Author: Jim

Today was a chore day.  I walked all over Medford twice and barely had time to make the last bus to get back to Ashland so I could have an easier hitch back to the trail.  I grabbed dinner then headed out and made a few miles before cowboy camping.

I’m not sure why, but I slept horribly last night.  I was in a nice comfy bed with a fresh shower and perfect temperature on the a/c but for some reason I woke up at 2 am and never really got back to sleep.  I slept in until 8 just to try to get more rest, but I had too many things to do today.  The first bus ran at 9:33 and the last one at 4:10, so that was the allotted time I had to get everything done.

I dragged my butt down for breakfast just after eight and it was lackluster for a Town Place Suites.  Fruit, yoghurt, cereal, and two rubbery fried eggs was what I had and it would have to do.  I got back to the room and got everything ready.  The first main chore was to go to REI to exchange or return the poles and buy new pants and socks.  My pants are getting too baggy and the hems are starting to shred.  And two of my socks have huge holes in them.  The second chore was to mail a few things back which is mainly extra clothing.  I would have to make two trips to avoid having to bring all my extra things plus have to change at REI.  The REI was North of town and there were two post offices which had differing hours and were both North and East.  If I got everything going early enough, I could hit the closer post office, but if not I would have to hoof it out to the farther one.

I took the bus from just outside the hotel to the transit center.  There I had to wait for the second bus to take me to the north end of town.  The first bus was ten minutes late and it was already getting hot.  The second bus was right on time since it was leaving from the transit center.  I got to the REI by 10:30 and tried on several pairs of pants.  The next smaller size fit well, but they had two different styles and one was a slim fit which felt good, but I was afraid might chafe after getting sweaty.  I went with the same style, but a size down and dark gray in color.  Good for hiding dirt, but bad for staying cool.  I was hoping to get green ones.  They did not have any shorts I liked, and I just could not bring myself to buy a new set of poles, so I just bought the one pair of long pants.

Rather than wait for the bus, I decided to walk back to the transit center and saw there was a New York pizza by the slice shop right there.  I had to stop in and I was not disappointed.  I finally found good pizza, but let the record show that it was not in California and it was New York style.

After lunch, I would have to wait half an hour for the bus, so I decided to just hoof it.  There was a Big 5 sports a few blocks from the hotel, so I swung by there for socks and shorts.  They had my Thorlos and had a pair of shorts that seemed decent.  I bought them without trying them on, then hoofed it back to the hotel.

I knew chores would take a while,.so I had arranged for a 2 PM checkout and got back to the hotel at about 1:15.  I did not have time for another shower, but would have liked one.  I had to pack everything up and get all the extra things I needed to ship back home.  I tried on the shorts and they just didn’t feel good, so I would have to return them on the way to the post office.  I had everything packed and ready right at 2, so I checked out and left my pack with the hotel staff.

The closer post office closed at 2 and the farther one closed at 4, so I had no choice at this point but to head for the farther one.  I would have to wit thirty minutes for the bus which was not an option, so I set put on foot again.  Google said it was a 51 minute walk and it was pretty much that on the dot plus a little time to return the shorts to Big 5.  The two buses would have taken much longer than that not to mention the extra stop at Big 5.

I got to the closer post office first and yes, it was closed.  A lady in the lot asked me if it was closed and I told her it was but there was another one a few miles North.  I was trying to Yogi a ride from her, but it did not work.  Back to walking.  I got to the farther post office and it was just a counter at the back of a Hallmark shop.  No matter, mail is mail.

I got my goodies mailed out and now it was time to hoof it back to catch the last bus.  The last bus was at 4:10 and Google now said I would get back to the hotel at 4:04.  If I miss this bus, there is no bus service on Sunday and no Uber in either Ashland or Medford, so I would have to either hitch 30 miles on I-5 or walk 20 miles to Ashland.  I never got to rest at all, but staying another day was not an option because of the Sunday bus situation.  My best hope for rest was to get back to Callahan’s at the trailhead and hope they had a cancellation.

