Day 73 August 6, 2017

Daily mileage 30
Total mileage 1355
Hiked from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm

A day of long miles, wonderful trail magic, a bit of rain and my decision regarding the rest of the PCT.

I knew that if I was going to make it to Ashland today I was going to have to haul ass. 30 miles sat between my campsite and the trail town. So I slept in! Great start.

Once I was on the trail I could tell that my body was feeling much better than it was yesterday. I had two minor climbs today of 1800 and 1000 feet and they both felt like nothing at all. It helped that the weather was somewhat cool.

About 3 miles into my day I came to the California Oregon border. I have no idea why an arbitrary line in a map is so important to me, but it felt wonderful to finally finish California. That was one long walk.

Finally made it out of Cali!

You can see the trail ahead if you look closely

The green hills of Oregon look a whole lot like the green hills if Northern California!

Given that it was a fair Sunday and also that I would be passing near a few roads in the Siskiyou and Mt Ashland areas, it was somewhat inevitable that I would see dayhikers. Well yes I did.

One of the first dayhikers I saw was Allan from Medford. He very casually asked me if I would like a beer. Well yes, yes I would. So after a cold Bud and some conversation, I got back to the business of getting to town. But, a few miles up the trail a couple of mountain bikers and their friendly dog (Max, Allison and Charlie the dog) called me up to a parking area just above the trail and asked if I would like some food. Well yes, yes I would. So after a ham and Swiss on Croissant and a peach and some conversation, I got back to the business of getting to town. Then just another two miles up the trail, a trail angel had set up some lawn chairs in a shady spot and put out a couple of coolers full of soft drinks. So once again all forward progress halted while I sat in the shade and chatted to a Sobo section hiker who's name I have forgotten.

Trail magic.

After that, the only slowdowns I had were when dayhikers wanted to chat about my hike. But still, not a bad day for trail magic.

Then it was time to jet to the I5 and Ashland. Funny how the final five miles before a town always drag on. But these miles were spiced up by a very close lightening storm. Close enough that I did not use my poles for about an hour. No sense providing a metallic ground point during an electrical storm. It did spit a bit on me but nothing serious. Which is ironic in that it means that the only two times I got rain on my hike were the first day and the last day. But more one that later. (Ooh, the foreshadowing)

Once I got to within a mile or so of the freeway, there was a shortcut trail to a resort hotel called Callahans. It was a bit tricky to navigate, but soon enough I was sitting in a swanky dining room having not showered, shaved or washed my clothes in forever enjoying a wonderful meal and a couple of beers.

I really did not feel like hitching on the I5 on-ramp, so I called a cab to take me to the hotel in Ashland that my wonderful wife had booked for me. Turns out that I was booked on the ninth floor and the only elevator was out of order. Now why is it that I was capable of climbing a 4500 foot mountain just two days ago but I balked at 8 flights of stairs totaling probably 75 feet or so. So I negotiated a room on the sixth floor. I probably doomed some pensioner with two bad hips to that room on the ninth floor in doing so!

Now back to the rest of my hike. In short, there will be no rest of my hike this summer. Yeah, yeah I know, I have said this once before. But I do believe that leaving the trail in Ashland is the right decision. The problem ahead is fire closures. The interior of Oregon is burning up and there are currently four closures on the PCT. So what it feels like is that what we have left to hike is the gristle and bone shards while the rib eye and top sirloin is tucked away behind trail closures (I know, typical male analogy comparing the PCT to meat!)

But if I were to continue hiking this year, I would be forced by nature to miss Crater Lake, Tunnel Falls and most of the Mt Jefferson Wilderness. Those are some pretty iconic points to have to bypass.

So what I have decided is that 1355 miles that I have hiked this summer is enough. To put this in prospective, if you were to drive from Vancouver to Los Angeles on I5, you would still be about 70 miles short of what I hiked this summer. And the areas of the PCT that I can come back to in future summers are pretty spectacular. The Sierra, Oregon and Washington make a pretty good itinerary, particularly given that I can pick and chose the time of year to do them.

Also, the hiking has taken a toll on this old body. I suspect that when I get home, the bathroom scale will read on the 150's (it turned out I was right, I weighed in at 158, having started the trail in May at around 186) which is pretty light for me. And I am feeling worn out.

So, with absolutely no sadness, I am laying to rest my 2017 PCT hike once again.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy days to check out my musings. I will be embedding videos into each day over the next few weeks.

Day 72 Aug 5, 2017

Daily mileage 28
Total mileage 1325
Hiked from 5:30 am to 6:45 pm

Last full day in California.

