August 4th
We slept reasonably well despite bright lights shining in the tent area. Breakfast at the cafe. While waiting for my omelet I ended up in a game of chess with a “local transient”, winning in 7 moves, which was good as the food was coming out.
We finished sorting out our resupply box of sundries and deciding on what we would need to buy for food. Mostly we send ourselves things like film, vitamins, triple aaa batteries and small “sample” sizes of toothpaste, floss etc – things that are hard to find in small towns. Although we included a few food items in each box, that effort was basically to clear out our cupboards at home. To resupply with food we depend on buying what we need from the sometimes very small stores, which works because we are “flexible omnivores”, we eat pretty much anything. Other hikers plan their meals weeks or months ahead and mail all of their food to each town.
“Hiker pass along” boxes are sometimes a good source of resupply food and sundries. Hikers who send themselves too much food or who no longer want the same items they have been sending themselves for months will contribute their extra items. Or if someone needs something in small volume like dried milk or olive oil and the only sizes available in a store are in large quantities then they might buy a box take what they need and then leave the rest. We always “shop” first at these hikers boxes before going to the store. And we contribute our leftovers as well.
In Seiad the hikers box selection was slim, until Ruth showed up. Fortunately she is hiking much faster than she had planned on, and always has several extra days worth of food. And having made and dehydrated her own meals she has a nice selection of leftovers. A good hiker to follow into town.
Leaving Seaid Valley the trail makes a long hot climb, 4,400 feet in the first 10 miles. Several deer were grazing near the trailhead. A relatively early start helped us get out before the heat of the day settled in. We were at the higher elevations with their cooler air and breezes by the time the morning was over. On top of the first saddle, near the fire tower, the views the ridge crest was dramatic, with sawtooth peaks and bare rock outcroppings all around. Looking ahead the peaks appear more wooded and softly rounded.
We leap frogged most of the day with both Ruth and Toek. The wood smoke has largely cleared away with only a small amount of haze remaining. There was no evidence of the 5-acre fire burning yesterday, no charred trees or smoldering smoke. The stop in Seiad, as short as it was, helped the body heal. The restorative power of rest cannot be overstated. My back and feet are generally doing better today.
We are getting so close to Oregon that we can smell it. (Actually Oregon can probably smell us coming, too.) Not that Oregon stinks. Quite the contrary, it is supposed to be the land of “milk and honey,” paradise, where the terrain is flat and 30 mile days are easy, where streams flow with beer and where the packs carry you, where the huckleberries are ripe, where the Cascade Range explodes onto the scene, figuratively, of course. Unless its Mt St Helens, but of course that is Washington state. Anyway I get ahead of myself; after all we are still in California. And this is the point. Mentally to get through California, after more than three months of hiking, it is necessary to focus on what lies further down the trail, to project ahead of ourselves. And we really want to get ahead of ourselves now.
Towards the end day we were planning on getting water from one seeping spring. The water was hard to find and barely trickling 100 yards down canyon from it supposed source, in an area trampled by cattle. But it was all we had access to and we needed water, so we slowly filled the water bag and filtered. Our filter is holding up well. A PUR hiker model, we are still using the original cartridge. Of course we don’t filter very much, preferring to find a good clean water source and drink directly from it. So we end up filtering or treating only about one fourth (or less) of our water.
We camped on an open saddle just beyond the spring with clouds rolling in and an evening chill settling over us.
