Pacific Crest Trail - Days 131 - 132 - Etna, CA
Forest Service personnel were hanging these all around Etna. They were also buying boxes of pastries and driving brand new Chevrolet Yukons. Planting trees? No, we don’t do that anymore.
Am I missing something here? WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes for Minute Maid Fruit Punch.
Water, jobs, liberty. In that order.
I remember Doug LaMalfa tripping all over himself along with a representative for California’s Department of Water Resources at press conferences while the Oroville Dam was threatening to drown the entire Central Valley of California following a spillway failure in 2017.
LaMalfa is still crying about probably the biggest environmental success story in recent American history, dam removal on the Klamath River which has restored hundreds of miles of prime Salmon fishery to Northern California. Again, remember that western American history is transient and won with violence against indigenous people and the lands, forests, and rivers they settled on.
Water rights as an entire concept are absolutely ridiculous. Water rights established by but I was here first are a farce, which will be upended in coming decades, with the restoration of the Klamath River setting an inspirational and iconic precedent on one of the American West’s largest (and previously, most controlled) rivers.
We took a zero in Etna and stayed at a killer little bed and breakfast that had a bunk room for hikers in the back.
Molly was infamous on FarOut for driving up to Etna Summit like a maniac/race car driver. Our ride up with her was pretty chill, but I grew driving up and down windy mountain roads. She did hit the 10mph curve with enough speed I scrambled to grab the oh shit handle and she outright ignored the double yellow center line, but that’s just mountain driving, baby.
The Big Cliff Fire burning in remote terrain above Etna. Apparently it’s burning through an already burned area that’s making it difficult to access and suppress. I have no idea how they’re getting helicopters in there with the thick smoke.
Walking through these scorched forests is emotionally devastating. The soil and soul of the forest is dead.
Toothpicks and shadows.
These forests have been through half a dozen different fires in recent years. You can see the different ages of burn scar and post fire brush, but not many trees are growing back.
Making our way through a rough rocky stretch of trail with water from springs dripping down from above.
The trail brought us up through a keyhole in the ridge above this insanely clear blue lake.
These switchbacks up a steep burned slope were the steepest section of trail yet.
We found a campsite in a stand of live green trees on a windy ridge. It was a long strenuous day.