Day 80 – 19.3 km – Monday 15.07.2024
In the morning I wake up again at 5:30 a.m. today, although I only set my alarm at 7 a.m. But I’ll lie down a bit and after getting up, I’ll pack up my purchased food so that it fits in my backpack. After that I take an extensive shower, which is also a real blessing today.
Since I want to bypass the Shelly Fire today, I’m looking for a way to get to Seaid Valley. There I would like to get back on the trail to cross the border to Oregon on foot. In a Facebook forum I find a woman who offers trips to the small town. I ask for a moment and she still has a place available. A short time later, ‘Double Dinner’ contacted me, who apparently noticed. He would like to take the bus to Yreka and is then collected there by a Trail Angel. If I want, I could also ride there and thus save the money that the woman from the forum demanded. So I decide to accompany ‘Double Dinner’.
A short time later he arrives in town and we are looking for a way to have breakfast before the bus leaves. Unfortunately, since there was a power failure, most of the restaurants are still closed and so we end up having breakfast in the Subway, as this store is the only one to offer food again. Shortly after 12 noon we take the bus to Yreka. Another hiker called ‘Nutella’ is also coming with him.
Arrived in town, we get off the bus and are collected by a nice lady by car. This then drives us to Seaid Valley for over an hour. And although the journey takes a long time and the woman has to go all the way back, she doesn’t even accept money for the petrol, which is really remarkable.
Here is a group picture of us. From left to right: Double Dinner, Me, Nutella, our Trailangel.
In the Seaid Valley, there isn’t much, since the place consists of what feels like three houses. Unfortunately, the café has just closed and so we’re all buying an ice cream in the town’s small shop and, like some other hikers, are still sitting a little bit out of the midday heat. Shortly after 3 p.m. we start packing our things. I drink another coffee and eat a little something before I set off. But since I don’t want to climb 2000 meters in altitude in the heat, which I would be too late for, I opt for an alternative route that leads me over a road and then meets the PCT again there.
Since this road is not really used, it’s also pretty quiet and it’s a long time on the gravel road. The path is easy to walk and not really exhausting, even if it still goes up over 1000 meters in total.
Already at the beginning very dark clouds are very dark and in between it actually rains for a few minutes and I unpack my rain jacket, which I haven’t needed often before. If I remember correctly, it’s only the second day with rain.
But after just 10 minutes it stops again and I keep walking uphill in my shirt. Behind me I can see a very beautiful landscape, which is enriched by a rainbow.
Shortly after 8 p.m. I reach the PCT again and set up my tent there. During dinner I chat with a couple from Colorado.
Around half past nine it’s already dark and I’m going to sleep in my tent to be rested for tomorrow, as I’ll probably cross the border to Oregon at noon.
Day 81 – 50.9 km – Tuesday 16.07.2024
When I get up at 6 a.m., most of them are already gone. I’m still having breakfast and then running because I finally want to reach the border to Oregon.
It goes straight up the mountain and soon I’ll get a nice look back at California, which I finally want to leave after 81 days, although I liked it here.
The path leads me further and further up, although I struggled with some fallen trees again in the morning. So the increase is exhausting. I pass meadows and walk uphill almost all morning.
After a short lunch break, it’s a bit downhill and further down I pass pastureland with cows. I stop at an old hut that had been restored some time ago and now serves as a small shelter. Here I wait a few minutes until a small thunderstorm has passed, which seems to be discharged further back. I can always hear loud thunder, but there is no rain to be seen.
From here it goes up the last few meters before I finally reach the border between California and Oregon. It’s a great feeling to finally have arrived here. Even though I had to skip the last miles due to the fire, I still covered 1550 miles in California. At the border post I meet a hiker who I know from the last few days. She is just as happy about the milestone achieved as I am and we both rest right next to the sign for a while.
Looking ahead, I packed a can of beer in Shasta, which I dragged up to here to toast this moment. Since the other hiker didn’t think about bringing something to bump, the beer is quickly shared.
After a long break, we both leave again because we still have a few miles to walk.
It goes up the mountain again and in between I can see a few clouds of smoke that suggest a new fire. Hopefully it will be seen by one of the firefighters and extinguished in time before it develops into a bigger fire.
I keep walking quickly and it goes on and on. Sometimes through the forest and sometimes along the forest. Around half past eight in the evening, I pass a beautiful place with a view. Here I cook my dinner and enjoy the view.
In between, a helicopter in front of me makes a few circles, even if I can’t really understand what he’s doing exactly. From a distance it looks like a fire helicopter that fights possibly smaller fires.
After the meal I take a 5 kilometer long digestive walk before I set up my tent in the forest around 9 p.m. and go to sleep straight away.
Day 82 – 26.6 km – Wednesday 17.07.2024
Shortly after 6 I packed my tent and started walking. The first few meters are uphill through the forest. In two places I have a slight pain in my shoes from the shoes and so I’m only making slow progress. Maybe I should have run in my shoes better instead of doing more than 50 km again yesterday.
In the morning, the forest alternates with small exposed passages, where I get a good view from time to time.
Most of the time, however, relatively little happens and apart from a few older pensioners who come towards me, I hardly ever meet people.
After enjoying the view during a short drinking break, I walk about 10 minutes and then meet boxes full of soda, which have been parked here especially for PCT hikers. So I’ll stop again and drink a lemonade.
Then it goes downhill through the forest and around 1 p.m. I reach the road in the direction of Ashland.
From here I would like to hitchhike into town, which takes longer with the little traffic. After a few minutes, yesterday’s hiker joins in, with whom I drank a beer at the border. As she tells me, the fire at the border has grown significantly and some people had to turn back just before crossing the border for security reasons. So I was apparently just lucky that I passed the fire in time. Together we are waiting for a ride and after about 20 minutes someone takes us to the city.
I am let out at a supermarket and shop there for the next few days. I also pack a few more foods, which I then send a few hundred miles further north by post, where it will otherwise be difficult to stock up on groceries or should be very expensive. But I strongly doubt whether it is worth it in terms of price, since I also have to pay the money for shipping. After visiting the Post Office, I would like to buy blister plasters and tape in a pharmacy. Strangely enough, they don’t have both, which surprises both me and another hiker couple here, since you can get it from us in almost every pharmacy. Without buying anything, I leave the store again and take the bus to a pizzeria. There I eat delicious pizza and finally get a good salad as a starter. I spend some time in the very hiker-friendly shop because I charge my devices and talk to the employees for some time.
After that I go back to the street and try to hitchhike to the PCT. Unfortunately, not a single car stops in an hour. When I try to get an Uber, it doesn’t look good either, as the next 40 minutes is away and requires just under $40. Since it’s now after 7 p.m., I don’t feel like the long waiting time and maybe I’ll get a ride tomorrow (I’ve clarified on Facebook in the meantime), I spontaneously decide to stay overnight here in town.
I book a room in a nearby hotel and a few minutes later I take a long bath in the bathtub. Then I’ll rest a bit and go to sleep around half past nine.
I hope that I’ll get back to the trail more easily tomorrow and then finally be able to complete a few miles because I’ve already heard about the next fires further north. Hopefully I’ll make it past this one before they get too close to the trail and I have to avoid them.
Overview
In the meantime I have crossed the line to Oregon and left California after what felt like an eternity. Now I’m going through Oregon for a few weeks before I hope I should soon reach the border to Washington.
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