It actually got a little chilly last night. Nothing bad, but I hadn’t felt that since I left the trail mid-June.
Today was kind of special for a number of reasons, including several milestones.

It was a great morning as I passed through several quiet meadows between thick forest.

Six miles into the day I made it to the Oregon border.

There was a trail register at the border.
My entry was a little poem…

In case you can’t see the pic that well…
“Oh California, I love you so

Your beauty is endless but I now must go

I shall return, and that’s a fact

There’s 500 miles you owe me back

Don’t despair, just sing a tune

Our September Rendezvous will be here soon”

Still some snow on the trail…

Wild flowers too!

This group was doing a 200 mile horse packing trip southbound. They had a lot of questions for me about the snow ahead. I’m not sure how well the horses will navigate a couple of those steep snowy sections.

I need to look up what kind of flowers these are. They are starting to pop up all over the place.

The next milestone…1200 miles !
(Need to subtract 500mi for the part of CA I skipped and will complete in Sept)

A great Trail Magic surprise near Mt Ashland.

I had some extra motivation to put in my longest mileage day yet…the offer of a bed, shower, food and all the comforts of home from Jeannie and Minor Mathews in Medford, OR. They are the parents of a longtime friend of mine in Colorado (Shane). They are all avid blog followers and graciously reached out to me and offered to pick me up where the trail crossed the highway.

I warned them I was pretty dirty…

…but as any good Hiker-Trash guest should, was more than happy to accommodate keeping the carpet clean on my way to the shower.

Wasn’t Shane dreamy in high school?
(He’s going to kill me for posting this!)

The night ended with Jeannie’s homemade vanilla ice cream and blueberries 🙂