Day 118 + 119 : Ashland

15th &16th August
No miles

Average mileage since day 101 : 20.6

The two days i spent in Ashland flew by. The good food and beer eaten and drunk the night before knocked me right out and i slept well. In he morning coffee was.first on he agenda, so Justin took the three of us out to one of the myriad coffee shops in downtown Ashland. After a quick coffee there T-Rex and Rocky met up with their ride up to Portland, Justin went off to work, and i headed into town to have breakfast with Jess. Jess, or more properly Nightcrawler due to her affinity for night hiking and love of Charlie Day, is a hiker i first met BigBear many miles ago I've been chasing in the log books for weeks now, and only after hiking big miles with T-Rex and Rocky have i finally been able to catch up. After an hour or so of more figurative catching up over a very good breakfast, Jess made her way back to the trail, and i to Justin's house for some internet chores, namely blogging. The blogging updates took me up to midday the next day to complete, at which time i started tackling my other chores. My resupply strategy for Oregon, in contrast to California, is to send food boxes to myself to points along the trail as there are very few towns close to the trail from which to resupply. The extensive blogging I'd done since arriving in Ashland meant i very nearly missed being able to send my boxes in the mail. I raced through the supermarket buying 3 weeks worth of hikers food and then had push the trolley back through town to the post-office as it was way too much for me to carry. An hour or so later all my boxes were.in the post and i started thinking about getting back to the trail. It took me two hitches to get back to the trail, the first from Matt, and the second from Donna. Matt was a young guy perhaps my age ho had just been sacked from his job as a trainee chef and was understandably a bit despondent. After one of the more awkward rides on the trail, where i resisted giving my 'the trail is so amazing!' schpeel Matt dropped me at a petrol station next to the motorway. I would have liked to have taken his picture for my blog, but felt it might have been a bit inappropriate so i thanked him for the ride and wished him well for the future. I was confident about my next hitch and took up a position at the on ramp. A while later though my confidence was fading along with the light. As difficult as it is for a bearded single man to get a hitch, doing so ij the dark would be nigh impossible. Just as i was about to give up and try to get back into town Donna pulled up in her car. Donna, it turned out, along with her husband ran a resort called Callahans right next to where the trail crosses the interstate. She had spotted i was a thru hiker and took pity on me. A few hours previous to my hitching escapades i had resolved to do 10 miles upon reaching the trail. Given, though, that by the time i had gotten moving on the trail the light had almost totally gone i decided to get a mile or so away from the road, get an early night and get up the next morning withthe light in order to get a full day's hiking done using every available hour of daylight . So that's what i did.

Day 117 : Hello Oregon!

14th August 2013
Mile 1699.5 to mile 1728: The California-Oregon border to I-5
Mileage : 28.5

The first Oregonian trail register

Today was a new day, and a new state! As with yesterday nothing could dampen our spirits as we did our first miles in Oregon heading towards Interstate 5 and Ashland for some well deserved Oregonian beers. Rocky and T-Rex were especially excited as Oregon is their home.state, and also they would be take a break for a few days back in Portland their home town. I wish i could say that the grass was greener on the Oregonian side of the state line, but mostly it was the same. Ominously a hicks.smoky hazy had enveloped the mountains reducing visibility to such an extent that only the immediate ridgelines were visible on either side of the trail, with the rest disappearing into a grey-blue fog. The smoke was thick enough in parts to begin to affect my breathing ever so slightly on the uphills. This did not bode well.for the days and miles to come, but for the mean time we all.put it from.our minds as we started the final descent to highway and began to see the telltail signs of our proximity to main roads and civilisation, i.e. day hikers. I am usually only too happy to stop and chat with anyone on the trail wanting to ask me about the trail and my experiences thus far, but today i had thoughts only for town and all that that entails. I therefore tried me hardest to keep my exchanges with day hikers as brief as was humanly possible without being rude, i hope i pulled it off. The descent was never-ending, with my knees protesting vehemently the whole way, but today i had no time for them and carried on despite my many aches and pain, which all seem to be more pronounced whenever i approach a town stop. The sights and sounds of the interstate signalled the end was near and i finally emerged tired but happy onto a small side to find T-Rex waiting for me, along with Justin, our angel for our Ashland stop. Although i usually start the day at the back, this is no indication of over in which we finish the day, as our motivation and energy levels fluctuate throughout the day. T-Rex has an almost unbelievable ability to push herself  hard whenever a town stop is near, regardless of the trail conditions, which today involved a long knee jarring descent and, and the fact that she almost never uses her hiking poles. I dont know how she does it to be honest, my knees would have called end to my hike long ago were i hiking like her. It was Rocky's turn to bring up the rear today, but he appeared  only 10 minutes or so behind me. He was experiencing similar joint discomfort to that of my own so could identify well with the look on his face as he emerged onto the road. The three of us piled.into Justin's car and were soon speeding our way into Ashland and towards civilisation. An hour or so later the 4 of us, along with Justin's better half were enjoying easily the best meal on the trail by a huge margin. The meal, beer, company and hospitality shown by our angels were a welcome welcome into Oregon. The Oregonian bar has been set high.

