Friday, August 17, 2018 - Final Full Day on the Trail

24.6 miles - Total to date - 620.8 miles

Ascent - 4324’ , Descent - 4578’  - Tent Site at mile (1676.8) to Tent site at mile (1701.4)

I had my campsite to myself last night. The magnetic pull of a trail town, in this case Ashland, Oregon has everyone putting on extra miles to get there. I was camped 42 miles from town which is too far for even the most ambitious hiker to do in a day. Everyone camped closer to town, generally within 35 miles, an achievable distance of one really goes for it. Also, everyone near me on the trail is racing the calendar to get to Canada before about September 20. They know an early winter storm could end their trip and keep them from completing just as they approach the finish line. 

I woke up at 4:30 am this morning to the strong smell of smoke. In my half sleep, I imagined too much light outside my tent. Could a forest fire have started overnight and be threatening?  I climbed out of the tent and verified there was no cause for alarm then crawled back in and slept until my alarm woke me at 5:00 am.  

The California/Oregon border was just twelve miles away. In 12 miles I will have hiked the entire length of California. 1706 miles. I know I did it, but it seems impossible that taking one step at a time that monstrous distance can be conquered. As I hiked, I thought back about all the places I had seen, the border wall at Campo, Mt. Laguna, Warner Springs, San Jacinto, Hiker Heaven, Casa de Luna, Hiker Town, Tehachapi, Kennedy Meadows, the magnificent Sierra, South Lake Tahoe, Sierra City, Crazy Belden, Old Station, Burney Falls, Dunsmuir, Seiad Valley and now the Oregon Border!  And the people!! The kids I encounter daily and those wonderful trail angels. The accepting businesses that put up with dirty, filthy, stinking customers plying their stores and restaurants. This is such a great adventure!!  Yet, on the face of it, it is grueling. To do 20 miles a day requires 10 hours of walking. 6:00 am to 4:00 pm, averaging two miles an hour. If you stop to rest, eat, talk, adjust equipment, get water, etc. that time blossoms into 12 to 14 hours. When water is short and dictates a longer distance day, the pace must increase along with the hours. 

The kids on the trail are amazing!! Bright eyed, loving life and adventure. They are animated and so very much alive. Every town is an adventure, every hitch hike a thrill. Food is all about calories, not nutrition. Honey buns, bags of chips, cookies, Little Debbie snacks. Low calorie veggies can wait until October. They have miles to cover and need calories to burn. 

Trail families form. Six to ten people hike together because they have the same pace and goals. They visit trail towns together and share rooms, sometimes all 10 in one. They eat out at restaurants together, laughing uproariously inspired by their freedom, friends and shared adventures. It is so fun to watch. They are infectious. Life is GOOD. 

There is no age discrimination on the trail. At 64, I am one of the oldest, (3 times most of their ages) yet the “kids” treat me like one of the group. We hike together, camp together and eat out together. It is wonderful to be surrounded by people who are excited about life. 

I stopped after four miles at Alex Spring to replenish my water bottles. Hoover and two others I had not met were packing up camp. I scrambled down of the ridge to the spring and filled my water bottles. It is a good thing I am going out tomorrow. My water filter is very slow filtering, even after backwashing it. Also, the bags I fill with the contaminated water and then squeeze to force the water through the filter have all developed leaks making it near impossible to filter water. 

Around 10:30 am I reached the California/Oregon border. How cool!  I was so excited. I had just completed walking the entire length of California!! Amazing! Exciting! Incomprehensible!  I took pictures of me with the various signs to mark the occasion. I signed the trail register “Coach and 1st Class” as I have every register. She may not be here in body, but  I feel her with me every step of the way. 

Reaching the border does not mean I am done. It is still 28 miles to I-5. With 12 done, I hoped to do at least another 12 to get me close enough to finish up by tomorrow afternoon. I continued on the trail. I switched my Guthook app to Oregon from Northern California. I found the data for the waypoints was. Or correct. Somehow  it got corrupted in the downloading. I can tell where I am on the trail, but distances to and from landmarks are way off. If I had cell signal I could download Oregon again and it would probably be correct, but I have not had cell signal for 3 full days. I check about every 15 to 30 minutes. No cell coverage.

I was stopped to eat second breakfast or first lunch and some Sobo hikers stopped to talk. They welcomed me to Oregon and wished them well in California. As we were finishing up, Huck and Dimps come hiking up. I thought they were miles ahead. They had planned to hike to the border last night, but they told me they were so pooped that they stopped 4 miles short and camped, then got up this morning and walked to a ramshackle cabin a mile from the border and hung out there for a few hours hoping to catch Road Runner so they could all cross the border together. Somehow she snuck by and they missed her. 

I hiked with them for about an hour. The trail was slightly downhill, making it possible for me to keep up with them. Our Sobo hikers said there was trail magic about ten miles ahead. This inspired quick walking, but it was too far for me today. I had already done 18 at this point. 28 was within my range, but not at the speeds these two hiked at. I'd have to hope they replenished the magic tomorrow. I stopped at a spring 14 miles from I-5, 24.5 for the day. That's enough for me. 