Well today was one of those days when the miles being hiked fought back. I was moving with great lethargy all day today. I even took several breaks, including an afternoon nap but nothing got me out of low gear.

I had about 1800 feet of the big climb out of the Seiad Valley left to do first thing this morning. It went ok as opposed to the rest of the miles today. There was a slight overcast and a cooling breeze most of the day also. The breeze eventually blew most of the smoke out of the valleys below me.

Early morning shots are my favourites

Ran into these bare areas today where nothing grows. Not sure what the geology is behind them.

More typical meadow on the trail

The only reason I could come up with for my tough day was that I ate poorer than normal yesterday, having foregone supper in favour of a second milkshake. Hopefully that is all it was as I have potential for a 30 miler tomorrow. I am bulking up supper tonight to try to make tomorrow as smooth as possible. Mushroom rice Sidekick with a pouch of tuna and a half an avocado along with a smidge of curry powder. Yum.

There was really not a whole lot interesting today. No grand vistas or funny stories. Kind of boring. But the big news is that I am camped within 3 miles of the Oregon/California border tonight. Goodbye California early tomorrow. I mean it only took me 72 days to hike through the State and I even skipped a bunch of miles. That is one long State.

Home for the night

Day 71 August 4, 2017

Daily mileage 20
Total mileage 1297
Hiked from 5:30 am to 6:00 pm

A boring long downhill, a momentous California town, a great breakfast, some shitty news and most of a long climb done. All today.

All 6 of us who camped together got up early this morning knowing we had a long road walk into Seiad Valley in potentially hot temperatures. The walk down to the road was neither easy or hard or good or bad. It just happened.

Once I got to the road, progress slowed considerably as I kept coming across roadside patched of blackberries that were just screaming to be ingested. Funny part is I usually do not even like blackberries but out here you simply do not pass by any readily available food.

Walking through burned forest

The start of the six mile road walk. Ugh.

These signs were everywhere in Seiad Valley

Just before I reached the store and restaurant, a couple pulled over on their truck and simply handed me a bottle of cold water. Yet another example of how great people are, particularly those near the PCT.

Reaching Seiad Valley was somewhat momentous because it is the last California town before the Oregon border.

Once at the restaurant, I had a great breakfast of blackberry pancakes with eggs and sausage. And everybody knows that a breakfast like that is best finished with a salted caramel milkshake.

Yum.

At the restaurant, they have the five pancake challenge. These particular pancakes weigh in at one pound each. I guess that in the last decade only 4 people have beat the challenge. Radio (one of the hikers I camped with last night) decided to accept the challenge today. After a valiant effort, he tossed in the towel after 2 1\2 of the giant cakes.

Radio and five pounds of pancakes.

During breakfast, I had a look at the PCTA website to see about any new trail closures. It is really crappy news that they have had to close the trail at Crater Lake because.of a fire. Crater Lake is supposed to be one of the highlights of the trail. So now that means I have missed the Sierra because of snow and high water and I will miss Crater Lake and Tunnel Falls (further north on Mt Hood) due to fires. PCT 2017, you are starting to suck.

A bunch of us decided to hang out in the shade in hopes of cooler temperatures for the long climb out of the valley. While we were there, locals kept dropping by, some to chat and even one to give us a watermelon. We really are treated like celebrities in these small trail towns.

My original plan was to camp here and then head out uber early tomorrow for the long climb out of the valley.  I decided to go out later in the afternoon for two reasons.  First, although it was hot, it was not infernal hot.  The smoke in the air is acting as an insulator, keeping the temps down a bit.  And then there is the trail drama!  There is a group of hikers here that seem to feel a bit entitled.  When one of them had to wait an ungodly 15 minutes for his milkshake (bear in mind that there are three people working the entire restaurant - one cooking, one waiting and one washing dishes), he created a bit of a scene.  I was a mere bystander for all of this, but it did act as an incentive to carry on rather than hanging with this group at the camping area.

At around 4 pm we started heaving on the packs and trudging out to the trail. The climb out of the valley is 4500 feet and I got in 2700 of those feet before finding a suitable camp site. The rest of the climb should be easy to finish in the morning. Then it will be off to the Oregon border and Ashland where I have to figure out what is best for me on this PCT thing.

Smoky views

Home for the night

Day 70 August 3, 2017

Daily mileage 28
Total mileage 1277
Hiked from 5:45 am to 7:15 pm

Stunningly beautiful in the morning and kind of mundane in the afternoon.