I ran part of the way back just to have a little more time buffer.  Catching this last bus was the only thing on my mind.  I had been walking nearly two hours in 102 degree heat and was thirsty, so I stopped at a Burger King just to get a soda.  They have those fancy machines so I was able to get a Powerade, gulp it down, and get a second one and head back out.  The drink really helped alot.  I got back to the hotel right at 4:00, hit the bathroom, got my pack, and made the bus stop at 4:07.  And of course the bus was late.  Only about ten minutes and I was able to get on it.

Now the decision was where to get off the bus in Ashland.  My best bet would be the interstate, or highway 99.  The interstate was only a few blocks from the second to last stop, so undecided on that one.  The last stop would have dropped me on 99.

I had made a sign at the hotel that said “hiker to exit 6” that I thought might help me.  When I got to the onramp, there were three homeless guys there hanging out, so it was looking a little grim.  Plus it was hot in the sun.  I positioned myself behind he shade of a telephone pole and went to work.  One of the homeless guys came up to me and started talking about the PCT for a while.  All three of these guys travel the country sitting on the side of the interstate.  And they actually had met each other before in other states in previous years.  There’s a whole other culture that lives on the country’s interstates that most people know nothing about other than the cardboard signs on offramps.

It took about thirty minutes, but I did get a ride.  A quick ride back to Callahan’s and I was set.  The hard part was done, and I was now back in control.  I was exhausted, so I inquired about any cancellations.  None yet.  Oh well, let’s have dinner and check back again.  Spaghetti dinner done, I checked again, still no cancellations. I guess I’m camping tonight.  The lodge would let you camp on their lawn for $12, but I didn’t really need any other services, so I decided to just hoof it up the trail.  I grabbed a snickers from the gift shop and headed out.

The next mile was road walk, and then hitting the woods.  The trail was through grasses and pines and actually pleasant other than the freeway noise.  I came across a group of eight hikers cowboy camping in a meadow.  Six of them were all watching a movie on a cell phone.  I just don’t get the need to watch movies in the woods, but I see people doing it all the time.  I hiked about a half mile past them and decided to cowboy camp in a small field.  I can barely hear the freeway with earplugs in, so I’m hoping I can get some decent sleep tonight.  Fingers are crossed.

Two more milestones today – I crossed the 1700 mile point and hit Ashland, Oregon.  The day started out cool and ended very hot.  Is this Oregon or California?  Doesn’t matter, I’m in a hotel drinking beer.

I left the fly off the tent last night and slept soundly until about 3 am when I awoke fully rested and ready to get up and hike.  I didn’t, of course.  I sat there and watched the stars a while.  There was a meteor shower the night before, but I missed it and nothing interesting going on in the skies tonight.  I was wide awake, so I listened to music a while until I got sleepy again and then went back to sleep.  I woke again about 5:15, listened to a little music, then ate breakfast and broke camp.  I was on trail right at 6 am.  As I was checking the trail notes, I noticed the Ashland post office closed at 5 PM and was not open on Saturday, so today was it – Ashland or bust by 3 PM to have enough time to retrieve three packages from the post office.

I loaded up the hip belt pockets with every breakfast bar I had since I knew I could not delay this morning.  I needed to do 14 miles by noon to make Ashland by 3.  The morning was cool, and even though there was lots of climbs and descents, the grade was gentle enough I could keep a good pace.  I ended up doing 14.5.

Two hikers had passed my camp late last night, so I had hoped to catch them sleeping in the morning.  That was not to be.  They were as motivated as me and got up early as well.  I saw their tracks in the dirt along with tons of deer tracks.  They would beat me to Ashland.

At about 10 am, I ran across a soda cache and some lawn chairs.  Perfect timing, I was running low on water and the black cherry Shasta went down smoothly. As I was sitting there reading the register, the couple I had camped with the previous three nights showed up.  I made sure to get their names – Ladybug and The Cup.