Day 116 : Goodbye California

13th August 2013
Mile 1670 to mile 1699.5 : Seiad Valley overlook to the California - Oregon border

Today was my last day in California! Along with Rocky and T-Rex i crossed.over into Oregon at the end if the ay after hiking the entire length if the PCT in California, a total trail.distance of 1699 miles! It has been clear though that California has nite been happy about us leaving and has thrown some major obstacles at us in the last few days, including rattlesnakes and wasps, hail and lightning, fire and smoke, and monster climbs.  Today the only obstacle today was one with which we are all accustomed : the Sun, but even with my now thousands of miles of trail experience it is still tough every day dealing with the sun. Nothing, though, could dampen our spirits today as we pretty much ran the 29 miles to the Oregon border where we sat in the evening light drinking beer that we'd all packed up the massive climb savoring the moment fir as long as we could. From today the countdown from 1000 begins! There was no camping at the border monument so we, along with 2 others, carried on a short way up the trail to find a logging road which would serve as our first campsite, in Oregon! As i lay in my sleeping bay feeling unconsciousNess enveloping me i was struck by a short conversation we'd had with a south-bounder that day. Vogue, the hiker in question informed the three of us that we between us we were the 269th, 270th and 271st north-bound hikers he'd met since he'd started in Canada. Many miles ago Scout, to the Scout and Frodo fame in San Diego with whom i stayed prior to starting my hike, told.me that in his capacity of PCTA chairman he knew that over 1000 permits had been issued for that year. Given my relatively slow pace during the first half of this hike i had assumed that the vast majority of hikers were ahead me, so 270 seemed an improbably small number to me. Vogue, which has done the trail trail before.in both directions also estimated that anyone over 10 days behind would struggle to make it to Canada before the first snows effectively close the trail to hikers like ourselves poorly equipped to deal with winter conditions. Assuming 10 hikers.on the trail per day (which i think is probably too large a number judging by what i see in trail registers), and assuming an.error of maybe 10%  that vogue might have missed in trail.towns, and then adding perhaps 50 for south-bounders, the number of hikers that can currently make it to Canada is less than 500. All his means that 50% of hikers have already dropped out for whatever reason, and we have still almost 1000 miles to go. The success rate is usually around 35% so another 150 have yet to drop out. I will not be among them.

Day 115 : Seiad Valley

12th August 2013
Mile 1644.5 to mile 1670 : Unpaved road campsite to Seiad Valley view
Mileage : 24.5

Average mileage since day 101 : ?

The plan made yesterday evening went off largely without a hitch. The first third of the ay was descent down to the valley which was mercifully shaded all the way down, the middle third, which involved a long road walk, was not. My strategy for dealing with hiking in the sun and on hard roads is to go as as is humanly possible to be done with it as soon as my legs will get me there. I left Rocky and T-Ex so far behind they had suspicions i had gotten a ride there, given the road walk was actually part of the trail this would jot have been an option irrespective of the hardness.of the hike. I arrived at the town centre, a small convenience store and discovered I'd caught another groupbof hikers, including Shotput and Pepperflake, with if whom i hadn't seen since Mammoth over 800 miles ago. After a few hours of catching up with everyone, T-Rex, Rocky and I headed.off into the late afternoon ti tackle the climb out of the valley. We covered 5.5 miles in 2 hours dead, not a particularly accomplishment for us now except when the 3500ft climb is added. It was easily the steepest longest sustained.climb on the trail so far, and we almost literally ran up it. It was incredible to think back to the first 1300 foot climb ob the first day which almost killed.me, and then contrast that with the Seiad Valley climb. Feeling very pleased with ourselves we made the summit as the last light faded and cooked a speedy dinner. Tonight was another night where the trail served as my campsite, as there were.literally no other flat and clear spots around on for miles around, but given the number of hikers at the top whobhad all had similar plans labour own, i didn't worry too much about animal encounters and fell to sleep faster than ever before.

Day 114 : An Unscheduled Scenic Detour

11th August 2013
Mile 1617 to mile 1645 : Shelley campsite to unpaved road campsite
Mileage : 27.5
Average mileage since day 101 : 22.0

Until today I have not taken any in scheduled scenic detours of any kind, but did so today not realizing for almost half an hour. The day started Welles the firestarters broke camp early and left us all to own one devices. We left a bit later than usual as we were camped in some sort of cold sink that brought the temperature right down in the morning, but were soon on our way. The three of us were joined today by two other hikers, Dance Party, an American girl, and Focus, a friend of Starfox whom I know well. At some point during the first climb of the day along a steep granite cliff I missed a left turn on th PCT and carried on obliviously up another trail. PCT hikers very quickly develop a knack, a sort of sixth sense almost, for knowing when they are or aren't on the PCT, and before long my spider sense was tingling. Just as I was about to get out my map and reassure myself, I saw a wooden sign with the PCT logo on it pointing up the hill so carried on assuming this bit of trail was just one of the less well maintained sections. Another few minutes later my spider sense was still tingling and I finally got out my map and tried to make sense of where I was. I couldnt make the map and elevation matchnup with the surrundings but assumed i was just having a dim moment and wasnt unduly concerned. Another half an hour later i came spotted a junction up ahead and saw Dance Party  whom i had passed not an hour before. how on earth had she gotton in front of me? In the end I figured out that I had strayed onto a now disused section of trail which had looped around a different side of the mountain around which the official PCT is routed. My first usd over I carried on up the trail towards the lunch spot. We we a fairly big group of hikers at the lunch spot, which is now the norm for Rocky, T-Rex and I as we as doing bigger miles than most and are therefore slowly overhauling the hiking groups we encounter.. At lunch a discussion arose regarding whether or not a small rodent which was cheekily investigating our food bags when we weren't looking, was a ground squirrel, or a chipmunk, which are almost identical. Thanks to Starfox and his animal flash cards that proved so useful on top of Half-Dome, I was aware of the key difference between the two animals which is that chipmunks all have striped faces, and ground squirrels never do. The little guy in question had a golden face and was therefore a squirrel, game, set and match : Manchurian. See attached photo for proof Rocky or T-Rex if you're reading this! The rest of the day proved largely uneventful as we got some more miles in before stopping to camp on a disused logging road halfway down the descent into Seiad Valley, a former mining and logging town with a reputation for scorching temperatures. The plan to get across it was to get down early, rest in the valley during the ottest part of the day and climb out in the evening. Plans made we retired to our sleeping bags for the night and passed out.