Thursday, August 16, 2018 - A Second Early Day

23.4 miles - Total to date - 596.2 miles

Ascent - 7705’ , Descent - 2858’  - Seiad Valley (1653.4) To tentsite at mile (1676.8)

I finally fell asleep about midnight last night. I woke at two, but went back to sleep. At 3:00 am I saw Dimps moving about by headlamp. I feel back asleep.  At 3:30 am Dimps woke me up to say he and Huck were heading out. I said that was good, because I could not keep up with them on the uphills, which was the first 7 miles of the day. 

I was planning to sleep until 4:00 am, but now that I was awake I figured the half hour would be better spent hiking in the cool darkness than sleeping. I got up, packed, used the restroom and was out on the road by 4:00 am.

For the first mile the trail is highway 96. There was no traffic and I walked in the total darkness with my headlamp off. There was no moon, but the starlight was enough to allow me to see the fog line on the edge of the road. It was so peaceful and serene walking at this time of the morning. Cool. Quiet. Devine. 

I checked Guthook on my phone to see when I was nearing the point where the trail left the road and headed up the hill. I found it, switched on my headlamp and started climbing. The trail made no bones about what its intentions were. It went relentlessly up. At about three miles from the RV Park I passed Top Notch and Road Runner sleeping just inches off the trail. They were both just waking up. I stopped to say hi, then continued on. Top Notch caught up with me about 45 minutes later. 

I caught up with Huck and Dimps about 5.5 miles on.  We chatted for a bit, then they rose to leave. I let them go in front. I cannot match their pace. 

The rest of the morning and afternoon was hiking uphill until we reached the ridge line, then ridge running from then on. There was one 1000’ dip. Here I caught up with the three. There was a spring down a short side trail. I went down and filled up with four liters of water. The trail stays near the top of the ridge and is quite dry. 

By 1:30 pm I had done 20.3 miles. There was a spring at this point and I considered stopping for the day and catching up on my blog, but the bees were thick and the camping was sub standard. The map showed camping three miles further on. It was still early so I refilled my four liters and walked to the next camp spot. It was perfect. I dropped my pack and began setting up my tent when I heard voices just up the trail. I went to investigate and found Huck and Dimps taking a rest in the shade. I talked with them for fifteen minutes, then returned to my camp spot, set up my tent, zipped myself into avoid the hornets and tried to write. I succeeded, although I would occasionally nod off due to my two early mornings. 

Road Runner showed up about 5:00 pm. We had all been wondering where she was as she usually lives up to her name. She said she was not feeling great, but had taken some medicine and was now doing better. She hung around for half an hour cooking some Top Ramen, then left to make another four miles before calling it a day. 

Frankly, I am amazed that I am hiking with the same kids I met a month ago. I thought they would have outdistanced me by now. To my advantage, they often go into a trail town and are slow to return to the trail giving me a chance to catch up. And, I have been doing 20 to 30 mile days which is similar to them, they just walk faster during the day where I start sooner and usually hike longer. Anyway, I am happy to be with them as they are great company and fascinating individuals. I just hope Derek skipped ahead when he rejoined the trail and is not too far behind. I would like to see him again before I leave the trail in two days and head for home. 

Wednesday, August 15, 2018 - Seiad Valley

21.4 miles - Total to date - 572.8 miles

Ascent - 1322’ , Descent - 6080’  - Buckhorn Spring (1632.0) To Seiad Valley (1653.4)

After everyone left last night, I lay in my tent scrutinizing my maps on the Guthook app. I knew I had done roughly 21 miles and I had 21 to go to get to Seiad Valley. It seemed like a great split to me - 21 miles each day. But, as I lay there reading about Seiad Valley I noticed that the cafe and store closed at 2:00 pm. Yikes!  21 miles takes most of the day, so everything would be closed by the time I got to town. Granted, it was downhill for 15 of those 21 miles with 6 miles of nearly level road walking, but still, I needed to be in town by 11:00 am or so to take advantage of the services. To solve the problem, I decided to get up at 4:00 am and be hiking by 4:30 am. Of course, it doesn't get light enough to travel without a headlamp until about 5:40 am meaning I will be in the dark the first hour and ten minutes. 

My alarm was set for 4:00 am, but I awoke at 3:50 am and got up. I ate my granola, packed up and was p

lacing up my boots when a shoe string broke. The Salomon shoes I wear have very tiny diameter laces. They are so specialized that you can't use any kind of cord you might have in your pack to replace them. Luckily, I had purchased replacement laces before the trip. It took a few minutes to put the new laces on and then I was off. Hiking by headlamp in the dark was uneventful except for all the toads I saw on the trail-about 4 of them. I always like hiking in the complete dark and then experiencing the slow coming of the day. I passed a tent on my descent and caught up with Clover and Road Kill at about 7 miles from camp. I was on a roll, “in the flow” as they say, so I went non-stop all the way to town, 21.4 miles. Okay, I stopped once in Grider Creek Campground to use the outhouse (never pass up the chance to sit and poop rather than squatting to poop!).  I arrived in town a few minutes before 11:00 am. Six and a half hours to go 21 miles. I'm proud of that. 

