Our 6 am wake up call came way too early. We were sound asleep when Loverboy announced "Guys, it's 6 o'clock..." No one moved. 6:15 rolled around. "Guys, we really should get up..." No one moved. 6:30 rolled around. Multiple alarms went off and finally there was movement! We dragged ourselves out of those cozy hiker hut beds and got ready to go. Our ride showed up at 7 am and we piled in and headed for the trailhead. For once we were getting out of a town at a decent hour!
After being dropped off we quickly collected our packs and got on trail. Well, most of us did. The boys stayed behind for a bit while the girls got a head start. It wasn't until later in the day that some of them caught us at Shelly Lake Outlet.(Shelly has a lake named after her!). Loverboy, Matt, and Cityslicker all stopped with us at that water source. Oddly enough, Wright hadn't caught anyone yet. It was out of the ordinary but we didn't think too much of it. And so the day went on.
Shelly and I walked for several more miles and stopped at another small stream for lunch. It was a pleasant spot even though shade was limited. We ate lunch quickly, filtered our water, and left before anyone else got there.
The next couple miles were a bit tiresome. There was a very steep climb followed by a brief reprieve and then another steep climb. The uphill ended up being completely worth it because we crested a hill overlooking marble covered hillsides. Even with smoke in the air the views were incredible.
The trail then dropped into the valley and meandered through thick trees and marble outcroppings. After rounding a corner I came upon an old cabin, which was quite a surprise in a wilderness area. I didn't want to stop at the cabin but was forced to because of some very ornery deer. After about ten minutes of leap frog with a very confrontational buck I left the cabin area.
Soon I was at the last water source for the day where I was joined by Matt and Loverboy. Again, Wright wasn't there and this time I was concerned. But I grabbed waaaay too much water and slogged up the last .5 mile climb to our campsite.
It was a beautiful spot. We were in between slabs of marble overlooking an open valley. Shelly had a fire going and her and Matt were sitting around it enjoying the evening. Dusk fell as we soaked up the warmth of the fire and each others company. Loverboy arrived as we started dinner and Vanish showed up shortly thereafter. It wasn't until after dark that Cityslicker got to camp. But still no Wright.
At this point I was very worried. It's not usual for a wolf pack member to be extraordinarily late to camp. Especially Wright. We waited for quite a while after dark but he never showed. I went to bed feeling uneasy.
The next morning we woke up hoping to find Wright cowboy camping somewhere close by. But no such luck. He hadn't showed.
Other than our collective worrying about Wright the morning was awesome. We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise. It also happened to be my 22nd birthday! Shelly made me some coffee, which was delicious, and Cityslicker gave me some
yummy taffy.
Birthdays on trail are hard because you can't really give gifts. You know, baseweight and all that. So I asked for something a little different. All I wanted for my birthday was to hike with the whole Wolfpack all day. I wanted everyone to be together all day because that never happens. Unfortunately Matt waited behind for Wright so I didn't get to hike with either of them. Loverboy and Shelly, however, hiked with me all morning!
Hiking with the people who mean the most to you is an amazing experience. You get to share special moments with them as you pass through some amazing places. You struggle through miles together, you laugh together, and you just talk until you arrive at camp. I like hiking alone sometimes but getting to hike with my friends is my favorite part of the trail. So my birthday morning was great! Hiking with those two was super fun and I'm glad they slowed down to my pace to hang with me.
At lunch we hung out under a super cool tree and Shelly sang me happy birthday and gave me an apple/pocky pie. After lunch we had 14 miles until Siead Valley and seeing my parents!!
Ok, so bear with me here because I am about to sound completely insane. On the way into Seiad Valley we made a new friend. His name was Larry and he was a leaf.
Larry stuck himself to my shoe about 10 miles out from Seiad. And from that moment on a glorious friendship was born. At first he was a full bodied maple leaf, clinging to my foot with the tenacity of a lion. I chatted him up for a bit but he was very unresponsive. That set the tone for a very onesided relationship. After about a mile, Larry (or Lar as I was calling him now) began to wear down. He lost half his body but still hung on. Really he was being smart because he dropped base weight. More miles drug on and Larry became more frail and battered. At this point I was cheering him on. We both wanted him to go the distance to Seiad. Before we got to the first creek crossing I bestowed upon Larry a trail name: Freeride. I'm sure he loved the name but as usual he was silent. The first creek crossing came and he survived. The second, however, was costly. Larry lost most of his body and was all stem at that point. But by god he still held on. The mileage ticked by and finally Larry was no more. He had held on for 5 glorious miles with the determination that any leaf would envy. His stint on the PCT was short but worthy of remembrance. And now I dedicate this post to Larry the Leaf aka Lar aka Freeride. Thank you for the wonderful memories and may you rest in peace.
Anyways, back to what I was talking about earlier... We got into Seiad around 5ish where we met my parents! They took us to their campsite and fed us a delicious chicken dinner. We then went back and grabbed the rest of the Wolfpack for some dessert. All in all, a wonderful birthday.
The next day my parents headed for home. It was awesome to see them on my birthday. I couldn't have asked for a better present. But the time came to say goodbye and they left us to grab milkshakes at the local cafe. And then....Wright appeared! It turned out that he had gotten very sick after leaving Etna. He got a couple miles out of town and then turned around and went back to the trailhead. After some rest and recoup he hitched to Seiad. So all was well and we got our missing pack member back!
After we had lunch we went up 14 miles to a meet up spot with the boys and waited for them to arrive. This meant finding things to pass the time so naturally we watched tv in the woods.
While we waited we met the Mob Squad! Stayin' Alive, Shake, Toast, Mr. Walker, and Twiggy. They are awesome guys. We did highs and lows with them around the campfire. It was a giant mess of hiker trash at that campsite!
Eventually the boys showed up at dusk and we went to bed giddy with anticipation because the next day we would cross the OREGON/Cali border! Woohoo! Finally!
The next morning we left early and marched toward the border. It was a beautiful day filled with great vistas and nice lunch spots but no one lagged. We were dead set on that border. We had been waiting for this day for soooooo long.
And so, around 6 ish in the evening I crossed the Oregon/California border! I danced my way in and then flipped Cali the bird. It was glorious. To celebrate I took a nap while waiting for the others.
After everyone arrived and soaked up the fact that we were in Oregon we all headed to a spring a couple miles away. We were finally in Oregon and that meant that the next day we would arrive in Ashland and get some much needed rest. I went to bed very proud of our accomplishment. We had walked from Mexico to OREGON.
A beautiful sunrise greeted us when we opened the tent flap. Shelly and I got out of our sleeping bags quickly so we could get to town at a reasonable hour. On our way out, Shelly heckled Loverboy with some cow poop, much to the enjoyment of everyone who was awake. Loverboy, however, was not amused and proceeded to chase Shelly all over camp.
We left chuckling and slowly made our way through some beautiful countryside towards Ashland. We were about 10 miles from town when we both heard drumming. It sounded like a concert. Off in the distance down the hill we could see what looked like a stage.
So we left the PCT and went to investigate. What we found was a large painted schoolbus with couches, a drumset, and mostly naked people on its roof. Awesome.
These people were super friendly and offered us watermelon. I rocked out on the bus roof drumset for a bit and then we headed back to the trail, happy and a little stunned at what just happened. Renewed with energy we raced into Ashland for some all you can eat spaghetti at Callahans Lodge.
Hello Ashland. Show us what Oregon is all about.
-Smokey
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