After I was all settled into my tent last night I realized that my sleeping pad was going flat at a rapid rate. How convenient that I am camped right by a lake. So I got up and tested for leaks and found the culprit right away. It took two attempts but I did get the leak patched. It is the little victories that count!

I also ended up sharing the campsite with a really nice couple named Zebra and Skittles (if you have been paying close attention, you will know this is the second Skittles I have gotten to know on the trail). I ended up leapfrogging with them for the next few days. Super nice young couple from Northern California.

Zebra and Skittles taken a few days later in Medford

I was away at almost first light. The smoke in the sky that has been in the area for a couple of days made for a spectacular sun rise. The hiking in the morning was really beautiful. I was above the treeline and the vistas were great. After a while, the feature that this area is named after came into view. Marble Mountain is this beacon of white surrounded by all the other grey mountains. After getting up to the base of the mountain though, I am pretty sure it should have been called Limestone Mountain.

Smokey sunrise

There are forest fires behind and ahead of me but I am still hiking through snow patches. That is the PCT 2017 in a nutshell!

The lake with the most intriguing name: Man Eaten Lake

Marble Mountain

Random cabin in the woods

At times on the trail today we almost needed traffic control measures. I ran into three different Boy Scout Troupes, a long procession of CCC  (California Conservation Corps?) workers out doing trail maintenance. Throw in a few Sobo section hikers and dayhikers and you had a very busy trail.

I stopped at the horribly named Paradise Lake for lunch and Dutch came up the trail. I had met him way back near the beginning of the trail and got to know him and his hiking buddies around Hikertown. I ended up hiking with him the rest of the afternoon. He did the Sierra and has now caught up with me. Nice to see a familiar face from the first part of my hike. Zebra and Skittles also joined us for the prolonged break.

The hills are alive....

"Paradise" Lake

The afternoon took us down a long ways in elevation and through several old burn areas. It was ok but I prefer the vistas up in the subalpine.

I hiked most of the afternoon with Dutch.  That is rare for me as I usually hike alone.  But along the way, we had some really great conversations which definitely helped melt the miles away.  We, at one point or another, noted that the trail is a great equalizer when it comes to making friends.  And we were proof of that.  Here I am, a 61 year old from Western Canada having simply a great time chatting with a 21 year old from Mississippi.  Dutch did a very nice job of capturing that conversation on a video of his later (he gives me far more credit for the discussion as it was both of us talking about it).

There are 6 of us camped here tonight  (Zebra, Skittles, Radio, Dutch, someone I do not know and myself). The plan is to get going as early as possible to beat the heat on the remaining miles into Seiad Valley.  No picture of the campsite tonight as the mosquitoes are savage.   

Day 69 August 2, 2017

Daily mileage 15
Total mileage 1249 (2000 Km's done!)
Hiked from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm

A nice days hike that ended with a killer campsite.

One thing that I forgot to mention about yesterday is that whenever Veins and I would see each other on the walk into Etna, we would remind each other that all this walking was worth it because there is a brew pub in town with a reputatation for great beer. So we get to town all geared up for this beer and good food experience only to find out they close on Tuesdays. So instead we ended up at a diner eating meh pasta. Sometimes the trail gives, sometimes she takes away.

So this morning was reminiscent of most town mornings. Try to sleep in but fail. Have a breakfast that someone else cooks. I went to a local bakery that served great quality but low quantity. Do your food shop. Ray's Market was amazing. They have truly figured out that there is a market to be had in PCT hikers. Then pack up and go.

Downtown Etna

I got a hitch with the third vehicle (another pick up truck) and was back to my trail by midmorning. For once there was no massive climb out of town. As a matter of fact the whole hike today was pretty mellow. Which was good bcause it was stupid hot.

Not far from the start today there was a trail register. I had lots of time so I leafed back through it to see any familiar names. And then it hit me that there just were not a ton of names period. I mean, maybe there were 400 or so but that just does not seem to be many hikers.

The snow and stream crossings in the Sierra basically broke the hikers into four groups this year. Those fearless few who went straight through. I would guess maybe half of them have passed this point. Then there are those like me who skipped ahead. Most of us should be at or past this area because I went home for three weeks while most everyone else kept hiking. Another group flipped ahead generally to Ashland and hiked south. They should all be past this point because I am only about 100 miles from Ashland. And finally there were those who went home and stayed there.

So you can see my math in saying that only 400 hikers signing that registry is shockingly low. Particularly when you realize that over 3300 PCT permits were issued this year.

