Day 0

Noah drove like a champion. I had to get shoes in Redding. Idlewild is a way out there. We were driving up in a beautiful intense storm. We reluctantly decided to drive to Weaverville and get a hotel. We were exhausted. I had a cheat day on my diet and didn’t feel great. Noah is so cool. I loved being with him and my friends. We had an adventure.

Once again, Noah came in clutch. What a kid.

We had been planning the shuttle but we underestimated the commitment… at least I did.

Partway up I-5, I remembered that I forgot my hiking shoes at home. I almost sent Noah, who was driving Michele’s car, back to get them. But we were too far along in our excellent plan. I decided to get new shoes at Sports Ltd. in Redding and asked Noah to pick up “the boys” at the airport. That was a crucial decision because sooner than we knew it, it was dusk.

Together again, we continued up I-5 and then deep into the wilderness. As we got deeper and deeper, it got darker and darker. As we neared the drop-off for the first car, a huge storm set upon us. We found ourselves on an adventure: off-road and climbing surrounded by brooding skies building into angry skies. At one point, I remarked that it looked like we were in Hell.

The storm was all around us and it was beautiful.

We tried to stay in Etna but the proprietor of the hotel slammed the door on us. To be fair it was 10:30 by the time we got there. We thought that we might be camping but the storm dissuaded us. Noah braved on and got us to Weaverville sometime after midnight. We called ahead to make sure we had rooms.

Day 1

I am sitting out getting eaten by mosquitoes because I was too stubborn to bring my tent part of the hike. Today was amazing. One of my favorite hikes ever. The flowers were intense. Part was overgrown and held a hike through. I saw a lot of new flora, vibrant and bright the forest is healthy here big trees.

It was exciting to be hiking the Bigfoot Trail again. We decided to skip a 10 mile section of road walking. Driving along this road section, we could see that it would have been a pleasant walk but we were happy to start with trail hiking.

The morning’s hike was delightful. It was gorgeous. It was a cool summer’s day. The trail had been maintained recently. And the forest was green and lush. The rain from the night before made everything absolutely vibrate with life. The moss and likens were thick and vibrant.

It smelled fresh and new. I feel that we were privileged to be out there at that moment.

As we hiked, we observed a firefighting operation. A lightning strike from the storm had set a small fire. We could see a crew on the ground, two helicopters, and a plane overhead monitoring the situation. The helicopter made some runs for water. It seemed that the crew was there to clean up. They were working seriously but it seemed to be in control. I remembered that Robert had mentioned that he had heard that they are really “on it” regarding fires this year. That seemed to be the case.

It became evident to me that I was in a new place, again.

Life looks different in the Trinity Alps. It is more intense and more weird than I am used to. It is something that I notice often while in them. I particularly notice the insects. They seem so strange and abundant.

The trail going up could not have been nicer.

As we started to descend Canyon Creek on the Bear Creek Trail, things changed. This section of trail is poorly maintained. It became a real struggle. The trail itself was difficult to follow. The descent is steep in many places. It is entirely overgrown in sections.

It soon became obvious that David is something of an extra special hiker. “Big D”, has a taste for cross county hiking and the strength and skills to handle it well. I do not. Loren has always been a stronger hiker than I am but he doesn’t admire bushwhacking any more than I do.

The Bear Creek descent was rough. I would not recommend it for anyone. Thankfully, David trail blazed for us and Loren beat down somewhat of a path for me to follow.

Along the way there is absolute beauty to admire. It was hard for me to maintain a mindset by which to admire much.

There was one section of flowers along the Bear Creek Descent that is so beautiful. It is a shame that they are impossible to access.

It was as if fireworks were going off around us as we were climbing through the trail.

We finally made it down to the Stuart Fork where we made camp.

It was evening, we were exhausted, I wished that I had brought a tent. I slept hard regardless.

Day 2

Great hike! The Stuart Fork is gorgeous and easy. We crossed the river higher up. The hike up to Morris Meadow and beyond is insane. We had a great lunch at a swim hole and then did the Caribou Lake Scramble. That was tough. The snow field on the other side was fun but somewhat perilous. Loren took a spill/slide in a scary spot. We were at Caribou and we caught brook trout. About to sleep out…

We started the morning with a stream crossing. There is so much water this year. We had to find a spot a quarter mile upstream to cross safely.

Once across the stream, we were on a steady trail. It was wonderful!

The Stuart Fork is a well established hike that many people take up to Sapphire and Emerald Lakes. It is gorgeous. It is easy. It is beautiful and full of life. Verdant.

