I was going to title this thread A Short Silly Hike, but I quickly dropped that idea.
On February 14, 2025 I left to go on a hike in the Plumas National Forest and I was back home less than 18 hours later.
On February 24, 1978 five young men walked into the Plumas National Forest where they all succumbed to the elements.
I wanted to see a little of what they would have experienced.
A quick bit of background, 5 men left the Marysville/Yuba City area on a Friday afternoon in 1978 and drove to Chico to watch a basketball game at Chico State.
The drive is pretty straightforward, all on flat level ground in the Sacramento valley. The drive would probably take about an hour and once on the highway it is a straight shot with no intersections to worry about between the two cities.
But for an unknown reason, in Oroville, about halfway in between, they turned off the highway and headed up into the mountains. They drove a winding, twisty road across 2 large bridges, crossing arms of Lake Oroville.
After driving about 25 miles, the road would have turned to gravel(back in 1978), and they continued on another 6 or 7 miles until they encountered snow around the 4000' level and got the car stuck.
Then, what is even more bizarre, is around midnight on that winter night they left the safety of their car and walked higher into the mountains and into the Plumas National Forest to their deaths.
Two of them made it about 12 miles, one made it about 18 miles, and it appears two of them made it almost 20 miles to a Forest Service Work Camp that had some trailers. One died there after weeks or months of staying in the trailer. The fifth man was never found.
They were all dressed to watch a basketball game on a winters night in California. They wore light footwear, probably jeans or slacks, probably a light shirt and at least some of them had a sweater or a light jacket.
What compelled them to leave their car dressed like that, in the middle of the night, with no flashlights and walk miles in to ever deepening snow, will never be known.
While they did not have any flashlights, that cold February night did have an almost full moon under clear skies.
I wanted to see what it would have been like that night in 1978. Since I live on the road (Hwy 162/Oro-Quincy Hwy) that they followed up into the mountains, it would be easy to recreate some of what they did, but with the proper gear.
After working all day, I took a short nap before leaving home at 11pm. It had rained/snowed earlier in the day but it was now clear and cold, temperatures was in the high twenties. I drove as far as I could before I hit an ice covered hill. Parking at the bottom of the hill I start hiking a little after midnight under an almost full moon.
There have been some changes since 1978, but nothing drastic. They have realigned parts of the Oro-Quincy highway, it is now completely paved and a terrible forest fire swept through here a few years ago. Other than that it would be almost identical.
I picked February 14 2025 because it was a Friday and the moon would be almost identical size. It also appears we have a very similar snowpack this year compared to 1978's snowpack.
Leaving the car, the first thing I notice, is how cold I am. I am wearing lightly insulated, waterproof boots, lightly insulated and waterproof snow pants, three light shirts and a rain jacket. I am carrying a heavy pack with camping gear, more clothes and snowshoes.
While I was dressed much better than they were, I was still cold. I continued on until the snow was deep enough for the snowshoes. With the moon I had no problems seeing where I was going and what was around me.
That reminds me, there have been two other changes that did have me a little worried. California's bear population has exploded since the state has banned hunting bears with dogs, and there are now wolves in the Plumas National Forest. So I was carrying bear spray and was on high alert as I walked under the moonlight that night.
Around 3:30 am I was getting tired, and I could see a car stuck in the snow up ahead. I was in no mood to go investigate the car at this hour so I backtracked a little and setup a camp.
I slept until about 8am, and after making some coffee I went to check out the car. I was hoping that whoever got it stuck was long gone and had made it out safely. I slowly approached the car and walked around it. The windows were tinted so I could not see in, and the front and rear window were covered with deep snow. With some apprehension I opened the drivers door and to my relief the car was empty.
The weather forecast was for a weather front to move through and drop some more snow today and I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I figured I would pack up and decide once I was ready to go.
After packing, the skies towards the west were looking awful dark, but I decided to hike some more into the mountains. Not much to say, hiked a couple more miles in, got some horrible blisters on both feet and the weather held off.
After lunch I headed back. When I was in a spot with sunlight, I would get drowsy and thought how nice it would be to lay down and take a little nap. I wonder if that is what happened to the first two young men? They would have been close to where I was at the same time of day and it was sunny on that second day back in 1978.
Did they find a sunny spot and decide to stop for awhile, to never leave that spot?
I ended up hiking out and was home by 6pm after hiking about 19 miles.
