I’ve got to somehow find a way to remind myself to take more pictures when in town. Preoccupied with the many chores, I seem to forget… Ah well, let’s try to paint a picture with words then. It was lovely to sleep in a bed again. The last night in a real bed had been in South Lake Tahoe, 600 miles back. Photo-op, Snow-white and I got up and headed out. Initially I didn’t wash my socks yesterday, because I was going to throw them out and buy new ones. I have two pairs of the brand Darn Tough, which now all had several holes in them. Darn Tough has a policy that they replace any socks with holes in them for free. I knew that Jukebox had exchanged hers some time ago, but she had gone through a whole procedure of filling out forms, printing out coupons and then sending the socks away. I was not particularly excited to go through all this trouble… Snow-white however told me that yesterday he’d gone to the outfitter, and all he had to do there was hand over his old socks, and collect a new pair from the store. Easy as pie. Happy that I hadn’t ditched mine yet, I threw my socks in with his laundry load, hoping to collect my new pairs later today.
As our laundry was tumbling through the machines, we went around the corner to satisfy some of our relentless appetite by snacking on a bagel and getting some coffee. After collecting our washed clothes a while later, we walked down the road to a highly recommended breakfast cafe where we all enjoyed one of the best breakfasts yet!
We talked about Snow-white leaving; He would hitch up North, to continue his hike in Washington, and travel down to Oregon to hike that section later. At this stage we’ve spend a lot of time with Snow-white (the man with one of the most impressive beards on the PCT) and Photo-op and I felt fortunate for the time we shared together. But happens in life, the PCT is no different; people come, and people go. We wished each-other all the best, and then went our separate ways. I set out to get the rest of my chores done: Groceries, sending a resupply-box ahead, exchanging my socks, and writing yesterdays entry.
I was told Ashland would be a hippie-town, and there were definitely a lot of people out and about wearing colorful, frivolous and somewhat provocative outfits. I liked it. But what really hit me soon after wandering through the streets and making contact with the local people, is how incredibly friendly everybody here is. Every-one I locked eyes with treated me with a broad smile, and there were many people interested in having a short chat, asking me about my hike. I quickly started liking Ashland and its people more and more, and made a mental note that I would love to come back here someday without an agenda. The town has only 22000 inhabitants, but there’s around 90 restaurants and/or cafe’s. It caters to a lot of tourists who visit because of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival which is held here for 9 out of 12 months of the year.
I got my shopping done at a gigantic organic and bulk grocery store, which was surprisingly affordable, and made for a great resupply and resupply-box which I will send a 100 miles ahead for the next stretch. 
I sorted out the food in my pack and carried around a cardboard box with the food to send away. Time to get to the post-office. I walked over to the exit of the parking lot and within 10 minutes a woman drove up, asking me if I needed a ride! She took me straight to the post-office and gave me her number in case I needed another ride within the next twenty minutes that she’d be around. I ended up spending more time than 20 minutes while sending my package away, but had more lovely encounters with people wanting to have a chat. One lady even gave me a couple bucks, “so you can get a nice snack or something”. So friendly! With a fat smile on my face I walked out and I tried my luck at hitching from the main road. Within 10 minutes Casey the trail-fairy (yesterdays ride) showed up. She pulled over, I got in the passenger seat and cheerfully told her how great it was to see her again. Today I would be the 269th ride she’d given, shuttling hikers all around Ashland. Absolutely amazing! She dropped me off at the outfitter. There, after 1700 miles, I finally got my hands on two brand new pairs of socks! My feet will thank me later.
I ran into Double-D, Gourmet and Arms at the outfitter and told them I would get a drink and a bite at a nearby brewery before hitching out, and if they wanted to join me. They did.
Yesterday they’d met a friendly gentleman who’d given them his number, in case they needed a ride at any other time. After a phone-call we got confirmation and 15 minutes later Jim showed up, ready to take us back to the trail-head. The sheer amount of friendliness and acts of kindness that I’ve experienced in Ashland in this very short window of time, blows my mind. I feel like there’s something special in the air, and as mentioned before, I really hope I will make it back here someday because my first Oregon-town experience has definitely been a great one!
After being dropped off near the trail, I hiked another 2 miles to join the others at a small campsite. We ran into Jukebox and Pops at the Callaghan lodge, and learned that they will spend the night at its campsite. They will hike out tomorrow morning, so they should be close behind. Where all the others are, I’m not sure. I got the impression however, that everybody from the group would hike out either tonight or tomorrow morning. Guess we’ll find out on trail. I’m looking forward to see what the first official stretch of Oregon will bring!
Can you hear me calling
Out your name?
You know that I’m falling
And I don’t know what to say
I’ll speak a little louder
I’ll even shout
You know that I’m proud
And I can’t get the words out
Oh I…
I want to be with you everywhere
Oh I…
I want to be with you everywhere
Something’s happening
Happening to me
My friends say I’m acting peculiarly
C’mon baby
We better make a start
You better make it soon
Before you break my heart
Oh I…
I want to be with you everywhere
Everywhere – Fleetwood Mac
Lovely story Joris, thank you!
You’re very welcome! 🙂