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.
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