I hiked with them a little bit.  Their pace was brisk, but I could keep up.  We passed a day hiker who happened to be responsible for the soda cache.  We thanked him and chatted for ten minutes.  We hiked close to an hour until they stopped for lunch.  I wanted to go further because I noticed an hour ahead was a spot listed as spigot and picnic table.  One thing about the PCT that differs drastically from the AT is that there are very few good spots to stop and eat.  The AT has shelters with picnic tables every 8 to 10 miles and the PCT has very few good rocks or logs to stop and rest on.  Most of the time I just lay out my pad and eat on the ground.  That’s what they were doing, but I wanted a table.

I went the extra hour and hit the picnic table.  It was right next to a garage and near what looked to be a brand new house being built.  It was like I was eating in someone’s back yard.  But there was a spigot and a table, so I was eating.  The table was in the sun, but a third of it was shaded so I ate there.  In about a half hour, the shade would be completely gone, so I ate quickly.  Just as I finished, Ladybug and The Cup showed up and loaded up with water.  And right then the shade on the table was gone.  Time to move on.

We all left together, and I stopped to take the picture you see with some tiki poles marking private property.  It’s not something you see every day, so I took advantage of the photo opp.  The other two went ahead quickly, and I never caught them again.  It was five miles into town and just a matter of cranking them out.

The trail by this time was lower elevations and it was getting quite warm.  There was still decent tree cover most of the time, so it was not miserable, but I was definitely working up a sweat.  I got to the road intersection at interstate 5 at a place called Callahan’s that has a very good restaurant and gives deals to hikers in their Lodge.  The first beer is free (Ninkasi IPA) and the food is excellent.  I had a mixed green salad with hazelnut dressing and it was superb.  The beer was superb as well.  I checked on the hiker rate, but they were booked tomorrow, but I took a card to call in case they had cancellations.  It was getting close to 4, so I had to boogie to hitch into Ashland before the PO closed.

I went to the on ramp and within ten minutes a van stopped.  She would take me to the post office.  Hurray!  I got there with plenty of time and all three packages were there.  I tried to rent a car, but Ashland was all out.  I could not get to Medford in time via bus and there was no uber in Ashland, so I went straight to the hotel in Medford via bus.  Most of the hotels in Ashland were expensive and all the cheap ones were booked.  No better time than now to use some Marriott points and stay for free.

The bus ride took about thirty minutes, but I got off at the hotel and there was a Walmart across the street.  Score.  A hot shower and Chinese food were in order first, then brief shopping at Walmart for beer and food, then back to the hotel for laundry.  This hotel is right next to another Marriott property where Karen and I stayed in 2009 when we came to Oregon.  Small world.

I will try to get all my REI chores done as early as possible tomorrow.  If things go well and the busses do me right, I might be able to get everything done early enough to make it back to Callahan’s to see if they have a cancellation, or possibly head out tomorrow afternoon.  If the chores take too long, I might have to stay in Medford another night. 

It was 98 in Ashland and 104 in Medford today, so either way hiking out in the afternoon is not an option.  The side of the valley I hike out next is bare of trees for quite a while.  It’s either drag out late tomorrow or hope up one more night and make it out as early as possible.  I can take the bus down to Ashland, but from there it’s ten more miles back to the trail and it looks like a hard hitch.  I should probably make a sign here at the hotel specifying the exact exit I need in case I need to hitch from the interstate on ramp.  I’m getting better at this hobo thing.

https://goo.gl/photos/teoU7W2YRAVc4jf77

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Before leaving California, I was able to get pretty close to a herd of cattle grazing in the mountains.  They have been in the mountains for the last 300 miles or more, but I never got close enough to see any of them until today.

