We had 6 hikers come out to hike the PCT from the Etna Summit to the overlooks of both Smith Lake and Taylor Lake.
We started the hike at 9:45 AM and took a look at a sign at the trailhead. It gave a warning we were entering a burned area with potential hazards of loose rocks, falling trees and limbs, flash flooding and debris flows. Portions of the Trail are damaged or blocked with debris. I am happy to report we did not encounter any of the hazards. The sign also listed significant wildfires of that wilderness area - 2014 Happy Camp Complex, 2017 Orleans Complex, 2017 Salmon August Complex and the 2021 McCash Fire.
As we started along the trail, we could see that some kind of animal was making very large tracks and degrading the trail in spots. At first they seemed as large as horse tracks but there were no shoehorn prints. Then we could see that there was a split hoof, and thought it had to be a very large elk. Then we saw all of the cow patties and knew what they were. Looking at the trailhead sign, it states that grazing in the area dates back to the late 1800s which predates the Wilderness Act of 1964.
We had some wonderful views of the Russian Wilderness and the many of the rocky peaks in the area. I saw some movement ahead on the trail and it startled me. I was happy to see that there were 2 deer running up the mountainside. After going a little farther, we saw more animal prints. Some were deer and we decided some must be from a mountain lion and fairly fresh- within the last day or so. Then we noticed much smaller cat prints and assumed it was a mother and cub going down the trail. We could also see that the prints went both directions on the trail. This kept our group alert and close together.
We then came to the overlook of Smith Lake with Mount Shasta in the background. We could also see all the way to Mount McLoughlin. This was a good spot for our group photo. We continued on and started our descent to the Taylor Lake overlook. When we got there, we stopped for lunch. We could see a very sketchy trail going down to the lake but had no desire to slip and slide down the hill. As we were finishing our lunch a woman and her blue heeler came up the trail.
We headed back up the trail and enjoyed the same views going back. We got back to the cars around 2:40 PMand had hiked 7.19 miles and had gained 1,628 feet of elevation. We decided to make a stop at Dotty's for ice-cream and fries and they tasted delicious.