Day 90 – Blackwood Creek to Benson Hut – 21 miles


It was tough to get up this morning after our long day yesterday. Once we managed to drag ourselves back to the trail we started up a series of rocky switchbacks towards the top of a ridge. We caught glimpses of the big lake to the east. Once at the top we crossed into the Granite Chief Wilderness and began a section that walked along the ridge itself. Soon we passed the junction where the PCT and the Tahoe Rim trail split apart – the two had followed the same track since before we went into town. Without all the hiker traffic on the rim trail, it ought to be easier to find a campsite tonight.


We hiked along the ridge, eventually dropping slightly onto the west side so the lake was blocked from view. We passed the Alpine Meadows ski area and all the signs warning skiiers not to go past the border of the patrolled area. There were flowers everywhere along with all kinds of bugs – butterflies, bees, grasshoppers, and various flies. The grasshoppers make a clicking noise as they glide through the air. It takes some getting used to when they’re jumping out ahead of you. A little way past the ski area we dropped down into the forest again on another set of switchbacks.


We had a few level miles through open meadow before we started our next climb. The area was pretty exposed and the sun was intense, beating down on our hats. We stopped at a well-flowing and well-placed trickle of water to cool ourselves off, then got back to the climb as it took us towards Granite Chief peak. Before the top of the climb there was a seasonal river that might be flowing. We planned to stop there for lunch if the water was good, and thankfully it was.


The rest of the afternoon was a slog. We seemed to spend all our time on a long uphill that was at first rocky, and then just steep. We passed just west of the Squaw Valley ski area. A hiker had told us the day before that they were going to have a music festival and FOOD there this weekend, but we were a day too early. We were close enough to see the stage where the festivities would take place. Much later we reached the top of our climb near the peak Tinker’s Knob. We had come nearly back to 9000 feet, which explained why we were so tired. The panoramic views were incredible.


It was supposedly level or downhill for a while after that, but the trail went over long stretches of rockfall – large, foot-sized rocks piled haphazardly over each other and flattened to provide a walking surface. It’s our least favorite surface to hike on because the rocks shift under your feet. It’s hard to find a level surface to put your foot on and easy to turn an ankle or bend a foot in a painful way. Hiking poles make it easier, but it’s still slow going to cross these stretches.


The final delay of the day came when we needed to get water. The trail had been mostly dry since lunch, and the only source of water for the next 5 miles was a terribly steep, rough trail that headed nearly straight down off a saddle. Getting down there and back, about a half mile round trip, took us almost an hour. At least there was water – if we had gone all the way down to find a dry streambed it would have been a rough ending to a rough day. As it was we were already feeling disappointed that we had only made 20 miles.


The upshot to this was that we were a very short distance from a Sierra Club shelter up on Mt. Anderson behind us. We hiked up the steep trail to the Benson Hut, a two-story building with fold-up wall bunks and a wood stove on the lower level. A ladder to the upper level led to an attic under the eaves. This is used for emergencies and for ski/snowshoe groups in the winter. Some years the snow piles up so high that people have to enter through the second story window! It would be a mighty cozy shelter and a fun winter trip to take with a bunch of buddies…if you could get up there in the first place, that is. A two-story chemical toilet completed the luxury. It took a bit of finesse to climb the ladder to the outhouse entrance, TP in hand, and unlock and open the door without falling off the tiny ledge.


The shelter already had guests when we got there, but Chris and Sarah and their dogs took our arrival in stride. We unchained a couple of bunks and set up our beds on the plywood. Outside they had built a small fire in the nearby ring, and we sat around it and chatted as we had our pre-bed snacks. Before long it was time to turn in and we went to sleep hardly needing the warmth of our bags.

– Posted from the PCT

Location:Pct mile 1150

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