My first stop was the grocery store. I needed some yogurt to enhance the bacterial cultures in my stomach. Anyway, I inhaled my two yogurts and downed a Diet Pepsi straight away. The Post Office didn't open until noon.  I walked to the end of the building the cafe was in and found about 10 PCT hikers hanging out on provided picnic tables near bathrooms. As I walked by the cafe I saw Huck and Dimps and Road Runner seated at a window table for four. I entered and took the fourth seat. I ordered a milkshake and joined the conversation. Road Kill and Clover soon entered and sat at the bar stools. After about an hour in the cafe talking with everyone, I headed outside and over to the post office to get my resupply box. They did not have it. Neither did the store. Who did I mail it to?  I have a Pages document on phone with the addresses, but it was in the cloud and I did not have any service to retrieve it. The cafe had wifi, but so many people were on it I couldn't get on. 

There is an RV Park right next to the Post Office. They charge $15 a night to camp. This includes a towel, soap and shampoo for a shower, access to laundry and a rundown dirty shanty of a room with TV, DVD player and a selection of about 100 movies. 

While in the cafe Huck, Dimps and I discussed options. To get out of Seiad Valley the trail ascend 4500’ in 7 miles on a south facing slope. While sitting in cafe the temp outside was 92°. Climbing the hill in the afternoon was out of the question. We decided to stay at the RV Park, do laundry, take showers, watch movies and get up at 3:30 am and tackle the hill in the cool early morning. I also wanted to lighten my pack. There were about 10 items sitting in the bottom of my pack I was not using-long sleeved shirt, orthotics, mosquito head net, extra water bladders, etc. Also, using trekking poles had aggravated a muscle in my back near my scapula. It was excruciatingly painful. I found if I did not use the poles it got better. I had been carrying my poles for three days. I also had a sun umbrella, rain coat and pants, rain fly for my pack, personal locator beacon, big tube of sunscreen and more. While in the Post Office, I grabbed a prepaid box and while in the laundry room of the RV Park I jettisoned all my unnecessary items. When I took it to the post office to mail it home to myself it weighed 7 pounds!  Wow!  That reduced my pack weight by about 25 percent!!  Laundry and shower completed the afternoon chores. Huck and Dimps entered the “shack” and put on Alfred Hitchcock’s 39 steps. I had other plans. 

Seiad Valley is a very strong anti-government area. They call this area the State of Jefferson and have signs everywhere proclaiming their independence. They hate the federal government and are extremely vocal about it. There is a Forest Service Station directly across the highway from “the store” that is the focus of a lot of hate of the community. They are the visible representation of the Federal government. I decided to go to the Forest Service office and get their take on the community and the fire situation. I walked over and found the office. 

I spent over 45 minutes talking to the supervisor and one of his assistants about a wide range of topics, including fire management, global warming, arson and the attitude of the towns people. They were super nice men. I learned a lots. 

Once back at the RV Park I walked to the store and bought Dinty Moore Beef stew, a bag of carrots and some mini donuts. I and sat in front of the TV, spooned mouthfuls of cold stew directly from the can into my mouth and watched the end of the movie. Huck and I got in a lengthy discussion of music and musicians. Super fun, especially with his three years of training in music. We decided to go back to the store to get popcorn and snacks for a second movie “Forest Gump”. It was now approaching 8:00 pm and I was figuring if we did not start the movie we wouldn't finish before 10:00 pm when the owner kicks everyone out and locks up for the night. 

I was right. We had to leave at 10:00 pm with 10 minutes of the movie left. We moved out into the black. We cowboy camped on the RV Park lawn, setting our alarms for a 3:30 am get up and start. Maybe it was the effect of watching TV, but I didn't fall asleep until nearly midnight. The evening was warm, the crickets were intense and the lawn comfortable. I had hiked over 21 miles early that morning, but I just didn't fall asleep. 

All told, a great trail town day. I really enjoy Huck and Dimps, all the food, my interview of the forest service guys and getting myself and my clothes clean.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018 - Trail Families

20.8 miles - Total to date - 551.4 miles

Ascent - 4409.8’ , Descent - 4128.3’ - Fischer Lake (1611.2) To Buckhorn Spring (1632.0)

Today started out perfect. It was cool and windy.  It was so cool that I needed more than a T-shirt on, but very comfortable hiking. The trail wound up through spectacular meadows and then squeezed thru a narrow pass. It switchbacked down the other side then started to climb again, up an incredibly steep slope, switchbacking a number of times. I looked up trying to figure out where the trail could go. There was rock cliffs to the left and rock cliffs above. Those were the two directions we wanted to go. A couple switchbacks later I saw that the trail picked its way through the rock cliffs. Nice job whoever engineered this trail location. It was spectacular.

As I was traversing I heard footsteps 100’ behind me and turned to see Huck Finn was gaining on me. I had met him yesterday, but only briefly. For the next 6 hours I either walked with Huck or caught him at rest breaks. We got to talk and I found a very nice young man. 