Loren and I had hiked this trail when we got pushed out of Emerald Lake by the River Complex Fires in 2021. Smoke from the Packers Fire poured into the Stuart Fork canyon and we hiked 13 miles out of there in apocalyptic smoke.

This time was much nicer. I was sad to leave the lovely Stuart Fork Trail to take on the Caribou Lake Scramble.

The Caribou Scramble is somewhat renown. I found a great blog post that describes it well.

According to my gps data. The hike was exactly 2.0 miles with a 2537 ft. elevation gain. Up and up and up.

The hike was stunning. We lucked out and had cloud cover for a good portion of the hike. We met several families coming down from the top. I was surprised that the mothers of the children weren’t distressed by the steepness and potential fall danger as their kids toted fishing rods. The kids and dads seemed disappointed. We discovered why at the top.

Snow.

The north side of the slope was still covered in snow. The short descent down to Caribou Lake was made somewhat dangerous by the snow on the steep upper slope. We could see by the snowmen that the kids had made that was their stopping point. We carried on.

Right away, Loren started to struggle. He couldn’t keep his feet on the snow. He had two slides at the top that shook him. They would have shaken me. I was frighted by the traverse we had to make over snow and I was feeling confident on my feet.

We worked our way down to lower angles that made the snow fun, at least for me.

Caribou Lake is a special place. It was the most popular spot we visited this section. There were other people camping with us. That is not typical on the Bigfoot trail and we did not mind being around other campers.

Day 3

Coffee Creek. July 4th. Great hike down from Caribou Lake. A deer sucked on my hiking shirt and gloves. Good maintained trail. Mountain Meadow. Monika and her family. My resupply was there. My bag is heavy. I pigged out on tuna. We’re going into less traveled areas. I hope we can hike them OK. We camped a Coffee Creek before Lady Gulch Trail. There were several “posted” signs. We agreed not to fish.

Day three started off with a mystery.

The mystery was solved later in the day.

I could not find my hiking shirt anywhere. It was gone. Loren cheerfully set out to look for it and found it.

The morning was too cool to put on a shirt that was sopping wet. I decided to hike in my camp shirt and let my hiking shirt dry off. David teased me, “Be bold. Start cold.” I was still scratching my head about what could have happened with my shirt.

David said that it might be soaked with Deer slobber. I thought that was one of the most absurd things that I had ever heard.

Up the trail, we spotted a deer rummaging through campground. We chased it out but not before it had grabbed a bandana. We followed the deer into the trees but could only watch it as it greedily sucked on the handkerchief.

It methodically and meticulously started at one end and chewed and sucked. It did not eat the handkerchief. It sucked on it like a baby bottle.

David was right. My shirt was soaked in deer saliva. And my gloves. The mystery was solved and it was disturbing.

In the middle of the night, a deer had come to my bed, lifted my shirt from beside my head, and sucked on it thoroughly.

I stopped at the next stream and rinsed my shirt and gloves.

Holding the shirt to the light, we could see that it was riddles with small holes.

Mystery solved, we ventured on.

Because the Caribou Lake Trail is so popular, it is incredibly maintained and delightful to hike. We met many happy hikers along the trail.

I did begin to notice that Loren had lost some of the spring in his step. It had gotten quiet which is unlike him and his pace slackened. I found myself keeping up to him. He said he was tired.

The hike into Mountain Meadows was long and pleasant. I had sent a box with food into Mountain Meadow to save some weight going over what I now know is called locally as the “Suicide Scramble”. That name is not as charming as the Sawtooth Scramble or Caribou Scramble.

A local hiker asked if we had come over the Suicide Scramble and when we told them that we had, he responded enthusiastically, “Hell Yeah!” He asked us where we started. We told him Canyon Creek to which he responded, “Hell Yeah!” He asked us where we were headed and again, “Hell Yeah!” He continued to ask questions and continued to answer with an energetic, “Hell Yeah!” We agreed that he was a very fun guy to talk to and that the world could use more exclamations of “Hell Yeah!”

Mountain Meadow was lovely. I had been to Mountain Meadow twice before when I was a teenager. My buddy Andy is friends with the kids that grew up living and working there. In high school we drove up in Andy’s bus and partied with all of the ids there who were are age. One of those kids is Monika who now runs the place with her family including her children. I told her about how we had met before and we had a great laugh. She and her family were very kind. She invited us to a bubbly water and had my package.

