Tag 90-99: Finally out of California

Tag 90: Since the laundromat was closed yesterday due to the holiday, we have to do laundry today. So I wake up at 6:45 to start the machine at 7 o'clock sharp. It's only a five-minute walk from the hotel, so I make three round trips to wash and dry the laundry. While our laundry is in the machine, Hasbeen gets a message that Bambi just got a hitch into town. They plan to meet for breakfast. So we say goodbye to each other indefinitely, but we'll definitely see each other again sooner or later. After our laundry is done, we go back to the same café where we had breakfast yesterday and then head back to the trail. It feels a bit different and weirder after two days off. We don't have to wait long for a hitch. Rocky, a section hiker in her 60s, gives us a ride back to the trail. She has done the entire trail except for the last section in Washington. We wish each other good luck for the rest of the trail, and then Warrior and I continue on our way. It's cloudy and cool, but also very humid. Except for a few raindrops, we stay dry except for our own sweat. We climb almost 1900 meters up to a ridge, which we then follow. This gives us fantastic views, especially when the fog rises from the forest in some places and merges with the clouds. We are well rested from the double zero and make good progress, even though I might get sore muscles tomorrow. Warrior sums it up well: our bodies are asking 'seriously, are we still doing this?' After 20 miles, we set up our tents. Considering that we left the town late and the elevation gain, it's been a very successful day.

Tag 91: Today was a very good hiking day. It was slightly cloudy in the beginning, but it cleared up as the day went on. It also wasn't too hot. Since we mostly followed the ridge line, we had beautiful views. Otherwise, nothing noteworthy happened today. We are making good progress now, and at 4:45 p.m., we reach the camp after 28 miles. Here, we have a really nice view, definitely one of the best campsites we've had so far. And Queen of Hearts is camping with us. She's super cool, and we have a great conversation during dinner about trail food and how terrible the American insurance system is.

Tag 92: When I wake up in the morning, everything is wet. The sleeping pad is damp at the foot end, the sleeping bag is clammy, and the tent is as wet on the outside as if it had rained. I have no idea what happened, the only thing that would make sense is that a cloud passed over our ridge. But there's no sign of that either. So we will never know. The first ten miles go well. After three hours, I'm at the Scott Mountain Campground, where we can enjoy our breakfast luxuriously at a picnic table and dry our tents. The next ten miles are challenging. They are much steeper, and at some point, I just feel exhausted. Physically, but mostly mentally and emotionally. But the landscape is fantastic, as it's through the Trinity Alps Wilderness, which is definitely one of my favorite regions so far.

During lunch break, Warrior tells me that she has downloaded a playlist of Disney songs and asks if I know Hercules, or if I'm too young for that. Seriously. Anyway, from then on, I have the earworm of 'I can walk the distance', later 'So ein Mann' from Tarzan, and 'I'll make a man out of you' from Mulan. It actually puts me in a really good mood and brings back my motivation, so the next ten miles go very well and quickly. It's interesting how little it sometimes takes to completely change the mood. In the end, there's another small issue. After about 30 miles, we wanted to camp at a road, but FarOut promised too much, and there are no decent campsites. So we trudge another mile and 100 meters uphill, where we finally find good campsites and end another day with 31.5 miles. That's how it goes sometimes. But now we only have 18.6 miles to hike tomorrow to get to the road to Etna, where town food and a brewery are waiting for us. Plus, today marks our three-month anniversary on the trail, which we can toast tomorrow.

Tag 93: The 18.6 miles to the road are challenging. It's either uphill or steep downhill. And there are 112 fallen trees that we have to climb over or crawl under (thanks, Warrior, for counting). But there are also plenty of beautiful views along the way. We arrive at the road at 1 p.m., where several hikers are already waiting. The road is not very busy, but we're lucky to get a hitch after about half an hour. While Warrior rides in the bed of the pickup truck and has a great time, I sit next to the driver with a gun. The driver is super nice, but it's still a strange feeling to be sitting next to an open gun. In Etna, we first go to eat something. The pizza is actually really good by American standards. After that, we resupply. This time, we buy not only for the next two days until Seiad Valley, but for five more days. We send these as resupply boxes along with some things like warm clothes that we won't need in Oregon to the Timberline Lodge, as resupply there is difficult. After the shopping, we go to the post office. After dropping off the packages, I make a quick detour to the outfitter to buy new insoles because my right foot has been giving me a lot of problems in the last two days. Then we go to the Etna City Park. It's great because we can camp here, there's free WiFi, and we can shower for $5. There are over 30 tents here tonight. For dinner, we go to the local brewery. The food and beer are really good, and the service is very nice. There is also live music. After dinner, we return to the park and our tent. Unfortunately, we made a mistake in choosing our campsite. There are specific plans with the location and times of the sprinkler systems, which we didn't see. So we are standing in the irrigation circle of a sprinkler, and between 10 and 11 p.m., water pours loudly over our tents on a regular basis. But at least now we know that the tents are watertight. Overall, Etna is another small and extremely hiker-friendly town, and the opportunity to camp in the city park is just fantastic. It definitely ranks in the top 5 of the trail towns we've visited so far.

