Twig Adventures

My Adventures blog

Daily Adventures on the trail

HayDay 37: The Final Exam

Hayduke Trail

Saturday, Sep 30th, 2023, 0700-1800Muav Saddle to Thunder River and Tapeats creek8.5 miles, elevation 2500′ I don’t even know where to start about describing this day. It was the hardest, wildest, most chaotic and fun day I spent in the outdoors as far back as I could remember. Carrot Quinn described this section as the Hayduke’s final exam. Every crazy and difficult thing one has done up to this point is all in preparation for the obstacles in Saddle Canyon. Well, I’m happy to report that I passed! I slept ok on the cot. It was really only the wind that woke me several times. It was raging over the saddle so bad that I contemplated staying another night in[…]

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HayDay 36: The North Rim

Hayduke Trail

Friday, Sep 29th, 2023, 0630-1900North Rim Grand Canyon to Teddys Cabin, Muav Saddle30 miles, elevation 6690′ I considered posting an update before this day, explaining all my travels and adventures in how I got back to the Grand Canyon to resume the Hayduke. I decided to sum it up briefly here, instead: I ended my spring Hayduke hike at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in May, due to the conditions in and above the canyon (snow, flooded streams, closed and washed out trails). I kept in touch with Worm over the summer, another spring Hayduke hiker that was in our bubble. We met up in Flagstaff back in May, at which time we briefly discussed a fall return.[…]

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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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PCBCRT Day 62: South Lake Tahoe in and out

Pacific Coast Bigfoot Crest Rim Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail

Saturday, Sep 9th, 2023, 0650-1830Spooner Lake\Hwy 50 to Edgewood Creek16 miles, Gain 2240′, Loss 2510′, elevation 7190′ This was half a town day, so not much detail to record. The trail climbed from the HWY steadily to arrive at another sagebrush-capped hill top. It was a good warm up for the morning…not that I was very cold. It was remarkably warmer than the previous morning. I caught up to Natty on the descent from the hill and we talked while we hiked. When I told him my name, a bell rang and he remembered meeting me at Mt Laguna and Lake Morena, a few days before I finished the PCT in 2018. I remembered meeting 2 hikers at the restaurants[…]

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