Day 85

July 6, 2021 PCT mile 1709 - 1728.2 PCT miles - 19.8 miles

Left Callahan’s Lodge after waiting for coffee in the lobby (no coffee in room) and chatted with other PCT hikers headed into Ashland for resupply. We realized we may get to Crater Lake before our resupply arrives, so we are not rushing ahead too quickly. Very (!) easy hiking today after previous sections. Tempting to try for 30 + mile days.

We hiked back south up toward the Mt. Ashland Ski Area to rejoin the PCT and take in views of blue skies and green forests. Lovely. Soothing. Wonderful.

Hiking in Oregon is often described as hiking in ‘the green tunnel’. True, but every few miles we were also treated to nice distant views. At one point looking south we saw the smoke engulfing the eastern side of Mt. Shasta. The Oregon green tunnel was so comfortable and the temperature was at least 10 degrees cooler in the shade. We are both happy with our decision to skip fire and smoke zone.

Chris almost stepped on a 4+ foot long gopher snake lounging across the trail. A gentle nudge with the treking pole and he was on his way.

The trail is lined with every kind of berry (we are too early in the season to try - not ripe) and wild cucumbers. We were told that when hiking the Oregon PCT in August miles will drop significantly because it’s impossible to pass by the berries and not stop to pick/eat along the way.

Met a few young PCT hikers headed north and a young woman headed south. We warned her about the fires and smoke and she said she had planned to skip.

This section has only a couple of viable water sources, so we decided to stop at a reliable spring today. We arrived about 2:00 and looked at Guthook for other sites further on. Not many in the next 15 miles, so we decided to snag the pretty campsite near the spring. Campsite is secluded and cool beneath a few cedar trees. Unexpected nice breeze this afternoon. Lazy day.

This campsite has become one of our favorite. Chris calls it ‘Bambi’s Meadow’ because our site looks over a lovely Meadow visited by so many butterflies, some bunnies, birds, bumblebees, deer and even baby black bears (next morning). Yellow, orange, blue, and white (pale swallowtails) danced around our tent all afternoon. Bunnies hopped down the trail in front of us, birds sang beautiful songs and chubby bumblebees buzzed around the flowers. In addition to that fun entertainment we enjoyed unexpected cool weather and occasional light breezes - a very pleasant first hiking and camping day in Oregon.

Our thoughts go out to fellow hikers suffering high heat and smoke in the Burney area today.