[pct-l] Susan from Spokane, section O

[Laurie Hallum]

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Susan,
   Just did some trail maintenance yesterday, Saturday 9-20-14, near Peavine and Rock Creek.  There is some water at Peavine, definitely treat it.  At Rock Creek camp there seemed to be good water.  People were camping and didn't want to bother them to check further.  The campground is upstream from the bridge.  Your spouse could meet you there at the Rock Creek Campground and Peavine Creek.  Check out the new signage :-) from Saturday and nice tread work from this summer.  
   I don't know if you are NB or SB; I'll go NB.  From Burney Falls it isn't far to Rock Creek, about 5-6 miles, then about 8 to Peavine Creek.  I remember water being off the trail after Peavine, but I don't know the current conditions from Peavine to Ash Camp.  Part of that area is soooo beautiful.  You can see Lassen Peak, the top of Castle Crags (next to Interstate 5 where you will be going), the Red Bluff buttes, and Mt. Shasta.  Ash Camp is near the McCloud River; there is a nice bridge to cross it.  The Squaw Valley Creek is nice cool water and plenty of it and a car accessible camp/resting area.  After crossing the Girard Road there is spotty water, but there is generally some along that area.  Near the railroad crossing you cross the Sacramento River and then Interstate 5.  Yahoo!!
   I've done all of this with day hikes and a car at each end of the day hike and the roads aren't too bad, but it can take a while to drive back to near Burney and pick up Hwy 89 to Bartle Gap.  The road to Ash Camp is rough so drive slowly.  Going to Grizzly Peak could be a major challenge.  I haven't been there in about 3 years.  I've heard from others that the road to Ah Di Na is rough, but there is a camp ground past the PCT crossing, so I thinks it's just city people on a dirt road.  :-o   The road to Cabin Creek is a good dirt road.  Going to the Girard Road Crossing is pretty easy going and it's about 10 road miles from Interstate 5, about 11 - 12 trail miles.  And then you are finished.
   Please feel free to contact me with my email address if you want to communicate more.  I'll help where I can.
Lady Pegasus 


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 Message: 1
 Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 11:46:04 -0700
 From: Susan Virnig <susan at newstories.org>
 Subject: [pct-l] Section O
 To: "pct-l at backcountry.net"
 <pct-l at backcountry.net>
 Message-ID: <CDD2F271-376F-4F70-9058-9BCC0228622B at newstories.org>
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
 
 I?m planning to hike Section O next week.  I just got
 some great information from Andy who hiked it in July about
 road and water conditions, but does anyone have more
 up-to-date information?  I?m hoping to backpack and/or
 day hike my way thru this 83 miles.  My spouse will be
 either waiting for me in local motels or meeting me if the
 roads are passable.  To give you an idea of my
 background, I?ve hiked the 1100 miles from Etna Summit to
 Manning Provincial Park (did WA in the late 70s & early
 80s; did OR in the 2000s; and starting CA in the 2010s) ?
 about 1/3 of it solo and the rest leading small
 groups.  I?m trying to do bigger chunks of the PCT at
 this point and hope to complete the rest of CA before I turn
 70 in 5 years.
 
 Specific questions:
 
 1.  Water ? is there still water at Rock Creek just
 down from where the PCT crosses Peavine Creek?  How
 about the springs at the top of Moosehead Creek?  Deer
 Creek?  Ash Camp with the McCloud River ? is it
 drinkable?  Trough Creek?  Squaw Valley &
 Cabin Creeks?  Fall Creek?  Normally I don?t ask
 all these questions, but living up in Spokane, WA, we hear
 all these horror stories about the drought in CA and how
 normally flowing streams have all dried up, so I thought I
 should check.
 
 2.  Roads ? anyone know about the road up to Peavine
 Creek? or Bartle Gap? or Grizzly Peak Road? or Ash Camp? or
 Cabin Creek?  We have a VW camper van, so it doesn?t
 really handle ruts or other problems.  We could take
 our Honda Accord instead, but it?s still just a passenger
 car with no 4-wheel drive.  Thoughts or suggestions?
 
 Thanks for any help you guys can provide.
 
 ?Susan from Spokane
 
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