It was really nice of her to take some time with us as the families were preparing for their Fourth of July celebrations. I felt like we got to celebrate the Fourth a little with some with friends.

Everyone at Mountain Meadow agreed that we should skip Packer’s Peak which suffered severely in the fires. We decided to head up the Lady Gulch detour. We foolishly refused a ride down Coffee Creek road to our next trailhead. It was an easy walk but we were tired. Loren really seemed to struggle.

We slept along Coffee Creek but there were enough “Posted” signs that we agreed fishing would not be a good idea.

Day 4

What a day! Exhausting, frustrating, amazing. It is still so beautiful. Lady Gulch was super steep. We got to the junction and just skipped the trail and hauled upwards. Loren is not feeling well. What a day to feel bad. I forgot my water bottle and had to go back to get it. The solo hike after doing that was a nightmare. The McNeil trail doesn’t exist and it is a dangerous nightmare of a traverse. I was dead and disappointed when I finally got to Rush Creek Lake. I don’t think the Bigfoot can be a trail with that section. I know that other sections need work, but that shit “Granite Scramble” is no joke, a total bitch. I started to panic. Thank God the trail to Fish Lake is good or we would not have made it, but we did, even Loren, poor guy. I am on a ridge above the lake to avoid mosquitoes. The other guys are down there.

The Lady Gulch trail starts off with a nice new sign. It is the counterpart to the McNeil Trail that I had worked just the week before. It meets the McNeil Trail at the junction with the Bigfoot.

There really was not much of a trail to follow. It is a steep bushwhack up. According to my data, it is a 3 mile hike with a 2,500 elevation gain to meet the McNeil.

Again, this hike is gorgeous yet arduous. I don’t think that I could recommend hiking this trail. There were sections where the trail is difficult to find, there is blow down, and it is completely overgrown.

At the top of the ridge, we stopped looking for trail and headed upward.

We had lunch at the top of the ridge from where we could see Shasta and Lassen.

After lunch, we were relieved to find better trail. I realized after about 3/4 of a mile that I had left my water bottle behind. I had to go back and get it. Loren was miserable and I told the guys not to worry. I would catch up to them.

Trying to catch up to the guys had me stressed out. I really began to worry when the trail dried up. I was so relieved to find a cairn that David had improved, but I lost the trail again shortly after.

The Bigfoot Trail brochure describes the next section as a delightful jaunt across a granite field or some shit like that. I disagree entirely.

I struggled. I searched for trail. There is none. The granite boulders are dangerous and difficult to navigate, hard to climb, and unsteady to descend. The boulders are overgrown in sections and there is deadfall crossing other sections. I was scared. I was exhausted. I was alone and I was miserable. If there is any section that makes the idea of the Bigfoot Trail problematic, this is it. Not only would I not recommend this hike, I would encourage others to avoid it. I have a difficult time imagining myself hiking this section ever again.

By the time I rejoined my buddies, I was shook. Loren was trashed. David was unscathed. He enjoyed catching fish at Rush Creek Lake. We had quite a bit more hiking left to do.

The trail was much better after Rush Creek Lake but it was still a struggle. Loren had really slowed and I found myself waiting up for him in a couple of spots. I knew something was wrong and I had my suspicions. I was fairly convinced that Loren was suffering from Covid. At least from the flu. He was exhausted, wasn’t interested in eating, was coughing, and was stumbling along the trail.

At Fish Lake where we camped. The swimming was not good because the bottom of the lake is so silty. I washed off as best as I could by dangling off of a log. I struggled with mosquitos. I climbed a nearby ridge to try to get out of their zone but it wasn’t enough. They relentlessly buzzed my face trying to get past my head net. It was a long night.

Day 5

I had a hard night of sleep because of the mosquitoes they were relentless. I hunkered into my bag and my mosquito mask. The hike out of Fish Lake sucked. It was brutal, no trail, thick brush, rocks, and fall down. We eventually made it to trail. What a relief we made it to a campground, and I almost wept. Toilet, water, and garbage. We regrouped and had lunch. Steep hike after lunch for miles. Loren really struggled because he is not feeling well. Brutal hike. We hit the PCT for .2 miles and the trail got incredibly beautiful. I don’t know where we are now on the map. We are at Russian Lake. We caught rainbow trout at the lake above, Siphon Lake. Russian is absolutely gorgeous. I am in heaven sitting here. Loren is asleep. David is fishing, but I don’t think there are fish in this lake. Lots of newts is the report.

