Found a shortcut on the Sierras PCT that saved me 6 miles

I was hiking near Yosemite last summer and a guy at a campsite told me about this old logging trail that cuts off a big loop on the PCT. He said he'd been using it for 10 years and nobody ever mentions it in guides. I followed his directions and it saved me around 6 miles of switchbacks, plus the views were just as good. Has anyone else stumbled on unofficial shortcuts that actually work out?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jake9d ago

Oh man, I've definitely been there. I always check Gaia or CalTopo for old roads and trails before a trip, sometimes the official PCT route takes way more work than it needs to. Just make sure you've got good GPS and offline maps if you try something like that, cause sometimes those logging paths just dead end after a mile.

evan5439d agoTop Commenter

Yeah that dead end thing is the worst. I learned that lesson the hard way up near Goat Rocks a few years back. Had a promising looking trail on CalTopo, followed it for about two miles, and it just stopped in a clearcut. Now I always cross reference those old logging spurs with satellite imagery before I even leave the house. Google Earth timeline view is actually pretty useful for that, lets you spot which roads have grown over. And I never trust a dashed line on a map unless I've seen recent trip reports confirming it goes through.

stella_scott969d ago

That satellite cross referencing is key. I had a trip near the Timberline Trail last summer where a dashed line on CalTopo looked perfect for cutting off a big loop, but when I pulled up the satellite image, you could see the whole thing was just a faint scar in the brush with no real path. Saved me a solid three miles of bushwhacking. Also, if you're using Gaia, the "layers" feature has an old USFS road overlay that's surprisingly accurate for spotting which spurs are still open enough to hike. Just be ready to turn around at any point cause sometimes those things are more like game trails than actual routes.