Tag 94: We sleep in until 7:15. That's good because I had a BBQ plate with... at the brewery yesterday, which was delicious but also very greasy. It weighed me down, and I didn't sleep well. Then we, like seemingly all hikers in Etna, go to the bakery to pick up breakfast. There we also meet Hasbeen. He, Bambi, and Bubbles hitched from 40 miles earlier than us to Etna, so they are clearly behind us. However, the thing between Hasbeen and Bambi is already over, and Hasbeen continues hiking alone. The whole story between the two sounds pretty teenage-like. Anyway, he will try to catch up with us sooner or later, which he will probably succeed in. After a coffee, a very tasty breakfast sandwich, and five cookies in my backpack, we're back on the trail. After sending some things ahead with only two days' worth of food, my backpack feels wonderfully lightweight. We get a hitch within 15 minutes. Two women who want to do a day hike give us and another hiker named Wonderwall a ride. We initially planned to hike another 20 miles today. But during the lunch break, we realize that neither of us really wants to hike another ten miles. On days when we leave town, I always feel like I'm running with the handbrake on. So we decide to only go another 3.5 miles to Fischer Lake for now. It's beautiful and has the perfect temperature for swimming, which we do right away.

That was definitely the right decision, and it's a great feeling to be out of breath again for something other than running. Then we lie in the sun for a while. And in the end, we end up hiking another 4.7 miles and covering a total of 18.8 miles. Especially the last section is very beautiful. All in all, today was an almost perfect day on the trail.

Tag 95: When we wake up in the morning, we are greeted by a beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately, the view is disturbed by thousands of mosquitoes that attack us as soon as we leave the tent. The first ten miles are quickly done and offer beautiful views along the ridge. We have breakfast at Paradise Lake, a beautiful small mountain lake. The next ten miles initially continue along the ridge until the descent into Seiad Valley begins. Throughout the entire hike, there are deer around us or directly in front of us on the trail, which have absolutely no fear of humans.

During the first 20 miles before the lunch break, I'm lost in thought, and it's only on the last ten miles that I start distracting myself with podcasts. These ten miles are quite tough. It's mostly downhill, but quite steep, and at the beginning, there are many blowdowns and bushwhacking. We follow Grider Greek through its narrow valley. The goal for today is the Grider Greek Campground. 3.5 miles before the campground, I hear another loud cracking noise next to me. I take off my headphones and look left down the hill to the river, which is about 15 meters below the trail. The cracking continues, and then I see it! A bear is walking along the slope in the opposite direction, four meters below me. For a moment, I see it very clearly before it disappears behind bushes again. I slowly walk parallel to it back on the trail, and that way, I catch another brief glimpse of it before it finally disappears into the bushes with occasional cracking. It's a great experience to see a bear up close in the wild. But the adrenaline released makes me realize that some part of me did perceive the bear as a threat. Anyway, I'm very grateful for this experience, and the remaining miles to the campground feel much easier. At the campground, I reserve tent sites for Warrior and me. While waiting for them, I chat with some other hikers. Apparently, a bear was around here last night. Someone left some watermelon pieces on the bridge leading to the campground, apparently to attract butterflies. Well, instead, the bear came. However, I don't think he will show up today because there are many people around. Anyway, I would prefer to avoid a nighttime encounter with a bear.