Getting out of Fish Lake was miserable. I now understand that David can predict terrain by just looking at a topographic map. He told us before we set out that the morning would be a struggle. He was right. It is so overgrown that bush whacking was the only option. There were sections that we bushwhacked through willow which David warned us was the worst. He was right, again. It took us an hour and a half to go 3/4 of a mile.

Again, I would not recommend anyone hike that section of trail.

Once we merged with the Twin Lakes Trail, everything got better. The trail down to the campground is well maintained from there.

At Trail Creek Campground I just fell apart. I almost cried in relief. We took a long lunch. The campground had a bathroom, a water spigot, and a garbage can. At home, with all conveniences, it is difficult to imagine what luxuries those can be.

The trail henceforward promised to be in good shape. We were in country that has more road access for recreation so it was more likely that trails would be maintained. We were going to hike .2 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail so we knew that section would be great.

I tried to take a video that would show how beautiful the meadows were with all of the flowers. I don’t think pictures can do it justice.

We found a sweatshirt in the bushes right at the junction with the PCT. I mentioned that it was clearly from a Bigfoot victim. It was slashed up the front and the head had been ripped off. According to Loren, Bigfoot loves to rip people’s heads off.

He didn’t take the bait. He didn’t seem interested and said there would be blood if someone’s head got ripped off. I knew then that something was very wrong with Loren.

Syphon Lake was full of rainbow trout. They were having some sort of fish die off because I saw a dozen dead fish at the bottom of the lake. I don’t think that they are native to Syphon Lake.

Our campsite that evening at Russian Lake was glorious. I took an immediate swim in the ice and snowy water and felt amazing.

An older couple visited but I was not feeling social. Loren was asleep. David tried to fish. I painted.

Day 6

I woke up in time to watch the sunrise. Listening to a hermit thrush. Such a lovely call. Wee-whack-we-wa-lad. Several sounds at once it crescendos down. Stunning to hear. It shatters the morning silence.

I slept so well. It was a cool evening. There were no mosquitos. The moon stayed hidden mostly. I was well rested by morning. Five nights of going to bed by 8:00 makes it easy to wake in the morning.

The day looked to be very promising. I suspected that the trail would be good (and it was).

I believe that I read that we cross into the Pacific Northwest around this area. Things did seem different. The forest was more lush. It was more verdant.

Walking through the Russian Wilderness is like walking through a different type of paradise. It seems more gentle. It might seem that way because it hasn’t seemed to have burned here recently.

I would recommend hiking in the Russian Wilderness.

We were thankful to have left the car close to the end of the trail even though it had made the shuttle longer and more adventuresome . We were in no mood to walk on the exposed road by the end of our 62 mile hike.

Things I learned

David is an outstanding hiker. He told me that he often hikes with a mountaineering group. It shows. I knew he was an excellent hiker from the John Muir Trail but I believe he has gotten a lot better.

This hike would have been very difficult and maybe impossible without David. He found our route and blazed our trail throughout all of the days.

David is an avid fisherman and slayed with a Tenkara rod. By the time I had set up to fish anywhere, he had landed half a dozen fish. It didn’t hurt that he got to our destinations 30-40 minutes before I did. I have a new respect for Tenkara fishing and will try it out.

The Trinity Alps are intense. If you see a beautiful and interesting flower, look more closely because there will be an even more beautiful and interesting bug hidden within it. The Trinity Alps absolutely vibrate with life.

I will return to the Trinity Alps. This summer I have a plan to hike the gentle Stuart Fork with my son, and I hope to bring my buddy Andy out by way of Mountain Meadow and the McNeil Trail and Packer’s Peak.

The Bigfoot does not disappoint when it comes to challenging hiking.

Loren did have Covid. He must have picked it up in the airport coming out. David got it. I got it. David and I did not suffer.

Loren is a tough old dude. I knew he was strong. To have hiked all of that while suffering from Covid is something I only would believe because I saw it. He was not the vibrant, fun, talkative Loren that I hoped to hike with, but he did not complain at all.

It is important to teach people to mind their belongings where deer are so accustomed to people. I will now keep all of my gear packed away in my bag overnight or in the vestibule of my tent.

It is important to have a hat when you are using a bug net to sleep at night. It helps keep the net away from your face.

The iPhone makes a great camera. I still would have liked to have had my good camera to take some pictures of these bugs and flowers. When I look very closely, I am a little disappointed by the imagery.

Gallery

I took so many photos, not all of them are so compelling to see while reading. Here is a gallery slideshow of some of the good ones.

I do not want to believe in Bigfoot. It is too scary.

