Bye Bye California - Days 99 - 103

Day 99

Etna to Mile 1623.7 ~ 24.1 Miles

Today was my Birthday! I woke up and was able to talk with my mom and dad on the phone before I headed back to the trail. Once I was on the trail my birthday was spent with the dirt beneath my feet and the lush green trees around me. It really was an amazing birthday! Once I got to camp myself and the guys all sat around and enjoyed dinner together. I even had a ding dong with a stick that I lit on fire as a candle. I called it a trail cake! It feels weird to be 27, but at the same time I have never been so at peace with myself and who I am. 27 is going to be a great age for me!

Day 100

Mile 1623.7 to mile 1657.5 ~ 33.8

Today was a heck of a challenge! It was also the biggest day of miles I have done for a day. The goal was to get down to Seiad Valley because directly after is a steep 8 mile climb. I wanted to make sure I did that section in the early morning. So I booked it all morning to try to get the 32 miles to town. The problem was today was the hottest day on trail BY FAR. When I finally got down into Seiad Valley and the temperature was in the low 100’s. My sweat was running down my face at a pace that was impossible to manage. My water that I would collect from the streams would get warm within 20-30 minutes. I guess the moral of the story was it was a brutal, scorching day of hiking. At about 8pm I hiked another 1.5 miles up the hill so that tomorrow isn’t as long. I’m hoping that the push today was worth it while I’m doing that tough climb in the early morning.

Day 101

Mile 1657.5 to mile 1685.3 ~ 27.8 Miles

My alarm went off at 5:00am and I was ready to hit the trail by 5:45am. I knew I had a gnarly climb so I stretched a bit and set off. There were a few bits of the climb that were very steep but overall I handled it pretty well. About 3 hours later I found myself at the top of the climb. After the climb was over the obstacle for the remainder of the day was the heat. I’m not 100% sure but my guess would be that it was in the low 90’s for a majority of the day. It wasn’t too bad for me but some of the guys I’m hiking with from Europe struggled pretty bad in it.

Where I am camped tonight I am 6.4 miles from Oregon!! It’s hard to believe that after over 100 days in California that tomorrow I will be walking in a new state. I can’t wait to hit the border and snap some pictures and set off into Oregon, a state I have never been to before!

Day 102

Mile 1685.3 to 1708.2 ~ 23.9 Miles

What a day! Around 8:00am I past an old abandoned cabin are inside we’re some gentleman doing work on it. One of them hopped out and insisted I come over. Come to find out it was trail magic!!! They had hotdogs, cookies and beer... yes I had hotdogs cookies and beer at 8am. It was so awesome! I had not had trail magic since early in the desert.

Then a couple miles later I crossed the border into Oregon! After 1691 miles I finally walked through all of California. It was so much fun being with a group, and getting to the border. We all hooped and hollered and celebrated the accomplishment. I couldn’t be more happy to be walking though Oregon.

Then later in the afternoon I walked across two coolers full of soda. Yes... two trail magic’s in one day! I grabbed a cream soda and gulped it down.

2 trail magic’s, and one new state all in one day!!

Day 103

Mile 1708.2 to Ashland ~ 9.5 Miles

I was so excited to get into Ashland I sped down the hill to the I-5. I did 9.5 miles in about 2 hours and 30 minutes. Once I got to the highway it took about 30 minutes to get a ride, then I was on my way to town. Ashland is a fairly prominent town on the trail. It’s a town that is featured on the movie Wild with Reese Witherspoon. It’s a quirky, hippy kind of town with lots of good food and beer.

I ended up splitting a hotel room with 4 other hikers. Let’s just say 5 smelly, dirty hikers in a small hotel room is an interesting time. We all went out and enjoyed the night in Ashland. It was a blast!

Day 104

Zero Day

I woke up in my cushy hotel room bed with the sound of thunder and rain outside. I was lucky enough to be in town while this summer storm blew through the area. I got to watch from inside my hotel room rather than walk through it.

I spent the day relaxing, and getting errands done. It was such an enjoyable zero day! Myself and the guys I’m with realize that we are ahead of scheduled and want to make sure we enjoy the towns and the areas we pass through, so that’s what today was all about!