Before I go into details about Huck, let me say something about my rate of hiking. If I am by myself I hike along, slower on the up hills, faster on the downhills, but generally not fast. Just a comfortable pace that can earn me 20 to 30 miles a day. But, if I hike with a kid like Huck or Top Notch or Derek or just about anyone for that matter my pace quickens so I can stay with them to chat. So was the case with Huck this morning. 

Huck is 23, and is a lover of music. He plays guitar and sings, has a band and has been a studio musician in Los Angeles, his home. He attended three years of music school in Hollywood and can site read music. He doesn't like the work as a studio musician, but has found he can make good money transposing music to paper. People send him a file of their playing and he can write out the sheet music from listening. He has two classes left to finish his training. He wants to get a Westy and travel as a musician. I suggested a Sprinter van. Bigger and more reliable. 

Luckily, there was a lot of downhill this morning after the two climbs, so we got to chat for quite a few hours, and at his speed and with the distraction the miles flew by. Top Notch caught up with us (me) on an uphill section. I tried to let him pass, but he said he was content to follow. This allowed me to have an out of breath conversation with him. He said he had a great time in Etna (he zeroed a day and a half-that is why I am not a couple days behind him). He said in Etna he got to spend seven hours in the bar playing the piano! He either has a great repertoire or can site read music. I gave both of them my number and told them to call me from the Goat Rocks. I would meet them at White Pass with hamburgers, pop and beer - and an electric guitar and keyboard. I want to hear these two play!! I mentioned to Clover later in the day when I saw him and he said bring a banjo for him. If this works out, this is going to be Trail Magic for me as much as for them at White Pass. 

This portion of the trail is magnificent. It stays high, between 6000’ and 7000’ running the ridge tops or traversing just below them while the valley floor is 3-4 thousand feet below. This has been the case since we climbed out of Dunsmuir a week ago. The area is called the Trinity Alps. We have passed through three different wilderness areas on the past 130 miles. Soaring peaks, jagged ridges and deep valleys. Also, many many burned areas. Today wasn't too bad, but yesterday over half the day's twenty miles were through scorched forests. 

Seiad Valley was 42 miles from where I camped at Fischer Lake. Tonight it is only 21 miles away. All the kids I hiked with today get town fever and put on the miles to arrive in town early. I am content to do my 20 miles (+/- 5 miles) each day even though it means my “trail family” gets away from me. They are pushing to do 30’s everyday. They feel the pressure to get to Canada by the third week of September. They calculated they must average 21 miles a day to get there by the 21st. If they do thirties, they can squeeze in some zero days. So tonight I camp about 6 to 10 miles behind the pack. I will start hiking at 4:30 am tomorrow morning, by headlamp, for the first hour. This should get me to town in the early afternoon while things are open. 

Tonight I am camped at Buckhorn Spring, a wet place in a meadow with a water seep. Someone put a piece of plastic pipe in the feeble spring flow to make it easier to fill water bottles. This wet area is just like every one we have seen these past weeks-completely a buzz with hornets. Trying to fill water is like standing in a bee hive. If you think of the book 1984, each time I get water it is my Room 101. Tonight I gingerly held my bottle up to the trickling pipe, asking the bees not to sting me. They didn't listen. Somebody stung me on my right hand at the base of my pinky finger. I immediately took Benadryl and Claritin. Hopefully, that will curb the swelling. Another hiker offered to fill my bottle and I accepted, gladly. 

I knew Road Kill and Clover were still behind me. As I lay resting in my tent, pitched about 5 feet from the trail, I peeked out each time I heard a hiker approach. Soon I saw them come into view. I got out and chatted with them for 15 minutes. They got a pot and a quart full of water for me before they left.  Nice people, especially when you consider Clover carries an Epipen for bee stings!

Road Runner, a 23 year old from Australia has a bone in her ankle that slips out of position and pokes out the side of her foot. The ligaments are really loose. Today she applied tape to the outside of her foot to hold the bone in place. Wow!  And then cranked off a thirty mile day. 

Today is Tuesday. I have 90 miles left and this adventure is over. It has gone quick, yet seems like a long time. I should be at I-5 above Ashland on Sunday at a hiker stop called Callahan’s. Then to Medford for a greyhound bus trip to Centralia. 

The trail passes by an outcrop of white marble in Marble Wilderness Area

Running the ridge top

That is not a tan. After 21 miles the dirt gets pretty thick. No water available to clean up with so it is to bed like this. The blister is a new addition in the past few days due to trying new insoles in my shoes. Bad idea. 

Monday, August 13, 2018 - Of Cellphones, Blisters and Trail Towns.

19.8 miles - Total to date - 530.6 miles

Ascent - 3383’ , Descent - 3831’ - Payne Lake (1591.5) To Fischer Lake (1611.2)

Up at 5:00 am. Packed and out of camp at 5:30 am. First order of business, reacquire the cell signal I had last night and make sure my SIMM transplant is working. 

I returned to the location where I had been talking with the Caldwells and took the phone off airplane mode. “no SIMM card installed”. What?  I had put my ATT card in this phone last night. I restarted the phone. This time I got “no signal”. I moved to a new location. “no SIMM card installed”  What?  I sat in the trail in the dim first light of day, carefully removed my paper clip from my electronics bag and ejected the SIMM card, made sure it was seated on the carriage correctly and reinserted it. “no SIMM card installed”. Damn!  I decided to hike on. I had navigation, just no communication. 