Day 113 : Etna

10th August 2013
Mile 1606.5 to mile 1617 : Etna Summit to Shelley campsite
Mileage : 10.5
Average mileage since day 101 : 21.6

This morning i managed to wangle myself one of the better breakfasts I've had on the trail. The hik hostel is also a bed and breakfast, and Rocky and T-Rex had decided to get one of the rooms which came with breakfast in the morning. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and was offered a bonus breakfast along with the 4th unknown guest, who turned out to be Fireball. After breakfast set about chores, but not before having a chat with the local fire marshal who is keeping us all abreast of the progress of the teams tackling a fire in a nearby valley. During the approach to Etna, the haze smoke and associated haze got thicker and thicker to the point where it totally obscured the view to the west. Fire is a natural part of the forest ecosystem, it clears dead and rotting timber from the forest floor, and allows the forest to regenerate. Unfortunately, over much of the last hundred years the US has embarked on a fire suppression policy the results of which have not been good for anyone or anything living in or near the forsts. Timber has built up over time resulting in fires that burn hotter and longer than they would usually destroying even the most massive trees which then produce the eerie burn zones similar to that through which I hiked near Drakesbad. Naturally occurring fires, usually started by lightning, and which all accept are necessary, are one thing. Fires started, intentionally or unintentionally are something quite different. Unfortunately this fire fell into that category as fire crews had suspicions that it was started deliberately and had so far cost the taxpayer almost $7,000,000 to fight, with only 5% containment. Whatever the cause, the hiking concern is whether or not the fire is likely to force the closure of sections of the trail, which means either hitching around, or as would be the case for me, a difficult road walk detour. Obviously the other concern is whether or not the fire actually threatens ourselves while we're on th trail,maw has happened occasionally in the past. Fortunately for us the trail was still open, and the three of us resolved to getting out of town early to take advantage of the trails current open status. A few hours later we were back on th trail thanks to Gerry, a Hot Shot fire fighter meaning he goes in on foot to fight th fires which is not an enviable job in my opinion, and his girlfriend Jenna, who owns the local, and very good, bakery in town. We aimed to get out of the fire zone as quickly as possible and hiked hard into the late afternoon with our rucksacks laden down for the coming days, and with my own laden down in particular with delights sent by Sophie which I would enjoy with gusto over the next few days. The sun had fully set upon arrival at the camping spot, and before seeing the camp I could smell it, and specifically a campfire. 2 hikers, wholes names I will not mention, had decided to start a fire that evening which I thought was an extremely irresponsible thing to do given the circumstances. I had no desire to start an argument with the two as I was tired, it was getting cold, and mostly because there was nowhere else to camp as far as ink new within a couple miles of where we were, and I had no desire to continue farther up the trail. My staying around also gave me peace of mind with regards to the extinguishing of the fire, something which I discoverd the two hikers had not thought after asking politely if they had enough water to put it, to which they essentially replied oh yeah, that's a good idea'. Had there not been a water source present I would have spoken to them about it, but as I said I had no desire for an argument. I hoped that in future the two hikers, who are not bad people but mostly a bit naive, would ensure that any other fires they might start would be managed properly. My boy scout like good deed for the day now done, I went to bed early as T-Rex had plans for us to do another big day tomorrow in order to set up for the crossing of Seiad Valley the day after.

Day 112 : An atypical day

9th August 2013
Mile 1582 to mile 1606.5 : Scot Mountains campsite to Etna Summit
Mileage : 24.5
Average mileage since day 101 : 22.6

