Category: Long Distance Trails

Start: 854.6

Stop: 880.7

Today’s miles: 26.1

Total PCT miles: 1068.4

Croc Miles: 179

Today is Margot and my last day together.. cue the tears. I finally fell asleep last night after the two guys that showed up around 9 turned out their headlamps. They had their bright lights on until after 10.. I almost yelled down to them to ask them to turn it off or switch it to the red light, but when I was finally fed up enough to do so, they turned them out on their own, thank goodness.

I slept pretty good, I think. Right now I can’t really remember, all I can think about is my feet hurting.. sooooo close to getting my new shoes! Anyway, I was on trail by 6:40, which isn’t bad considering I didn’t get up until 6:15. If anything, I’m consistent. Margot was mostly packed behind me. When we were out of our tents, we realized those two guys that showed up last night have the exact same make and colored tents as we do! How funny!

I was pretty slow moving the first half of the day. My feet were aching from the start, and the day started with a mild climb, but still a climb either way. The terrain of the trail changed from the kind dirt path we’ve had for days to loose rocky exposed mountainside. The views were stunning, coming up out of the tree cover and back into open cliff slides and peaks upon peaks to see in every direction. It had to be stunning, because I would have lost my mind if it was anything but-since it was damn sure hurting my feet!

One of the mountains in the close distance is named Mount McLoughlin, and seeing its name from the Peak Finder app made me think of a friend, Josie. I really need to send her a text and check in, I miss her. She’s got a toddler now and one on the way. So much big life changing things happening to everyone while I’m out here walking in the woods in crocs. Crazy.

The trail went through some burn zones. We also had to carry water for 14 miles and then again the other 11 to camp. That was frustrating, but it didn’t matter, both times on arrival to fresh water, I still had plenty in my bottles. The idea of toting it is irritating, it’s heavy!

The morning felt very up and down, trail wise, with lots of rocks. It took me forever. My feet never stopped hurting. The holes in the socks grew, and I could feel every little pebble or twig or thing.. I was close to just sitting down and refusing to continue hiking. But what good would that have done? I pushed on, going less than 2 miles an hour at times. When I finally sat down for lunch, my feet were praising my decision.

A couple passed me while I was eating and told me Margot was behind a little bit, since she got service she was knocking out a few things she needed to. I decided not to wait for her there, since the bugs were starting to attack me. I kept moving forward, the terrain easing up a bit. She caught up to me maybe 15 minutes after I left, we walked together some, but then she stopped to eat her lunch and I kept going. I knew I was real close to quitting the day.. stopping again so soon wouldn’t have been good for my morale.

I was also messaging people on my Garmin today.. to attempt to figure out a ride to Seiad Valley tomorrow. BigMama thought she’d be back from her trip before tomorrow, but she’s still too far away to make it to get me. So. I’m sort of stuck. She sent me numbers for people, one didn’t respond, one said he doesn’t do rides, and the last, Mark, the one who helped me out of the snow, was willing to put my request on Facebook for me, since I don’t have service to do it myself.

Now, my plan is to get to Fish Lake Resort early in the morning, eat breakfast there and check the post.. see if any offers have been made. If so, done deal. If not, I’ll ask the ladies working if they or anyone they know are going to Medford, get a ride that way, or hitchhike to Medford.. and then figure it out from there. I wish I had realized how difficult it would be to get back to Seiad Valley before deciding to jump there back in June. But, what can I do?

Back to the day-I spent a good bit of time navigating those messages, praying for service-and not having that prayer answered, and walking on tender feet. I stopped for water at that 14 mile spot.. Christi Spring, and the couple was there, HipBone and MountainGoat. We chatted and talked to the fat chipmunk that apparently aggressively tries to steal food. We’ve decided the chipmunk is definitely Christi and this is her spring and campsite. Margot appeared and we all stayed and rested for a good 45 minutes, laughing and scaring off Christi as best we could.

At 3pm, we carried on again. Margot passed me, then sometime around 5ish, I passed her. I started cruising pretty fast because the trail was downhill and mostly cushioned pine flooring. Occasional rocks would throw a wrench in my speed, but I’d get back at it once they were crossed. At 6:49 I was in deep woods, it almost felt like dusk because of the shadows of the trees. I walked up on a black bear. I did the “Whoa bear!” And the “hey bear!” Yells.

He. Did. Not. Care. He moseyed on, continuing to scratch at fallen tree bark, looking for insects maybe? He’d eye me, then continue on.. I was scared because he was close to the trail. I recorded him some, tried to slowly pass.. he seemed like he was going to come to me-so I yelled again, clanking my poles together. He ran off like 5 feet! That’s IT! I yelled Margot’s name as loud as I could. He startled a little then, and moved away from me. Back up trail towards where she’ll be coming from. Crap.

I considered just going, because I was in the clear now.. but the fact that this bear didn’t seem scared of me at all, had me real worried about Margot. I didn’t want her to come around the corner and be face to face with it, what if that’s what set it off to attack? I slowly and cautiously walked back north on trail, staying behind the bear and keeping my distance. It carried on, crossed the trail a few times, literally caring none that I was there.

