posted by Claire on Jun 28
After nearly 3 months on trail, I got the opportunity to see my folks this weekend. They met me at Buck’s Lake, north of Tahoe, and we’ve been relaxing to beat the band. Unfortunately, Buck’s lake is dead center of a few wildfire complexes, so we are engulfed in a smoky haze. Sometimes visibility is down to 50 ft or so. There’s no danger from the fires, except the danger of smelling like smoke, so we are enjoying our weekend together.
The fires also mean that there is a 100 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail closed right where I want to go. Clearly, the consequences of these fires are much more dire for most people than missing 100 miles of trail. But, to me it is highly disappointing and frustrating. It means finding another route though those areas, a feat easily accomplished if you don’t mind walking on roads for 140 miles. As much as I want to walk my entire path from Mexico to Canada, I’m contemplating hitching up to Chester and starting again there. I’d be “cheating,” I suppose. I’ve discovered that it is rather important in the thru-hiking community to walk around trail closures, even if you are on roads, instead of hitching a ride. While you may not be able to walk to entire PCT, most people believe that you should at least actually walk the whole way from border to border. I agree with that in principle, but 140 miles on major roads is not my idea of a good time. I also don’t want to sit and wait until the fires are contained. I’m antsy to get going again! What to do? Well, you all will be able to see on my map as I go along.
Oh, and I’ve had requests to reveal my trail name, but I don’t have one yet. Perhaps I’ll never get one. There are a few people that still don’t have a trail name after many years on the PCT and the other long trails, some of them quite well-known. Some people name themselves, but I’m kind of a fan of Claire, so I’m in no hurry to be re-christened anything else. I’ll let you know right away if I get a new name.
June 29th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Stick with Claire. The hikers behind you all look forward to posts from Claire. I suggest you leapfrog to Chester and come back and do it later in the year.
We’ve been hiking in the SF Bay area while waiting for the Clover Fire to let hikers thru on the PCT. Since its our last 50 miles of California, we don’t want to detour, so waiting till late July, then immediately up to Ashland to continue. You will probably be beyond Oregon by the time we get there.