When I stood up to start hiking I noticed that my umbrella was not on my pack. What?!? Did I leave it at my camp spot?  I always do a triple check to make sure I didn't leave anything, so it couldn't be there. hmmm . . .  Ah ha!  My fall last night. The iPhone shattering, face planting fall. It was violent enough to eject it from my pack. Now, exactly where did I leave the trail to go to the lake? I groped around in the sparse vegetation for five minutes trying to recognize where I had been. Finally, I recognized the entangling branch and there was my umbrella, lying in the duff and rocks. I put it in my pack. Between the SIMM card and umbrella I had lost 45 minutes of hiking time. I decided to get out on the trail. I stopped at the lake outlet and filtered a liter of water. Finally, on the trail. As I hiked in the quiet, smoky morning light I contemplated the SIMM card conundrum. It occurred to me that maybe the contacts on the SIMM card were dirty. Those are cleaned with an eraser. I have an eraser on the pencil I brought for writing notes. I let the idea settle for a quarter mile as I walked, then sat down in the middle of the trail, extracted my paper clip from my pack and ejected the errant SIMM card. With my pencil eraser I cleaned the gold contacts until they shined, reinserted the card and crossed my fingers. “No Service”. Yeah!  Sort of. At least it recognized the SIMM card. In a mile, I reached the top of a ridge. Service!! Three bars!!  I had navigation and communication. Even though it was early Monday morning (8:00 am) I sent out a text or two. Then I downloaded the Overdrive app so I could download the Dan Brown book I had been listening to. It may not have been very good, but he left me hanging when I crunched my phone. I had to know what happened to Robert Langdon!  And, I had started listening to “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed but only part one of thirteen had properly downloaded so it was on my wish list to download. I had met Huck Finn and Dimps a few minutes earlier and they were doing the same thing I was, downloading books while wandering aimlessly looking for the strongest signal. 

Halfway through my downloads I got a text from ATT telling me I had used up all my high speed data. Really?  That means I would have to stand around for hours to download my books. But, one piece of good luck occurred. The Dan Brown download was small because I only needed the last part of the book  and it made it on before the data ran out. At least I could find out what happened to Robert. Cheryl would have to wait until tomorrow, the 14th, when my high speed data returned. 

About six miles up the trail we crossed the road at Etna Summit. This is the road that accesses the town of Etna. Everyone on the trail was making a trip to Etna to resupply . . . except for me. In reading the literature before I came I found descriptions of long waits for hitched rides to Etna across this little used road. They described waits of two or three hours to get to town. I decided to go the entire 150 miles from Castella to Seiad Valley without a resupply, meaning I was carrying 8 days of food, or better than 17 pounds when I left Dunsmuir. Road Runner, an Australian girl of 23 I had met was the only one attempting the same thing, but she had run out of food even before the Etna Summit road and had taken another road, highway 93, to Etna to resupply. 

I dropped into the Etna Summit road and found Road Runner brewing her 10:00 o’clock tea in the parking area at the trail head. Dimps and Huck had already arrived and had gotten a ride to town. That was quick!  I stopped for a quick bite and chat with Road Runner, then continued on. 40 minutes later Dimps, Huck and Road Runner passed me. I had expected Road Runner to do so, especially with a name like that. I was in the woods, “Dropping the kids off at the sandbox” as Derek would say, when they passed.  I caught them a few minutes later at the trail register book checking the names of those they knew ahead of them. I joined them and did the same. Here I found out Dimps had hitched to town, bought groceries for his resupply and hitched back in one hour!  So much for the long waits for a ride. 

Today, the trail seemed to make endless traverses along the sides of the ridges, occasionally slipping through a pass. At least 15 of the 19.8 miles today were through burned forests. And although it was smoky, through the haze I could look far into the valleys below and see the devastation. This much burned area makes it hard to stop and sit down, for the ground is blackened and gets everything filthy black. 

On the map I saw a pass was coming up and thought I would stop on the level ground to eat lunch. When I got there it too was burned. I searched for a spot to eat and noticed a stump that had been cut after the fire and its horizontal surface was bare of burned wood. I plopped my pack and body onto it and enjoyed crackers, cheese, gorp and fruit snacks. As I ate, a familiar face walked up. I had met her way back near Donner Pass. We recognized each other but couldn't remember names. I told her I remembered her name was given because she liked to sing on the trail. It was a bird name, but I couldn't place it. She reminded me it was Sparrow. She remembered 1st Class, but couldn't remember Coach. It was great to see her. She has very kind eyes and is a soft soul. We chatted for 10 minutes, then she moved on. She had been in Etna overnight. To this point in the trip I assumed she was behind me, but she must have caught up and passed while I zeroed in Dunsmuir. 