Today was a huge milestone in the trip, California is complete, and Oregon is underway.  The terrain today actually looked different than usual within ten miles of the border.  But for now, Oregon seems pretty much like northern California as you would expect.  I hope it starts transforming more and more as the days go on.

I got up fairly early, listened to music, ate my apple pie in bed, and hit the trail at 6:10.  The couple from spaghetti dinner night headed out just minutes before I did.  I never saw them again all day until about two miles before where I intended to camp, they were camped by a spring.  We chatted briefly before I moved on.

The day was a mix of ups and downs and level ridge line hiking.  The terrain was mostly open desert plants with clusters of pines here and there.  But here, the desert plants started to change from sage brush looking plants to tiny grasses like tundra.  From a distance it looked like lush grass.  But up close it was stubby green plants and rocks.

There were cows in most areas.  You could hear their bells in the distance.  But at one section they were up close and personal.  I got some good video that I will try to post later. 

Everyone I met today talked about the border.  It’s on everyone’s minds and a definite goal for the day.  I was hoping to hit it about three, but it ended up being more like five.  I also expected more of a display than was there.  The two states on the sign on the tree that you see in the picture was marking the actual border.  There was a trail register and other signs saying how far to Washington, Canada, and Mexico.  I spent at least twenty minutes reading the register.  There were already about twenty people signing in for today.

I’m seeing more and more southbounders as the days go on, so I think I must be approaching their bubble.  I think I passed four or five today.  In the weeks past, it would be no more than one or two a day and some days with zero.  I don’t expect their bubble to even get past ten a day.  Ten times as many people go northbound rather than southbound.

I intended to go to a road crossing where I suspected there would be tentsites, but about a mile from it, I found some level pads among pine trees.  It was right at 8 PM, so it seemed like a perfect place to stop.  I am right by a spring, so I can get water in the morning.  There were just a few mosquitoes, but nothing bothersome.  I expect them to get worse as I head north.  Regardless, it feels good to be out of California finally.

Today was an interesting day.  I had a pancake breakfast with the same crew as last night then walked the last 6 or 7 miles into Seiad Valley.  There I was able to buy a days worth of food, shower, do laundry, and eat a burger and milkshake.  All that was left to do was climb 5000 ft out of town.  Yikes.  I’ve been dreading this climb for three hundred miles.

I slept in a little bit but probably got up just before 6:00.  I needed to get water since I ran out in the middle of the night so I went down to the river and loaded up.  I decided to go ahead and pack up to give Legend a chance to get things in gear and since I was walking the road into town, I didn’t want to waste any more time packing after breakfast.  Everyone except Peru was awake by now.

Legend was just flipping the first pancakes as I got back to the picnic table.  They were hot and fluffy and he had molasses for syrup.  I’m not normally a pancake guy, but these were good.  I must have eaten four of them.  The last batch he put raisins in.  They were good as well.

After breakfast, everyone helped pack the truck and they were off to town.  I was the only one who elected to walk it in.  It took just over two hours and was a nice walk.  I stopped several times to pick blackberries.  There was very little traffic, even on the main road for the last mile and a half.

I went to the store first to get a drink and an orange and basically to scope it out for when it came time to buy the one day of food I needed to add to the food bag.  Next was over to the RV park for shower and laundry.  It ended up costing $12 for a shower and laundry, which I thought was a little steep, but I stunk.  Meanwhile, I was charging all my goodies.  As I put the laundry in the dryer, it was time to hit the café.  Burger, salad, and fries went down quickly.  I ordered a blackberry milk shake but not to make it yet, so I could eat it on the way out of town.

Back to the store to buy food for tomorrow.  Mashed potatoes, cheese, Fritos, crackers, and a tram bar.  Oh, and don’t forget the Skittles.  Back to the RV park to pack.