If you are interested in the men's story google The Yuba County Five.
On February 14, 2025 I left to go on a hike in the Plumas National Forest and I was back home less than 18 hours later.
On February 24, 1978 five young men walked into the Plumas National Forest where they all succumbed to the elements.
I wanted to see a little of what they would have experienced.
A quick bit of background, 5 men left the Marysville/Yuba City area on a Friday afternoon in 1978 and drove to Chico to watch a basketball game at Chico State.
The drive is pretty straightforward, all on flat level ground in the Sacramento valley. The drive would probably take about an hour and once on the highway it is a straight shot with no intersections to worry about between the two cities.
But for an unknown reason, in Oroville, about halfway in between, they turned off the highway and headed up into the mountains. They drove a winding, twisty road across 2 large bridges, crossing arms of Lake Oroville.
After driving about 25 miles, the road would have turned to gravel(back in 1978), and they continued on another 6 or 7 miles until they encountered snow around the 4000' level and got the car stuck.
Then, what is even more bizarre, is around midnight on that winter night they left the safety of their car and walked higher into the mountains and into the Plumas National Forest to their deaths.
Two of them made it about 12 miles, one made it about 18 miles, and it appears two of them made it almost 20 miles to a Forest Service Work Camp that had some trailers. One died there after weeks or months of staying in the trailer. The fifth man was never found.
They were all dressed to watch a basketball game on a winters night in California. They wore light footwear, probably jeans or slacks, probably a light shirt and at least some of them had a sweater or a light jacket.
What compelled them to leave their car dressed like that, in the middle of the night, with no flashlights and walk miles in to ever deepening snow, will never be known.
While they did not have any flashlights, that cold February night did have an almost full moon under clear skies.
I wanted to see what it would have been like that night in 1978. Since I live on the road (Hwy 162/Oro-Quincy Hwy) that they followed up into the mountains, it would be easy to recreate some of what they did, but with the proper gear.
After working all day, I took a short nap before leaving home at 11pm. It had rained/snowed earlier in the day but it was now clear and cold, temperatures was in the high twenties. I drove as far as I could before I hit an ice covered hill. Parking at the bottom of the hill I start hiking a little after midnight under an almost full moon.
There have been some changes since 1978, but nothing drastic. They have realigned parts of the Oro-Quincy highway, it is now completely paved and a terrible forest fire swept through here a few years ago. Other than that it would be almost identical.
I picked February 14 2025 because it was a Friday and the moon would be almost identical size. It also appears we have a very similar snowpack this year compared to 1978's snowpack.
Leaving the car, the first thing I notice, is how cold I am. I am wearing lightly insulated, waterproof boots, lightly insulated and waterproof snow pants, three light shirts and a rain jacket. I am carrying a heavy pack with camping gear, more clothes and snowshoes.
While I was dressed much better than they were, I was still cold. I continued on until the snow was deep enough for the snowshoes. With the moon I had no problems seeing where I was going and what was around me.
That reminds me, there have been two other changes that did have me a little worried. California's bear population has exploded since the state has banned hunting bears with dogs, and there are now wolves in the Plumas National Forest. So I was carrying bear spray and was on high alert as I walked under the moonlight that night.
Around 3:30 am I was getting tired, and I could see a car stuck in the snow up ahead. I was in no mood to go investigate the car at this hour so I backtracked a little and setup a camp.
I slept until about 8am, and after making some coffee I went to check out the car. I was hoping that whoever got it stuck was long gone and had made it out safely. I slowly approached the car and walked around it. The windows were tinted so I could not see in, and the front and rear window were covered with deep snow. With some apprehension I opened the drivers door and to my relief the car was empty.
The weather forecast was for a weather front to move through and drop some more snow today and I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I figured I would pack up and decide once I was ready to go.
After packing, the skies towards the west were looking awful dark, but I decided to hike some more into the mountains. Not much to say, hiked a couple more miles in, got some horrible blisters on both feet and the weather held off.
After lunch I headed back. When I was in a spot with sunlight, I would get drowsy and thought how nice it would be to lay down and take a little nap. I wonder if that is what happened to the first two young men? They would have been close to where I was at the same time of day and it was sunny on that second day back in 1978.
Did they find a sunny spot and decide to stop for awhile, to never leave that spot?
I ended up hiking out and was home by 6pm after hiking about 19 miles.
If you are interested in the men's story google The Yuba County Five.
