Ashland

I was starting to get the feeling California didn’t want us to leave….

After a relatively cruisey section, things took a turn to the difficult with tons of poison oak, downed trees, steep terrain, and as a more devious delaying tactic, tons of ripe blackberries. How Sloth and I managed to escape the later I’m not sure.

Here’s what the climb out of Seiad Valley looked like:

Struggling up the log strewn, overgrown slope mid afternoon we ran three mountain bikers coming down, who were either lost or insane. I assume they survived the ride down. On a side note, the geology of the area is really cool, with chunks of white marble around the trail.

Sloth and I started the Northern California section on July 2nd, finishing the 600 miles on the 29th (about 150 miles per week). To celebrate our entry in Oregon, it started raining. How appropriate.

Rumor has it that Oregon is supposed to go much faster, with 30 mile days being the norm. There also is a long fire closure around the Jefferson wilderness area, which means I’m probably down to my last 6 weeks on trail. I may really finish this thing. Happy trails!

PS: Does anyone know of a place serving pie milkshakes in Ashland? Asking for a friend.