Then a local told me about a forest road that passed by two waterfalls, was well shaded, smoothly graded, and crossed the PCT about 14 miles up the trail.  That sounded much better than a steep, rocky, shadeless exposed hike up a mountain in full sun.  It was 1:30 and already 92 degrees.  Legend had driven up the road before and confirmed everything the local said.  So I grabbed my milkshake and headed up the road.  The first mile had no shade and the milkshake did not last the entire first mile. 

I passed a road crew patching a section of road and talked with them a while.  The main thing they wanted to know – how many miles do you get out of a pair of shoes?  I told them 750 to 800 and they said that what the last guy said.  They like to talk about shoes, I guess.  I had a nice chat and headed on up the road. 

There were houses along the road as the shade started to come into play.  Lots of neat and interesting houses on this road.  One of them had the Sasquatch sign, so this must be a popular alternate route.  I stopped at one of the houses where the owner had just driven home and he had one of the interesting trees that I saw yesterday that I thought were a cross of magnolia and rhododendron.  He said they were madrone trees.  Tight grained white wood that splintered and split badly, so everyone used it for firewood since you couldn’t use it for much else.  I’ll have to research these more when I get home.  They were all over town, but yesterday is the first time I saw one in my life.

The road turned to gravel after about four or five miles, but stayed well graded.  The shade continued the while way and there were creeks along most of it.  I took a snack break at about 5:00 and noticed I was about out of water.  This area didn’t have a creek, but I checked the map and the waterfalls were only a mile ahead, so I could get water there.  The first waterfall was a decent size and getting water there would be difficult just because of the mist and splashing.  So I went on to the second one and it was much smaller and had easy access to the water, so I filled two liters there. 

I was just over a mile from the trail and got there about 7:30 and there were camping spots there, so I set up camp there for the night.  The couple from breakfast was already there.  They had taken the trail and it had taken them eight hours.  My route on the road took six hours.  I’m glad I took the road because I would have hated to hike until 9:30 to make it to the camp site.  I think the road was actually longer, but since it was less time overall, I think it was the right choice given the time I started.

So here I sit 21 miles from Oregon, eating mashed potatoes, tuna fish in oil, and sour Skittles (not all at once) and life is good.  The breeze up here is nice and cool and the trees have returned.  Let’s hope they stay all the way to Oregon.

I didn’t get up super early, but got out early enough to get me within striking distance to town, had shorter stops than usual, met a trail maintainer, and then had a trail angel serve me dinner.  The trail wasnt too rocky, it wasn’t too steep, it wasn’t too hot (in fact most of the day I was cold), and it was pretty well maintained in most areas.

The morning was very damp and cold.  The picture is from about half a mile from the campsite at about 6:30.  There were heavy clouds and fog in most areas around me.  I knew even before I got out of my sleeping bag that it was going to be a cold day.  The air was so thick with moisture and all my clothes were quite damp.  That made it all the more difficult to get dressed and get going.

When a arrived last night it was essentially dark.  And in the darkness I did not notice the PCT sign pointing to the left of the cabin.  So when I set off in the morning, I started off on the wrong trail.  I only went about two tenths, so it was not a big deal to backtrack, but when you have hiker hobble in the morning where your Achilles tendons keep you to a slow pace, even twenty feet can seem like a chore.

The morning was a little rocky and overgrown, so with the dampness in the air plus the dew on the vegetation, my legs stayed pretty wet for the first hour of the morning.  My hands were cold, but I had already sent my gloves home, so I just had to tough it out.  Once out of Marble valley, the trail returned to its usual ridge walks in and out of pines with moderate elevation changes.

I stopped for lunch at 11:30 at the last spring before the big climb.  I needed another liter and there was a huge pine tree with cut logs for tables and benches.  It was too perfect to pass up.  I ate salami and cheese wraps again, and was able to water, eat, and get going right at noon.  Yeah, finally a short lunch.

The next hour was steep downhill hiking.  It battered my feet a little bit, but nothing major.  Most of the forest was burned out, but it was still cool until about half way down, then it got noticeably hotter.  There was enough tree cover to keep me cool, but I was definitely no longer cold.  I took several breaks on the way down, but mostly quick ones five or ten minutes long.