Today was atypical in all respects. Unusually I awoke to discover the sky was overcast, which I w thankful for as it meant that we would be spared the sun's rays for as long as the clouds were there making for easy hiking even during the middle of the day. As per usual I started behind the other two, but overtook Rocky almost immediately as he was having trouble with hIs feet that morning. An hour later I caught T-Rex standing in the middle of the trail stock still absorbed in the antics of a doe and her young fawn, who were on the trail just up ahead. I was determined to get a picture this time, and carefully and quietly got out my camera and crept up to where T-Rex was standing a few meters farther up the trail. As it turned out I needn't have been some cautious as this mother and child pair seemed totally unperturbed by our presence, and carried on doing their thing. After a few minutes however they made their way infront of us across the road that the trail was about to cross. Before starting the trail i would have assumed that deer move gracefully and noiselessly through the forest, but i have learnt that this is not so. The adults seem to make as much noise as we do when we clamber over fallen trees  and the like, but in contrast the fawn made almost no noise whatsover. The little guy bounded out of view so effortless and so silently it looked like he was controlled by a puppeteer who had just lifted up. I even got a picture of him mid jump that i will endeavour to put up when I can. I wish I were able to traverse obstacles like that, I seem to climb over fallen logs with all the grace of an arthritic elephant. The encounter over we continued up the tail joined by Rocky who had caught up while T-Rex and I watched the deer. A few miles later the heavens opened, and out poured not rain, but thunder, lightning and hail. We were just about to leave the treeline and climb up onto a ridge when a massive flash of lightning hit the forest nearby. An instant later there was acolossal clap of thunder, louder and closer than anything I have ever experienced before. We stood on the edge of the forest deliberating our available options when the weather decided for us. An even bigger bolt of lightning hit the forest only a couple hundred meters away judging by the near simultaneous thunder. We ditched our lightning rods, aka hiking poles and literally sprinted back down the trail into the cover of the tree at while now being pelted by hail as big as marbles. The three of us huddled under the a group of small trees not daring to seek protection under something larger thinking it would be more likely to be hit by lightning than a small tree. We could do nothing but wait out the storm and try and keep warm as the temperature plummeted. Probably half an hour later we felt it was safe enough to continue so we carried on up the trail keeping a weather eye firmly clamped on th sky above as we hopped up and over a multitude of little peaks and ridges. It was a tense afternoon. Just after lunch I had climbed another exposed cliffside and had thankfully just dropped into th trees again when I saw my first bear. I looked up to see a cinnamon colored black bear running like the clappers downhill away from me into the forest. I wondered if it was running away from me, or running, ie chasing, another small fawn and doe that I had seen only a few minutes before on the proceeding bit of trail. When in Yosemite i had been told by a ranger that in the early spring bears feed almost exclusively on small fawns which are too small to outrun bears that can run faster than most horses, a unfortunate fact of life in the natural world i suppose. I heard from Rocky later that the deer pair had hung around with him for a good 15 minutes finally passing him on the trail close enough for him to touch them, were he to have tried. The bear i saw was sprinting downhill at a speed i would have thought impossible i had not known the horse fact, and so it transpired was running  from me. I worried about his knees running downhill like that, an arthritic elephant could not have performed a similar feat of athleticism that's for sure. Pleased with seeing my first bear finally after so many miles passing through bear country, I carried on towards the day's objective at Etna summit feeling much better about the inclement weather and the lightning. Only about 10 minutes after my successful bear sighting my good spirits were taken from me by a swarm off hornets. They had unwisely decided to build their nest the trail and were upset when I accidentally stepped on it. The hornets made run for only 2nd time on the entire trail, and I was not happy about it either time. A hundred meters or so past the nest I stopped to catch my breath and inspect the back of my left knee, which had been stung several times. Thankfully I am not allergic to much in life so the stings resulted in not much more than a throbbing pain that persisted for a few hours as I made my way down to the pass that is Etna summit. Although we had only done about 26 miles, we all arrived there at almost the same time as we would have done after a normal day. The visibility at the summit pass was uncharacteristically poor, caused by the stormy weather, and the proximity of a major fire in the next valley, a subject about which more will be said in the next post. The fire meant the road was closed after the summit to traffic apart from service vehicles, which do not pick hikers up. We sat in the cold, windy, damp weather trying our best to like spritely in the hope of securing a ride, but over an hour later we were still there. In the end Rocky and I climbed a nearby hillock and managed to get enough bars worth of reception on his phone to call the owner of the local trail hostel in the town of Etna where we would be staying that night. 20 minutes later the 3 of us, along with another middle aged male hiker who had joined us by the road, we squeezed in his pick-up truck happy to be finally out of the weather. On the way down I was in the front seat and was making small talk explaining i am (sort of) from Manchester, well actually born in Stockport but i never get that specific as most Brits have a hard time with that let along Americans when i asked Dave, our ride and hostel owner, where he was from. He replied 'Sheffield'. Without hearing even a hint of the characteristic Sean Bean accent I politely asked where Sheffield was in the US guessing there was a namesake town somewhere, he looked at me quizzically and replied 'you're from Manchester but you don't know where Sheffield is?'. It turned out he was a Brit who had moved to the US in his late teens and had since become a naturalized citizen along with his Danish wife Vicky. It was weird talking about the Peak District, the Pennine Way, Snake Pass, Castleton, Glossop, Buxton and even Chinley where i lived for year many years ago as a child, and where I did a fair amount of hiking while a student in Manchester, with someone from a 200 person nondescript town halfway across the world. He even knew the Old Nags Head, a pub in Edale at the southern end of the Pennine Way frequented by hikers, including myself a few times, escaping the often horrible weather on Kinder Scout. The world is a small place. 15 minutes of nostalgia later Dave deposited us at the local food and watering hole where we had some celebratory drinks and a well earned meal before heading back to the hostel after a long, eventful and tiring day on the PCT

Day 111 : More meandering

8th August 2013
Mile 1552 to mile 1582 : Chilcoot creek to Scott Mountains campsite
Mileage : 30
Average mileage since day 101 : 22.5

Today largely followed uneventfully in the same fashion as the the day before, with progression along the trail in an eastward and southward direction. We had intended to do another long morning followed by a short afternoon, but upon arrival at a pass I was distracted by a trail maintenance crew who gave me a welcome cold drink and a bowl of delicious fruit salad. The PCTA calls on veritable armies of volunteers who come out to the trail for a week at a time to give it a spring clean. These volunteers provide an invaluable service to us hikers which is often taken for granted. There have been many time when I have mentally chastised the PCTA for not keeping the trail in good condition, without really appreciating just how much effort it takes to do so. Power tools and lifting equipment are not allowed on trail, so all cutting, sawing and removal of all plant life encroaching onto the trail, whether it be weeds and bushes growing outward into the trail, or 3 meter diameter logs which have fallen across the trail, must all be dealt with by hand. A crew of about 10 can dress about 3 miles of tail per week, I hike that distance in an hour so it's no wonder the more isolated sectioned get overgrown sometimes. After thanking the crew for all their hard work I carried on up the trail still on track for another 30 mile day. Unfortunately at the 30 mile mark there was no camping whatsoever so we continued up the trail until we the first tentative spot came into view in the fading light. Night is falling ever quicker now that the days are shortening, but in the forests the dark closes in much earlier and plunges everything into an eerie inky blackness coupled with silence as the dense tree cover block out the wind, and muffle all other sounds except for the occasional cracking of branches as deer start foraging for food in the cover of the darkness. Sleep comes quickly at the end of each day and after two 30 milers I had no trouble passing out, at least the next day looked to be a bit easier.

Day 110 : A mental challenge

7th August 2013
Mile 1522 to mile 1552 : Castle Crags wilderness to Chilcoot creek
Mileage : 30
Average mileage since day 101 : 21.7

