Day 21 – Siskiyou Mountains

Yesterday evening the group discussed fire closures in Oregon. These are a fact of life on the PCT. At this point I may have to skip as much as 100 miles north of the Sisters. Nobody wants to skip, so we are going to look at the options more closely in Ashland.

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself though, there is still much hiking to do before then and many glorious miles of trail. Today I am letting the women go ahead. I did not hear my alarm and there is no way I am going to break down my tarp, eat breakfast and pack up in 15 minutes. I may not see them until camp some 17 miles down the road. Have a great day, ladies.

Slow and steady wins

My delay brings good fortune! As I walk out of camp at 5:45, I pass a fellow who arrived in a vehicle during the night and set up his tent in front of his car. His name is Mark. He is supporting his wife who is hiking multiple segments of the PCT. He drives ahead to places where the trail meets the road and meets here with supplies and food. Occasionally he will hike out to meet her and they will hike and camp together. Today he will meet her on the trail where they will camp tonight. She is heading this way from Oregon. His trail name is Dawdler. His wife is Waddle (Jan).

He has leftover pizza and fresh cherries for me if I want them. (Silly man…If I want them?). I have eaten breakfast, but I grab the pizza and put it in my bag for lunch. I gobble down the cherries as we talk.

The trail does it again

Today I walk the boundary between the Klamath National Forest and the Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest. I am excited to see what is ahead. It seems like I have been in the Klamath for over a week now. It has been magnificent and arduous. The day’s hike starts with a 1600 ft climb and then several ups and downs between 6500 feet and 7000 feet. I try to stay focused on hiking, but the beauty keeps distracting me.

And then, another milestone:

Why I write

The days all seem to run together. This journal is my way of keeping things clear and allowing you to share a small part of the experience. I am so fortunate to be doing this. It would be too selfish not to invite you along, too. I hope you have enjoyed it so far. There is so much more ahead. And if I am showing too many flowers, sorry, I really can’t stop myself and I don’t want to stop either.

After several days of very disappointing tread (trail conditions) the trail is wonderful today. The PCT is wide and soft and relatively clear of sharp rocks and blowdowns. The forest sections are covered in dry decomposing pine needles; the mountain sections are covered in small pieces of naturally crushed rock.

I am feeling good today. My knees and feet feel normal and strong. I power up the climb, breathing fast, thighs burning and loving it.

A tiny trail drama

Then there are more people! This is the third time I have met them. The first time was on the road walk into Seiad Valley. Then yesterday they were coming down the mountain the opposite way from us miserable climbers. And now here they are again. I stop to talk.

They are David and Christa. They do something similar to Dawdle and Waddle, except they use two cars. They park one at each end of whatever section they hike. They do not camp on the trail. But they do camp in parks near the trail. I tell them about the system that Mark and Jan use. David says, “We always hike together.” After a pause, Jan adds, “But I can see how hiking alone might be enjoyable, too.” I say nothing. They smile pleasantly at me. The tension of the moment has reached an equilibrium. There will be no conflict today. The beauty of this mountain has disarmed them. There will be other days for arguing about how we should “always hike.”

This puzzling mountain

I enter a wide mountainside meadow. The whole thing is dominated by two kinds of plants; Pom-Pom flowers (my name) and ferns! Yes, ferns. In all my days I have never seen ferns grow in the open sunny venue. It blows my mind. In the photo below, the ferns are a bright green and flowers are earth-toned.

And then I finally get to eat that pizza: chicken, onion, tomato and artichoke. Yum!

Not long after that I meet someone else. His name is Jacob and he has just graduated from the University of Idaho. He is hiking to Chester which is a few miles south of where I started in Old Station. I think about warning him, but instead, I bite my tongue. No fear mongering. I wish him well. He asks how I got my trail name. I tell him, “Because I talk to animals.” I doubt that will be the last time I am asked that question.

One thing puzzles me about this area. The stone is all gray sedimentary rock, and yet all around, seemingly at random are these large chunks of white quartz, some as large as a desk. It is as if one of the Marble Mountains had stirred from slumber, rose up and shook itself like a dog, hurling white boulders across the neighboring mountain. It turns out the the gray rock of the Siskiyou mountains is infused with large veins of white quartz. Over many years, the gray stone erodes leaving the chunks of quartz exposed. (My uninformed assumption, again.)

As I near camp I finally run into Waddle. She smiles when I ask her if she is Waddle. “I see my husband got you before you left camp,” she said. “His name is Dawdler because he doesn’t know how to quit talking.” Nuff said about that. I hope their eventual meeting on the trail is amicable.

Clearing the air

A mile from camp I hear a strange music. It’s cowbells. They are all ringing at different pitches. It must be some of those furtive mountain cows (or some very mischievous bears.) I get to camp as the sky thunders ominously. The forecast is for rain between 4 and 6. It is 4:10. I just get my tarp set up when this happens:

Hail collects on the ground outside my tent. The temperature drops and I wonder if I should get into my quilt. My first worry is that the tarp will not make it through the storm. After several in-storm adjustments, the tent is stable…just as the storm ends. I am freezing though and put on every piece of clothes I own until I warm up.

It has been a busy day, but I have relished it. Tonight will be my last night in California for a while. Tomorrow I enter Oregon!

• June 22
• Starting mile: 1670
• Ending mile: 1687
• Daily PCT miles: 17
• Total PCT miles: 315
• Animals: bovine village hidden in the trees (or an ursine handbell choir)