Day 3 - Campsite 1687 - 10.2 miles

Amazingly enough I slept good last night. I generally don’t wear my daytime/hiking clothes to sleep in but it had been so cold yesterday I didn’t sweat at all during the day. So I felt I could give it a try.  Wearing every stitch of clothing I have worked well and I slept warmer than I had the night before. I was thinking my shoes would be frozen in the morning but no! So I guess it didn’t get too cold. Imagine my surprise and joy when this was my view through my tarp. 

Sun! Woohoo! I took down my tarp and stuffed all my gear in my pack, thinking I would get somewhere in the sun and at water. I felt very disorganized and thought I was missing some stuff. Plus I wanted to dry out my sleep gear as it had gotten damp over the last two nights. So I walked a mile to Sheep Spring and did a pack explosion. 

It turns out I hadn’t lost stuff I just didn’t know where it was. I’m now organized. Well, organized enough. The spring was a gusher and very, very cold. Yummm.

I’m going to introduce someone here I actually met back at Callahan’s Resort. He and his wife were chatting with the singer in the restaurant and I heard them mention they had just finished a section of the PCT in Oregon but that he was hiking the PCT south from there. His trail name is JD Underhill and hers is Spa. That’s the back story but coming up to today I saw someone walking towards me and it was JD. He had started a day after me but had covered the same distance in one day. Damn. Anywoo  here he is!

We ended up hiking most of the rest of the day together, which was fun for me. He is a geneticist by trade and has his own bio-tech company. It was fascinating to hear him talk about his work. 

After yesterday it was so novel to be able to see in the distance. The flowers got a bit beat down yesterday, with frost bowing them over, but the views!

If you look closely you can see Shasta in the distance. 

One fun thing was crossing over the Oregon/California border. There is a trail register that folks can sign and there are ample opportunities for photos. Here are two. 

I kept up with JD till afternoon but I started to fade. My legs were calling out for me to stop. I last saw JD at Bearground Spring. He was headed out for another 6-7 miles but I was stopping at an unnamed campsite just a bit further on. We may reconnect in Seiad Valley, which would be fun. 

So I found a good hang site and had my dinner of spaghetti. I am at 6,207’ tonight so it could be cold. We will see. At any rate I have more confidence I can figure it out and stay warm. Today was a beautiful day. 

Day 2 - Creek at mile 1697.2.

Oh my. What a day. First off I didn’t get great sleep last night. My sleeping system is set for mid 40’s but not really below that. The under quilt I use works fine for those temps but that’s not what happened. I did get some sleep and as long as I didn’t move around much I could keep the warmth thing working. It was probably in the high 30’s last night. Bummer. 

Now you may think I didn’t check the long range forecasts for the first 10 days but no, I did check in the areas near the towns I’d be near. That was the best I could do. Ashland had sunny days for a week. But nope that isn’t what happened. Oddly I checked again in the middle of the night and this is what I saw. 

Yikes! And this is what I woke up to. 

Ok so it’s a bit socked in. It didn’t look like rain yet so I slowly got myself together and left the shelter of the shelter. Here is something I learned today. Anything with the word Gap in it is gonna be windy. Walking back to the PCT I got the full impact of the wind coming through Grouse Gap. This is how I was attired. 

I turned left and got into some trees which was better but the wind was still swirling and the fog was cold and damp. I put on my poncho for protection and warmth and trudged on. Looking ahead I could see another Gap ahead, Siskiyou Gap. I could see on my maps that from that point the trail took a windward march around to the next gap, Wrangle Gap. I could also see that there was fire service road #20 that took the leeward route around and joined up with the trail at  Wrangle Gap. 

I debated back and forth... should I take the alternate, even though it wasn’t the PCT or should I just brave the wind and stick to the trail. I stopped just before the junction for 20 minutes to eat a quick lunch and told myself I’d wait to see how it was when I got there. This is what the trees looked like in the wind. 

I figured I’d end up much the same if I took the PCT so I took the FS road instead. Am I glad I  did. When I turned back towards the spot where the trail intersects again, the trees were covered in ice. I could have been that icy, but I opted for safety over purity. I’m good with that. 

