Pacific Crest Trail - Section R - Seiad Valley to Ashland
Jun, 2015
Seiad Valley, CA to Ashland, OR
Distance: 63 mi.
Total Elevation Gain: 13,598 ft.
Total Elevation Loss: 10.701 ft.
Highest Elevation: 2,897 ft.
Dogs: Allowed, but logistically difficult
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 63 mi.
Total Elevation Gain: 13,598 ft.
Total Elevation Loss: 10.701 ft.
Highest Elevation: 2,897 ft.
Dogs: Allowed, but logistically difficult
Difficulty: Moderate
The next morning we got up early because we knew that we had a 6 mile road walk (one of the only long ones on the entire trip) to reach our resupply which was located in the small small, population 300, town of Seiad Valley, CA. After the blistering heat in the valley the day before, we knew that we definitely didn't want to be walking on a road in similar conditions. This turned out to be a very good decision as the temperature in Seiad Valley would reach a staggering 104 degrees that day. The road walk ended up being pretty uneventful. We basically followed the Kalamath river until we could cross on a road bridge over to the other side to get to the town.
Kalamath River |
As you may or may not remember from the last blog entry, that despite our best efforts to get enough calories, my metabolism was freaking out from the calorie deprivation, and I had been too cold for multiple nights even while wearing all of my clothes in my sleeping bag. This caused us to call REI and have them ship me a warmer sleeping bag. We ended up ordering both a sleeping bag and a larger dry bag to accommodate it. Both of the items where scheduled to arrive in Seiad Valley about when we got there. The best case scenario would be that they would both be there when we arrived and we would be able to pick them up, get our resupply box, grab a burger and shake at the local diner and continue on our way. For better or worse, this didn't end up happening. We arrived to find that our stuff wasn't coming until the next day and that we would have to spend the night at the local RV park which offered a shower, camping, laundry and a cool, temperature-wise, movie/chill room for $15 a night.
We immediately took showers in a nasty, obviously, DIY bathroom shower stall that was just big enough for one person who was smaller than me! But, we made it work and were happy to not be filthy for a few hours. We went to lunch at the only restaurant in town, the Seiad Valley Cafe. We had avocado bacon burgers that were about the diameter of my hand with outstretched fingers and had a whole half of an avocado. Along with the HUGE burger, we got a 32oz milkshake, each.... Needless to say, huge gut bomb. Allison put in the notes for this section, "Allison eats too much." I'm pretty sure we both at too much, though it is impressive, given our size difference, that she was able to eat the same amount of food without rupturing her stomach. Oh, I forgot to mention the handful of fries, a pickle, and copious amounts of ranch and ketchup! The sleeping bag ended up arriving that day, but the sack wasn't going to arrive until the next day.
The RV parks owner, Bruce, is a lovable giant. When you first see him coming your way, he is kind of intimidating. He probably weights 300+ pounds and is over 6' tall. Not the dude you want to mess with at the bar! Anyway, he was awesome, really talkative, and very accommodating. We watched him play with his dogs who loved jumping and biting and barking at the water coming out of the garden hose as Bruce watered the grass and the dogs simultaneously. Of course, who wouldn't want to be sprayed with a hose when it was 100+ degrees out? At the time, it was ludicrous to think that I had just upgraded to a warmer sleeping bag!
Bruce had constructed a hiker hut in the middle of the RV park that had shade, a hiker box with food and gear, a fridge, and electrical outlets to charge all of our electronic gear. Allison and I hung out here with another hiker for a few hours while we did chores. At this point were were approximately 1/4 of the way done at ~300 miles and my shoes were definitely worse off from the abuse. I spent about 1.5 hrs super-gluing and sewing the front of the shoes and my repairs would end up lasting another 300 miles until we got new shoes and Big Lake Lutheran Youth Camp in Oregon. During this time we also call our parents to check in. I conveniently forgot to tell Mom about all of our encounters with rattlesnakes and bears!
During the, "real," heat of the day, we retreated into office/chill room to watch movies and cool off, and didn't come out till dark. That night there were thunderstorms, but nothing too severe. With the heat and having to have the rain fly on because of the weather, it was not the best night of sleeping.
Seiad Valley and the Kalamath River from above |
We hiked 10 miles next day, but Allison's ankle was hurt so we decided not to go any farther and camped next to road. There we finished the inheritance cycle which is a great fantasy book series, if you are into that kind of novel. I'm pretty good at falling asleep through audiobooks or out loud reading of any sort, and this night wasn't any different. It is actually much easier to fall asleep during just about anything when you are exhausted, go figure.
At the California / Oregon border |
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Old fire lookout |
Mt. Shasta, why are we still seeing you? |
That night it sounded like someone about 40 to 100 feet away from our camp was snapping a twig ever few minutes. It was very Blair Witch Projecty... I ended sleeping well, despite being stalked all night and Allison just ignored it and slept well too. In the morning we awoke to find ourselves having not been abducted by a witch, so I'm guessing the sounds were probably just animals going about their nightly rounds.
We had a scheduled resupply at Callahan's resort in Ashland. We found the spur trial to Callahan's to be a bit confusing and kinda funky, which they seem to be aware of since they asked us if we were able to find our way on it OK.
Blair witch's house |
We had a good breakfast with a nice hiker, named Stephan, and then got a ride from the owner of Callahan's to the trailhead and started on our way.