Walks A Ways: 08/24/26

Monday, August 24, 2026

Overall PCT Day 126

2026 PCT Day 10, 24 August 2026 (Monday)

Overall PCT Day 126

"Ashland Zero"

Start Location:	Ashland, OR, Mi. 1719.2	Destination:	Ashland, OR, Mi. 1719.2
PCT Miles Day 117:	0	Cum PCT Miles:	2272.4
Non-PCT Miles Day 117:	0	Cum All Miles:	2477.5
PCT Miles Remaining:	373.9
Elevation Gain Day 117:	0	Cum Elevation Gain:	398,136

Just doing some town chores today, including updating this blog at the local library. I'll be back on trail tomorrow. It may be a couple of weeks, when I'll be in Bend, before I can publish more updates.

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Overall PCT Day 125

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2026 PCT Day 9, 23 August 2026 (Sunday)

Overall PCT Day 125

"Into Oregon"

Start Location:	PCT Mi. 1696.6	Destination:	Ashland, OR, Mi. 1719.2
PCT Miles Day 117:	22.6	Cum PCT Miles:	2272.4
Non-PCT Miles Day 117:	0.9	Cum All Miles:	2477.5
PCT Miles Remaining:	373.9
Elevation Gain Day 117:	1807	Cum Elevation Gain:	398,136

It was very chilly in the morning, then continually warmed up to the point of being near hot. It’s been noticeable that the trail conditions in Oregon are better than in northern California. Today we ran into some volunteers from one of the local trail groups, they were doing maintenance on the trail, and they were also doing some trail magic, leaving some cold sodas, and a trash bag so we could discard our trash. Other than rides, this was the first trail magic for me in 2026. Then about 5 miles up to trail there was more magic in the form of more cold sodas. Who it was from was unknown, but it was nice.

I did get to Ashland Oregon a day earlier than I had planned, and I wasn’t quite a full day of hiking compared to what I have been doing. So tomorrow will be a true zero day in Ashland, and then I’ll be back on the trail Tuesday morning.

Although I am not a very big user at all of Facebook, I did join several PCT Facebook groups, one of which was the southern Oregon PCT Trail Angels group, I posted a question earlier than earlier in the day when I had cell reception requesting a ride to Ashland if anyone was available. I did get a ride from Joanie a very nice lady who lives in Ashland and does quite a bit of outdoor stuff and traveling.

Although it has only been five days since I left Etna, CA, I was incredibly dirty, and so where are my clothes, probably as dirty as I’ve ever been on the PCT, even though I’ve gone much longer stretches between being able to get clean. There has just been a lot of very fine dirt in northern California, and I’ve had to set up my tent in that fine dirt every night, and of course I’ve been hiking in it every day. So, there’s really just no avoiding being completely dirty in that section.

Sunrise

First Trail Magic of 2026

More trail magic today. Can there ever be too much trail magic in one day?...nope

During its 2650 miles, the PCT crosses lots and lots of dirt roads

Funny how Mt. Shasta looks even more impressive and prominent from southern Oregon than from Californa

Red Baneberry

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Overall PCT Day 124

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2026 PCT Day 8, 22 August 2026 (Saturday)

Overall PCT Day 124

"No Spring In My Steps"

Start Location:	Kangaroo Spring, Mi. 1667.5	Destination:	PCT Mi. 1696.6
PCT Miles Day 117:	29.1	Cum PCT Miles:	2249.8
Non-PCT Miles Day1.9117:	1.9	Cum All Miles:	2454.0
PCT Miles Remaining:	396.5
Elevation Gain Day 117:	5357	Cum Elevation Gain:	396,329

The wind somewhat died down in the middle of the night, but was still occasionally very gusty. My new tent held up really well. I’m pretty happy about that, because you never really know about your tent until it is tested by the elements.

Part of the process of getting your trail legs (pretty funny, Apple Voice Translation thought I said “trail eggs”) back is that all your discomfort turns into numbness. Your thirst, your hunger, your achy feet, your tired legs, your general exhaustion, the feeling of layers and layers of sticky dirt, grime and sweat. Everything just turns numb. It’s part of how you just keep going long day after long day.

The water situation wasn't great today. Several so called "reliable" springs were dry. Good thing I have been careful to ration my water. If you drink everything too soon, you may have to hike many miles without a drop to drink. Also, once again, there was a lot of intense bushwhacking today. It helped that today had the mildest temperatures since I started eight days ago. If it had been very warm to hot like it has been most of the days, the bad water situation would’ve been much worse.