I walked a couple more miles till I got to this creek and decided to call it a day. I rummaged around till I found a spot to hang my hammock and put up the tarp, just as snow flurries started. Damn. It looks like it’s gonna be a cold one tonight. 

I did call home this morning and Angela is sending me another under quilt I can pick up in Seiad Valley in four more days. Until then it’s gonna be an adventure in trying to stay warm at night. Nothing dangerous mind you, just not as warm as I’d prefer. 

Day 1 - Grouse Gap Shelter. Mile 1708.2

My friend Aggie came to visit yesterday and we had a great time. There is nothing like friends from way back... in this case since the 80’s. After a great dinner of ribs we headed off to bed, mindful of an early start. This morning at 8 am, way earlier than I'm sure she wanted to be up and about, she drove me to the trailhead... PCT heading south. Bye Aggie!

It’s always a bit of a shock to put a full pack on for the first time in a season. In this case six days of food, 2.5 liters of water and gear. I think I was probably up at 28 pounds, which is a lot for me. But it doesn’t matter. Food and water are quickly consumed and by the end of today I’d eaten through one day of food. That much lighter!

Today was quite cool and while I did work up a sweat on the climb up from old highway 99, I was rarely hot.  The first bit took me up so I could get a clear view of Mt Shasta. This is looking from the north. When I finish this trip I’ll be seeing Shasta from the south, looking north. Imagine that. 

The trail traversed hills just above roads most of the day, forest service roads mostly. It is odd to be walking along in what looks like the wilderness and see cars blasting by below. It isn’t unpleasant, just strange. 

While I’m early for tons of wild flowers there were a few. 

I finally walked long enough to get 10.5 miles in and when I reached Grouse Gap, about 3 pm, I decided to head downhill off the trail to an old campground with an old shelter. Cleverly called Grouse Gap Shelter. I’m glad I did as the afternoon was getting windy and colder, with ominous clouds covering the sun. I have myself tucked in here as well as possible, mostly out of the wind.

When I checked the long term weather forecast before I left it was for clear and sunny skies, but it sure doesn’t look that way right now. Glad to be tucked into bed and warm. Hope this is just a fluke and tomorrow will be warmer. 

Days Later

I’ve been away from home for two days now, having left on Sunday for an adventure in San Francisco. Thanks to generous friends, Angela, Beth and I got to see the musical “The Color Purple.” The acting and singing were top notch but I have to say with my hearing I didn’t always get the lyrics. No matter since I got the gist of it. 

Then it was back to Beth’s house around 7pm where I picked up my van and headed north. I knew I wouldn’t get too far but since I have a sleeping setup in my van I can stop pretty much wherever I feel the need. This time I stopped in Corning, CA (is this where the make the ware?) at a very, very nice roadside rest area. Brand new I’d say and everything was spotless, the auto park area was away from the freeway and the lights weren’t shining inside the van...too badly. 

I left there at 4:30am, having slept 3-4 hours, and continued on north. I stopped just before 6 am at Penny’s Diner in Dunsmuir. 

Fortified I continued on to Weed, CA where I stopped by the airport for another snooze. Good thing I’m not in a hurry. 

I arrived in Ashland, OR way too early to check into my room at Callahan’s Resort but I met my cousin Renie and her friend Diana at the restaurant for lunch. Renie lives in Belize now but lived in this part of the world for decades before moving away for her jungle adventure.  Unfortunately she found out she had breast cancer so she had to return to the US for her double mastectomy surgery. Recovering nicely now she is still full of life and wonder...the same ole Renie, just minus “the girls.”  (BTW, if you want to check out Renie’s blog it can be found at naturejournaling.blogspot.com. She is an incredible artist and observer of nature.)

Today I am going to pick up a few of the last minute things I need before leaving tomorrow morning. Just a few more snacks to get myself through the first 6 day section.  

My friend Aggie will be driving down from Eugene this afternoon for a visit and overnight here at Callahan’s so I want to be done with final prep before she arrives. I’m finally gonna get on the trail again. Seems like forever.