Day 79-83: Donner Pass to Quincy
Mile 1152.2-1266.4
After Donner Pass is when the scenery really switches up. At this point, I was definitely in Northern California and out of the Sierra. Instead of granite peaks, this section consisted mostly of rolling green hills. This also meant it was time for bigger miles. So, I left Donner Pass with the ambitious goal of hitting 30 miles on my first day out. There were small ups and downs but no big elevation changes.
The day was as simple as a 30 mile day can be. It was obviously exhausting, but relatively straightforward. Just a really long day. The next day was when the heat came in to make things interesting. I went into the tiny town of Sierra City around mid-day to satisfy my hiker hunger, and spent the afternoon climbing up through Sierra Buttes. The climb was beautiful, but the last 4 miles were rocky and exposed, with maybe two small patches of shade over the entire stretch.
The way down to camp was actually very pleasant, with excellent views back up to Sierra Buttes. Furthermore, the trail wasn’t too rocky and mostly shaded.
The next day it was time for more big miles. It started with a moderate climb that seemed to go on forever, until it held steady on a ridge with excellent views.
The rest of the day was a roller coaster of ups and downs, made even harder by the continuing heat wave. I managed about 27 miles on the day, and was definitely pretty tired when I pulled in. I hadn’t seen heat like this since the desert, and definitely didn’t miss it through the Sierra. Day 4 was probably the hardest of the whole stretch, even though the mileage was not as high as my other big days. 3 miles in, the trail entered the burn area created by the massive North Complex Fire last year. For the rest of the day, I walked through an eerie landscape of charred trees and next to no undergrowth.
A typical section of the burn area.
Around 8 miles in, I was walking along with my headphones in and tunnel vision down the trail when I heard a crash to my left. I look and see an absolutely massive bear running away. I must’ve startled it, but didn’t even realize it was there until I heard it. I haven’t had much luck seeing bears in the wild, so I was actually pretty excited after this. What was less exciting was the trail dropping down to under 3,000 feet. This is the lowest I had been since deep in the desert, and the low elevation only amplified the heat. Temperatures were in the triple digits, and I ended up wading into a cold stream and dunking my head to cool down. I stayed at the stream for a while while temperatures cooled a bit, then headed up the 6 mile climb that would conclude my day. The thing was, this side hadn’t been cleared of downed trees since the fire, so much of the climb was navigating through these blowdowns, which left me covered in soot. I did manage 25 miles, but definitely had to earn them.
Today was a much simpler day, as I only walked 9 miles. The day included lookout rock, a beautiful viewpoint of the area.
Some easy hiking took me to Bucks Lake Road, where I hitched into the town of Quincy. I am staying with a local trail angel named Debra who has been hosting hikers for years. All in all, tough section but the big miles are super rewarding. The goal is to keep them up for as long as I can.
