Author: Andrew Carter

I just completed a multi-year thru hike (MYTH) of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). It took three years. I hiked 1840 miles in 2021, 733 miles in 2022, and 122 miles in 2023. The only reason I had to hike in 2023 was a wildfire closure at the north end of the PCT in 2022. During the past two years, I've also thru hiked other, shorter US trails. I hiked the Benton MacKaye Trail (GA, NC, TN) and the Tuscarora Trail (VA, WV, MD, PA) in 2022 plus the Ozark Highlands Trail (AR) in 2023. I hope to hike the Long Trail (VT) next year and the Colorado Trail at some point in the future. Please note, all content on this site is copyright.

More Photos — Etna, CA to Santiam Pass, OR

c) Andrew Carter, 2021

Signs, flowers, dead trees, the trail itself, and more.

I’m trying to
Door to old ranger cabin
Grouse on tree stump
I hope that doesn’t fall
I wish we could
Statue in Ashland
Another statue in Ashland
Walkway over wet area
I didn’t see any llamas
Looks like an animal to me
Growth on dead tree
Three trees from
one set of roots
Burn zone
New growth in a burn zone
No mushroom picking?
Tuning fork?
Waterfall
Blowdown
Old lava flow
Dead tree in old lava flow
Constructed trail through an old lave flow
Me on break

Photos — Etna, CA to Santiam Pass, OR

c) Andrew Carter, 2021

Here are photos from the last month of my PCT hike — July 9th to August 1st. After my July 4th break, I got back on the trail near Etna, CA, which is west of Yreka. I then hiked to Santiam Pass, OR, which is west of Bend. That’s 400 trail miles. I now have 1450 miles under my belt since I began my PCT flip-flop on April 3rd.

I plan to return to the trail next week. I hope to close the gap between my first two flip-flop segments. Segment 1 southbound = Walker Pass, east of Bakersfield, to Campo at the Mexican border. Segment 2 northbound = Sierra City, north of Donner Pass, to Santiam Pass. In Segment 3, I will hike southbound from Sierra City to Walker Pass. That’s 550 trail miles. I should finish in late September.

That will conclude my hiking for 2021. If successful, I will have hiked 2000 miles this year. I hope to hike the remaining 650 miles of the PCT northbound from Santiam Pass to the Canadian border next year.

The wild card in my plan for the remainder of this year is wild fire. Currently, the entire Sierra City to Walker Pass section is open for hiking. But part of it was closed just a week ago because of the Tamarack Fire south of Lake Tahoe. That fire is 80% contained, so hopefully the trail won’t close again because of it. But there’s no telling what new fires will take place between now and the end of September, where those fires will be, and whether they will impact the PCT.

Now the photos …

Not sure the reason for the rock cairn
Trail construction. Water crosses the trail without eroding the trail.
Old ranger cabin
Marble Mountain
Someone camped here and constructed this windbreak in order to stay warm.
Unique trail maintenance
I went by Andy when I was a kid.
No, I didn’t carve this.
Klamath River near Seiad Valley, CA
Shall we take a rest?
Bridge over the Klamath River
Get off the road, turkeys.
Note the “state of Jefferson” reference
Looking down on the Klamath River
Smoky haze from the Bootleg Fire
Trail construction at a switchback
Wildflowers growing in an old burn zone
Six roads diverged in a wood…
Mountain meadow
The California Welcome Center on the PCT
just south of the Oregon border.
Me at the CA/OR border
Mount Ashland
Taking a rest along the trail. Someone
left the chair for hikers to use.
Tame deer in Ashland, OR
Nothing so peaceful as a forest road
in the early morning.
Dam next to the trail
Warming hut used by cross country skiers
Inside the hut
As this tree grew, it “swallowed”
portions of its branches.
Old lava flow
More lava
I took this for my oldest sister.
She was called Christy as a child.
Lots of rocks
Rocks, rocks, and more rocks
Old burn zone
Four trunks emerging
from the same set of roots
There are so many old burn zones along
the trail in Nor Cal and Oregon.
Also thru hikers. Beware.
Crater Lake
Smoky haze at the end of the day
As opposed to “this lake here”
Someone forgot their hat and
car window sun deflector.
Oregon lake country
Another cross country ski warming hut.
Mt. Bachelor
South Sister
Duck
A creek emerging from the ground
Mt. Washington
Blue butterflies
More lava
It’s extremely tiring to walk on old loose lava.
Cinder cone north of the Three Sisters
Middle Sister and its remaining glaciers.
A lone pine in the middle of an old lava flow.
Mt. Washington
Cinder cone
Subtract 550 and that’s the miles I’ve completed.
Three Fingered Jack

Lava, Lava, and more Lava

c) Andrew Carter, 2021

In the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, there are places where the PCT travels through old lava flows. This is particularly the case north of the Three Sisters. It’s extremely tiring to walk on the loose, unstable lava rock. Very hard on the feet, too. I can’t imagine how hard it was to build the trail through here.