I was tired from my 28 mile day yesterday and was not interested in pushing too hard. When I noticed Fischer Lake at 19.8 miles I knew that was my destination. Everyone else was interested in getting closer to 25 miles in, plus most had started at Etna Summit rather than 6 miles back like me so they would be 10 miles ahead by nightfall. I arrived at Fischer Lake about 4:00 pm, a decadent time to stop by PCT standards. I was ready to swim and wash the trail dirt off. 

The lake was a murky brown with many dead trees below the water and dozens of salamanders floating In the lake like trout. Not inviting. But, in I went anyhow. The dirt was scrubbed off, but the lake slime stayed on when I got out and had to be toweled off. 

Using my pack for a backrest, I sat facing the sun in the grassy meadow and typed on my blog, trying to get caught up yet again. The couple camped through the trees next to me came over to say hi. They were very pleasant (Jesse and Dave) and we had a nice chat. When I tired of swatting at the hornets, I moved inside my tent and cooked dinner. I had pitched my tent close to the bushes and away from the lake shore, but while cooking I found the ground so hummocky that sleeping would be impossible. After dinner I drug the tent onto flatter ground to sleep on. 

For some reason the hiking seemed tough today. I had a sharp pain in my back, just under my right scapula. I didn't understand the cause, thinking I had packed the fuel canister or pot in such a way that they pushed on my back in that location. Also, my right foot had been painful on the outside of my heel. In the tent close inspection was not needed to see a huge blister formed there. It looked ready to burst. I sterilized my sewing needle from my sewing kit and my foot in that area with my hand sanitizer and poked through the living tissue adjacent to the blister  and drained all the fluid out into toilet paper. I sterilized the area again with hand sanitizer. When I woke in the morning the blister was full again and I drained it before hiking. As it turned out I did this twice a day for the next three days until it finally quit filling up on the final day of my trip coming into Ashland. 

Sunday, August 12, 2018 - Bye Bye iPhone

27.9 miles - Total to date - 509.8 miles

Ascent - 5704’ , Descent - 5412’ - Mosquito Lake Outlet (1563.6)To Payne Lake (1591.5)

I woke up to smoky skies  -  again. I was so disappointed after the teaser day yesterday. It was so beautiful. The sun wasn't up yet, but looking straight up I could see no stars. Another day of walking the grey tunnel. 

I had looked at the map while laying in my tent last night and saw Payne Lake was right on the trail, 28 miles away. A long day, but the thought of swimming and washing the trail dirt off before going to bed was very inviting. I set it as my goal. 

The country I am hiking through is spectacular. Too bad we have been traveling south and west these past two days, but today we turn the corner and start heading north again. It is weird that the trail goes so far west when you consider a straight line between Mt. Shasta and Crater Lake would seem truer to the crest. But, when you experience the grandeur of the mountains I am hiking through you begin to understand why the trail is over here. 

I put a Dan Brown audiobook novel on, “Lost Symbol” and listened to it all day. It is an okay book, not great and follows the Dan Brown motifs to a T. They read like a Hardy Boys novel. Cliff hangers at the chapter ends and exclamatory statements to convince us the plot points are really important. Still, when you are walking 12 to 14 hours a day with the scenery obscured by smoke it is a good distraction. 

This was an unusual day. I did not see anyone while hiking today. I suspect there were people behind and in front, but we must have been traveling in sync because I saw no one. Except cows. Well, I more heard them than saw them. They must allow open grazing in these high meadows because I could hear cow bells tinkling far below me. Occasionally I would see a couple through the trees, grazing on the meadow grasses. The sound and affect was that of the Swiss Alps. They call this area the Trinity Alps. I guess it fits.

Most of the day was hiking through burned forests. Pillars of scorched tree trunks and little vegetation below. As I understand it, this area burned last year. The smoke, combined with the seared forests made for a less than scenic day. Repeat after me, "There is no man-made global warming. There is no man-made global warming". Bullshit. 

I did not have cell service all day, until the last two miles. At mile 26 for the day (trail mile 1589.4) I came to small pass. I checked for signal. Surprise! One bar came flying in. I had been checking all day with no luck, but now two hours before dark I had signal. I called Sally. She was at Jeff and Jackie's, returning Robby after taking him to the family reunion at Rolf's place out at Lake Rossinger. It was nice to get a chance to chat with her, Robby and J & J. With light threatening to fail and two miles to go, I hung up and continued on.  Three quarters of a mile further on I came to a similar pass and noticed I had reception again. I called the Caldwells, but the signal was not strong enough to sustain the call. I rounded the next small ridge and saw a better signal. I called the Caldwells again. This time the signal was good. In fact, good enough to let me talk while I finished the last half mile to the basin that held Payne Lake. As I climbed over the small embankment that held this lake I said goodbye, fearing a loss of signal as I descended the thirty or so vertical feet into the lake basin. With my phone still in hand, I started to thread my way through the brush to get to the lake shore. My right foot encountered a bushy dead tree branch.  Stepping on it caused it to swing around and entangle my left foot. With both feet trapped by the same branch I pitched forward and came crashing to the ground face first. I put my hand out to catch myself. Unfortunately, my phone was in it and a rock was waiting at ground level. At the time, I did not notice because I was preoccupied with my head hurtling toward the ground. My head embedded itself in thick, soft pine needle duff, missing rocks by inches. I laughed at how ridiculous my fall was and how completely my feet were entangled. I had to reach down and remove the complex of branches from my feet. If someone had thrown a lasso around my feet the effect would have been the same. As I stood up I came to realize how close my head had been to hitting the rocks. It would have knocked me out at a minimum, possibly killed me as I hit very hard into my soft cushion of pine needles. I looked at my phone to be sure I had hung up with the Caldwells. I couldn't tell. The rock the phone had hit completely shattered the screen. It had been broken before with cracks running through it and dark lines in the display blocking important information, but usable. Not now. A few multicolored lines graced the screen under the bullet looking impact crater. “Better my phone than my head”, I thought. 