Rocky and T-Rex are definitely more disciplined than me in the morning. I am not a morning person, I never have been and never will be, but on the trail morning miles are easy miles, and so it is always best to get up early and take advantage of the cool morning air. My morning routine starts with me hitting the snooze button whenever the alarm goes off, which is around 5:30. I postpone getting up and out of my sleeping bag until I hear the other two emerge from their tent which is when I reluctantly start packing up. The othersdo most of their routine in their tent which means i continually play catch-up as they finish off. Invariably they get going about 15 minutes before me, and I spend the first hour or so trying to catch them. I like hiking at the back in the morning as it motivates me to hike fast and warm up. Today was no different as we started our hiking day. For most of the morning their were fantastic views of the Castle Craggs to be had, which are unbelievably aptly named. From both sides they look like th crenelated walls and turrets of a medieval castle, Conway in particular sprang to mind that morning as I looked across the valley across the trail twisting and turning its way along the ridge tops. Additonally, the craggs, and a large part of the upcoming 2 sections, are gthe wonderfully picturesque granite to which i had become so accustomed in the Sierra Nevada, as opposed to the dull volcanic brown of the cascades. Dr Slosh, who seems to have almost encyclopaedic knowledge of all things pertaining to the outdoors on the west coast of the US, told me that geologically speaking, the granite outcrops through which the trail is currently meandering are part of the Sierra Nevada which got separated through plate tectonic movements. Regardless of their geological origins, I was pleased to be walking through granite once again, even if it is only for a few miles. I was less pleased however, with the trail today as infuriatingly we mostly traveled west and south. I keep reminding myself that I am on the Pacific Crest Trail and should not be disheartened when the trail stubbornly refuses to take me more directly towards Canada, and that each mile is ultimately taking me there just at its own leisure and not mine. that being said it was hard looking back north at the end of the day being able to see the circuitous trail carved into the mountainside and knowning how little linear distance had been achieved, and knowing that i was farther away from Canada than I was that morning. After lunch I did a straight 13 miles to the designated campsite, and was shattered by the time I got there. I sat by the trail and waited for the other two to join me, and was treated to an encounter with a pair of does that came to within 2 or 3 meters of me as they too used the trail to commute down to the spring. It was spell binding to watch them cautiously approach both me and the water  one step at a time. I sat there quietly without trying to get out my camera as I knew I would spook them and send them disappearing into the forest. The spell was broken by the arrival of Rocky and T-Rex, who were listening to something aloud with some mini speaker that they carry and who thus announced their imminent arrival to the deer long before I was aware of their approach. As I had, Rocky and T-Rex had noticed the trail's meandering behaviour today and had harboured feelings towards it not too dissimilar to my own. We hoped that tomorrow would be a better day, but upon inspection of the maps discovered we were in for another west-bound day. I can't speak for the other two but that knowledge sapped the last of my energy for the day and I retired to my sleeping bag for deep restorative sleep before another tough day on the PCT.

Day 108 : Shasta City

7th August 2013
No miles
Mileage : 0
Average mileage since day 101 : 21.4

Today was another unexpected zero, but it was definitely worth it. The day started off well as Rocky, T-Rex and I had good intentions to get our chores done and then head back out to the trail by the end of the day. After a leisurely breakfast with the other two I set off to find the library and get my blogging done. I went to the library via the post office where I intended to pick up a box from Sophie and my insoles which I had ordered online from Drakesbad. Unfortunately try insoles weren't there, but I did manage to pick up my box of treats from Sophie, and it was great. Sophie sets the bar high when it comes to care packages, and didn't disappoint this time around with mini sausisson, fruit purées and olives among other treats. I was told to come back later to check whether or not my insoles would arrive with the last shipment of post to arrive toward the end of the day. I whiled away the time at the library updating my blog and doing Internet chores, and realized only too late that I had lost track of the time and that the post office had closed, oh dear. I had arranged with the others to head back to the trail that evening, and after resupplying at speed wandered back through town to find them. When I finally tracked them down I discovered them making friends with Dan sat in is incredibly hippyish van. Shasta City is full of young hipster types, and modern hippies, and Dan and his girlfriend Ivanna, two incredibly wonderful and hospitable people, fit right right in as they seemed to have merged the best traits of both the aforementioned groups. The pair of them proved to be terrific company, and us 3 hikers decided we would spend the evening in town rather than returning to the trail, as we we all enjoying ourselves to contemplate hitching, especially after a couple beers. A few hours of good conversation later, Dan drove us in the back of his psychedelic van to a quiet camping spot on the outskirts of town where we camped, as none of us wanted to spend money on accommodation if we didn't have to, especially as it would have probably meant returning to the extremely dank and dingy motel at which we had stayed the previous night. Full after one of the better meals I have eaten at a trail town, and sleepy after a couple beers, I was asleep in no time resolving with Rocky and T-Rex to make it a relatively early start the next morning and get out of town befo getting to distracted again by people like Dan and Ivanna. It was not to be.

Day 109 : Castle Crags

8th August 2013
Mile 1506 to mile 1522.5 : Interstate 5 to a saddle in the Castle Crags wilderness
Mileage : 16.5
Average mileage since day 101 : 20.8

Although Rocky, T-Rex and I did get out of town today as planned, it was admittedly later than we had originally intended, but we eventually packed up and prepared to hitch. Everyone whom we had met in town said that given the hippyish nature of the town, we should have no problem getting a ride, but it certainly wasn't th easiest hitch of the trail so far. After a while stood on the side of the road a lady to stopped to tell us that although she had some errands to run in town first, she would be done in half an hour or so and would take us back to the trail if we we still there. As she as about to pull away from us, a police car stopped right next to the car and proceeded to speak to the drive, a conversation which we couldn't overhear given the noise of the town traffic. It transpired, after getting picked up by Alice, a local trail angel who explained the cop situation to us, that the Police we starting a crackdown on hikers hitching, and that resident had been warned not to pick us up. This seemed very strange to us, as we couldn't fathom why it was so wrong to pick us up. Although it is fair to say that from a precursory glance some of us hikers do have the appearance of homeless people, especially people such as myself with big beards, town's people know the tail and know the difference between us and homeless people, and so it usually from local residents that we usually get rides, so none of could understand the police edict. After giving my schpeel to Alice for the n-th time we were deposited at the trailhead from where we started our hike into the Castle Crag wilderness. The first part of the 15ish miles we intended to do that day was relatively flat and shady, but the latter part involved a climb into the wilderness which was steep and exposed, and we had timed to do this as the day was cooling down. Half-way up the climb I encountered an animal that I have not seen since the horrific Tehachapi to Walker Pass section almost 900 miles ago :  a rattlesnake. This one was a red/brown and white striped juvenile with only a couple rattles, which slithered across the trail before I could get out my camera. I later identified it as a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake and have been pleased so far to not encounter any others. I know the statistics on Rattlesnake bites suggest I am extremely unlikely to get attacked, but such an event would be less than ideal so am glad to not ncouter them very often. Soon after my snake meeting, we stopped on a saddle to get an early night as the plan for the next day was a big 30 miles, and not just for tomorrow.