The last campsite was six miles from town and was a developed state forest campground.  I was due to hit it just after 6:00, so a town entry was still a possibility.  The café would be closed, the store probably closed, and unknown if the RV park office would still be open.  Still on the fence.

About three miles from the campsite, I ran across a man and woman packing gear onto two horses and a donkey.  Bill and Peggy were their names and they had just cleared logs across the trail.  I talked with them a short while then moved on.  The trail kept getting easier, and even with the chat, I would still get to the campground by 6:15 and could be in town by 8:15.  Still on the fence.

I ended up getting to the campground right at 6:15 and I was tired and my feet sore, but I still had six miles in me.  Then the decision was made.  At the campground was a trail angel named Legend who was all set up and ready to cook spaghetti dinners.  I had seen this guy in Mount Shasta, so I knew who he was.  Walk two more hours or eat free spaghetti.  The mind was made up, and spaghetti it was.  He made a huge pot and put a can of chili in it to add meat to it and it was quite good.  Six more hikers rolled in a few at a time, and each time a new pot of spaghetti went to boiling. I think I ate five plates of it before I actually got full, but I did eventually get full. 

So town will have to wait for the morning.  But town might have to wait for pancakes, too.  Legend is making pancakes tomorrow morning.

I listened to music in the morning, headed out about 6:15, dealt with more rocks, passed up on an easy hitch I to Etna, and hiked until dark.  All that and I’m still 32 miles from Seiad Valley.  I’m not sure if I want to make tomorrow an easy day and roll into town early Wednesday, or try to push and make town late tomorrow.  I’ll let the morning tell me what to do.

The wind died down early in the night and when I awoke, the lake was mirror flat.  Leaving the lake, the trail was quite rocky and I did not make good time.  I took many short breaks and stopped at every peak trying to get a cell signal.  The town of Etna was to the east and did provide a good signal if you were faced in that direction.

The trail eased up on the rocks after a few miles and started to look like the trail has looked for the last 200 miles – nondescript ridge walking through dying pine forests.  There are so many dead trees on the forest floor and not enough young ones to take their place most of the time.

I hit the road to Etna at about 9 am and there was a truck there that pulled up and asked if I wanted a ride to town.  It would have been so easy to just stroll into town and eat breakfast and grab a coke.  But the road has so little traffic, I was worried I would never get back out to the trail.  I did not want to risk wasting three hours so I declined and hiked on.  That’s the third easy hitch I’ve turned down.  I must be crazy.

I met a new through hiker, Cougar, who is camped near me now, and two couples who I did not get names of.  I saw a few day hikers near the road to Etna, and there are several tents at this campsite that I suspect are short term hikers.  I got here too late to really see the place well.

I ate lunch at the top of a ridge in shady pine trees and thought I ate quickly, but it still took a full hour.  I need to figure out how to make lunch faster.  I wanted to eat quicker today since I took so many breaks this morning.  I had only gone 11.5 miles by noon today.  Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.  I try to do 12 by 12.  Some days I can hit 14 or 15.

There were lots of clouds in the afternoon, which was good because most of the terrain was barren either because it was rocky or burned out.  Between the clouds and breeze, I was actually cold more than hot most of the day.  But even though I was not hot, I sweated alot because the terrain all day was pretty hilly.  And more rocks, too.  The rocks really slow you down and pound your feet to a pulp.  The last  hour of hiking today, they were pretty sore.

Today was also supposed to be a dry stretch, so I had loaded up a full 4 liters this morning.  It turns out there were several undocumented water sources, so I could have done with two or three.  It did not feel too heavy because I am starting to eat the food down pretty low so there’s less food weight right now.  Three days of food is about where it shifts from heavy to light.  I hate loading up six days of food.

