Having spent the better part of a month, and a sizable chunk of cash, researching and buying gear, I felt it was time to start putting some of it to the test. I had a new "big three" (pack, tent, sleeping system), new water filtration setup, as well as a new pair of shoes. As much as I like adventure, breaking new gear in during the first few days of the PCT is just asking for trouble. So instead the plan is to go on several warm-up hikes of varying distances, temperatures, and elevations.
The plan for my initial hike was to drive to Portola Redwoods State Park on Friday evening (March 18), and hike Peter’s Creek Loop, spending the night at Slate Creek Campground. In preparing for this hike I often return to the phrase “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Case in point.
I got to the park entrance around 4pm, but found “Road Closed” and “Campground Closed” signs obstructing my path. This was after a few mils on a slow-going, twisty, often single-lane road. Rather than give up and make the two-hour return trip home, I decided to drive aimlessly around for a bit. Having no cell phone service and no paper maps quickly made me realize how dependent I am on Google maps.
So I went back to the last fork in the road and continued down the path I hadn’t taken yet. Four slow, twisty miles later I ran in to Pescadero Road and followed the signs for Memorial Park and Sam McDonald park. I figured parks were a good thing. Sam McDonald Park turned out to be an unmanned office with overnight parking prohibited. So that wasn’t going to work. They did have paper maps, which gave me some hope that I’d be able to figure something out. I grabbed one and kept heading towards Memorial Park.
Along the way I happened to see a park ranger pulled out at a lookout point. After thinking about it, I whipped around and pulled up to ask for some advice. He kindly directed me to the Memorial Park entrance, where the other ranger would be able to give me a backcountry camping permit for Tarwater Trail Camp. This was good news, but meant a lot of driving, and daylight was running out. So I beat feet to the park entrance, snagged a permit (why you can’t do this online I still don’t understand) and retraced my steps along the windy roads where I had just come from - almost all the way back to where I initially saw the “Campground Closed” sign. I pulled into the trailhead parking to find one other guy and his car.
Turns out he was just as confused as I had been a few hours earlier. He was also hoping to camp in Portola Redwoods, but had to improvise when he found the road closed. He was hoping to spend the evening in the backcountry, but didn’t have a permit, and it was a 40-minute drive to the ranger station that closed in 10 minutes. So we gave the ranger station a call (fortunately their number was posted at the trailhead, and I had one bar of service) and got their blessing to park his car there overnight (with the caveat that he would have to stop by the following day to pay the nominal $10 fee). It was about two miles to the Tarwater Trail Camp via the Shingle Mill Trail. Darkness had been approaching for a while now, so we grabbed our headlamps and headed down the trail.
Fortunately it was all downhill to the campsite, which made walking a breeze. We covered the two miles in about 40 minutes while getting to know one another, and rolled into the campsite just as we needed to turn our headlights on. I was amazed at how long we were able to see - at least half an hour longer than I expected, even in the thick stands of pine and Redwoods.
Setting everything up in the dark didn’t turn out to be a problem. I’m still trying to figure out how I am going to set my tent up when the rain is coming down, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. After inflating my new sleeping pad (which took all of five breaths) for the first time and changing into my sleeping clothes, I read one chapter of Guns, Germs & Steel before turning in for the night.
I’m normally a back sleeper, and my current mummy sleeping bag and sleeping pad (Nemo’s Cosmo Air) have always worked great for me. But the combination of this new sleeping pad and sleeping quilt didn’t do the same. I fell asleep easily enough, but woke up about 10 times throughout the night to toss/turn and readjust. Probably the worst night of sleep I have ever had while backpacking. So, I think the torso-length sleeping pad is going to get replaced. But I’m hard-headed enough that I’ll likely try it for one more night just to make sure. We’ll see how the next trip goes.
I learned after the fact that this is a Banana Slug. Aptly named...
Rolled out of bed at 6:45 the next morning, after getting sick of tossing/turning. Broke camp, slammed my smoothie that had been packed in a shaker bottle (no, I’m not planning on bringing this on the trail, but it worked for a shorter trip) and after consulting my map again, was off. I hiked the Pomponio Trail about 1.4 miles to the ranger station and visitor center at Portola Redwoods. Even though the road closure made it difficult for me to end up getting there, it also meant I had the entire place to myself.
After 0.4 miles walking along the road, I jumped onto Summit Trail for 0.8 miles and some elevation gain. This tied in with the Slate Creek Trail, which took me another 1.3 miles to the campsite that I had initially planned to camp at. Only 12 hours later than initially expected, but I’ll take it. It was a 7-mile round trip from the campsite to Peter’s Creek Loop. The sign said "strenuous", which I initially laughed off ( “strenuous” hikes tend to be easier than signs claim). An hour later, huffing and puffing and soaking in sweat, I was feeling a bit more modest...
The loop itself was great. It circled through a stand of Redwoods and involved two creek crossings, which offered me the chance to use my Sawyer Squeeze for the first time. After spilling the first liter of water that I filtered due to carelessness, then having to chase one of my empty bottles down the stream after I accidentally kicked it, I got things figured out. I figure by the end of the PCT I’ll be pretty good at this. Because I’ll be doing it a lot.
Glad I wasn't around when this tree decided to kick the bucket
Alternate Route
These were the fun creek crossings - the kind where you are going to get wet. At least the first one was, even with my scavenged walking stick/branch. The second had a fallen tree about 10 meters upstream from the actual trail crossing (which would have gotten my feet very wet), so I opted to play acrobat and take the tree. I had to do some bushwhacking to get on the trail from the other end, and in doing so I picked up a tick, unannounced to me until he decided to dig his head into my left forearm. That resulted in some choice words from me before pulling the little bastard out. Lyme disease is definitely a thing, so I’ll be researching the symptoms of that for the next week…
The rest of the trip was gorgeous, secluded, and relatively uneventful. I kept a good pace of about 3mph, with one longer stop to take off my shoes and enjoy my lunch of baby carrots and hummus (again, not something I am planning on eating on the PCT because of the energy density, but it is fine for a short day). The only other hiccup was a hot spot on my heel that I felt after about four miles. If I was smart, I would have had moleskin or duct tape. But why would I need those on such a short hike, especially when I have never had blisters before? Lesson learned. I’ll be adding a new pair of shoes to the gear upgrades as well.
Made it back to my car with a two-day total of about 17 miles. I gained confidence in most of my gear, and found a few things that need to be squared away before May 4th. Time to go spend some more money...