Having said that, I would be remiss to ignore any mysterious experiences along the Bigfoot Trail.

D Camp

D Camp is a very important place along the Bigfoot trail. On the first day of the first section, D Camp lies about half way to Frying Pan Lake. It is just at the point where one runs out of water.

There is not much of interest that we could find at D Camp. It is not particularly comfortable. It is a spot on the side of a hill. We never found anywhere to make a nice camp. We were thinking that we might want to bookmark it as a potential stop to divide the hiking day.

The water available here is crucial to the success of making it in a ten or more mile day one. However, it comes in the form of a scuzzy little hole filled with insects, frog eggs, and decaying pine needles. The spring fills a tiny pool that is about 2 ft in diameter and 2-3 inches deep.

When one dips for water, he stirs up the mud and muck from the bottom and the water tastes gritty and dirty.

Not only did we not enjoy D Camp. Owen and I got very strong “bad vibes”. We both decided we should get out of there as quickly as we could.

On our hike back out, we made the obligatory stop at D Camp to get water and eat some lunch.

As we were eating, I noticed something fall beside Owen. He turned around and asked who threw a rock at him. A rock had “fallen” right beside him. But how does a rock fall from the sky without having been thrown?

Shortly after, Owen blurts out “oh, gross”. A dead chipmunk was laying just beside where we had been eating. Flies had just begun to swarm.

I believe that my friend Loren would suggest that the “bad vibes” we felt were a warning from Bigfoot. He believes that people get a bad feeling when they are around. I have heard him suggest that Bigfoot can actually emanate vibrations that can warn or even stun people.

I believe that Loren would also claim that a rock could be thrown from Bigfoot as another warning. The rock did not seem to be thrown hard but it did land just at Owen’s feet and we both noticed it.

Loren could also suggest that the chipmunk might have been left for us as a gift or another warning. We did not particularly enjoy this gift. Loren claims that no animal will touch anything left by Bigfoot.

We packed up and left D Camp as quickly as we possibly could.

Frying Pan Lake

Nothing but good vibes at Frying Pan Lake.

I did find a dead squirrel laying in the dirt adjacent to where my tent had lay the week before. This carcass was somewhat rotten. I am no crime scene investigator, but it seemed that it might have been rotting there for five days or so. Placed, perhaps, when I was just there?

Animal Sacrifice

It was certainly out of the ordinary to uncover a site that was used in some sort of dark magic ritual.

I thought the empty shoebox was litter until I turned it over and made a discovery of several artifacts and noticed the detritus of a bird slaughter.

There were sea shells, dead butterflies, various rocks, fruit (a grapefruit and a lemon), a bouquet of flowers, and feathers of various birds.

I was thinking that the bird feathers were probably from a chicken brought out to sacrifice but I sadly discovered the severed head of a woodpecker.

While I looked around and considered why this site was used ritualistically, I noticed that there was a very large log jam adjacent to the altar. If a portal to another plane exists or if a den was created by Bigfoot, it could certainly be here.

Is this where some kids were getting their kicks in the woods? Probably. Is this where a secret coven appeases a dark spirit? Possibly. Is this where someone in the know keeps a monster at bay? Unlikely.

Soaked Shirt

Day three of Section 2 started off with a mystery. The mystery was solved later in the day.

When I woke up and started getting ready to hike, I could not find my hiking shirt anywhere. I had set it by my head as I got in my sleeping bag to go to bed. I specifically remember taking it off and laying it down because it was still damp from hiking (and snow sliding) and would have been uncomfortable to sleep in.

It was gone.

I mentioned that I lost my shirt to the guys. David must have thought I was a klutz because I did leave my spoon during lunch on the Stuart Fork (I am going back for it). Loren cheerfully set out to look for it.

It was then that I noticed that my hiking gloves were sopping wet. I did not really think that much about that at the time. I must have thought that they did get wet while I had been snow sliding.

Loren found my shirt. It too was sopping wet.

Loren told me that he found it crumpled up between a couple of rocks.

My head was spinning: I wondered if it had blown into the lake and some campers had found it and pulled it out. But then why would they have thrown it between two rocks instead of laying it on the trail to be found? I looked around for puddles that it could have blown through. There was absolutely no water on the bluff overlooking the lake.

The shirt was sopping wet. I had to wring it out. Clearly, the shirt had been submerged in water. What kind of creature would soak a shirt in the lake and then drag it back up 20 feet to throw between a couple of rocks?

