The central theme this morning was poison oak, lots of it, and gnats. Tabasco and I were both up a little before 6am. Last night’s campsite was virtually non-existent; I holed up on a tiny bit of flat ground and had to be creative getting the tarptent to fit. Tabasco set his tarp up on the trail itself and it still wasn’t flat. No bears came by to say hello last night. We were on the trail at 6:50am and descended for almost 9 miles. The gnats and the poison oak appeared about the same time once we dropped below 4000 feet. By 9:45am we had taken two breaks and still managed to put nine miles behind us.
Famished and having no water for an 8 mile stretch ahead that was mostly climbing; we took a very early lunch break. We used the break time to plan our town strategy and to get a list of “to do’s’ while in town. Tabasco is stretched so thin for cash we are hoping to find a trail angel in town who will let us lawn camp for free. We also discussed pros and cons when skipping ahead about whether to hike Washington northbound or southbound. We will give that some additional thought before making a decision.
After lunch we climbed a thousand feet, then descended on the other side about the same elevation. The morning theme continued with plentiful poison oak and gnats. At about 3:30pm we stopped at Squaw Valley creek to eat an early dinner and resupply. We also needed to make a decision about how much farther to hike as we had already hiked 20 miles and our feet were sore. With a nice two hour break, enjoying the creek bound by steep canyon walls, and full bellies, we decided to begin the 2000 foot climb.
We had met two southbound section hikers, Mantis and Sick Boy, who said there were no camping spots along the climb. But we decided that they were inexperienced and used to actual campsites, not just a small semi-flat space anywhere in the wilderness.
A mile into the climb we met the one and only thru-hiker of the day, Freebird, who thru-hiked the PCT in 1997 as well. He shared with us an event that happened yesterday on the trail that made our bear and rattlesnake encounters feel like a visit to the petting zoo. So Freebird was hiking alone within the boundary of Castle Crags State Park, which we will enter tomorrow morning. And as he was hiking in an open area he looked up and saw a cat. He did a double take because the cat was not moving and he was very close to it. He then realized this was a large cat. Very large. Like 100 pounds and 5 feet in length.
Terrified, he began doing all the things we humans are taught to do in such an encounter. He tried to make himself look as big as possible, holding his hands over his head and then his pack. The big cat showed no fear at all and simply made a big yawn. Next the big cat stood up, arched his back just like an ordinary house cat does, and began slowly and methodically walking toward Freebird. So now he was really terrified, thinking he was about to be eaten or that he was going to have to fight off the cat (mountain lion or bobcat). He began hurling large rocks, not directly at the big beast, but just in front of it. The cat again showed no fear and kept slowly advancing toward Freebird.
Freebird then made his way over to a tree with a V shaped trunk and placed his backpack in the V for additional protection and he stood behind it facing the cat. It kept coming and Freebird found a stick, albeit not a very large or particularly effective one. The cat came right to the tree and walked around it and was only 3 feet from Freebird. Not wanting to wail on it with the stick, the absolutely terrified thru-hiker gently hit the cat on the head with the stick and it moved it’s head from side to side. Freebird realized from the cat’s movements, body language and expressions that this was not an animal poised for an attack. He had the odd thought that the big cat was actually wanting to rub up against him.
So he slowly backed away and down the mountain and the cat did not follow. From the scene he retreated until he found a park ranger driving on a nearby dirt road who had the day off and was with a college buddy. The three of them drove to park headquarters and retrieved a large bear trap and stopped at the park store for some meat to attract the cat. They hauled the cage and roast beef (no raw meat was available at the store) up the mountain. Sure enough, the big cat was right where Freebird left it on the PCT and it was napping.
Freebird said that the ranger (who was also state police and armed) and the other guy were so afraid they wouldn’t get close to put out the meat as bait. So Freebird spread out a trail of meat leading to the bear cage and put a large chunk of meat on the trap. The big cat awoke and Freebird tossed him some roast beef. Sure enough, the cat ate it, then followed the trail of meat all the way to the cage and went straight in. He pawed at the food, setting off the trap door which closed behind him. The big cat was caught! Then these three guys had to haul the cat and cage to their truck.
They drove down to the park where animal rescue, the fire jumpers, and park service personnel were waiting. A vet took a look at the mountain lion which was going nuts in the cage and noticed no claws and no fang teeth…..both had been removed. So the big cat most likely had been an illegal pet to someone who eventually released it into the wild. It was starving and a good outcome is ahead for the poor animal. And Freebird had a terrifying adventure turn out to be a great trail story. And we were the first to hear it because he hadn’t seen a soul all day until he ran into us on the trail. Tomorrow we hope to run into the rangers to see pictures of the big cat and to hear their account.
So meanwhile we hiked on, after hearing the story and climbed another 600 feet in about a mile. Now 7pm and on top of a small ridge, Tabasco and I both agreed it was time to find a campsite and the rest of the climb could wait until tomorrow morning. Our rather uneventful day closed with a scorpion which I uncovered when setting up my tarptent. Tabasco was already set up down the ridge a hundred feet away. My tent stakes weren’t going in the ground which was too hard or too rocky, or both. So I was using large rocks to tie off the corners when I picked up a large rock and saw the scorpion underneath. We got some cool pics before I put the little guy back under his rock.
Tomorrow we will hike and hitch into Dunsmuir, CA for a resupply and to get cleaned up before our next section, 100 miles to Etna, CA. I smell like a thruhiker, so I’m looking forward to laundry and a shower. Lots of questions remain to be answered as to whether or not I can finish the PCT this year. With over 1500 miles to go, odds are slim, but I want to give it my best effort until it becomes unsafe to go on with winter weather approaching quickly in October, if not earlier. The journey continues.
Today’s weather: sunny, low 52,high 87. Today’s mileage: 22.3; cumulative mileage 1,079.4.
