I did it! I hiked from one end of California to the other! Before I left, that didn’t seem like such a big accomplishment. After all, it’s not doing the whole PCT, it’s not stepping from Mexico to Canada. But, now that I’ve done it, jeez, I know that it’s a HUGE accomplishment and something I’m very proud to have done. 1,700 miles, hundreds of ridges, valleys and streams, dozens of passes and milestones crossed, many cities and towns,… It’s been a long, challenging (hard!), and superb walk crossing my home state. Would I do it again? HECK YEAH! But not before I get to walk across some newer pastures.

I’m currently in Ashland, Oregon. My wonderful parents drove hours and hours to see me and support me up here. Today, I took my first zero since Tahoe City with them. It consisted entirely of resupplying for the rest of the trip. I’ll be mailing out seven packages from here for the rest of Oregon and Washington. Before I started, I was pretty enthusiastic about “buying as I went”. Now however, I appreciate the convenience of not having to play the stressful resupply game every few days. I’m looking forward to just opening boxes packed with good provisions and dumping it in my pack. No need to hitchhike 30 miles to buy food off dusty shelves at a tiny country store. I’m excited. Yesterday, I pulled in to town midday and sat in the laundromat. Washing a sleeping bag takes a long time, so I used it as a sort of “relaxation nero”. Ashland is a nice town. Expensive but not overly burdening when you have parents paying for everything  I like the hippy/liberal atmosphere. I’ve been asked twice so far if I was attending a rainbow family gathering. I fit right in with my unkempt beard and hair. Lots of hikers in town too. Town’s big enough that we don’t dominate like we do over some of the smaller places we’ve recently been.

Did the closure area solo. No problems in my case. Saw no rangers and only one other thruhiker. Whatever major fires there were nearby didn’t show themselves. Only saw a couple of small, contained, spot fires and the smoke was a non-issue. I didn’t know that the section in to Seiad Valley ends with a road walk so I was a little surprised when I had to hike official PCT miles on such a long stretch of pavement. At least the crop of blackberries were good!

Pulled in to Seiad Valley alone. Ate a grilled cheese at the cafe, resupplied marginally, then chatted with the locals. I really should have pulled out and done the 4500 foot climb out of there as it wasn’t hot and it was only 2pm. Instead, I decided to end the day at the 18 miles I had already done and go watch TV at the trailer park. Cost was $7 which seemed reasonable for a day spent watching TV and a bathroom accessible dirt patch to sleep on. But when 16 other hikers showed up and we each ponied up $7, I got a little miffed at how much we were paying for the amenities received. I suggest that future hikers ask around town about places to stay. There seems to be plenty of land you can just crash on (maybe by the dredgings?) and lots of very friendly people who might let you tent on their land. Anyways, 16 people!! Holy cow that’s a lot of hikers together in one spot for so far up north. Everyone had taken the bus around the Marbles and it had bunched us up. I met a decent number of people that i’d never even met before. Strange how thruhiking works.

Left the park earlier than most and stayed in front of the pack all the way in to Ashland. Hiking alone again is nice although I do miss Pepi’s (and Pouch’s) company. Alone though I’ve been doing more miles, more easily and enjoyably and I’ve been noticing nature more. I had been feeling like I wasn’t connected at all with my surroundings. Always staring at the ground, pounding away the miles and at breaks chatting with friends. Alone I’ve been noticing the beauty of the area more closely, including having more wildlife and wildflower encounters. I guess nature is my companion. I’m not one of those hikers that gets bored or anxious often when alone. I didn’t even spend much of the past few days alone. I hiked near Leprechaun (a fun new guy I only recently met). It was nice to have someone else around to celebrate the California/Oregon border with. Just before the crossing I passed some off roaders with a cooler and I scored some ice cold celebration beers off them. Very nice!

Ok, not much else to report, probably because I’m very tired. I hear there are two more closures due to wildfires in Oregon alone. One is in Crater Lake and isn’t a concern (just the equestrian PCT) but the other is closing off pretty much an entire section from Mckenzie to Santiam Pass (I think). That’ll be a bummer if it’s closed when I get there. I’ll deal with it if I have to. Not sure that i’d be inclined to enter a closed area again though. It’s a stressful and truthfully stupid thing to do.

Aiming to be done with Oregon by the end of the month. I can’t quite get those words to register myself. If I do that, I’ll have a whole month to do Washington.

One step at a time.

 

The hike is going well. I’ve been doing big miles for the past few weeks without stopping much. Thruhiking really involves a TON of walking! I walk 12-14 hours a day. Every day. I’m in Etna, almost to Oregon, and am a little pressed for time. It’s late in the season but I’m still towards the front. Just crazy to think that I’m going to have to hike all of OR and WA in a month and a half! Sadly, I’m going to skip the next section because the Marble Mountains are closed due to wildfires. It’s only 55 miles and some people are going through illegally but I’ll take a the shuttle around it and hopefully come back at a later date.

