil could hold so much moisture. Probably the snow had melted from my flat spot not all that long ago. The day was pretty ordinary, compared to the previous one. I continued down away from the wilderness, past the lake, and through a lot of woods. I climbed for some decent views around Barker Pass, then to the parting of the TRT from the PCT near Twin Peaks. I[…]

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PCBCRT Day 65: Dicks Peak

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail

Tuesday, Sep 12th, 2023, 0800-2040Echo Lake Parking to wilderness border24.5 miles, Gain 4900′, Loss 4480′, elevation 7940′ I slept really well inside Sky’s van. It was very cozy. We hung out for a bit making coffee and eating breakfast in the morning. We had a big day ahead but neither of us were in a rush. I guess that comes from the confidence of being thru-hikers…we know we can do big miles in a day. We had to, given the restrictions imposed by the area. The Desolation wilderness had so many bear interactions in past years that they moved to requiring bear canisters for overnight stays. They also had quotas for the most popular areas around the lakes. Such campsites[…]

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PCBCRT Day 64: Half Day

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail

Monday, Sep 11th, 2023, 0640-1120Round Lake to HWY 5013.5 miles, Gain 1950′, Loss 2810′, elevation 7520′ Plans to meet up with my Hayduke buddy Sky finally came together. Originally we were going to meet me in Tahoe City to hike the whole TRT together. But unfortunately Sky got caught in the mud at Burning Man, then had a lot of clean up to do afterwards. Sky texted me in the morning that they were driving all the way from Oakland and would be arriving in the afternoon. This worked out perfectly because it was about 15 miles to Echo lake from where I was, but I couldn’t go further than that, given the restrictions with the Desolation wilderness. The TRT\PCT[…]

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PCBCRT Day 63: Around Freel

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail

Sunday, Sep 10th, 2023, 0645-1920Edgewood Creek to Round Lake29 miles, Gain 5400′, Loss 4500′, elevation 8090′ It was a good night next to the boulders. I woke with a migraine that was hard to shake, though. A steady uphill with a heavy pack wasn’t the best combo, but I got by. The trail wound through ski areas and along the backside of the rim, with views down into the valley and of Carson City. The forest continued to be rather dry, reminding me of New Mexico. I was pretty mesmerized looking at more of the Nevada mountain ranges in the distance. They called to me. This was my last day hiking the trail in Nevada, but I hoped there would[…]

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