He was up to my left in the brush and fallen trees when I spotted the swing of Margot’s trekking poles coming down trail. Then I saw her come to a fast halt. She saw him. I yelled to her, so she’d know I was close. I was also worried the bear would get startled by her and run back towards me. Yikes. He seemed farther from her than he was from me originally, so I talked to her while she slowly edged her way towards me down trail, never taking her eyes off of the bear. She did the “hey bear” business too, but he never ran off.

She made it to me and full of adrenaline, we both started hiking pretty fast, frequently checking behind us that the bear didn’t decide to follow. We were all excited nerves the whole mile and a half to camp. How could you not be? He wasn’t a huge bear, but he was definitely way bigger than me! We told a few northbound hikers about him, so they wouldn’t be as surprised as we were.

At the river crossing, I washed my legs off and Margot got water. Then we found our campsite, set up, and ate dinner. I can hear the water rushing nearby. I’m praying we don’t have any other noises during the night. It’s slipped away from me fast. Already pitch black at 9:30. Sheesh. Ok, time to try to sleep some. Tomorrow will be a chaotic day for me. I hate not having logistics already worked out. I know it’ll be fine, but it’s still frustrating.
Goodnight y’all.

Start: 880.7

Stop: 881

Today’s miles: 0.3

Total PCT miles: 1068.7

Croc Miles: 181.3

What a day. Margot and I left camp together, only to hug and say our farewells 0.3 miles later at the junction to Fish Lake Resort. She carried on hiking southbound, and I walked two miles to Fish Lake. I got there by 7:30, before their little store and restaurant was open. So, I used their bathrooms and washed my face.

Once they opened at 8am, I ordered a coffee and hung out inside working on figuring out my next move. They don’t serve breakfast until 9am, so I wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry either way. I topped off my resupply, so I’d have enough food from Seiad Valley until Etna.. assuming I’d some how get to Seiad Valley to begin with.

I checked the Facebook post Mark had made for me. Nada. I made my own in the Oregon group. And waited. I ate breakfast. I talked with the ladies at Fish Lake-the owner, Sarah, said that maybe one of her folks could drive me into Medford when they got off work today.. but otherwise there was no one. She also said I’d probably get a hitch easy enough, and that she’d talk with customers checking out and see if she could find me someone headed that way.

Then. The real kicker. My shoes never showed up! OH MY GOD. I have been walking in damn crocs for so long, I almost cried. I called mom. She had paid so much money for expedited shipping, they were supposed to arrive two whole days before me. She was upset too. That box also has my new watch, my birth control, some cash, candy, and other little surprises from Mom. NO. Just. Why?!

I checked the tracking, it said it won’t be delivered until Monday. You have got to be kidding me. I start to wrap my mind around the fact that I’ll be sitting at Fish Lake through the weekend and then have to repeat the song and dance of begging for rides when Andrea text me to check in on me. I told her everything, so close to completely melting down.. and then we realized she had a pair of my shoes in my suitcase.

Y’all. Andrea DROVE FIVE HOURS from Reno to get me from Fish Lake, with my shoes, and take me to Medford! She’s staying in a hotel with me tonight and then we will go to Seiad Valley tomorrow, before she makes the over 5 hour drive back home. She’s spending her entire weekend completely saving my ass! HOW ON EARTH am I lucky enough to be loved by her?! My goodness, please know it’s mutual, I am so very very blessed to have her in my life.

While she was getting ready and driving all the way to me, I tried to relax a bit-calm down from the panic I had surging all morning-and work on updating the blog. Thank God I write daily, because it’s taking so long to upload pictures and the day itself that I can’t keep up. I got a few days posted before the WiFi got overwhelmed with all the people on it that it wouldn’t even upload a single picture.. so I gave up.

Andrea arrived before 5pm and then after squeals and hugs (mostly from me, jacked up on Mountain Dew), we got in her truck and headed the hour west to Medford. We checked into our hotel, a Hilton Garden Inn, and I marveled at the luxury after all these days on the ground or in subpar motels. Don’t get me wrong, they get the job done-but this was JUST what I needed.

We ate dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.. I had pesto and mushroom ravioli with steak-and we split a bottle of wine or two. Afterwards, I took the world’s longest shower, washing everything a minimum of twice. Then we laid around in our cushy beds with four fluffy pillows each watching TV.

It’s been such a turn of events today. Getting to see my Andrea now, instead of in another 3 weeks or so, has really boosted my mood. Her willingness to drop everything and show up for me has me so humbled by her love. She truly is the very best. And now, I have to make sure I get to that Mexican border on time-we have an Egypt trip to get to! Haha

Ok, I can’t write another word, I’m exhausted! Time for lights out and some sweet sweet dreams in this incredibly comfortable bed! Goodnight y’all!

