7/13/17 – Obstacle Course

Day 81

Miles: 1,626.56 to 1,653.43

Total miles hiked: 1,069.57
Today was not the most scenic hiking day and we hiked nearly 27 miles and I’m falling asleep as I type this so today’s entry will we short.

We had to drop to Seiad Valley. It’s a drop of approximately 6,500 feet on about 20 miles. Down and down and down until your knees creak like crazy. 

Higher up the trail was smooth and easy to walk. We made 15 miles by lunch, harvested our first berry finds – wild strawberries and some thimbleberries and later even few blackberries, and for a while longer we walked on soft carped of pine needles. 

The lower we went, the worse the trail got, surprisingly. At first we had to deal with bushes overgrowing the path. Later the trail threw few downed trees, and few more, and lower yet washouts got to the mix. It was like being on an obstacle course, nearly like the trail did not want to let us go down. Still we made it ahead of schedule and with enough time left to push on to Seiad Valley and make it there before the store closed.

We are resupplied now and ready for next stretch to Ashland which will start tomorrow morning…. by climbing 6,000 foot hill. Somehow I’m not sure excited about it.