Day 107 : 1500 miles

4th August 2013
Mile 1484 to mile 1506 : Non-descript logging rd to I-5.\
Mileage : 22

Average mileage since day 101 : 24.4

My body punished me all day today for not having a hot meal yesterday evening. I dilegently counted the calories, but my body seemed to know i was cutting corners, and was not happy. Luckily, the day was short, only 22 miles, mostly down hill, and shaded, except for a climb in the middle of the morning. The only thing worse than an exposed section of trail, is an exposed section of the trail which goes up. I was worried that the climb might be such a section, so planned to repeat yesterday's 12 miler before the first break. The hunger, however, set in about 5 seconds after i put my rucksack on, and by the time I reached the bottom of the climb was growling audibly. Concered about the increasing heat of the morning, i decided not to stop and eat but rather content myself with sugar, something I don't usually do. I try and avoid sugar on the trail as it is not very calorie dense, and provides only a 'hit' of energy that i can't sustain during my 12 mile stints. I do, however, always carry a big bag of skittles for moments when i need to push through the hunger and get somewhere quickly. I raced up the 6 mile climb at speed stopping every half an hour to eat a few handfuls of skittles, which would get me through the next half an hour before i would start to crash. This tactic proved effective, and i was glad I did it, as there were significant portions of the climb that i could tell would be exposed to the sun in a very short space of time. After the climb, it was all down hill to the 1500 mile marker, and I-5. After an obligatory photo at the marker, we all headed down to the road looking for a ride into Shasta City for a night off the trail. Some hours later, Rocky, T-Rex and I were sat outside at a bar/restaurant (Dr Slosh carrying straight on up the trail to meet his girlfriend's family, with whom he'd be hiking at a leasurely 10 miles per day for about a week) when out of the blue appeared Cuddles, the hiking cellist, and his wife Emma who is supporting him as he makes his way to Canada. I hadn't seen cuddles in over 1000 miles, so it was a chance for us all to catch up and swop stories. As we were doing so, he reached into his bag and pulled out a pinata. Not just any pinata, but Prophet's pinata that had been given to him as part of the Top Gear challenge many miles ago in Tehachapi. To say I was surprised to see the pinata would be a significant understatement. Prophet ditched the Pinata at Kennedy Meadows South, just we were beginning the Sierra Nevada so PRT decided to mail it to him at Mammoth where we assumed he would stop and pick up a package, and then rediscover the pinata. For a long time Prophet has been 10-14 days ahead of most people I know, so none of us knew whether or not he had picked it up in Mammoth or not. Along with the Pinata we had put a note saying as punishment for ditching it he would have to take it all the way to Oregon, and to give him credit it appears he almost made it. Given how light it is, I have decided to tkae it up the trail as far as Ashland, where I intend to leave it for the rest of PRT, who are now about 4 days behind me. After dinner, a couple of beers and a catch up the three of us headed back to the scabby motel we were staying at looking forward to a shower and a well deserved lie in.


Nel took us from the trailhead into Shasta City



From left to right : T-Rex, Rocky, Myself and Slosh at the 1500 mile marker!



From left to right : Rocky, the Pinata, Cuddles, T-Rex and Emma

Day 106 : Foot Pain

3rd August 2013
Mile 1456 to mile 1484 : Mt Shasta Lookout to Non-descript Logging rd
Mileage : 28

Average mileage since day 101 : 24.8

Today we were lucky in that passed out of the logging zone and had protection from the sun for most of the day except the morning when the trail hugged an exposed ridgeline. The exposed nature of the trail in this section motivated me to get it over and done before it got too hot. My high calorie intake in the morning means i can stave of the hiker hunger for the first 2 to 3 hours of a standard hiking day, but after that my body knows it is time to eat. I didn't want to break and then return to the exposed ridgeline so decided to push through the hunger and get off the ridgeline and down into the forests before. My stomach was literally screeming at me when i finally stopped 12 miles into the day at a small stream to have lunch. T-Rex and and Rocky were just ahead of me, but Slosh was nowhere to be seen. He had decided to push on another 8 miles downhill to a nearby river in order to do some fishing. After a hiker box surprise lunch of home-made mac n cheese courtesy of the hiker box in Old Station, I continued another 8 miles down to the river for a quick dip before ending the day with an unwelcome 6 mile climb. Thoroughly knackered, i reached the summit in a darkening forest, and camped along with Rocky and T-Rex on a former, and now overgrown, logging road right on the ridgeline itself. We were anxious to get an early night in order to get to town at a reasonable time the next day, so i decided against having a hot meal and instead made up my evening calorie count with a snack food food. This turned out to be a mistake.

Day 105 : Clear Cut

2nd August 2013
Mile 1429 to mile 1456 : Rock Creek Bridge to Mt Shasta Lookout
Mileage : 27

