~Seiad Valley to Ashland.

Miles 1,660 – 1720.

Days 82 – 85.

The climb out of Seiad Valley is a challenging one. Hikers gain about 5,000 feet in elevation climbing back up into the mountains. The trail crosses a few small burn areas before hikers reach a notable point on the PCT: the Oregon border. After nearly 1,700 miles of walking, hikers finally leave California. About 25 miles later, the trail reaches the highway and the first resupply point in Oregon: Ashland.

Day 82

We are definitely not hiking 30 miles today.

That was the consensus last night, after Swish and I looked at the upcoming miles on the FarOut app this morning. The upcoming section included tons of climbing, and a 30-mile day would mean gaining over 8,000 feet in elevation. That sounded brutal.

However, I awoke early to beat the heat on the first and largest climb of the day out of the valley. Before I knew it, it was 10 am and I had already done 10 miles. By lunch, I’d completed 18 and a majority of the climbing for the day. A 30 miler started looking a bit less unreasonable.

A lot of hikers were doing a big day today. With the Oregon border within reach, many of the thru-hikers around me felt eager to get out of California. NorCal has been tough on many of us, myself included, and we feel hopeful that conditions may improve once we cross that state line. Of course, we forget that mountain ranges and burn areas don’t care about man-made borders.

And speaking of burn areas, there were plenty of miles of charred forest to hike through today. The ash and fine dust quickly worked their way into my shoes and socks. By late afternoon, my chaffed and rashy feet were on fire again, even though I sink-washed my socks yesterday in the bathroom at Seiad Valley.

To distract myself from my foot-related distress, I hiked and chatted with several other thru-hikers towards the end of the day, including Presto – a solo female hiker who got her trail name because she shows up “like magic” when you least expect to see her. I’ve been seeing her on and off since Hat Creek – and she’d made her latest appearance at Seiad Valley. While many thru-hikers are physically or mentally struggling through NorCal, Presto seems to be in remarkable spirits. As we walked, she told me that she decided to hike the PCT only until it stopped being fun, at which point she’d stop. Almost 1,700 miles later, she is still enjoying herself and hiking strong.

I camped just a mile or so short of the Oregon border. 32 miles and over 8k of elevation gain. Needless to say my feet were done walking.

---

Day 83

I needed to make it to Ashland today. The highway to hitch to town was 28 miles away. But I felt quite sure that I could not survive more than one additional day walking in my horrible socks.

I hadn’t washed my socks in a proper washer/dryer since Burney. But even so, they never seem to get fully clean anymore. After over 80 days of walking, they are the texture of sandpaper when dry. It seems that salt, ash, and dirt are gradually replacing the thinning wool fibers. Perhaps my socks belong in an archeology museum, because I’m pretty sure they have fossilized. They certainly don’t belong on feet.

A highlight of the day was reaching the Oregon border – the first state line crossing on the PCT! I’ve been in California for a long time.

People often talk about Oregon being the easiest and flattest part of the PCT – a place where thru-hikers can walk fast and make up time if they are behind schedule to finish. I’ve regarded this type of talk with a great deal of skepticism. While reaching a state line is an exciting achievement and a morale boost, I found it hard to believe the terrain would change significantly or suddenly at a manmade border.

However, I was proven wrong. Within miles of entering Oregon, the mountains became more subdued, and climbs more gradual. The conifer forests seemed healthier and occasionally opened up into lovely flower-filled meadows.

Even with the easier terrain and wonderful scenery, today was one of the harder days of my thru-hike so far – mentally and physically. I ended up making it 28 miles to the road by 6 p.m.. I hitchhiked into Ashland and made my way to the Timber Motel – where many of my thru-hiking friends were also staying. There, I enjoyed my first shower in almost 2 weeks.

---

Day 84

Today was a zero day in Ashland. I decided I want to hike Oregon feeling strong. Even if that means taking some extra time off now to rest. I know I’ll feel much more excited to take advantage of the easier terrain and hike longer days if I feel healthy and fresh. Also, the rashy and chaffed skin on my feet and back needs some time to heal, and I suspect I could also use a few nights of really good sleep.

To start things off, I slept in late. Then, Swish made eggs Benedict in the motel room kitchen. It was initially surprising to learn that Swish has a passion and talent for cooking. Over the many weeks we’ve hiked together, I’ve observed that his diet on the trail consists almost entirely of nuts, cold-soaked ramen noodles, and pepperoni slices. A stark contrast to the elaborate meals he makes while in town.

Unfortunately, my day wasn’t quite as restful as I’d hoped. I spend much of the day running around the spread-out town of Ashland doing my various town chores and errands. Most excitingly, I stopped by the outfitter and got two new pairs of socks! They are so soft and clean that they almost tickle my feet when I walk in them.

In the evening, I headed out to a bar. 100Grand’s 27th birthday is later this week, and a dozen or so thru-hikers all came out to celebrate and socialize. By 10 pm (well past hiker midnight!) we were all sleepy and ready to head back to the motel. However, there were no Ubers available for at least half an hour. I decided to take advantage of my strong hiking legs and simply run the 1.5 miles back.

---

Day 85

Yesterday I’d hoped to get some good rest and recover. But with lots of errands to run in several directions in a spread out town, I ended up walking more than 6 miles and running another 1.5. Not the day of relaxation I’d had in mind.

So I decided to take another zero day just to rest, and be sure I felt 100% (or as close to that as possible while on a thru-hike) before diving into the rest of Oregon. It helped in my decision that several of my friends were also double zeroing in Ashland, so I wouldn’t fall behind everyone I know.

However, my day started out with some more walking. I made the 1.5-mile trek back downtown to the post office. There, I picked up my new shoes that I mailed to myself. My old ones had carried me over 600 miles and were definitely ready for retirement (i.e., getting thrown in the trash can at the post office).

After that, I walked over to an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet. One might expect thru-hikers to really get our money’s worth at a buffet – due to hiker hunger. But for many hikers, we simply eat many times a day and can’t really eat all that much in one sitting. Myself included. But it was still delicious!

After that, trail angel Marsha picked me up and took me to her house, where I stayed in the apartment over her garage. It was the perfect quiet spot to rest and relax. I watched two movies – the Princess Bride and Soul before going to sleep early.