I woke up this morning to a stiff, cold breeze blowing and it was everything I could do to get myself out of my sleeping bag and going on the trail. It's a good thing I was meeting my parents tonight at Etna Summit, otherwise I may have taken hours to get up.
The terrain today began like yesterday ended--tough. On elevation profile maps, it looked relatively level, but the trail had hundreds of little drops and climbs that added up over the day. Worse still was that they were usually VERY steep. The steeper the terrain, the sorer the feet!
Eventually I did make it to Etna Summit around 5:50 pm after 23.3 miles. Two mileage points worth mentioning are Mile 1600, which I passed in the afternoon. Also, since I ended the day at 1606, I now have fewer than 100 miles left in California. This I am extremely excited about! Even though it is only a name, I'm hoping to get a psychological boost from getting into Oregon. It's crazy to think that nearly 2/3 of the trail is in one state.
So here I am in a motel in Etna with Mom and Dad. We actually all got to the trailhead at about the same time, but through a comedy of errors, we didn't see each other for nearly 30 minutes. Thanks to a big mound of rocks, I suppose. But all's well that ends well and I am a happy hiker tonight after eating mounds of homemade food!
Tomorrow should be an easy day. Not sure whether I'll get back on the trail or not. It just kind of depends on how the day unfolds.
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What a blessing to find you in good condition, Ryan - not "scruffy" as some of the other hikers are. We were glad to be able to connect with you even with the "comedy of errors" :) Thinking of you today as you hopefully reach the top of Buckhorn Mountain and have an unobstructed view of Oregon 61 miles away. The Foys have your bounce boxes. We enjoyed our visit with them in Medford on our way home. Wonder how many miles you got in tonight. We got home at 11:15 p.m.
ReplyDeleteWith lots of love and prayers, we await the news that you have finally reached Oregon - hopefully by Tuesday evening.
Another note from Mom. I concur with the commment made by Ken Leslie (bigfetch) re June 4 blog entry. I too have a hard time shaking off the eeriness of dropping off Ryan and watching him disappear into the woods. It's rather indescribable - "eerie" is a good word. Ken's comment has stuck with me ever since I first read it. Now we too have experienced it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the forewarning, Ken.