The morning was too cool to put on a shirt that was sopping wet. I decided to hike in my camp shirt and let my hiking shirt dry off. David teased me, “Be bold. Start cold.” I was still scratching my head about what could have happened with my shirt.

The only thing that I could think of was someone or something playing a prank on me. I did not think that either of my companions had the heart to play a prank like this. Loren’s voice kept creeping into my head. “Bigfoot plays mean pranks on people.” He has told me that many times.

As I hiked along the trail, the only thing that I could think of was that Bigfoot had malevolently and mischievously played a prank on me.

Noah was kind enough to drop us off at the trailhead. It was great to share some unexpected time together. I am sure that he was surprised by how far back we took the road, 20 miles of which were dirt.

Day 0

Thanks to my experience with Owen just the week before, I knew that it would be a tremendous advantage to get into the backcountry a bit and get a jump on Day 1. Loren and I set off just before sunset.

Burned sections of forest are a sad and common sight within the Yolla Bolly Wilderness. The first two miles of trail are also distinct from the rest of the Yolla Bolly / Eel River sections of the Bigfoot. The initial section is blessed with water. There are springs and stream crossings. This water creates several lush meadows. It is helpful to know that the last easy access to water is right around the corner.

We made our destination for Night 0 which was Long Lake. We got our tents up before dark, enjoyed a meal and got to sleep.

That evening we had a delightful rain storm. The sound of rain woke me and I enjoyed the coolness and the sound of rain until I fell back asleep.

Day 1

The overcast morning made it a delight to hike. Loren and I were intent on finding a grove of very special trees. We had heard that they were special and we were not disappointed. Without the favorable weather, I do not think we would have made it to them.

We accessed the ridge line by scrambling up to it directly from the trail. It seems like there might be a way to hike to this grove by taking the Mt. Linn Trail from the junction just a bit further down trail at the “High Point”.

The Foxtail Pines were gorgeous. They are quite distinct and somewhat showy.

Once we found the grove, the Foxtail Pines made themselves evident.

Finding this grove and spending time with these beautiful trees on a cool and cloudy morning was one of my highlights on this trip.

The “High Point” along the Bigfoot Trail is one of the highest elevations along the trail. Section 1 is an overall descent from here. There is a trail junction, a spectacular view over the mountains, and even snow. It was surprising to me how much snow had melted since I had been there less than a week before.  On our way out, we had to cross over snow. I doubt there is much left anymore.

At this point, the snow does not run off as it melts. The water seems to sink directly into the ground. There was no access to water here and there is not easy access to water for another 10 miles. The evaporating snow should be taken as a warning to the attentive.

On our hike the previous week, Owen and I learned how to hike this section. The secret is to stay as high on the ridge as one possibly can. Staying on top of the ridge rather than trying to follow trail has advantages.

Another sign that things had changed since my last visit was that the Balloon Milkvetch had popped.  Owen and I had noticed these bizarre plants the week before and each “balloon” was pristine.

Apparently it was their time to pop.

Appreciating conifers is one of the features of the Bigfoot Trail. Loren was developing a pretty good eye for the different types of pines, firs, and cedars. I did my best to keep up with all of the learning available on the trail.

Loren agreed that it was a difficult hike to our destination. I had intended to show him some of the work that we had done the week before but by the time we got that far in, all we cared about was reaching our destination for the evening.

Thankfully there was water at D Camp. The tiny spring was barely trickling and the small pool had about two inches of somewhat scuzzy water. It was enough to get us to camp. I would not like to make this hike in the heat without loading 2 liters at this spring. I can not imagine hiking that route, in that heat, without having access to water at D Camp.

We have had two great water years. I imagine that the spring a D Camp does dry up by July some years.

It is probably possible to carry enough water out of Long Lake during milder seasons.

There is relief at the end of the day at Frying Pan Lake. Frying Pan Lake is not a lake. It is a beautiful meadow.

The campsite at Frying Pan Lake has a clean and cool spring just uphill. This was our home base while Owen and I worked on trail the week before. It is very comfortable at Frying Pan Lake, a mandatory stop on the Bigfoot Trail.

Day 2

The second day in was not nearly as dry as day one. Although we were water conscious throughout the day, there was plenty available at different springs and streams. Sometimes water shows up at unexpected places, other times, predictions about available water turn out inaccurate.

The hike on day two was long and diverse. The Bigfoot is made of steep climbs and frequent short traverses. I would characterize it as a difficult hike. It is challenging in several ways. The intense heat of this July made it quite a bit more extreme. In the afternoon we had a thunderstorm that cooled things off for the long traverse that afternoon. We were very fortunate.

