Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California. Jeffrey P. Schaffer
National Forest
19777 Greenley Road
Sonora, CA 95370
(209) 532-3671
Emigrant Wilderness* and
Carson-Iceberg Wilderness*
Sonora Pass trailhead
contact: Summit Ranger District
#1 Pinecrest Lake Road
Pinecrest, CA 95364
(209) 965-3434
Carson-Iceberg Wilderness*
Ebbetts Pass trailhead
contact: Carson Ranger District
1536 S. Carson Street
Carson City, NV 89701
(775) 882-2766
Mokelumne Wilderness*
contact: Carson Ranger District (above)
Eldorado National Forest
100 Forni Road
Placerville, CA 95667
(530) 622-5061
also:
Eldorado Information Center
3070 Camino Heights Drive
Camino, CA 95709
(530) 644-6048
Desolation Wilderness*
Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit
870 Emerald Bay Rd., Suite 1
S. Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
(530) 573-2600
Tahoe National Forest
Highway 49 & Coyote St.
Nevada City, CA 95959
(530) 265-4531
Granite Chief Wilderness
contact: Tahoe NF
Plumas National Forest
Box 11500
159 Lawrence Street
Quincy, CA 95971
(530) 283-2050
Bucks Lake Wilderness
contact: Plumas NF
Lassen National Forest
2550 Riverside Drive
Susanville, CA 96130
(530) 257-2151
Lassen Volcanic National Park*
Box 100
Mineral, CA 96063
(530) 595-4444
Shasta-Trinity National Forests
2400 Washington Avenue
Redding, CA 96001
(530) 244-2978
www.r5.fs.fed.us/shastatrinity
Castle Crags and Trinity Alps* wildernesses
contact: Shasta-Trinity NF
Klamath National Forest
1312 Fairlane Road
Yreka, CA 96097
(530) 842-6131
Russian and Marble Mountain wildernesses
contact: Klamath NF
Rogue River National Forest
Box 520
333 West 8th Street
Medford, OR 97501
(541) 858-2200
Red Buttes Wilderness
contact: Rogue River NF
Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail
Dayhiking
Roughly 86 percent of the PCT in California can be dayhiked, averaging about 15 miles a day, though over some sections you’ll do less than 5 miles, while over others more than 25 (but less than 30). As mentioned early in this chapter, George and Patricia Semb have a two-volume set, Day Hikes on the Pacific Crest Trail, and their California volume presents 124 dayhikes for the California PCT.
Should you dayhike the trail? Maybe not, but perhaps most of those on the trail are just doing a dayhike. There are at least five advantages to dayhiking. First, the national parks and the popular wildernesses require wilderness permits for overnight stays, and some popular PCT stretches even have trailhead quotas for overnighters, yet there are no permits or quotas for dayhikers. Second, dayhiking requires very little planning or preparation. Third, because your pack is lighter, you may enjoy the hike more, since you’ll expend less effort with less wear and tear on your body, especially your feet. Dayhikers can usually get by with running shoes or cross-training boots, which, though still likely to furnish blisters during the break-in period, are much lighter than hiking boots. Fourth, you can easily carry a day’s supply of water. This is an advantage, for some lakes, streams, and springs contain harmful microorganisms. You can leave water-treatment chemicals or water filters behind. And finally, dayhikers have less impact on the environment. For one thing, dayhikers usually use toilets near trailheads rather than along the trail. Particularly around a popular lake, excrement can affect the water quality and lead to an increase in microorganisms. Excrement from humans infected with harmful intestinal microorganisms, such as Giardia lamblia, discussed under “Drinking water,” can lead to the establishment of these microorganisms in a previously untainted lake or stream.
PCT and the Marshy Lakes canyon, Trinity Alps Wilderness, Section P
Items to consider for your backpack
waist or fanny pack
your keys
watch
wilderness permit
guidebook(s)
additional maps (e.g., USFS)
compass
first-aid book
nature books, novels
camera, film, and accessories
binoculars
fishing gear
California fishing license
trekking poles
ice ax
other special gear
sleeping bag
pad or air mattress
ground cloth
tent or ground cloth large enough to serve as