But enough about all that. From Etna to my next "town" at Seiad Valley, it is only 58 miles. So today I could back off the mileage and still be able to make it there in the cool part of the morning on Friday (there is a long road walk into town which will be very hot). So when I saw this little lake (Fisher Lake) with a campsite at 15 miles for the day on my map, I figured that would be my target.

And a good target it was. It is just a beautiful little spot and so far I have all to myself. I did not go for a swim but I did dangle my legs in and get cleaned up. Then I just sat there for an hour soaking my feet and watching salamanders.

That is how close the PCT got to a forest fire

Fisher Lake

Of all the critters I have seen on the PCT, salamanders and chipmunks have to be the most polar opposites. Let me explain. When you see a chipmunk heading up the trail before it sees you, it is always running at full speed. When it sees you, it locks up all four brakes  (the little puff of dust always makes me chuckle) and tears off down the trail at the same speed. They simply do not know how to walk! Then there are salamanders. They lead life going at a very relaxed pace with no apparent concerns in the world. K, maybe I have too much time to think out here!

All in all, a very relaxing and good day.

Home for the night

Day 68 August 1, 2017

Daily mileage 23
Total mileage 1234
Hiked from 5:30 am to 4:00 pm

Town Day!

At 23 miles to hike, that was the longest run into town that I have done yet. And what looked like easy hiking on the maps and profiles was actually quite arduous.

Both Veins and I were away at first light. The first few miles were easy and we crushed them. But then we entered the Russian Wilderness and everything just seemed to get more difficult. It did not help that the day was hot and we were in a burn area for a long while. But it was also very beautiful so there was that.

Goodbye Trinity Alps, hello Russian Wilderness

John (Veins) from North Carolina. He has been my Southern Redneck hiking buddy this week

Russian Wilderness beauty

If you look carefully you can see the PCT climbing up through the old burn area 

Our relentless pursuit of the highway to town was abruptly interrupted (or at least it was for me) when the trail came within a few yards of Paynes Lake. It was far too hot and the lake was far too inviting, so in I went. It was a wonderful break.

Paynes Lake, my private swimming hole

Another lake that was too far off trail to investigate 

Then it was back to the charge to the trailhead. When I got there, Veins was just getting into a pick up truck. I raced over and was rewarded with a ride to town.

Once we had completed the very narrow, winding roads (complete with a civilized discussion about President Uknowwho), I got dropped off at the town's main motel. Sold out. Drat.

So I wandered off to a small hotel, the Collier House and got a huge room/suite for the night. No air conditioning, but still superior to Big Agnes.

I had dinner with Veins at an ok little diner and then called it a night.

Day 67 July 31, 2017

Daily mileage 29
Total mileage 1211
Hiked from 5:30 am to 6:30 pm

(Yes, I know that the video is backwards with the afternoon report before the morning report. Get over it!)

That was an excellent day of hiking but I sure wish the trail would stop going south.

For as much as my sleep the night before was horrid, last night I slept like the dead. This despite the rather loud couple sharing the site. OK, I might have been petty and broken camp rather loudly early this morning.

The morning was quite smoky, apparently from a fire to the south of us. As a result, the views from the trail were diminished. Bit it was still beautiful.

I believe this is a species of carnivorous plants specific to this area. It is called California Pitcherplant and they trap and digest insects 

Typical trail

If an area is called Trinity Alps it had better be stunning. It was.

Towards the end of the morning, the trail crossed Hwy 3. Now this highway is rather remote where the trail crosses it, so I did not have any hopes for trail magic. And that always makes for the best trail magic!

Trail magic!

Trapper, who thru hiked in 2015 was set up with everything that a hiker desires but does not carry. Beer, sodas, sandwich stuff, cookies and chairs. Glorious, glorious chairs. I hung around there for about an hour before getting back to the business of hiking.

The next section started out with two modest hills totaling about 1800 feet. It must have been the beer and mint Oreos that gave me an abundance of energy for those lumps.

Part way up the first hill there was a sign saying the trail was entering the Trinity Alps area. Now, if you are going to give an area a rather grandiose name like that, the scenery had better be special. Well, it was. Short of the bit of the Sierra that I saw, it was the nicest scenery on the trail so far.

One complaint that I do have from today is the about half of the day was spent walking South. Away from Canada. Is that not a little bit counterproductive?

I am camped with Veins again tonight and we plan to make short work of the remaining 23 miles to the trailhead leading to Etna tomorrow.

Home.for the night