I ended up hiking all the way to Marble valley to camp, when I had intended to stop about a mile or two short of there so I did not have to hike all the way until dark.  But the last two miles of ridge were just too rocky or steep to pitch a tent, so I had no choice.  I was making good time despite the sore feet, so I guess it worked out fine.  I hate showing up to a camp full of people late and having to set up and cook while they are trying to go to bed.  I got everything done as quickly as possible and got to bed by. 9:45 which wasnt too bad.  Now to see what the feet tell me in the morning.

I had a more normal day hour wise, but the terrain got a bit rougher in the afternoon.  I’m not even sure exactly what time I started hiking, but I think it was probably about 6:30 based on how long I was listening to music in the morning.  I ended the day at a campsite by a lake at about 7:30.  I would have gone an hour more, but the terrain ahead is steep and the next official tentsite is eight miles away.  Normally I’d go ahead and move on looking for level terrain but there is none ahead, so I’d rather not risk pushing on past 10:00 just because I can’t find a place to camp.

The morning was pretty easy terrain and good tree cover with a nice breeze.  I couldn’t even tell I was hiking south.  I left camp before the couple awoke so I didn’t see them again until after 4 PM, but mid morning the trail crossed another road with a trailhead so I saw four day hikers.  The only other people I saw all day were a southbound couple late in the day.  I’m not sure if they were through hikers or not.  I didn’t get a chance to talk to them very much.

After crossing the road, the trail climbed again and got rockier and rockier as it rose.  By the time the trail crested the peak and went to the other side, it was pretty much all rocks.  A few miles later the trail began to traverse Russian Peak and by then it was all rock and a burn area with nothing but dead trees.  At 5 PM with a breeze, it was actually cool instead of smoking hot.  But it was ugly.

The lake I stopped at is pretty high in elevation and buts up to a peak that is crumbling rock into it.  It’s a nice lake and I can see a trail going all around it and other campers on the other side.  I know it’s not the couple I camped with last night, but I don’t know who it is.

Just six miles ahead is another road that will lead into the town of Etna.  It’s eight or ten miles to town and it looks like a road so small it would have no traffic on it and be impossible to hitch.  I have enough food,.so I do t need to stop, and I definitely don’t need to waste time in a town again.  I will skip Etna again.

I am currently 62 miles from Seiad Valley, which is and odd distance.  It would be nice to get there in two days, but it’s just a little to far to make in two days and get there at a decent time.  You don’t want to roll into a town after everything is already closed.  I doubt I’ll be able to knock off two thirties, so I’ll probably do just shy of thirty tomorrow and twenty five the next day to leave a quick eight to ten to roll into town early, get my chores done, and get back to the trail.  It’s a monster climb out of town, so I hope it’s not hot.  We will find out in due time.

No more rain fell last night and I was able to get out early by 5:15 and hiked all day long until 8:30 PM.  I heard thunder towards the end of the day and snapped this picture just before stopping to camp.  The clouds being so tall have many different hues of color from the sun striking over the mountains.  While cooking dinner, I could see flashes of lightning in those clouds by heard no thunder.

Today’s terrain was much like yesterday’s, fairly level, not too rocky, exposed from lack of trees but cool with a breeze, and frequent water, but many of them were hard to collect from.  They also weren’t as cold as the ones from yesterday.  Since I have no more beer, it doesn’t make too much difference how cold it is, as long as it’s refreshing.  It was cool enough today that the water I carried never got hot.  When I started out in the morning, I was afraid I was going to be cold and regret sending the down jacket home.  it ended up being just fine with just the long sleeve shirt and long pants.

The one thing that was depressing about today’s hiking was that most of it was hiking SOUTHWARD in stead of northward.  It feels like going backwards.  I have about three miles of southerly hiking tomorrow, before it turns westward and then by afternoon turns North again.

