Pushing Boundaries

A New State

The short 37 mile stretch between the Seiad Valley and the Oregon border turned out to be much more enjoyable than I even could have expected. After waiting for the post office to open, and downing a single 1 lb pancake (not 5 like the infamous 'Pancake Challenge' dictates), I took off, alone, up a long 4500 ft vertical climb out of the valley just before the intense heat set in. The hiking felt absolutely fantastic after having spent the equivalent of 2 days off, one in Etna, and the other hitching around the fire, and more importantly, having a new pair of shoes. Finally I have some cushion under my feet and every rock stepped on doesn't cause me to wince in agony. Once at the top of that 4500 ft climb, the trail meandered along a ridge, giving really nice views of smoky ridges that stretched as far as the eye could see, reminding me of views I've gotten back east of the fantastic 'smoky' Blue Ridge Mountains.

I was pushing pretty hard to try to catch Truant and Sweetfish, who had left the night previous, to cross into Oregon in good company. I would later find out that I managed to pass them at lunch time when they were hiding in some shade barely off the trail. Apparently I'm a stealthy hiker, not a loud one. I'd say that's a good trait.

What Limit?

37 miles after I had started hiking that day, I found myself at the Oregon border, with no more than 10 minutes of daylight to spare. Earlier in the day I had told myself that if I didn't catch my friends before the border, then I'd just keep hiking by myself until I finally reached a goal I'd been dreaming of for months: the elusive 50 mile day. Thing is, I had always been planning the 50 mile day under more ideal circumstances. A bit further north in Oregon where the trail is supposedly dead flat, after starting at dawn for optimal daylight amts, and not after a 4500 ft climb to start the morning. No matter, I was feeling inspired and had to get that goal out of the way.

The moon was full, allowing me to use my headlamp only half of the time I was hiking, which was essential given the fact that the batteries would wind up dying on me JUST before getting to my chosen camp. The valleys below were spectacular when bathed in moonlight, and each saddle that I'd come upon bridging the gap between mountains would prove to be more and more fun to walk through than the previous one. I was taking nearly constant breaks after the 40 mile mark to help satisfy my nonstop hunger, but didn't mind since the moonlight gave the night such a cool character. Somewhere in there I decided to push even further than 50 miles, and instead to do 55 so that I could finish at one of the few shelters on the trail, and take at least a majority of the following day off to let my body recover.

2 miles before the shelter I was completely shocked to find my first bit of trail magic in the longest time. There were two coolers hidden under a tree, one with caffeinated beverages, the other with Miller High Life. I desperately needed the Mountain Dew since I was starting to continually yawn and feel exausted, and packed out a beer for celebration the following day. Not only had Oregon supplied me with superb nighthiking and a great mood since stepping foot into her, but she also provided this. Then it became easy to hike those remaining 2-3 miles, finishing my 55 mile day at 4:45 am.

Relaxation

I never really got a chance to sleep that morning since other hikers left and chatted with me, and other day hikers showed up to picnic, hike, or bird-watch in the area. Who needs sleep after a 55 mile day anyway? Nearly every local who came up to me had an interest in my hike, and nearly everyone offered some form of generosity. Again: I LOVE OREGON!. Cliff bars, oranges, soda, and even a place to stay were all offered to me. The shelter was a massive open air structure in a beautiful valley overlooking a sweet view of Mt Ashland. There was water downhill a tiny bit from the shelter, and there was no need to take a northbound step that day.

Toward the end of the day Sweetfish and Truant showed up seperately: Sweetfish pushing on to get into town that night, and Truant to wind up staying and treat me with great conversation deep into the night over a fire, and then lying in sleeping bags realizing we had all the time in the world to chat, and no need to rush to sleep.

Civilization

Since we only had 11 miles to hike into town, we took our sweet sweet time rolling out of the sleeping bags and into a chilly Oregon morning. An awesome Australian couple gave us a lift into town, and even offered us money to buy a beer at one of the local brewpubs. We have been craving Indian food for weeks, and Ashland like nearly every college town, had 2 Indian restaurants, both even had lunch buffets. It was lunchtime, and we needed a buffet to satisfy our appetites, but both joints were oddly closed on the weekend. Instead we followed the advice of Aussie Malcolm and went to a cool little Mexican joint downtown, Agave.

Following Sweetfish's lead, we picked up packages at the PO and then went back to a free spot to stay in town that he had secured days and days ago back at Burney Falls Park in NorCal. It was a huge studio that belonged to a woman who does scene design and other fun stuff in this funky, arty town of Ashland. She showed up hours later and gave us a lift to Safeway to get supplies for a BBQ that we were invited to that night. At this BBQ, I had tons of great conversation about the Oregon and city of Ashland that all of these people loved, and naturally fielded questions about what life on the trail was like. One guy told me about Mt Thielson, which I need to research to find out if the trail goes near it. Apparently it is an old volcano, and consists entirely of the sweetness that is Obsidian. If you climb to the top, you can see where it is constatnly being struck by lightening and shaped into these odd jagged columns inside. I must see this mtn if we go near it.

Getting Cultured

While at this party, we found out that Connie, the woman we are staying with, could get us free tickets into Ashland's legendary Shakespeare festival. Normally tickets cost over $100/pop, but she scored us 3 seats, second row on the balcony. I hadn't been to a play since the end-days of college, and it wound up being a great experience. After it was all over, we all chatted with Connie until she took off in her SUV for the California coast and a 4 day kayak adventure/vacation. Now we have the day to ourselves, her space becoming our space. A space that will be abused for planning and organizing all food and gear needed for the rest of Oregon. The rest of Oregon will be 2 weeks of resupplying at resorts just off the trail, but no trips into real towns that sell food. All supplies must be shipped to the resorts to be picked up, so there isn't much margin for error in estimating the amt of necessary grub. I'm starting to think that if I'm making good time (everyone says Oregon is easy, but no one can comment on the rumored snow that could slow us down), I may take a long hitch down into the city of Bend, which I've been interested in visiting for a couple of years now. Quite a long hitch, but would a nice reward if I can afford the time.

I probably won't be able to update this blog for nearly a month since there probably aren't computers for us to use at all of these resorts. Crater Lake and Timberline Lodge near Mt Hood should be spectacular, with gourmet buffets I hear, but no online connection till perhaps Cascade Locks, a TOWN! just at the WA Border. Till. then....