Goodbye California

We made it! On Saturday, the 29th of July, exactly four months and four days after we started our journey at the Mexican border, we finally left California into Oregon!

Again, we cannot believe how lucky we are to experience this feeling; To be so blessed to escape fires and to avoid injuries; To make it through the Sierra Nevada and following big snow patches; To have a strong mentality and also the will to overstress your body. Thank you, California.

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But let us begin from where I last wrote to you: Mount Shasta. We left this vital hiker town and went out intending to make the next 100 miles to Etna within four days. A tough stretch, but we need to get some miles in to make it to Canada on time. We climbed the beautiful Castle Crags and because we came from town, of course, it was a bit later than usual and also very, very hot. Because of that, we had a very tough and hot climb that for the first time almost brought us to our limits. The scorching heat and no shade made us empty all our water and we were very happy to camel up on the next spring.

Let’s swim!

Talking about water: the last stretch to Oregon was filled with cool streams and lakes, where we could dip in and recharge our batteries within seconds. Nasty Cheese is a water baby and flies down the trail after a skinny dip. Swimming in the Sierra? We don’t need that! We got Norcal!

Also, we feel like we have the trail for us. We meet many Sobos, but the Sierra Bubble that is with us is quite small and we never have to worry about crowdy campsites or lakes. How good can the gods of fortune treat you?

Trinity Alps and Russian Wilderness

The second day to Etna was a hard one for me on a mental basis. For the first time on this hike, I listened to podcasts because sorry to say: I was bored! I know how that sounds, but it is true, I am a spoiled little hiker and somehow I had a bad day. But also the darkest hours go by and I could get over it. Mostly because we got into the Trinity Alps, followed by the Russian Wilderness!

I heard about them before, but never looked it up, and oh my god. The views, the picturesque landscape, and the gray mountaintops in the distance, how much did I miss that, how stunning was it to see them? Also, the Wilderness is crowded with little chipmunks that always let our hearts melt. These little upstanding tails are too cute.

Etna, a healthy little community

Whoever follows other fellow bloggers probably knows how nice a stay in Etna is. A small community in the far North of California. Molly, a 83-year-old former race car driver (according to her drifting skills downhill =D) showed us around this town, which has a free swimming pool, a park that allows hikers to camp, including showers and a charging station, bars, stores, and bakeries. What else would you need?

We quickly resupplied here and had a hiker dinner in the park, together with “Lookout” and “Chainsaw”, a Slovenian hiker, and the American (finally an American hiker again!) “Rabbit” who also went all the way through the Sierra.

Altras are horrible

All together, we went back to the trail the next day and started doing our daily planned 25 miles. Since I had to switch to Altras in South Lake Tahoe to still be able to wear Crampons, I began having Achilles problems. Who wonders, people love them or hate them, because 50% start having these problems. Since my exchange back to Topos in Mt. Shasta, my Achilles was feeling better, but still not back to its old strength. I also had blisters for the first time since my start in Campo around the heels.

Having these two sources of pain, a yellowjacket decided to give me a third source of pain and crawled underneath my gaiter. I don’t know how it got in there, but that stitch hurt a lot and made my body react in a way that it sent all its healing power in this direction and accidentally healed my Achilles as well. In Germany we call it: luck while having bad luck. I don’t mind that.

A zoo called Norcal

When we road walked into Seiad Valley, we had seen the whole Norcal Fauna: wild turkeys, grouses, approx. 50 deers, more (green) rattlesnakes, little colorful snakes, and finally one blonde black bear (sadly just for Nasty cheese =( ).

Seiad Valley had kind of a cool vibe, as it was remote, with a dusty old general store and a very American breakfast diner. No, we did not try the pancake challenge, but we know that “bubbles” will do it. A huge young man from Bavaria who should be there while I am typing this report.

Our actual strategy is, to resupply for just a few days, max. four, to cover a bigger amount of miles. With food worth another three days in our packs and a much too-long break at the breakfast diner, we went out to tackle the infamous climb out of Seiad.

Record player Needle scratch

We roadwalked.

Yeah, sorry to disappoint you, but I wanna be honest with you, and it was what sounded to be the best option for us. It was really hot, the climb was moderate, and we had a waterfall almost all the way up to cool our bodies down. We could also stuff our faces with blackberries and I found a huge wild turkey feather. How much more signs do you need to know that you did the right decision?

Goodbye California

The next day it finally happened: at 1:00 p.m., we jumped across the border of Oregon. What an achievement! We celebrated ourselves like rock stars for being able to stay Nobo all the way up here and had some whiskey and beer.

But because we already rested too long at the Donomore Cabin, there was no time to relax for too long. We had to carry on and get enough mileage in to reach Ashland at noon the next day. There we would have to do a double zero to prepare our resupply boxes for Oregon and Washington.

Oregon you beauty

The landscape changed immediately. Wide views, blue hills in the morning, new plants, and Shasta in the far distance, watching our journey and slowly saying goodbye to his kids, five really dirty hikers, who would cravy nothing more than a shower and a laundry.

Tired but happy, we stopped a couple by the road, who were so kind to drive us into town and to Medford the next day. People treat us like super Sportsmen, but we are just normal walking people with a big dream: reaching the bridge of gods and after that: Canada

Best wishes go out to Rita and Bill for helping us so much and treating us like their kids. Also a big shout out to Glen, who as well chatted with us and then commented here on the Trek, because he googled my Trailname! 😀