Oh, by the way, I finished California today. Since I finished Washington in 2022, that’s two states down and one to go. And I should get to Ashland, Oregon tomorrow, a day early.

Breakfast view

The USFS is a proud sponsor the Let's Prove Them Right Foundation, a foundation dedicated to proving right all those people that say the Government is incompetent. The USFS is determined to be the most incompetent agency of them all, as shown by the complete inability to maintain a the prestigious PCT.

The USFS is a proud sponsor the Kill The Joy Foundation, a foundation that hates hikers and just loves to kill their joy.

The USFS is a proud sponsor the Why Is It Our Problem Foundation. The Why Is It Our Problem Foundation, in partnership with the Don't Make Your Problem Our Problem Foundation is dedicated to saying "what, don't look at me."

There are a lot of spaces like this in the area I'm in right now, it's kind of interesting.

Somebody should really rake up this forest

The USFS is a proud sponsor of the Just Suck It Up Bro Foundation. The Just Suck It Up Bro Foundation, in partnership with the Nobody's Forcing You To Do This Foundation is dedicated to responding to whiners by saying "just suck it up bro."

Large cairn with Mt. Shasta in the background

Third times the charm, what a great sight...running water

Approaching the California/Oregon border

Me, finishing CA and crossing into OR

One more border pic

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Overall PCT Day 123

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2026 PCT Day 7, 21 August 2026 (Friday)

Overall PCT Day 123

"You Don't Seiad"

Start Location:	PCT Mi.1643.1	Destination:	Kangaroo Spring, Mi. 1667.5
PCT Miles Day 117:	24.1	Cum PCT Miles:	2220.7
Non-PCT Miles Day 117:	1.2	Cum All Miles:	2423.0
PCT Miles Remaining:	425.6
Elevation Gain Day 117:	4899	Cum Elevation Gain:	390,972

In my original plan, I was supposed to have a 6 mile walk into Seiad Valley. However, as I mentioned a couple days ago, I ended up going into Etna. That was a good call, because there is not much here in Seiad Valley. Because I spent time in Etna, I had a 14 mile walk into Seiad Valley instead of the planned six. I was there for about 1.5 hours, walked up the road about one mile, and then started another of the PCT’s notoriously difficult ascents. Of course this ascent was during the hottest part of the day.

Because there is a long stretch that has limited water and tent sites, I wasn’t sure how far I would have to go before I ended the day. I am happy with how things turned out. I got an additional 10 miles that I would not have done if I had stayed in Seiad Valley. Now, it is possible I may get to Ashland Oregon a day early, and have a true zero day the next day.

Today had the longest road walk that I can remember doing on the PCT. This is normally not a desired thing. However, because the bushwhacking and tree blow downs have been so consistently bad this entire trip, I was happy to be walking on a nice wide, clear path. The downside of road walking is that it is much harder on the feet than the normal trail is.

The scenery today was the best since the first day when I was in the Castle Crags area. So, overall a hard but good day.

Water was difficult in the second half of the day. The first source I went to on the long ascent was supposed to be a good source, but it was completely dry when I got there.

Fortunately, for me, I have been rationing my water just in case this happened. Because it was a strenuous climb, and it was very warm, I wasn’t thrilled that I had to ration the water, but I’ve been training for it. Another source further up the trail that was very questionable, Kangaroo Spring, ended up having water. The water didn’t look that pleasing, but I was able to get several clear liters of water out of it. Additionally, there were several good tent sites right nearby, so I didn’t have to continue going down the trail, hoping at some point that there would be a tent site. Because this tent site was so convenient, I was able to get all my camp chores, done and get into the tent before 8 PM; that’s the first time this trip.

With the wind blowing around it’s actually starting to fill pretty cool in the tent. Every other night on this trip has been warm in the evening. These are the strongest winds of the trip so far. My new tent is going to get a wind test tonight. The wind is whipping around pretty strongly and so far the tent is doing well. Hopefully it’ll hold up all night. This is the first time I’ve used a trekking pole tent, and I was always a little suspicious about how well they would do in strong winds. So far, so good. Again, we’ll see in the morning.

Today I took a picture of a turkey vulture high up in a tree, and another one that I captioned “Road Tar hieroglyphics.” You see things when you’re walking that you just don’t see when you’re going by at 70 mph.