I had brought a second phone for just this reason. Later, after I had taken a cleansing swim in the lake in the gathering darkness and while my dinner cooked, I removed the SIMM card from my shattered iPhone 6 and put it into Andy’s iPhone 5. I had preloaded his phone with the necessary apps for navigation, but not with audiobooks, music, blog posting ability and my recent photos. I was only six days from finishing, so I was not worried. But, I made a vow to myself not to walk the trail and operate the one remaining iPhone at the same time. If this one broke, I was at the mercy of my fellow hikers for route and town details. 

I had my favorite dinner, curry rice and chicken with cranberries, pineapple and walnuts. I had made the portions slightly bigger when packing the food a month ago. Cooked, it occupied an entire quart. I ate it all, no problem. 

A light breeze blew across the lake, ruffling the tent fabric as I finished dinner and curled up under my down quilt for the night. A long and satisfying day, especially crawling into bed with a clean body!  Too bad about the phone. 

Most of today's hiking was through burned forests. 
I traveled south and west again for most of the day before turning the corner and heading north


This iPhone screen was already broken twice before I delivered the knockout blow today. 

Saturday, August 11, 2018 - Clear Skies - 23.0 miles - Total to date - 481.8 miles Ascent - 2090’ , Descent - 2267’ - First water past Parks Creek Trailhead (1543.1) To Mosquito Lake Outlet (1566.1)

Clear skies. Beautiful views

Ron leapfrogging 

Ridge running and passing through passes and saddles

Cow bells

Highway

Going west and south

Friday , August 10, 2018 - Derek Leaves the Trail

26.1 miles - Total to date - 458.8 miles

Ascent - 3344’ , Descent - 2593’ - Campsite on the ridge (1516.9) To First water past Parks Creek Trailhead (1543.1)

I woke up a couple times during the night to the smell of strong smoke. When I got up in the morning the air was thick with the smell of smoke and visibility was very poor. Even the trees 50 yards away were partially obscured by the haze. At times this morning I walked with a kerchief around my face, bandit style, because the smoke seemed so strong. 

We got up a little later than normal, 5:45 am instead of 5:00 am. We were on the trail by about 6:30 am. We were a little slower than usual, but not bad. Derek had to stop fairly often but we made the ten miles to the road in good time.  

The road was paved, but not used much. Derek sat down next to the road after we found we had no cell service. I ran up on the hill adjacent to the road and got one bar, but could not place a call. I came back down to figure out what to do next. Thirty minutes had elapsed and not a car was to be seen. As we started to discuss what to do next we simultaneously heard the rumbling of what sounded like a motor vehicle. I jumped out into the road, determined to stop whatever vehicle appeared. A white  truck with a Forest Service logo came around the corner. I waved my hands over my head as if trying to signal a low flying aircraft and stood in the middle of the road. Two men in their 30’s were in the cab. I quickly explained about Derek's giardiasis and asked if they could take him to town. They said it was against the rules, but they would do it. Derek loaded his pack in and was off. I was suddenly alone on my hike again. 

Derek has many followers on YouTube and Facebook. One is a doctor from San Diego. He offered to phone in a prescription to the Rite Aid in Mt. Shasta. We knew it would be waiting for Derek when he got there. 

I shouldered my pack and headed up the trail. 0.8 miles up the trail was Picayune Spring. I hiked the 0.3 miles off the trail (and down about 300 vertical feet) to get water, then back up to the PCT and onward. 

I had two goals today and neither involved distance. The trail passed near two lakes, Porcupine Lake, ten miles up the trail from the spring and Deadfall Lake, six miles past Porcupine. I wanted to swim in both lakes. 

I made Porcupine Lake in mid afternoon. I found Road Runner having a cooked lunch at the trail junction to the lake. It was only 0.3 miles off the PCT. I hiked into the lake, stripped and enjoyed a deliciously warm and cleansing swim. I had the lake to myself. Clothes back on and on the trail again. 

I made Deadfall lake about 5:00 pm and enjoyed another dip. This time a guy from Israel was at the lake. I have said hi to him 5 or 6 times over the past few days. Every time he either doesn't respond or just grunts as a response. This time I decided to wait for him to initiate contact. He never acknowledged that I was there.  I ignored him, stripped and swam. I got dressed again and was back on the trail in 20 minutes. The lake was a beautiful place to camp, but I wanted to get some more miles under me before the day was out. 