After a steep climb and a section of limited water. The hiker is blessed with North Yolla Bolly Spring. This is an absolute Oasis in these mountains. It is a trail junction with a large flat area in the shade. The spring is incredible and creates a garden of wildflowers. We were so trail weary once we reached it that it was difficult not to set up camp. We took a long rest and ruefully decided that we needed to make more mileage.

incredible spring into a hollowed out log trough

The afternoon / evening traverse was long but its beauty prevented it from being a slog.

I have never seen so many grasshoppers as I did through the meadows. Come to think of it, another feature of the Bigfoot Trail is the amount and variety of insects. Bugs are everywhere. They can be somewhat bothersome because of their numbers but we did not have very much trouble with bites or stings. I learned that Loren really doesn’t like yellow jackets. I don’t even notice them but they are out in gangs on the Bigfoot. I am glad that Loren isn’t bothered by grasshoppers because they were innumerable.

Through this section we noticed that some sections of grassland are decimated by the grasshoppers.

By evening, we were somewhat concerned about water again. We had missed the “last good water” source and were too tired to hike back when we got to camp at the wilderness boundary. We decided that we could make do with the two liters that we had between us and hope for the best the following morning.

Owen had asked me to get a picture of the stars for him so that evening I made an effort to take some night sky images.

Day 3

We were somewhat anxious about water until we reached the trailhead. Once there, we discovered irrigation tubing that someone had set up to bring water to the horse corrals. We followed the tubing for at least a quarter of a mile to a stream. That was a lot of tubing someone has set up and left out there.

Relieved to have water, we hiked along the dirt road. It was easy going and we got to watch a bear cub scurry through the meadow below. We may have spooked him. It was amazing to watch a bear cover so much cross county distance so easily while we limped along a road.

The road walk was hot and mostly unremarkable. I did not take any photos. We did see some people for the first time in two days. Four forest service trucks passed by as we ambled down the road.

We arrived early in the day to the South Fork of the Trinity campground. It was wonderful to have enough water to swim in. The campground was somewhat developed with a “kitchen”. There was a latrine nearby with a built toilet. There were flat spots for tents and there was shade. It was a lovely camp.

Someone had left some underwear out to dry on some laundry lines. Loren was concerned about what might have happened to their owners and whether or not we were intruding. I pitched my tent to claim a spot and hung out my laundry alongside the rest of it. The owners never showed and Loren became concerned about what might have become of them.

Day 4

If not for the deadfall, I think that this would have been my favorite section of trail. The forest on this day had not suffered recent fire. The forest was dense and there was plenty of water. We had to clamber over or around many dead trees across the trail. It became quite frustrating. Dealing with the deadfall kind of put a damper on the hike overall.

owl feather

It was amazing to see huge banana slugs crawling along scalding hot and dry rocks. I had seen several banana slugs over the last couple of weeks. I always imagined them in more rainforest like terrain where I have seen them before but they are abundant in the Coastal Mountains.

Poor Loren had suffered an episode where he stepped on one and it went all over. He was upset because he is very sensitive to causing harm. In his distress, he accidentally stepped on another. I could not help but laugh, although I felt for him.

this slug remained un-stepped on

We came to Saint Jacques’ Place which is a type of ruins but we did not know anything about the history. Loren and I speculated on what might have been out here and who Saint Jacques was and what he was like. Loren’s view was more optimistic than mine.

The oak woodland in this area has a lot of burrs. They get caught up in whatever touches them. They did not seem to grab onto my pant legs but they loved Loren’s gaiters and socks. They were tough to get out.

Camp that evening was along the stream Smoky Creek (Smokey? there are discrepancies with the spelling). There are more ruins of cabins in the area.

the crawdads are particularly colorful in the small streams of the Costal Mountains

Day 5

Heading out of Smoky Creek is a steep climb. We started early to beat the heat. Someone had been doing some trail maintenance in the area because a tool got left behind. On trail crew the week before, I learned that this tool is called a Pulaski and in the right hands, it is incredibly useful for building trail.

Shortly after reaching the road, we saw people again. This time it was a friendly older couple rambling down the road in a fairly beat up pick-up truck. They pulled over and were excited to see us. “Are you Bigfooters?” they asked. They told us that they lived in these mountains and were familiar with the Bigfoot Trail. They had not met any actual “Bigfooters” yet. They had read Michael Kauffmann’s book and were sad that the Mangroves “that he loved” had been burned.

