The miles came pretty easy today. The elevation profile was relatively flat and other than navigating some blow-downs the trail was in great shape. Not too many views today as the trail is mostly buried in the trees.

This is a fairly typical section of trail today.

I took a short break at this cabin open to hikers located just off the trail.

There was ~5 miles of trail that would pop in and out of these lava fields. Thankfully, they did a great job building the trail which made the walking way easier than it would have been had I needed to pick my way through.

More lava trail with Mt McCloughlan on the horizon.

I had 18 miles done by 12:30 and decided to hitch a ride two miles to Fish Lake Resort for some food and drink. My lunch companion was the resident chipmunk. Pretty sure he’s going to have some cholesterol issues with all the food he was stealing (curly fry in picture). By the time I hitches a ride back and was ready to hike it was 2hrs later.

This is a random rest stop in the late afternoon. A flat rock (or log) is all that I need 🙂

One of the few views today…Fourmile lake.

Home for the night was next to Christi Spring.

The mosquito situation ramped up exponentially today. The last couple hours I was swatting and walking. I finally succumbed and put on the DEET. Luckily, my campsite wasn’t terrible…merely annoying.

I listened to a lot of podcasts today since the hiking was uninspiring (plus it’s a good way to distract from the mosquitos). Seemed like a good time to cue up Hardcore History with Dan Carlin. If you are not familiar he does an amazing job describing specific periods of time in vivid detail from the Protestant Reformation to today’s episode called Destroyer of Worlds on the rise of the Nuclear Age. He researches the topics from many different sources (Russian texts to Truman’s Biographies) The best part is that the podcasts are 5-6 hours long, so it’s a great way to pass a good chunk of the day. I will attach a link below if you want to check it out :
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dan-carlins-hardcore-history/id173001861?mt=2&i=1000380386551

Today’s miles came pretty easy. The terrain was gentle if not undramatic.

Emerging from the forest as the sky is brightening up.

Morning light hitting Pilot Rock.

Here’s a random hiker taking siesta while drying his stuff out (condensation?).

This is the view from Hyatt Lake Resort. It was 2mi hitchbto the cafe for lunch. A relaxing stop 🙂

I may have taken a wrong turn!

Home for the night. I saw only handful of people today then there were ~10 where I planned to camp when I rolled in at 7:15…so I moved on a 1/2 mile and found this spot just off a dirt road.

I had a great nights rest at the Mathew’s residence! We ate a pleasant breakfast on the back patio which overlooks the golf course and the mountains.

After running some errands around town we went back to Callahans Lodge next to the PCT and said our good byes. What a great 24 hour break!

I had to take a pic of the Lodge’s trusted lawn maintenance director . Her name is Heidi (according to her tag) and keeps the grass neat and trim.

I hiked for 3 relaxing hours in the early evening. This is a pic of Pilot Knob.

Yes, that’s Mt. Shasta on the horizon.

A closer look at Pilot Knob.

Then a perfect home for the night… flat, soft pine duff.

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 🙂

It was an extra early start (woke up at 4:45 and hiking by 5:15) to attack the 4500′ climb out of Seiad Valley… and I didn’t want to mess around with the oppressive heat.

This is a view of the Klamath River about 500′ up.

It was a gorgeous day and not as a hot…especially up higher at 6000′.

The aptly named Lilly Pad Lake.

I seem to be passing through a wave of hikers both Northbound and Southbound. Here is a pleasantly shady lunch spot.

I pushed a little further (arrived at 8pm) to get a good view of the sunset…Definitely worthwhile 🙂

Cowboy camping among the pines.
(I even got cell signal somehow )

Today was about as easy a 27 mile day as you can do. The trail dropped 4000′ in elevation very gradually while following a creek.It did start to heat up as we approached the lower elevations (~1500′). The last 6 miles were a road walk with the last 4 on pavement…this feels quite terrible on the feet and knees but it makes for quick miles.

Sunrise on the climb out of Paradise Lake.

I didn’t see a single car in two hours of road walking, but at least they are warned!

Fighting the heat and sun on the road walk.

Hikers waiting out the late day sun outside the Seiad Valley Store before climbing 4000′ up. I opted to call it a day and camp at the RV park next door.

Gotta love Northern California!

This part of NoCal voted to secede from the rest of Calf. and create the 51st state of Jefferson. Don’t thinks it’s gained much traction outside of this area.

