The Two Towers

By: Tyler Socash

IG: @tylerhikes

"Every day on trail has been the best day of my life."  That's what I've been telling everyone I meet.  Day-hikers, people who give me hitches, store clerks, the guy who just interrupted my blog post on the porch of the Sierra City General Store, they all get the same message.  (Delivered with genuine enthusiasm!). It's true, thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail has been the most beautiful and singularly the most arduous undertaking of my life.  I wake up everyday excited to still be on trail.  The views just keep on coming...

Yesterday was no exception.  It was the next greatest day of my life.  I'll always remember yesterday as The Day of the Two Towers.  

August ended in a memorable way.  I woke up at Lookout Rock and hiked past a National Scenic River - the Middle Branch of the Feather River.  I finished memorizing The Lorax, which took me 2 weeks to perfect.  Finally, I hiked around the base of Pilot Peak.  I intended to go another 6 miles that day, but I noticed an intriguing structure at the summit...

The old firetower atop Pilot Peak. 

A firetower!  As I rounded the base of Pilot Peak, I wondered if I could bushwhack up to the summit.  "That would be an awesome place to spend my last night in August," I thought.  Here are a few views from the ascent...

Cool rock formations.  Erosion is neat. 

This part was a bunch of rock-hopping. 

The route up became exceptionally steep.  I found an old cable that was intentionally stretched up a scree field to assist hikers approaching from the Pacific Crest Trail.  By the looks of it, the cable was decades old.  It reminded me of the cable route up Gothics in the Adirondack High Peaks, which made me think of my friend Joe and my hiking friends back home.  

Topping out on the summit took a lot of effort.  I thought that I might have pulled my hamstring as I surged uphill.  Gingerly, I crested to discover that the watch tower was in bad shape.  Decrepit.  Almost menacing-looking, like the two towers from The Lord of the Rings. 

The interior was gutted.  Glass was strewn about the base of the tower.  Precarious steps led me to the overlook. Banisters were missing, as were some of the floorboards!  I could think of no better place to spend the night. 

On the stable portion of the tower. 

Nighttime came with its surprises.  This was the first time I remember seeing city lights from the trail.  To the SSW I thought I was viewing the endless sprawl of Greater Sacramento.  It was an interesting sight. 

And then came the mice.  I truly hope that I did not contract hantavirus.  They got into my shoes, they ruined my water bladder, and one of them ate my trekking pole handles.

It was fun, Pilot Peak, but as dawn struck it was time to walk towards Mexico.  The trail led to the southeast.  On the horizon I spied a sharp peak.  I imagined that it was the Sierra Buttes, and in 30 miles I would be there!

Today was the first day that I felt like I was in the Sierras.  Technically I am in the transition zone between the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevadas.  It's a transition zone because geologists can't seem to delineate where one range ends and the other begins!  As I marched into the Sierra Buttes, I saw stuff like this:

Ooo, Ahhh!  Neat!

This looks Sierra-ish to me!

I have a strong opinions regarding wilderness.  

1) There's not enough of it.  Once again, only 2.7% of the contiguous United States is preserved as Federal wilderness.  That means over 97% of our country can be paved, and a lot of it already is!

2) Nature's inimitable beauty is unsurpassable. 

3) The Sierra Buttes should be re-classified as wilderness.  

As of right now, the Sierra Buttes region is within the Tahoe National Forest.  "National Forest" is basically a code name for "where we will log and build lots of roads."

I was thoroughly enjoying the Sierra Buttes, I was having the greatest day of my life!  The only thing that tarnished my experience were the dirt bikes.  Lots of dirt bikes.  Lots of roads and dirt bikes. 

This reminded me of a Lewis C.K. bit that my friend Patrick played for me.  God comes back to Earth to discover that oil is spilled everywhere...

...That if you believe that God gave you the Earth and God created the Earth for you, why would you not be – have to look after it? Why the f@#% – why would you not think that when he came back he would go ‘What the f@#% did you do? I gave this to you motherf@#%er are you crazy? The polar bears are brown! What did you – what did you do to the polar bears??? Did you shit all over every polar bear? What did you – Who did this? Who spilled this shit? Who spilled this? Come over – did you f@#%ing spill this? What is that?’

'...it's oil... it's just some oil... I didn't mean to spill it...'

'Well why did you take it out of the f@#%ing ground???’

'...Cuz I wanted to go faster?...'

The dirt bikes kicked dirt up everywhere.  Imagine that!  The ringing of their engines could be heard around every corner.  Mechanized vehicles aren't permitted on the PCT, yet I saw their tracks in the dirt throughout the section.  It was less than ideal, but I still got to see stuff like this:

The Sierra Buttes!

These rock!

Our country doesn't need more roads.  We have 4 million miles of those.  We don't need to drill the Arctic Ocean for oil — seems kind of desperate, doesn't it?

We need more wilderness areas, especially with global human population projecting to grow to 11 billion by 2100.  I select the Sierra Buttes as an exceptional candidate to preserve!  It was one of my favorite places on the entire Pacific Crest Trail! 

Upon closer inspection, the Sierra Buttes had a lookout tower on the summit pinnacle.  There was a road (of course) to the summit, and I thought, "Why not spend back-to-back nights at two towers!?!"

The summit of the Sierra Buttes

After hiking 30 miles, why not add an additional 1,300ft climb to get atop the 8,587ft. pinnacle?!  The view from the top made me shake at the knees...

"Is this safe?!?"

Would you climb this?

Don't look down!  It was a vertical drop that would make you queasy.

Two Towers, One Day!  America!

Just another day on the PCT!  It was another great one.  This will be on my list of places to return to someday.  

Seeing the dirt bikes, the endless Sacremento light pollution, and rickety summit towers made me appreciate the 24 wilderness areas that I've seen thus far even more.  I've been spoiled out here!  So much beauty!  This blog has been a platform for me to share this natural beauty, but I also see it as an opptunity to suggest that more wild and open spaces would benefit our nation – and the globe. 

The Once-ler said it best.  

"Unless someone like you 

cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better.

It's not."

When the next opportunity presents itself to support wilderness protection near you, vote for the wilderness! 

The two towers were cool, but I'm eagerly awaiting the pristine Sierra wilderness regions ahead!  Wish me luck!

Also, I'm starting a video series on YouTube called, "A Hike of Ice and Fire." Search for my second installment of the series, A Cascade of Kings, via a simple google search.  Yes, these are Game of Thrones references, as I'm reading more than just Dr. Seuss on trail for inspiration. Just about to start A Clash of Kings, and I know I'm late to the game but I'm a little shocked about Lord Eddard.  What gives, Joffrey!?!

- "Future Dad"