Tag 96: Since we have a slightly shorter day ahead of us today, we start at 6:30. The first goal of the day is the cafe in Seiad Valley. The way there is easy, just following the road. While we follow the road, we talk about various things. After about 20 minutes, I wonder why we're going uphill. I check the map, and we realize that we missed a side road. So we have to go almost all the way back. After that, we make it to the town without any detours. Almost every house here seems to have a Jefferson States flag hanging, which is basically a very right-wing and conservative movement for independence. There are also a lot of Trump fans here. But we'll have to overlook that. Breakfast at the cafe is good, and the milkshake is even better. After that, we resupply for the next two days to Ashland. And then a difficult decision awaits. It's already really hot, and it's going to get even hotter, over 40 degrees Celsius. And there's a long and steep climb ahead. We could hike a few more miles now and find shade for a lunch break or wait until it cools down, which won't be until between 6 and 7 p.m. We decide to start hiking while almost all other hikers stay in the valley. Some will take the road later, which is slightly shorter than the trail. The trail is initially not particularly challenging. Due to the heat, we move slowly. At the first water source, which has a large trough, I submerge my sun hoodie completely and then put it on, which is very pleasant. Around 3 p.m., we take a one-hour break. After that, the trail gets worse and worse until it eventually disappears into the bushes. When I check the map, I'm surprised to find that I'm still on the trail. So we bushwhack our way up the mountain through the bushes and eventually find the trail again. We trudge on. Eventually, we follow the ridge, and the view is beautiful, but I can't fully enjoy it. In the early evening, I see a rattlesnake. By now, we're on the shaded side of the mountain, and there's a light breeze, making it much more pleasant. We finally reach the chosen campsite around 8:30 p.m. Today, we only managed to hike 21 miles, but it feels like we've hiked at least 30. Today, we conquered the most poorly maintained section of the trail so far, and combined with the heat and steep climb, it's been one of the toughest days so far. However, there are also bright spots because today marks less than 1,000 miles between us and Canada, and tomorrow we will finally leave California and enter Oregon.

Tag 97: Today is going very well. We're making good progress, and just before the Oregon border, there's trail magic. We spend our lunch break at the border with A.K.A, who brought whisky to toast this milestone. It's a great feeling to finally enter our second state after over three months on the trail, even though it's just a mental thing.

After the border, we still want to hike about six more miles. We set up our tents on a dirt road. Just as I'm cooking, A.K.A suddenly arrives in a car. 0.2 miles from here, we cross the same dirt road again, and there it leads to a campground with trail magic. A.K.A got to borrow the car from the trail angel to notify us and put up signs at the intersections. So we pack up our tents, pack our bags, and walk the short distance to the campground. And it was well worth it. Skeeter, the trail angel, has everything: chicken, vegetables, snacks, cookies, muffins, beer, sodas... but also wet wipes and hand sanitizer. He really put some thought into it and is a super nice guy. Besides A.K.A, Warrior, and me, Methtrout, Sassy Finger, and Electric Car are also here, and we have a great evening. Late in the evening, we once again talk about American politics. It's frightening how divided the country feels. Around 11 p.m., which is actually much too late for us, we finally go to bed.

Tag 98: We wake up at 6:30 and have breakfast with Skeeter and the others. He also has coffee drinks, it's just incredible. Then we set off for Ashland. The trail is beautiful and fast. We pass another trail magic with two coolers full of sodas. So far, Oregon is spoiling us. There are many day hikers today, especially retirees, and we briefly chat with them. At the road, it doesn't take long for us to get a hitch. Emilie, a young woman, gives us a ride and takes us on a drive through the city to show us everything. After a lunch at the Food Coop, we continue to the hotel, which is unfortunately a bit out of the way. On the way, we receive a message from Hasbeen, who will be coming to the city between 7 and 8 p.m. today. So that we can at least get something done, I go to the laundromat. It's a sweaty affair because the only things I can wear during that time are my rain pants and my down jacket. After a little over an hour, I return to the hotel and take a shower. It's always amazing how good a shower feels and how much we take it for granted. For dinner, we meet Hasbeen at the brewery for dinner and a few beers. After the brewery closes at 10 p.m., we return to the hotel and have a bottle of wine together, which was actually meant for tomorrow. Then we finally go to sleep.

Tag 99: Today is another typical zero day. We sleep in and then go into town. I need new shoes. Unfortunately, I can't get the model I've been wearing so far and have to try a new shoe. I hope that doesn't cause any problems. After that, we resupply and send part of it ahead to Crater Lake National Park, as resupplying there is challenging. On the way to the post office, Emilie, our hitch from yesterday, drives past us. We arrange to meet her for a beer at the brewery. After we've been to the post office and sent our packages on their way, we go have some beers with Emilie. She is definitely an interesting person. Then we just chill at the hotel.