Day 94: Deadfall Lakes

Day 94: Deadfall Lakes

8/18/2023

Section: Milepost 1561.4 to 1537.8

Total Trail Miles: 1402 / 2650

Distance: 23.65 Miles

Moving Time: 09:00

Elevation Gain: 2631 ft

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Wow. Last night was a roller coaster. Before midnight a big ‘ol thunderstorm moved in overhead and dumped on us for about an hour. Lightning came down very close and Amanda, hating T&L storms as she does, was not stoked on the light show. Eventually, the storm passed and we passed back out until about 2 am when a diesel truck rolled through camp. Being alone in the campground and it being a weekday, the sudden arrival of the truck was a little alarming. The truck moved to the back of the campground. Generators were started and light bars were erected that lit the forest up like the sun. About 4 guys yelled at each other and laughed - a strong contrast to the dark, quiet forest we were inhabiting just 30 minutes before. I got up to take a look and then came back into the tent. “Not really sure what they are doing, maybe maintenance on the bathroom? Maybe they do it on night shift to not take it out of service?” We sat in silence for another 30 minutes until it was apparent that they were doing their own thing and then passed back out.

In the morning we woke and I was devastated to find that we had left the stove out on the picnic table - with the grid facing up so it had collected a good amount of water. The lighters were also waterlogged. I ran to the restroom and found one of the sites had been set-up with tents and canopies. It appeared as though more vehicles had arrived in the night and set up. Just a large family gathering midweek I guess. At the bathroom, I ran into the NOBO who had stayed up above for the evening. “That was quite a storm!” he said to me. I agreed and asked if, on his way back, he could drop by our campsite and try his presumably dry lighter on our stove to see if it would start. He agreed and I went off to use the restroom.

Coming back, I found that Amanda had had no luck starting the stove. “Guess we will give it the day to dry out?” I said with a shrug. Neither of us discussed the potential that it might be completely dead and would not restart. That would mean cold meals for a little while. After our cold breakfast and NO TEA, we did our typical morning exercises and got underway. The time was 08:15 - bit of a late start given the poor sleep and lack of hot breaky.

The stage today consistently climbs throughout the entire stretch with a few local descents and parallels the northern border of the Trinity Alps wilderness for the first 18 miles. It starts by winding up from the Scott Mountain pass and crossing south under Scott Mountain. The trail traverses high on ridges passing near Kangaroo Lake at mile 9.77 and under Carey Peak at mile 11.2. Shortly after Carey Peak the trail continues eastward along the ridge providing great views down on Bull Lake and crossing Chilcoot Creek at mile 14.33. At mile 16, the PCT makes a huge and annoying u-turn, traversing the inside of the High Camp Creek drainage. One can literally see the trail across a shallow basin about a mile away. After the big u-turn the trail makes a climb out of a saddle with the Parks Creek trailhead nestled in it at 20.5 miles to a set of gorgeous lakes, Upper and Lower Deadfall lake, which mark the end of today’s stage.

We crossed highway 3 and began our steady ascent towards the lower flanks of Scott Mountain. California was in the midst of some hard core fire prevention work near highway 3. We noted this strategy throughout Oregon and Washington. Roads, being good fire barriers, are further improved by nearly clear cutting 50 yard wide sections parallel to them. A few trees are left but always with good spacing. This way, a fire can be stalled and, hopefully, stopped at a road that has been improved in this way. The lower banks of Scott Mountain, near the pass, were evidence of this as we passed through almost entirely clear cut sections of forest.

The trail was very cruise-able, if incessantly upwards and we made pretty good time which helped compensate for our late start. Eventually we gained the first ridge and hiked along flat ground for about 6 miles. The day was in the high 80’s and pretty humid making the climb an effort. At mile 8, we started our second climb up onto the ridge proper and continued traversing northeast.

The views from the ridge were amazing. The smoke had abated enough that we could see out on the mountains around us providing gorgeous views into the Trinity Alps. We cruised along, dipping in and out of drainages to maintain the topo lines between miles 14 and 16. At mile 16 we looked across a large, shallow basin and could pick the trail out on the other side. “Okay, this is a little excessive, '' I said to Amanda. The issue here is that the PCT avoids 1000 feet of extra climbing in the stage…by adding an extra 4 miles to the day, a tradeoff that just isn't worth it. We considered bushwhacking across but, in the end, figured we wouldn't save all that much time, so continued on with the exercise. At the Parks Creek trailhead we stopped and used the restroom before finishing up the 4 miles to Deadfall Lakes.

At this beautiful chain of lakes we spent a little time finding a campsite. The sky looked threatening and, for some reason, we both vaguely remembered you were not supposed to camp by water when expecting lightning, but neither of us could work out the logic there so, in the end, we did. We picked a beautiful spot right on the shore and set things up. The lakes were popular for the weekend hikers and about 5 other groups were set up around the lake. We made dinner and enjoyed the nice views. We had arrived just before dark so the light was still good. I took a cold dip in the lake, letting the briskness revitalize my muscles and then did some yoga before heading inside to write-up some notes and pass out.