PCT Day 98 – Belden Town (1288.5) to PCT mile 1313.4

July 11, 2026

Total PCT miles: 24.9

Non PCT miles: 0

Total: 24.9 miles / 40.1 km

Total elevation gain: 7575 ft

Total elevation loss: 3166 ft

Steps: 61539

Well this was a day! I knew two things starting today’s hike. One, the climb out of Belden is over 5000 ft much of which is through burn scar and heavily damaged trail, and two it was going to be hot. I also knew that fortunately there was a lot of good water sources during the climb. In order to beat as much of the heat as possible I was up and hiking by 345 AM. Who does this????

I hiked pass the Belden Town resort and made my way to the trailhead. It has a sign with 4 warnings; black bears, mountain lions, rattle snakes and poison oak. Oh joy! Interestingly enough I met another hiker later in the day who claims she and her friends were stalked by a mountain lion while hiking last night. Fortunately I saw none of the creatures listed.

I do honestly believe this was the hardest climb I’ve done thus far on the PCT. I certainly did more elevation gain today than any other day so far. Fortunately the first 2 hours the trail was in good shape as I hiked by headlamp. I’m not a huge fan of hiking into the night but starting before the sun comes up I’m okay with. My logic here is that if something weird happens the sun will be up soon. Where as if you hike into the night and something strange happens… like getting stalked by a mountain lion… then you have many hours until the sun comes to make life better.

Eventually the sun started to rise and the trail conditions got worse. On more than one occasion the trail was completely gone. It would take months of trail maintenance to get this part back up to PCT standards. I took lots of breaks at the various water sources and carried as little water as possible.

I officially crossed from the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the Cascade mountain range at mile 1299 and then passed the 1300 mile marker on the PCT. Just 25 more miles and I’ll be at the official 1/2 way point.

I finally reached the top of the climb shortly after 1200. In the distance I could see Mount Larsen and the true scale and impact of the Dixie Fire. It’s really strange to see an entire forest burned but have little pockets of single trees that somehow escaped being burned. At one point on the trail everything to the left was alive green forest. On the right there was about 20 ft of green and everything past that was burned.

My goal today was to reach the campsite near Humboldt Summit. Because most of the forest is burned there are not many safe places to camp. Camping under massive Dead standing trees is definitely not advisable. Unfortunately there is no water source at this location so I carried 3 liters from Cold Springs (the water was amazingly cold). The extra weight, long miles and early start were getting to me and I felt sluggish and slow.

When I arrived at the campground at 1800 I was shocked to still see trail magic set up!!!!! Myles and Barron were there with cold drinks, sandwiches, salads, pastries, cookies and even hot bucket showers. They are part of a larger group that comes up here once a year for two days and do trail magic. Most of the group had already left an hour before I arrived but they stayed to catch any stragglers. Man was I happy to see them after such a long hot day. I was later joined by Ms Pooh, Tea Time and Merlot.

The night finished with the most incredible sunset I’ve seen thus far on trail. What started as the hardest day was rewarded with not only trail magic but the magic of nature!