From the lake to the Parks Creek road crossing was only three miles, and slightly downhill. I got there in about an hour. I had been thinking of camping there, but it was not an inviting location. I noticed I had cell service so I tried to call Sally. She didn't pick up. I texted Derek. He had gotten the antibiotics and was resting, grateful to be on the mend. I shouldered my pack and headed on. The trail went gradually downhill for the next four miles and I picked what looked like a promising water source and camping area off the map on my phone. I tried calling Sally again and she picked up, but I had moved far enough on the trail that the signal was terrible. A mile further I saw a saddle to my right that had the same aspect as the parking lot. I climbed up off the trail and found I had signal again. I called, but she didn't pick up. 

It was getting late now, about 7:00 pm. I hiked the 3+ miles and found a delightful meadow to camp in, right next to a trickle of a creek. I set up my tent and cooked dinner outside my tent for once. No bugs, no bees, just me and the trees. While I waited for dinner to cook I soaked my feet in one of the pools. 

With dinner done and it nearly dark I crawled into the tent to eat. Sleep came quickly. This had to be the first time I had camped without Derek in at least two weeks. 

Thursday, August 9, 2018 - Slate Grey

16.8 miles - Total to date - 432.7 miles

Ascent - 5565’ , Descent - 1723’ - Dunsmuir (1501.2) To Campsite on the ridge (1516.9)

I feel like I am in Washington. The sky is slate grey. It looks misty. The trees on the adjoining ridges are shrouded in a grey mist. But, I suspect mist is not the right word. Smoke. That’s the correct word. It blocks out the sun. It completely blocks all views. We are walking in a tunnel of grey. 

Leaving town is always hard. You cannot get an early start. You have to hitch a ride to the trail.  The owner of the motel has been taking kids to the trailhead. This prompted me to ask him If he could take Derek and I in the morning.  He said sure, but not before 8:30 am. Ouch. I was hoping to get an earlier start, but on town days you take what you can get. We could walk out to the road and try hitching to get an earlier start, but I wasn't sure what Derek had in mind.  I stopped at Derek’s room to ask if he wanted to leave early or late. He said 8:30 am would be his choice-a little more sleeping in. 

I got up at 7:00 am this morning and took a long shower. Had some rolls and cheese for breakfast, made a cup of tea and sat in the chair outside my room waiting for 8:30 am to roll along. 

At 8:00 am I texted Derek, “wanna go hikin’”. He sent back, “Might be staying the nught again . . . Feeling pretty till”.  Uh oh. Derek soon came out of his room to find me drinking tea. He said he still felt terrible and was trying to decide whether to hike or not. He went back in for a shower. 

At 8:30 am the owner was not to be seen. I rang his intercom. This woke him up. He said he would be out in just a few minutes. Derek had still not made up his mind although his pack was packed. The owner came out, started his car and pulled up for us to load. I checked with Derek. Yes, he was coming. We piled in with our packs on our laps and were off. The owner was still half asleep. He dropped us at the trail head, just 8 miles down I-5. Derek was working on his phone and had me go first. We had just finished a zero day. I felt great.  Headed up the trail. I looked behind after a few minutes and did not see Derek. I figured he was distracted by his phone and going slow. After about half an hour I stopped by a creek to get a drink and wait for Derek. I waited half an hour. Still no Derek. He had said he wasn't feeling good and was hesitant to get back on the trail. Maybe he turned around. I was beginning to compose a text message to him when I got one from him. He said he went down the wrong trail for a mile and a half and was now on the right trail and coming my way. I hiked to the next water, maybe a total of 3-4 miles from the road. There I met Rattles, a man in his 60’s hiking the PCT. I had seen him before, but we never introduced ourselves. We talked for a bit, then Derek arrived. 

He mentioned he did not feel well, but wanted to keep going. We hiked together for another mile or two, although in truth he was way ahead of me and out of site. I finally caught him at a rest break. He had his shoes off and was leaning against his pack in the shade under the trees. I stopped with him for a breather, then I was off. Derek said he was going to wait and rest a bit more. 

From this point the trail really started climbing, switch backing up the mountain on a hot south facing slope. I was sweating profusely. I passed Road Runner cooling her jets on a shady, windy rock promontory. 

When I got to the Gully Spring at the top I filled my bottles and sat down to wait for Derek. After fifteen minutes he had not shown. I had made up my mind I would take water down to him if he didn't arrive in five more minutes. I turned on my phone to check for signal and saw a message from Derek. He said he had to stop every 10 minutes for a five minute break. He was dizzy and vomiting. Five minutes later he walked into view. He looked ghastly. Drawn out and weak. 

We filled 4 liters each with water then hiked to the nearest camp site, 0.7 miles away. We each pitched our tents and settled in for the night. I asked him if he wanted to go back down tomorrow. He said 10 miles ahead we crossed a road. That was shorter than the 15 back to Dunsmuir. I fell asleep about 8:00 pm. It was woken by two late comers. They quietly set up their tents and I was soon back asleep.

PS. I smashed my iPhone a couple days ago, breaking the display, so any photos for this day are on that broken phone and not available. Luckily, I had a spare phone from Andy. (Now at home, I have retrieved those few photos.)