Days 109
Start: Ashland, OR
Finish: Little Hyatt Reservoir
Daily Mileage: 22.5
PCT Mile: 1742.2
We had a couple last minor chores to complete this morning before heading back to trail. Honeybun and I decided to send home some more gear we weren’t needing with the warmer weather. I thought I would never get rid of my puffy, but I hardly need it when I don’t even need a sleeping bag most of the night. I also hate sunglasses and haven’t needed them since we got out of the snow. Good to send back that much more odds and ends.
Breakfast and we were ready to head back to the trail. We decided to grab an Uber back since it was relatively inexpensive and would save us some time. Beefcake was hitching at the freeway, and the Uber driver volunteered to pick him up since we knew him. I was a little surprised at that, but it made sense.
We started off down a road that paralleled I-5 until it crossed under the interstate. I think that is the last time we cross it this trip, staying further east in the mountains.
Usually at a low point like this, we would do a big climb to get back into the mountains. Not today though. We only went up about 1,000 feet or so before we obtained a series of low ridges that we would follow around for the day.
In the distance, we were approaching a big, prominent lava dome that we had seen for the past couple days. We ended up going right past it. It was sticking far out of the ridge it started on and is a popular place for climbers, though it is currently close for peregrine falcon nesting. I thought I heard some, but I wasn’t sure.
We started to see some berries on the trail. The unripe thimbleberries we had been seeing for a while, but suddenly there were patches of tiny ripe wild strawberries. They were not quite the drops of sugar they can be since they were partially shaded and not in full sun, but good none the less. There still haven’t been too many ripe edibles on the trail, but there is always the promise of unripe berries every day.
We crossed a small reservoir outlet and camped on the other side. Colin and Jolly joined us, as well as some others we have been hiking around. We camped next to a road, and someone dropped off a cooler of sodas to enjoy.
As I opened my pack to set up camp for the night, I had completely forgotten about the leftover can of beer I had packed out. What a great surprise at the end of a hot day of hiking.
Today wasn’t too dramatic, but it was nice to get back on trail as always and escape the crowded and busy city. All of that isn’t really needed for peace and enjoyment.