It was a long day!
I was up at 5:15 and trying to hitch a ride back to the trail at 5:45…I only saw 5 cars go by in an hour (two were USFS work trucks). Luckily, I bumped into a hiker named Focus who I had met 1000 miles ago in SoCal and he had arranged a ride at 7:00.

Loading up the pickup truck to get back to the trailhead 10 miles away.

It was a bluebird day!

We all wound up taking lunch at the same spot (the last water source for 12 miles).

Lots of wildflowers today 🙂

There were actually more water sources than expected from all the cascades coming off the snow.

There were several small tricky sections of snow to traverse. I wound up snapping one of my hiking poles not too far from here 😦
Luckily, I got cell service at the top and sent an SOS to Katy at mission control to ship out one of my spares.

View from the top.

Much more rugged than I expected.

If you look closely at the horizon on the right side Mt Shasta is peaking above.

This was a big burn area with incredible wildflowers covering the hillside.

You’d think I was back in the Smoky Mtns !

We were actually in the Marble Mtn’s.

One more tricky snow field to end the day (with one pole).

I was getting to camp just as the sunset around 9:00…exhausted!

There was a lot of interesting topography today from meadows and old burn areas to granite domes and mountain lakes.

Lots of beautiful wildflowers as well !

We entered the Russian Wilderness, marked by a steep walled canyon and granite domes.

…and more flowers.

You can see the faint line of the PCT cutting across the landscape.

And of course, out dear friend, Mt. Shasta.

This is where I had lunch, Payne Lake.

I got a case of PTSD when I crossed the ridge and saw this…luckily, the trail cut right across and there was only a about 75′ of snow travel.

An incredibly green Meadow.

I popped out on a lonely paved road and had the good fortune of receiving a cold Coke from my friend here. I was also able to hitch a ride into town (Etna, CA) from the first truck that came by two minutes after I stuck my thumb out. We drove 10 miles down the mountain, dropping 2500′ into town.

It was WAY hotter in town!

After running around: eating, resupply, laundry, etc I was offered a place to stay/shower at a local trail Angel’s place….a converted garage. This is Names from the U.K. enjoying the free wifi.

Another great day for crushing miles (my CDT buddy’s, Endless, favorite phrase).

I hit the trail at 5:45. This shot is prob around 6:30, looking down on one of the many lakes I passed today.

Yes, that’s Mt. Shasta in the upper left.
It’s stalking me!
Just a 20′ section of snow to cross today.

Lots of delicate wild flowers dotting the trail.

Most of this section (100+mi) is on a crest with views in both directions and lots of lakes scattered about. Luckily, the mosquitos haven’t been too be but I hear they are getting fierce in Oregon.

A solid field repair of the pin that holds my hiking strap onto the pole. I was pretty bummed when I realized the 1/2″ long pin had fallen out making the strap useless. The strap is crucial as it carries most of the load (i don’t actually grab the grips very tightly). Luckily, a pipe cleaner was the perfect fix (I keep a couple around to clean my hydration tube).

It’s been requested that I include more selfies.
Notice the snacks in their holsters ready to be deployed in a moments notice!

Giant tree forest with lots of green moss.

It kind of hurts my neck to look straight up so the camera comes in handy.

The view from my camp spot just after I rolled in at 7:45.

A soft bed of pine needles and a great night for Cowboy camping.

Tomorrow I plan to make it to the small town of Etna a bit ahead of schedule. Good night.

It was an incredibly beautiful hike today. Comfortable temps at these higher elevations (6000-7000′), gorgeous views, modest climbs and plenty of water.

The day is off to a good start when you wake up to a sunrise like this!

Still not sure I’m actually in the USA…or did we change to metric while I’ve been gone and o one told me?

Hope you’re not getting tired of Mt Shasta pics… I’m not 🙂

As I crossed over the ridge (elevation 7400′) there was one blob of snow covering 30′ of trail.

More Shasta

Lots of wildflowers today to brighten up the trail.

I didn’t see a single Northbound PCT Hiker today. I only saw one Southbounder (I think I recognized him after he passed…had seen him in the Sierras). There were a handful of day hikers but overall very quiet out on the trail.

My body doesn’t seem to be reacting too harshly to the sudden change in activity. Plenty of energy, stamina and strength, but my feet were definitely tired when I rolled into camp around 6pm. Before my little hiatus I probably would have hiked until 7:30 or 8:00…but no complaints for day 2 after the reboot. When people ask me how one should train for a trip like this I’m going to tell them to get a job working retail, or any job where you are on your feet 8-10 hrs/day.