I didn’t see as many people today as I was expecting to see, since their are trailheads near by and it’s the weekend.  I saw one new thru hiker in the morning, then again a few miles from camp.  And right where I camped I saw the couple that I had seen for the first time yesterday.  I only saw one family of day hikers all day.  That really surprised me.

In the early afternoon, I crossed highway 3 where you can hitch into Etna.  I was hoping there would be some trail magic there, and as I approached, I saw a row of six coolers.  I checked each one and they were all empty except for one that still had ice in it and a box of fudgecicles.  Every one of them was just a bag of brown goo, all of them having long ago melted.  There was also a bag of garbage that you could tell had far more garbage in it than came from the coolers.  All of the coolers were the disposable type, so you could tell this was just a bunch of stuff someone brought out and is not likely to come back to clean up.  I can see why the PCTA hates unofficial caches of anything.  They quickly become a garbage pile.

Karen bought the family size of tuna pouches, so I have been able to put half a pouch and one Mayo lack on a tortilla and make two tuna wraps for lunches.  I am amazed at how much I love eating tuna now.  I would have thought that long ago I would have sworn off tuna and mashed potatoes, but I still really like both of them.  I have to eat the tuna plain and not put it in my food, but I usually eat a small pouch while I am cooking my potatoes.

I didn’t realize the last four miles to my campsite were all uphill, but I wanted to make up for stopping a little bit early yesterday because of the rain.  I was able to make pretty good time up the hill, but kept stopping to take pictures of the sunset since the cloud formations were so interesting.  I was hoping to do 30 miles today and was very pleasantly surprised to find out I did over 32.  Most of the trail was mild, but there was still alot of climbing and alot of rocks.  I took only one hour long lunch break today instead of two and starting early really helped.  I did take lots of fifteen minute breaks today.  I think I’m ready for Oregon now.  Bring it on.

I got a good start at 6:15 but stopped about 7:30 because it started raining.  Yes, actual rain.  When I woke up, there was thick cloud cover overhead.  From about 3 onward, the sky to the north was tick with dark clouds and calling rain.  Since I am hiking North, it only makes sense that the rain would eventually get to me.

I really liked the campsite I had last night.  I slept well and there was no wind to speak of.  I was mainly glad to be away from the mosquitoes.  I still had more climbing to do in the morning, but it was not steep.  The day looked to be gradual ups and downs.  But I did not anticipate it being so exposed and so rocky.  I passed four more hikers waking up and two of them passed me late in the morning but no one from yesterday ever caught up unless they passed me late after I had already made camp.

I did pass alot of day hikers today.  I passed two trailheads and am just a few miles from a third right now.  Many of them had dogs, too.  Being the weekend, I will probably see more tomorrow and Sunday.

I wore the shorts today and it was hot enough for them, but good breezes kept me cool.  The exposed areas did give me a slight sunburn on my left knee, though.  It is supposed to rain tonight and possibly tomorrow, so I will wear the long pants tomorrow.

I hit two large lakes with camping spots right about 7:15 and some weekenders were camped there and had a dog and left their dog food outside their tent.  I didn’t feel comfortable camping with them.  There was another parking area three miles further that had flat ground before and after it and I thought that would make a good camping area.  I would still get there well before dark.  After about one mile, it started to sprinkle very lightly and I found some good flat ground with tree cover from the wind.  I decided that was about as perfect a spot as I was going to find tonight, so I went ahead and stopped there. 

I got everything set up just before it started to rain lightly.  I snuck into the tent and left the stove outside to cook from inside the tent.  It rained just enough to keep me pinned inside, but not enough to actually get anything wet.  I ate in the tent and then drank my last Mango IPA beer that I had chilled in the creek.  It was delicious.  It’s also nice to get rid of something heavy.  I need to try to do some big miles tomorrow so I can get to Seiad Valley early if possible, because I am due to arrive in Ashland on Saturday and have three packages waiting at the post office.  I don’t want to have to wait until Monday to pick them up.