Start: 998.2

Stop: 1015.3

Today’s miles: 17.1

Total PCT miles: 1085.8

Whew, today was a tough one, but I sort of knew coming south out of Seiad Valley would be. Andrea and I got up around 7am. I slept so incredibly well in that cushy hotel bed. My feet would still wake me up, throbbing or sharp shooting pain through my soles.. but I’d change position and fall right back into sweet oblivion. The pillows were so plush I got lost in them a few times. I moved around so much, Andrea thought I slept bad.. I definitely had my best night of sleep since starting this thing, so, whoops. Sorry, buddy..

We left around 7:35 and swung through a McDonalds for breakfast on the way out to Seiad. It was an hour and a half drive, and it took us down the same two lane road along the Klamath River I hitched down back in early June. I showed Andrea some of the same things that sweet man, Bill I believe, showed me. I was and still am so incredibly grateful for her friendship. If she didn’t come to get me, I would still be at Fish Lake, not one step closer to getting to Mexico.

Along the way we saw a hiker walking that two lane road. We stopped to pick him up, he was literally going to road walk over 50 some miles. Yikes. He didn’t talk a whole lot, and I think that was just fine by both of us up front. Andrea dropped me off at the store parking lot around 9:30. We hugged and she started her 5 hour drive home. I went into the store, which was actually open although everything online said it wouldn’t be.. and got a Dr. Pepper.

I drank it in the parking lot, filled my water bottles, and began the 6 mile road walk to the trail. I would have asked Andrea to drop me off at the trailhead, but this 6 miles is part of the PCT, so it didn’t feel right to skip that whole section. Well. That’s what I thought when I told her where to drop me off, I changed that tune about 2 miles into that 6 mile road walk. It was HOT. It had hardly any shade, and I was breaking in my new shoes. Fun times.

When I made it to the campground at the top of the road walk, I used the pit toilet and then laid on a picnic table for a bit. I wasn’t hungry for lunch yet, but I was pouring sweat and couldn’t seem to get enough water. Thankfully there was water all along the trail today, every 2 miles for most of it. But this is where the climbing got tough. From the campground, to where I’m camped at now, it was 4,000 feet of elevation gain in 11 miles. It wasn’t an up and down situation, it was mostly just UP.

The trail followed along Grider Creek.. it was overgrown in many parts, there were huge blow downs that took some effort to get over and around.. I was praising God and Andrea for my new shoes almost the entire day. My legs got pretty scraped up from the overgrowth, and maybe a little rashy, too. They’re burning now. I also saw a snake in the overgrowth, which only made me more anxious pushing my way through the bushes.

I had my umbrella out for the majority of the climb. And I sat and soaked my feet in one of the creek crossings for a solid 35 minutes. I would also soak my bandana at every water crossing to put on the back of my neck to try to help me cool down. It helped, some, but my god it was brutal. Now that I’m thinking on it, I wonder if this is the heat wave everyone was mentioning? HipBone and MountainGoat were saying southern Oregon would be in the 100s.. this feels a lot like that..

I passed a man coming northbound later in the afternoon. He stopped to talk to me, and he’s apparently the guy that gives out the awards when you submit your claim for the triple crown. So, after you hike the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail, you submit a form to a committee saying you did all three and they congratulate you and give you a certificate saying you got your Triple Crown and I’m assuming your name goes down on record for doing so. He said you only either hike 1 of the 3, or all 3, so he’d be seeing my name soon enough, ha!

We talked a good 5-10 minutes.. he’s done 3 different caminos and gave me his email so I can get some info from him about the Porto Way. Andrea was just talking about that this morning, I think it’s a sign that we’re supposed to do it together. We took a selfie and then headed in our opposite directions.. me being very jealous of his continuous downhill to my continuous climb.

I filled up with water at the last water spot before 6-7 miles of more climbing to the next source. I was originally planning to just eat dinner at this campsite I’m at-but once I took my pack off, I decided to stay. I’ll still get to Etna on the same day whether I camp here or torture myself for 4 more miles. I also hope that maybe the rest of the 2,000 feet of elevation gain will be easier in the morning in the cool air, before the sun scorches the earth again. One can only pray.

After I got my camp set up and cooked my dinner, a couple came by and decided to camp here, too. They’re German, Rudy and Rebecca, and they follow Drake and A-Train’s YouTube channel! They were so excited to know I met them and hung out with them for a few days! Such a small world. Their trail names are R&R. They came and ate their dinner at a log close to my tent (since I was eating in my tent-because bugs), and we “had dinner” together and talked. They’re super friendly and I’m happy they’re camping close by.

Since I got to camp at 6, I had planned to catch up on my writing and get a few things planned and organized for the days to come-but yall. I’m exhausted. It’s 8:40, the sun is gone but the sky still has just a little light left in it-and I think I’m going to have to close my eyes and get some sleep. The heat today completely zapped me. So, off to dreamland I go. Im already missing that hotel bed, and my west coast bestie. Sweet dreams!