We’ve had our first bad weather of the trip really this week. Some sweet thunderstorms through Trinity and Russian Wilderness. The black clouds gave us rain and pea sized hail off and on for two days. The thunderclaps are enjoyable to me but the associated lightning bolts can be a little scary. Mostly the struck ridges 3-6 miles from us but at least one strike likely hit our ridge. Damn was that scary to have a super bright flash and a ear shattering clap at the same time! When the storm cleared we saw at least two new lightning caused fires nearby. The closer one was an interesting sight. A single tree alight like a torch. Got a good test of my super-ultralight, weight wennie, minimalist gear because of the weather. I had honestly thought that I wouldn’t even use my new poncho/tarp hybrid because it wouldn’t rain in Norcal and OR. Well it did, and it worked. Sure, my hiking friends kidded that I looked like a jelly fish, walking with my tent as my rain gear. They also eagerly checked on me after a night of hail to see if I was wet (I was as dry as they were). While I wouldn’t want to use it for days-on-end continuous rain, I’ll keep my ultralight setup for a while longer hoping that it rains no more.

I’m going to start hiking solo again. It’s kind of a strange thing to be doing at this point it seems. Either, hikers are grouped up and will likely remain so, or they’re very much solo at this point. We’ve been on the trail for so long that most people have fallen in to their niches. I’m in need of some shifting though. Pepi and I have not had a fight or any major tiffs. Sometimes she wants to hike harder to get in to town faster than I’d choose but I can compromise on that mostly, especially because we hike at close paces and need to be doing roughly the same mileage. I’m just really ready to be doing exactly what I want to do, whenever I want to do it. No compromises. No one to satisfy but myself. I’m also eager to see if I can still handle solitude and solo hiking after being with someone else twenty four hours a day for almost two months. We’ve hiked nearly a thousand miles together! Maybe all I need is a week off and then will be ready to hike with friends again?

I’m giving myself my first zero day since Tahoe today. All that I have to do is buy food and get my ass over to Seiad Valley. I’ll also take two zeros with my parents in Ashland, mailing boxes and eating good food. Then, it’s off hiking again! In Etna, I’m staying with about eight other hikers at the Campus California Training Group. It’s a training facility for AIDS educators going to Africa. It’s great! Nice to be in a place that cares about recycling, consumption reduction and all of those good things. Had a super great hitch in to town too. The first car that passed us couldn’t give us a ride but he flagged down the second car for us. They had been sleeping in the forest and had gotten wet in the same storm we had so they were going in to town with a truck bed full of bedding. So I got a ride to town while lying on comforters in someone’s pickup. Very nice. EDIT: All that was said about taking a zero and skipping a section is changing. I’m headed out now. Solo. Hopefully, no angry rangers read this! Please, i’m a nice boy. Really.

 

Here I am clicking away at a computer in Old Station, CA. I’m resting up for a few more hours at a fabulous trail angel’s house. Again, everything one could need it provided for. Thru-hiking is the life!

Recently, I’ve hit quite a few mile stones. Hit my third month on the trail a few days ago. That was just after passing the half way point. I also finished the Sierra and entered the Casacades. All is good in hiking life. I’m doing about 25 miles a day and am still having fun. The miles are getting easier as we’re hitting long stretches without much elevation gain or loss. The heat wave that engulfed the state has come and gone. It’s now quite pleasant out which is a huge relief after the few blistering hot days we had about a week ago. It was far hotter than most of Southern California had been. Hopefully another thing that will make miles easier is a reduction in packweight. I’ve switched today to a frameless pack and a poncho/shelter combo. Pack weight is down to about ten pounds! Just got a email from my parents that I will indeed have new shoes in a few days. Another huge relief as the shoes that I’ve been wearing since only Tahoe City are too small. They were killing my feet until a friend gave me thinner socks.

In Sierra City, much of the “pack” grouped up again. Many of us met up to celebrate Nemo’s birthday. It was a great time seeing a large group of hikers together in the same spot. I left there though in front of most people and it’s stayed that way since. I’ve been seeing only a few other hikers at most per day and many of them I haven’t met yet. I’m at a point where I’m catching up to people who have always been in front of me and at the same time am being caught up to by people from behind who are pushing big miles. New people!

Other recent events include going in to Chester for the afternoon for a few martinis to celebrate the half way point. Got a great hitch out of town from a woman who brought Pepi and I to her house for showers.

Walked through Lassen Volcanic NP in what totaled a single day (split by a night).

Been seeing lots of Poison Oak rub against my legs and poles. Any time we’re low enough for it, it’s everywhere.

Did my first 30 mile day. It just envolves hiking more hours. Not really that hard compared with 25 mi. but I’m going to try not to do too many of them. At least not until Oregon where the hiking is rumored to be very easy.

Time to hit the trail!

Oh, and check out the other picture of Pepi and I grubbing on some trail magic sandwhiches at potatoe salad that was left beside the trail. mmmmm!