The mountain I pan by near the beginning of the clip, which I say I don’t know the name of, is Mt. Washington. At the end, I misidentify the mountain with visible glaciers. It’s Middle Sister, not North Sister. North Sister is next to Middle Sister on the left. South Sister isn’t visible. Thank god for my fact checker.

Fire, fire, and more fire

c) Andrew Carter, 2021

Sadly, fire has become a fact of life for me on the PCT. Unfortunately, this is a drought year during a time of man-made global warming.

I walked through a number of fire zones in So Cal, including two from fires last year. You may remember the photos and video I posted in April of a landscape totally obliterated by a very hot fire in chapperel country. All that remained was dirt & twigs. The earth itself was sanitized.

I’ve been passing through more fire zones in far Northern California and Southern Oregon. At least a part of every day over the past 10 days has been spent walking through cathedrals of burnt trees. In addition, there have been numerous active fires visible from the trail.

As you may recall, I wrote about hiking a 24-mile day to put distance between me and the Lava Fire on the slopes of Mt. Shasta near Weed. Then I saw the Tenant Fire “blow up” east of Mt. Shasta. I missed the Salt Fire on Shasta Lake only because I was home in Hanford at the time. It forced friends of mine who had hosted me only a week earlier at their second home in Lakehead to evacuate. (Fortunately, no damage to them and their house.)

Well, there have been more fires since then, particularly in Oregon. The biggest is the Bootleg Fire northeast of Klamath Falls. Today, that fire passed 250,000 acres burned. It is less than 10% contained. 250,000 acres is 390 square miles. The fire is about 60 miles east of the PCT.

Here’s a video I shot last Saturday when I first saw the huge cloud formation caused by the Bootleg Fire. I happened to be in an old burn zone when I saw it. Very depressing.

Beyond the destruction in the fire zone area, there is also the impact on air quality even 100 or more miles away. Notice the haze in the photos below.

You can smell the smoke as you walk. You can almost taste it. And one night in my tent, I felt like I couldn’t get enough oxygen. What more can I say.

Sierra City to Etna

c) Andrew Carter, 2021

Here are photos from the 408-mile trail section that stretches from Sierra City, 42 trail miles north of Donner Pass, to Etna, 93 trail miles south of the Oregon border.

Campsite with a sunset view
After dry So Cal, it was interesting to see moss.
Snow on and near the trail
in Plumas National Forest
An old sign. No booty for me.
Burn zone from fire last year
in Plumas National Forest
Bridge over fork of the Feather River
View from bridge
King snake
I haven’t seen a mountain lion,
but I have seen an elephant.
Table rock
Poison oak, my nemesis. I’m very allergic, so I wear long pants all the time.
Footbridge over creek
Subtract 500 miles to get the distance I’ve hiked.
Campsite
Screwed up the hyphenation
Screwed up the hyphenation
Finally got it right
Let’s hear it for big breakfasts
Burp
Cable probably used during lumbering
Ants
Another burn zone
Burney Mountain
Again, subtract 500 miles
Burney Falls
Lake Britton dam
Lake Britton
Footbridge over creek
Yes, ADA trail
Bird no more
Views of Castle Crags
The Trinity Alps
Porcupine Lake at dusk
Porcupine Lake at dawn
More views of the Trinity Alps
I got off here for a weeklong break. I return on Friday.
Snow on the trail
I wasn’t invited to the party
Actual size = 1.5″ x 1.5″
Trail construction
in boggy area
Mountain meadow
Prepared? I hope so.
Boardwalk in boggy area
The different looks of the trail
I was not the target
Volcanic rock
Ladder to nowhere
In places, the PCT gets used as a dump
Bus stop on the trail at the I-5 near Dunsmuir
Constructed trail
Fido, the sentinel
Constructed steps
Old backpack. Thank you, mouse. Not.
New backpack
Yours truly at the start of the Sierra City to Etna trail section.
I’m rocking that beard.

Lassen Peak and Mt. Shasta

c) Andrew Carter, 2021

Two currently dormant volcanoes dominate the views in far Northern California — Lassen Peak and Mt. Shasta. Lassen Peak last erupted in 1921. It’s not certain when Mt. Shasta last erupted. Some say 1786, some say 1250, but most believe it was probably 3000 years ago.

Here are views I had of Lassen on my hike. They are ordered by date and time from June 10th to June 15th.

And here are views I have had of Mt. Shasta, ordered by date and time from June 15th to June 29th.

Less snow because I am looking at a different face of the mountain than before.

I will have additional views of Shasta when I return to the trail in a day or two.