All of us slept poorly on the super slanted piece of campground we’d squeezed in to cowboy-camp for the night. I kept sliding downhill and at some point I found myself completely off my sleeping pad, as it had moved out from under me. The one upside was that when I lay on my back, gazing at the stars after one of the many times I woke up, I saw a shooting star. So at least I got to make a wish.
Today is Rockets’ birthday! Peach-man and Free-wheel, who we’ve dubbed Vor and Tex, because they always try to drag people into towns, had gotten the idea to hike back down the hill into Seiad Valley again to get breakfast. Rocket happily joined them, since it was her birthday. I would have loved to grab some breakfast at the cafe, but I’ve been lugging around such an excessive amount of food out of Etna, that I just couldn’t justify hiking down 1.7 miles, just to get more food.
I left our spot just before Jukebox and Pops, and would not see anybody of our little trail-family until I got to camp later that night. Out of the valley of Seiad Valley, there was a massive climb on the books. 7600 feet of elevation gain, of which we’d done approximately 1000 feet yesterday.
Surprise caught us when we looked up; we woke up to clear skies! A lovely and very welcome sight. It was really hot again, and I was happy I was getting the big climb out of the way in the early morning hours. Since the others were getting breakfast in town, they would have to crush that climb in the heat of the afternoon, for which I did not envy them…
I had an early lunch at the top, and even though it was only 1100, it was unfortunate there weren’t any good shady spots to chill out in. Now I was slowly being cooked on the exposed ridge. The rest of the day the trail traversed over the the ridge, with a couple of drops back into the valley (where the water sources were), only to climb back up again straight after.
Around 1500 I made it to a couple of campsites close to a water source, where I decided to take another nice break before tackling the last ascent of the day. There was a lady waiting around by her car, and when I approached I saw it was Frodo! We already learned from the hitch my buddies had gotten a couple days back out of Etna, that her husband Scout was hiking a section. I was bummed out that I hadn’t been able to chat with them before, but now I had my chance! I walked over and started a little chat with Frodo. I thanked her again for the wonderful stay at the beginning of the hike, which I still hold as a special memory since it marks the beginning of this amazing and crazy adventure.
After a solid hour of relaxing I started on the final climb, listening to podcasts and music. The hiking today was relatively uneventful, but I made a steady pace. Just before hitting the campsite, there was a clearing in the woods along the ridge, and I was wonderfully surprised. For the first time in days there were views into the far distance! It has been the first time in weeks that there was visibility all the way to the horizon again and it was real exciting. It ignited hope that there’s more of this to come. Fingers crossed!
I made it to camp around 1930 and had learned that the others were not too far behind. They would probably camp at the same campsite. I lay down my tyvek, air-mattress, and sleeping bag, ate my cous-cous and enjoyed one of the most amazing sunsets I’ve seen in Nor-Cal. Then Jukebox and Pops arrived, soon followed by Peach-man and Free-wheel. Rocket arrived a little after dark. Everybody had made it back together and I’m real pleased with this, not only because it’s fun to camp out together, but also because we all get to share another great milestone; Tomorrow we’re going to cross the California-Oregon border!! A new state. Can’t wait!
Oh-oh-oh
California in the summer
Ah-ah-ah
And my hair is growing long
Fuck yeah we can live like this
But if you left it up to me
Everyday would be a holiday…
From real
We’d waste our weeks beneath the sun
We’d fry our brains and say its so much fun…
Out here
But when its all over
I’ll come back for another year
Holiday from Real – Jack’s Mannequin