With a wink, they offered us a ride to the highway in the back of their truck. We should have accepted the offer.

The hike down this section of gravel road was exposed, hot, and dry. By the time that we got to Rattlesnake Creek, we were pretty miserable. The air also started to get smoky. I couldn’t fathom continuing past Rattlesnake Creek but Loren insisted that it was not a good place to camp. I am glad he insisted.

I took a long rest creekside and recovered. We determined that it would be best to set out in early evening for the rest of the hike on the road.

It was still hot, exposed, and dry.

We were glad to have carried water from Rattlesnake because Bone Creek was bone dry. The landscape had been destroyed by fire, which made this section even more unpleasant.

We eventually made it to the highway where our road merged with it at the top of the ridge. We were very relieved to find that the highway descended the other side, mostly in the shade.

Seeing people in cars as they passed by both directions was somewhat surprising after such lonely country.

We were intent on finding someplace decent to camp before dark. The trail as it leaves the highway is still accessible by vehicle and many of the flat areas near the stream felt exposed or were full of trash from people partying roadside.

We eventually came to a meadow that was good enough. It had an abandoned car as a centerpiece.

Day 6

We started off the day on the lookout for Ghost Pines and we found them.

Otherwise the hike was fairly unremarkable. It is along a rarely traveled road. There is a section that is not passable by vehicles unless someone gets back there with a chainsaw.

Loren interpreted this as a sign that someone or something did not want us to pass. We passed.

As we got closer to our destination for the evening, Philpot Campground, we began to find unfortunate signs of “civilization”.

We made it to Philpot early in the day. It is a neglected, almost abandoned, campground. However, the pit toilets were tidy and stocked with toilet paper. We had the campground to ourselves. We fixed up the site: propped up the picnic table, cleared the broken glass, and picked up quite a bit of trash.

This is the summer of the Western Tanager for me. I have been blessed to enjoy them several times this year.

Thankfully, there is a stream for water and even a lovely swimming hole.

The swimming hole was directly upstream from a tangled mass of fallen logs and debris. It certainly did look like it could be a den for a bipedal cryptid of significant stature adjacent to which we found some sort of satanic ritual site.

There were signs of animal sacrifice and “magical” odds and ends were strewn around. It was too much for Loren and it ruined his ability to enjoy the swimming hole.

We read that there may be a waterfall nearby and we went to look for it. We did not make it very far until the heat beat us back to the shade of our campsite. We were in bed by 7:00 having beaten the heat.

Day 7

We were so looking forward to a great hike to end our trip. We were excited to spend the last several miles on trail rather than road. Sadly, the day was somewhat of a bust.

We looked for the trailhead near our campground. Someone had cut something that looked like a trail but it was a dusty scramble straight up the side of a hill. We would have to scale straight up a dusty dirty hillside. An adjacent trail sign led into a thicket with fallen log across it. Either way did not look promising.

We decided to stay on the road until we could find better trail at the top of the ridge.

I did eventually find the trail midway up the road and clambered up. Loren missed it and kept to the road. I don’t think this quarter-mile of trail added much to the hike and I would have stuck to the road if I had it to do again.

At the top of the ridge, the trail into East Thule Creek was easy to find. It was not long before we lost the trail again.

I will say that the Thule Creek section of the trail is not in any condition to hike. I do not recommend this section and I actually warn against it. The trail here has not been maintained in a long time. To say it is overgrown is an understatement. Not only did we have to bushwack, there is deadfall throughout. In some parts there is deadfall that is enveloped in overgrowth on steep aspects. I felt this hike was actually dangerous.

Loren and I were also stressed because we had a schedule to keep. Our buddy Chris was picking us up at Thule Creek Road. We cursed and crashed our way through Thule creek. We lost the trail several times and had to reorient ourselves using the gps. It would be very lovely in that area if it were at all accessible. It was a shame to have to end our adventure with this hike.

All in all, I really enjoyed hiking the Bigfoot. It was a very difficult hike and Loren and I stayed positive and had fun during most of it. Loren and I agreed that we probably would not hike Section 1 again with so many epic backpacking trails available throughout the Sierra and Cascades but we were happy to have done it.

We are going to continue to hike the next 290 miles of the Bigfoot Trail and complete it before 2030.

Tradition dictates an end of the trail stop at a Mexican Restaurant. The Mexican place in Hayfork is outstanding. It is like walking off the road and into Mexico. The food was delicious, they had vegan options for Loren, and the señora was so friendly. I hope that Bigfooters bring them business.