Schaffer - Northern California

You cant buy more accurate information at any price.

San Francisco Examiner

The ideal consultant, according to Wilderness Record , this guidebook to the Pacific Crest Trail will help you find the PCT, locate supply access routes, water sources and good camping spots, and learn about the mountains and wilderness areas along the way. With Jeffrey P. Schaffer as your expert guide, youll learn about the geology, plant communities, wildlife, and history of the Pacific Crest Trail. Heres a sampling:

The first part of this trail section is on a narrow, abandoned road through a forest of black oak, ponderosa pine and incense-cedar. Mountain misery, a low, sticky shrub, permeates the air with a subtle fragrance as the days temperature rises.

By doing this loop trail you get a feel for the rugged Donner Pass terrain and you can see how it hampered the westward progress of early emigrants, with their heavily laden wagons.

Before following the trail west, you may be overwhelmed by the symmetry and beauty of a huge dome looming before you.

The bedrock here is composed of metamorphosed volcanic rocks that were erupted perhaps 300-400 million years ago.

FIRST EDITION June 1973

SECOND EDITION September 1977

THIRD EDITION June 1982

FOURTH EDITION January 1989

FIFTH EDITION July 1995

SIXTH EDITION May 2003

Second Printing August 2005

Copyright 1973, 1977, 1982, 1989, 1995, 2003 by Jeffrey P. Schaffer

Formerly published as The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 1: California ; now the trail is covered in two books: Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California (From the Mexican Border to Yosemites Tuolumne Meadows) and Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California (From Tuolumne Meadows to the Oregon Border). A third book, The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 2: Oregon & Washington (6th edition, August 2000) is also published by Wilderness Press; it covers the Northwestern part of the PCT and is co-authored by Jeffrey P. Schaffer and Andy Selters.

Cover and book design: Jaan Hitt

Compositor: Jaan Hitt

Original topographic maps: Jeffrey P. Schaffer and Bruce Appleyard

Digitized maps: Ben Pease

Original section maps: Barbara Jackson

(We also thank Glenn M. Bock, Tom Ekman, Ben Pease, and Tom Reynolds; they all assisted us in our our efforts to digitize the maps for future editions.)

Editors: Paul Backhurst and Kris Kaiyala

Editorial assistant: Jessica Lage

Managing editor: Jannie M. Dresser

Cover photo: 2003 Londie G. Padelsky, Sunset at Lake Aloha, Desolation Wilderness

Frontispiece photo: 2003 Jeffrey P. Schaffer, Seiad Valley, view east of Klamath River

Back cover photo: 2003 Jeffrey P. Schaffer, Elephants Back, Lost Lakes, Mokelumne Wilderness

All photos by Jeffrey P. Schaffer or Thomas Winnett unless otherwise credited

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number 95-9325

International Standard Book Number 978-0-89997-317-3

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pacific Crest Trail: Northern California.

p. cm.

Includes bibliography.

Contents: Northern California / Jeffrey P. Schaffer.

ISBN 978-0-89997-317-3

1. HikingPacific Crest TrailGuidebooks. 2. Pacific Crest TrailDescription and travelGuide-books. 3. HikingCaliforniaGuidebooks. 4. CaliforniaDescription and travel1981- Guide-books. I. Schaffer, Jeffrey P.

2003 917.9043

Other books by Jeffrey P. Schaffer

Carson-Iceberg Wilderness

Desolation Wilderness and the South Lake Tahoe Basin

Hikers Guide to the High Sierra: Tuolumne Meadows (with Thomas Winnett)

Hikers Guide to the High Sierra: Yosemite

Hiking the Big Sur Country

Lassen Volcanic National Park & Vicinity

The Geomorphic Evolution of the Yosemite Valley and Sierra Nevada Landscapes

Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California (with Ben Schifrin, Ruby Johnson Jenkins, and Thomas Winnett)

The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 2: Oregon-Washington (with Andy Selters)

The Tahoe Sierra

Yosemite National Park

Disclaimer

Hiking in the backcountry entails unavoidable risk that every hiker assumes and must be aware of and respect. The fact that a trail is described in this book is not a representation that it will be safe for you. Trails vary greatly in difficulty and in the degree of conditioning and agility one needs in order to enjoy them safely. On some hikes, routes may have changedor conditions may have deterioratedsince the descriptions were written. Also, trail conditions can change from day to day, or even hour to hour, owing to weather and other factors. A trail that is safe on a dry day or for a highly conditioned, agile, properly equipped hiker may be completely unsafe for someone else or unsafe under adverse weather conditions.

Minimize your risks on the trail by being knowledgeable, prepared, and alert. There is not space in this book for a general treatise on safety in the mountains. Fortunately, there are many good books and courses on the subject: use them to increase your knowledge. Just as important, take note of your own limitations and familiarize yourself in advance about what conditions you may face when and where you want to hike. If conditions are dangerous, or if youre not prepared to deal with them safely, choose a different hike! Its better to have wasted a drive than to be the subject of a mountain rescue.

Millions of people have safe and enjoyable hikes every year. However, one element of the beauty, freedom, and excitement of the wilderness is the presence of risks that do not confront us at home. When you hike, you assume those risks. They can be met safely, but only if you take time to inform yourself, then exercise your independent judgment and common sense while hiking or backpacking along any trail.