Average mileage since day 101 : 24.2

Today was another tough day on the trail. I was up and moving at the relatively late time of 7:45. The first order of business was a 2000ft climb which thankfully was shaded for most of the way. After that however the scenery changed. Through this section the trail passes through logging country, the results of which are evident all along the trail. One minute the trail is passing through beautiful, shady forests and the next emerges into a large expanse of clear cut forest. I understand that logging is an important industry, providing products that i use, and supporting a substantial number of jobs, but all the same it is a sad business. At the midday break Slosh, Rocky, T-Rex and I were sat on a non-descript logging road hearing the sounds of logging activity, but not seeing it until a tree literally disappeared about 50 metres away, with an almighty cracking sound followed by a thump that made the vibrate. It was too hot for us to move, so we sat for a good our watching the forest disappear before our eyes. Some time later we were back on the move passing from forest to clear cut a couple times every hour or so. The exposure to the sun that accompanied the clear cut sections was really taking its toll on me, and halfway up the last climb of the day my body said no more. Given the high calorie diet that i've been attempting over the last few days i've noticed my energy levels are significantly higher and constant throughout the day, but today was tough regardless of how many calories i'd consumed. After stopping for a good half and hour at a creek i had taken on a good thousand calories and was able to complete the final miles to the campsite. The others were already finishing up their dinners when i arrived and were wondering where I had gotten to. I explained my calorie crash, a common hiker issue, and also told them of the incredible view of Mt Shasta i'd had by being half an hour behind them. After being hidden for many miles since Hat Creek Rim, the volcano came into view in the evening light so spectacularly that i just had to stop and watch it for a few minutes. Although i didn't know it at the time, there have been a significant number of fires in the forests behind Mt Shasta, and the smoke and sun set light combined to fill the entire sky surrounding the mountain with an incredible set of red and pink light. Once again my camera is too small to small to be able to do it justice, but hopefully the below image goes some way to illustrating the scene.

Day 104 : Stand by me

1st August 2013
Mile 1397 to mile 1429 : Hat Creek Rim Lookout to Rock Creek Bridge
Mileage : 32
Average mileage since day 101 : 23.5
About 5 years ago i was completing my Master's at Manchester living in a suburb called Withington sharing a house with Dave, Tom, Helen, Sarah, Ted, Carrot Top and Simon. I remember one winter's evening watching a film called Stand By Me, a coming of age story about group of boys exploring the forests of the American outdoors together one summer. In one scene, the protagonists are wandering across what they think is a disused railway bridge high over a river when suddenly they are surprised by train coming directly toward them across the bridge and after much nail biting on the part of the viewer they escape unscathed and continue their adventure. Today i crossed that same railway bridge and incorporated it into my through hike from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail.
Following my ordeal yesterday afternoon on the Hat Creek Rim i was determined to get down early to escape the baking heat and the sharp rocks of the lava flows, and so was up and doing the early morning hiker hobble before the sun was up. I loosened up quickly and hiked as.fast as was possible over the rocky terrain and before long was down off the rim and crossing the last lava flow before making it thankfully to the first natural water since Subway Cave 30 miles ago, and sat in he shade for almost 2 full hours rehydrating and tending to my still sore feet. Later that afternoon, much recovered after my long lunch break, i detoured off the trail.a short way down the now disused railway line towards the bridge on which the pivotal Stand By Me train scene was filmed. The railway line has long since been removed, so there was no danger of me having to inadvertently reenact the scene from the film, but the bridge was still there towering above Lake Britton far below and i sat contentedly in the afternoon sun high up above all the pleasure craft zipping along the lake below. Given the bridge was technically off limits to the public, i decided not to linger too long on the bridge and crossed back across a nearby road bridge before enduring a short and painful road walk to Burney Falls State Park where i intended to camp for the night. My road walk complete i headed back to the trail and the falls via the campground store for an well deserved icecream and a couple of beers. Icecream and beer in hand, i made my way to the river to soak my feet and found Dr Slosh, T-Rex and Rocky by the river doing the same thing. Infuriatingly the river in which we were soaking our feet was actually too cold for our sensitive feet, none of us could manage more than a few seconds before it would become too painful. The reason the river was so cold is that its source is only a few hundred metres upstream. Apparently it is one of the places in the world where an entire river, i.e not just a small stream or creek, emerges from the ground in this way. I was tempted to go up river to see it, but it was in Tue wrong direction and i couldn't justify the time as i still wanted to make another 6 miles before nightfall, so i had to content myself with cold, painfall feet as proof. That evening the 4 of us managed another 6 miles to Rock Creek taking me to my biggest mile day in a while at 32. Surprisingly, my feet didn't hurt at all during these last miles, no doubt due to a combination of the ice cold water and the 2 beers i had had prior to the 6 miles. Usually a 30+ mile day means finishing in he dark, which i try to avoid as my head torch is nothing special and only really illuminates the ground directly in front of me and is mostly useless for anything else. This proved problematic when we arrived at Rock Creek as none of could see the campsite which was somewhere nearby, so in the end we all ended up sleeping directly on te bridge itself, and that turned out to be a very good decision. The nights are still usually too hot to warrant my high performance sleeping bag, but the creek right below us cooled the air considerably to the point where i was just right temperature-wise as i got in my maggot. Also, the river provided a great source of white noise helping me pass out even quicker than normal. A good end to a good day.








The first sign where Mexico is farther away than Canada, I'm getting there slowly but surely

