During my hike on the PCT in 2001, my two favorite pastimes were swimming and eating. When I was walking — which was most of the time — cool swimming holes and sizzling cheeseburgers filled my daydreams. When my hiking partner, Nick, and I talked, it was more often than not about swimming and eating cheeseburgers: How far to the next river, creek or lake? How long would it take to hitch out to get a cheeseburger at the next road crossing?As the two attached lists indicate, we found lots of chances to follow these particularly blissful pastimes. Cheeseburger-wise, the best were found in the Cheeseburger Belt, which begins as the Sierras give way to the Cascades in northern California, and ends a little north of Ashland, Oregon. The best of the best in the belt were found at Buck's Lake Lodge near Quincy, the Pines Frosty in Chester (which also has kick-ass shakes), and Lake of the Woods Resort north of Ashland. At the bottom of the list was Belden Town, which shouldn't really be surprising since they don't seem to like hikers too much anyway.The best of the swimming was between in northern California, between Sierra City and Etna. The Middle Fork of the Feather (pictured below) was spectacular, though Nick preferred Squaw Valley Creek, which he found a little cozier.
