Bye Bye California, Hello Oregon! – PCT 2017: A Hiking Story [38]
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Part 37 ‘Sky High Lakes & Grider Creek’
Day 114 (02/08) – Seiad Valley
Rex, Bubbles and I had a 6-mile road stretch to reach the small town of Seiad Valley (pop. 350), and we knew it would suck! We found happiness and joy in picking blackberries along the way, feasting on all their tasty goodness.
The fact that we only needed to get across the Klamath River to the other side of Seiad Valley was a tease. It was to be 4 miles of road walking along Grider Road, before reaching Klamath River Highway, and the bridge over the river.
Once reaching Seiad Valley, we entered the famous café and ordered breakfast. It was endless coffee, French toast, and pancakes for me! There were about 10 hikers there, most I hadn’t met before. We resupplied food in the store, where I spent $77US on a tiny basket of items – it was a small town after all. I talked to an old guy called Barry (not a hiker), and we discussed the burns in the area, Australia and several other things – nice guy ol’ Bazza!
I then joined Rex and Bubbles by the creek, where it was significantly cooler. Rex and I discussed the future of our hike to the Canada border. I had a deadline due to my visa, and she only wanted to do short miles and liked the idea of hiking solo, as she hasn’t had that opportunity yet. We agreed to part ways – even if only temporarily until she did bigger miles. I really wanted to cross the Canadian border with her though… who knows! It was evident though that things had changed between us a little since our trail relationship.
The temperature grew intense at 114℉ (around 40℃) being part of a heat wave. We had to chill out by the stream in the shade near the café. I decided to head off when my phone finished downloading some podcasts. A lot of people were doing an alternate road walk along Seiad Creek Road to bypass a hot, exposed waterless stretch of the PCT. It had a lot of shade, and one awesome waterhole to swim in. I took advantage of this – definitely worth it!
I was about two-thirds the way up when a truck rolled past with another hiker asking if I wanted a lift. Taking him up on it, we were dropped off a few miles later. I decided to camp there along with Snickers, the other Hiker in the truck. He was a 63-year-old Australian, but living in the states. He had done the PCT before and was only section hiking this year.
Distance hiked: 14 miles
Total PCT hiked: 1668 miles
Day 115 (03/08) – Crossing the California – Oregon Border
At least I could get back into my 4:30am starts now that I was alone again. It turns out most hikers either prefer early morning starts, or late night finishes – but not both! I was certainly a morning person, that much I knew.
It was a fairly standard, uneventful day of hiking, which was a good thing in short doses. I listened to, interchangeably, my audiobook series ‘Expeditionary Force’, and a podcast that I was hooked on called ‘Sh!t Town’.
The highlight of the day was definitely reaching the border to the state of Oregon. I had spent 4 months in California, and was happy about entering a new state. Although the trail here is still following the mountains, it’s far flatter overall compared to the previous section and the future in Washington.
I camped a few miles past the border at a super refreshing cold spring at Sheep Camp Spring.
Distance hiked: 26 miles
Total PCT hiked: 1693 miles
Day 116 (04/08) – Ashland
I hiked out very early, intending to arrive in the town of Ashland at a reasonable hour. It was an easy hike, except the bugs were in full force. It was the first time I needed my bug net over my head to stop the blasted ‘eye fly fuckers‘ (gnats) from loitering and landing in front of, or on my face. The mosquitos were also a pain!
There was a simple, but nice trail magic location, consisting of a cooler with cans of soda and some chairs on which I chilled out on. A cheeky little chipmunk got a reward of a piece of Frito (chip) for being cute.
During the hike, I met a family of day hikers, who treated me as if I were a celebrity. We had selfies, etc, and talked about my trip. It was another of those weird moments I’ve had before, where people make it out like you’re on a crazy adventure. I think being Australian added to it all, haha. As they were endlessly talking to me, all I was thinking about was milkshakes and burgers, like Homer Simpsons, and just nodding, saying ‘yep‘ and answering questions without much thought – totally off in another mindset!
I arrived at a place called Callahan’s Lodge and received a free PCT hiker beer. I was about to order food when I saw the prices – I’ll just wait until I got to Ashland I think. Leaving there and getting to the road again to hitch – I was immediately picked up by a guy dropping off his wife on the PCT. How convenient!
I discovered it was the day of the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and accommodation was basically booked out. I tried to contact two trail angels in the area, one declining but the other accepting – saying there were already three hikers staying there on her deck, but there was room for another. Her name was Becky, and she was very forthcoming and generous!
I was fortunate to finally change out my shoes. I hadn’t had a new pair since mile 700 – lasting all the Sierra snow mountaineering and northern California for around 900 miles!
I met the other guys there – Granddaddy Longlegs, El Tigre and Quill. We all went to grab pizza shortly after. At the pizza place, I also met Wolf and Sweet Spot, and the three of us went to a brewery for some beers before they headed out back to the trail.
Distance hiked: 23 miles
Total PCT hiked: 1716 miles
Next Post:
Part 39 ‘Rollin’ Along the Meadows to Lake Hyatt’
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