Day 103 : The Hat Creek Rim

Date 31st July 2013
Mile 1368 to mile 1397 : Badger Flats to Hat Creek Rim Lookout
Mileage : 29
Average mileage since day 101 : 21.3
I started early again this morning eager to get out of the burn zone before the sun rose to high in the sky, as one obvious consequence of a forest fire is the lack of shade. By mid morning i had made it to a small RV park and store on the outskirts of Old Station, a hamlet at the southern end of Hat Creek Rim, about which more will be said shortly. I hadn't intended.to stop in Old Station at all, as i had more than enough food to get me to Burney, but a sign on a trail tempted me with words like 'milkshake' and 'cold drinks', and i was unable to resist,and as it turns out I'm very glad i didn't. Upon arrival i discovered several hikers, including Shady Acres and Busted, sitting in the shade rejoicing in having received supply boxes from the nearby post office, and examining a very well stocked hikers box. I joined in with gusto and came away with almost 5 days worth of food, and some of it even homemade! I had originally planned on doing a short stop in the next town Burned to pick up the 4 days of food i needed to get me to Mt Shasta, but now i could blaze straight through gaining at least half a hiking day and saving myself a bit of cash. I celebrated by spending some of the saved cash on a large milkshake, and assisted Shady Acres who, instead of carrying his hikers box winnings with him, had decided to eat much of it directly. To top off our collective good moods a.south bound thru-hiker informed us that a water cache halfway along the 30 mile imminent dry stretch of the Hat Creek Rim was fully stocked, meaning i wouldn't have to carry than 3 litres of water with me at any one time.  Feeling very full and pleased with myself i headed off in the midday sun toward the Hat Creek Rim.
The Hat Creek Rim is well known among thru-hikers as being  a notorious stretch of trail, and with good reason. It is dry for 30 miles, very exposed, very hot, and very rocky. At Old Station there were signs advising hikers to start late in the afternoon, hike as far as possible, sleep a few hours and then get off the rim as soon as possible the next day. Thanks to the cache knowledge, and the sparse cloud cover, i set off confidently toward the rim in good spirits making a short detour just before the start at Subway cave, a former lava tube, before ascending onto the rim. Within a couple hours my good mood had entirely been replaced by an intense anger, hatred and a sense of disbelief directed at my feet. I just could not believe how much they hurt. The only comparable foot pain I've had has been following the descent off Mt San Jacinto. This was worse, much worse. At some point i stopped and tried the pain with Iboprufren, but it didn't seem to help. Usually i hike until i lose the light, usually around 8:30, but today at around 7:30 my feet decided i could go no farther so i stopped short of the halfway cache, which had been my goal, and did my evening routine with my feet elevated as high as was feasible possible as this was the only thing hat seemed to quell the pain. I was not looking forward to continuing on the rim the next morning.



Mt Shasta appears for the first time out of the haze



The steepness of the Hat Creek Rim

Day 102 : Drakesbad

Date 30th July
Mile 1339 to mile 1368 : Stover Spring to Badger Flat
Mileage : 29
Average mileage since day 101 : 16.5
I'm not usually a morning person, and am consequently the last person out of camp, which suits my hiking style fine, today i was up and on the trail early for one very important reason : New shoes! After my debacle with replacement shoes at Sierra City, i was anxious to get it right this time and didn't want any reason for worry, so had sent my shoes well in advance. This has meant that in the last few days my feet have been suffering, and today it was really bad. Clearly my feet knew respite was imminent, so they rejoiced in torturing me with every step i took. I was being so careful to avoid sharp objects, but somehow i stepped painfully on every single sharp rock or branch along the trail to Drakesbad. Drakesbad is a minuscule hot springs located in the Lassen National Forest. The small and sparse information board told me it used to be a refuge for Native Americans escaping the hot summer sun, but after its 'discovery' by the settlers by a man called Drake, a claimed descendant of Sir Francis Drake, it his progressively become a weekend hot springs resort for he general, yet exclusive given the prices, public. While descending toward Drakesbad the smell of sulphur began to fill the air. At first i didn't notice it as i was probably masking it with my own odours, but soon it was almost choking in its potency. The reason for all this sulphur was Terminal Geyser. A short side trail took me to the venting geyser and i stood watching the steam billowing out of it for a minute before continuing on. The geyser was proof of finally being in the Cascades! Geologically speaking i have been the Sierra Nevadas between Tehachapi and Chester, a distance of over 800 trail miles, but today i start the Cascades. The Cascades are a line of volcanic mountains running from Chester all the way to the Canadian border, and they aren't just mountains, they are full on volcanoes. The first of which is Mt Lassen, a now dormant volcano which has nevertheless erupted man time in recent history and will do again in the future, i just hope they all stay quiet long enough for me to hike past them. Out of Drakesbad the forest turned from the beautiful green canopy to which i am accustomed, to the desolate charred black landscape of one of the largest burn zones i have seen yet. It was so big i didn't manage to make it all the way through that night, and instead slept in a formally majestic grove of colossal pine trees. I don't usually get spooked by the forest, but there was definitely something eerie about a dead forest like this one. As i lay in my sleeping bag drifting off to sleep i could hear the sounds of hundreds of little insects chomping their way through the dead wood and slowly doing their part to fell and decompose the trees and help restore the forest to its former glory in a few decades. The decay of standing dead trees means they could fall at any moment so one should camp a good distance from any suspect tree.  Unfortunately for me the entire forest was suspect, and i had know way of knowing how far the burn zone might continue, and as i was unpreparedto hike any farther that evening, had no choice but to make my home for the night amongst standing and felled giant trees of black charcoal. With the forest alive with the sound of hundreds of minuscule unseen lumberjacks i finished my evening routine, fell asleep quickly and didn't think anymore about the dead forest until the morning.

Mt Lassen, the first of the Cascade mountains that I will follow al the way up to Canada



The trail winds through the woods of northern California

Day 101 : Late off the blocks

Date 29th July 2013
Mile 1335 to mile 1339 : Highway 36 to Stover Spring
Mileage : 4
Average mileage since day 101 : 4
So after all my talk of being diligent about miles i didn't get out of town til late. I woke up early and headed across the road to the adjacent motel for breakfast and interneting. By mid morning i had done all my trail chores but was still struggling to finish up on the computer. Many hours later i managed to finally get back to he trail-head thanks to Carol and Tod, who picked me up with family in tow. Back at the trailhead I discovered Chick-Chack and Starfox who were having similar issues leaving town. The three of us headed out into the evening together and camped just after the small springs not far from the road. I wondered when I'd next see these two again as my schedule from here on out is mile intensive and they hike at a more leisurely pace. I went to bed hoping thinking.about the end of the hike and with whom I'll keep in contact when this all done. There is no Canadian border equivalent to the Kick-Off at Lake Morena unfortunately, so hikers disperse quickly upon finishing. One compounding factor for me is hat I've decided i will not cross into Canada, and will simply head back to the nearest road when i get to the border monument. Hopefully I'll meet up.with some people in Seattle, but probably i won't see most of the other hikers I've met ever again.

Carol and Tod's family who gave me a ride back to the trailhead out of Chester