Saturday, August 29, 2015

Making Old Things New

Saturday: (08/29) Our usual Saturday shopping run to start our day. Lou made apricot waffles for breakfast. Lou wanted to start sand blasting some metal chairs she found. I got it out but it didn’t work. Hasn’t been used in years and the nozzle was clogged by deposits, rust and ? I figured out how to disassemble it and cleaned everything up and it now works. She was then able to start cleaning down to bear metal. It will take a little while to complete them. I also pruned the wisteria plant on the arbor so it would quit grabbing and trying to strangle me. It gets vicious when it’s overgrown. Green salads for lunch I plotted a route for a new hike I’ll be leading next Friday. Now I know how long and how much of a climb it will be. Enchiladas for dinner.

Sunday: (08/30) I made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast.
Lou Sand Blasting Chair Parts 0830151558a
Lou was busy de-painting her chairs. I relaxed all morning and finally got to work in the afternoon. I fixed the air compressor. It had a leak on the pressure switch. I removed some paving bricks on the side yard to locate a leak in a water line that feeds all the faucets in the back yard. After confirming it was in that area I’ll now wait for the dirt to dry out some so i don’t have to play in the mud. I also repaired a lock on one of our doors. That was enough work. Enchiladas for lunch. We had dinner at the Olive Garden Restaurant.
Monday: (08/31) Blintzes for breakfast. I did my usual morning activity, little. I seem to only get going about noon.
Broken Water Line Repaired 0831151650
I got back to work on on the water line repair. I dug out and exposed the pipes. There is a clutter of them in that spot. I turned on the water again and the leak was obvious. I cut out the bad pipes and was then called to lunch by Lou. She and Dawn were in Santa Clara. I met them at the Chinese buffet there. I then stopped by the hardware store and picked up some parts to repair the pipes. Once home I installed the new piping and then spent much of the afternoon fixing the sprinkler system emitters. All the water in the backyard has been off since April. For some reason, many drip system tubes and emitters were damaged. I’ll be testing and adjusting the sprinklers for most of the rest of the week. Dinner was corn on the cob and chocolate peanut butter pie.
Tuesday: (09/01) Leftover corned beef hash for breakfast. I relaxed all morning. Not too unusual. I had a dentist appointment to fix a couple of teeth this morning. That only took 20 minutes but I stretched it into a few hours. I stopped by Harbor Freight and found some sand blasting media for Lou. I also picked up a few sprinkler parts. Lunch at my Dim Sum King restaurant. I spent some time working on a website that had problems. it went down while I was on my hike and I finally fixed it. Dawn BBQ’d a steak and prepared baked potatoes and corn on the cob for dinner.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Exploring Medford, Oregon

Thursday: (08/20) Breakfast at Brothers Restaurant after the short one mile walk downtown. I caught a bus back to the motel but I missed my stop. I got off at an electric bike shop I wanted to visit but they didn’t open until 1100 so I walked back to the motel. I packed my backpack and changed to a double room. Lou and Dawn are on their way. Then it was time to return to the bike shop. I, of course, took the long way looking through the neighborhood. I talked with the owner about electric bikes and test drove one I liked. Then I headed back downtown, walking, and had lunch at Louie’s, a nice chorizo soup and a salad. Then I took a bus to Medford to look around. Lou and Dawn arrived to met me in Medford. We looked around the Fred Meyers store and had dinners at McGrath’s. A final stop at the Caldera Tap Room back in Ashland for desert and we finally got back to the motel.
PCT Ashland 0820150825
Downtown Ashland

Sanborn Loop Hike

Friday: (08/28) The usual L&L sausage, egg and cheese English muffin breakfast. I picked up Jessica on the way to meet the other hikers at Sanborn County Park. We hike about a 1/2 mile on the road to another trailhead then up to the top of the mountain on the new Bay Area Ridge Trail segment. Then along the Skyline trail and down the San Andreas trail back to our cars. A nice 9.6 mile hike on a rather warm but nice day with a nice group of fellow San Jose Mid-week Hikers. The elevation change was 1683 feet with an overall 3600 foot climb. Here is the GPS track for the hike. One pair of my new hiking shoes arrived today. I located two pair a couple of days ago online. I tried to find my size of Cascadia 9 shoes but none were available so i bought a pair of Cascadia 10 shoes as replacements for the shoes I started this recent segment of the PCT. The Cascadia 10 shoes don’t have a great life expectancy so i looked again and found a couple of pair online at Roadrunner Sports. I had a Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch and enjoyed a shower and washed my hiking clothes. I relaxed the rest of the day. Chili size for dinner.
Sanborn Park Loop Hike 0828151138_HDR Sanborn Park Loop Hike 0828151138
Nice view and a good group.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Home Again

Monday: (08/24) First day home. Enjoyed a late morning. Granola for breakfast. I tinkered at the computer all morning. Salads for lunch. We did a shopping run. I stopped by Central Computer for a new WiFi adapter fr my laptop. Lou and Dawn had to occupy themselves at a nearby thrift store. Tough life. LUU Noodle House for dinner. We also stopped by Walmart to pickup an Tracfone airtime card for our spare cell phone. The phone has been missing since December but appeared during the unpacking after our trip and needed to be reactivated. The internal Wifi died. Next stop was Best Buy for Dawn to get more time on her possible new phone. She is still deciding. I stopped at the REI store next door and got a replacement pair of hiking pants to replace my defective pair that has a broken zipper.

Tuesday: (08/25) A breakfast sandwich to start the day. I did miss them. Lou and Dawn were off to exercise class. I was busy blogging. I need to post some photos from the hike. Organizing a bunch of photos takes a lot of time. I also plugged a hole in our sunroom door where a dog door was. Stuffed tomatoes for lunch. Steak, baked spuds and corn on the cob for dinner.
Wednesday: (08/26) I was busy adding photos and polishing the blog entries for the period of my PCT section hike. Granola for breakfast. Green salad with chicken salad for lunch. Ham quesodillas for dinner.
Thursday: (08/27) Up early and got ready to go. I stopped by L&L Hawaiian for a breakfast sandwich. I had a dentist appointment at 0800 in Cupertino. After that I looked around the Harbor Freight store to waste some time. I then met members of my hiking group in Campbell for a walk, lunch and a movie. We went to Aqui’s restaurant for lunch, sort of a fusion Mexican restaurant. The movie was The Man From Uncle. It was surprisingly good and is likely a new franchise to rival 007 James Bond movies. On the way home I stopped and had the Jeep washed. That just about used the day up. I fixed quesodillas for all for dinner. I have a lot of tortillas leftover from my hike that need to be used up.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Eureka! We Looked At It

Sunday: (08/23) We always like to visit Eureka. Breakfast at a new restaurant, the Golden Harvest. We had noticed a crowd there and tried it out. The crowd was right. We had some regular stops to make while we were here. We started with our required visit to Pierson Building Center. A nice garden center, Koi pond, and reading rooms. The hardware and tools section are the most complete we know of. We always speed some time there when nearby. Our second visit wasn’t too productive. The Redwood Acres Fairgrounds in Eureka rents out their horse barns to horse owners and they have a population of cats there that have been abandoned. A local vet keeps them healthy and the barn residents take care of them. Something happened and most of the cats were gone. We only saw three instead of 30 or so. The area is also closed to visitors and has a resident manager now. We were told that a bunch of cats have disappeared and they suspect a coyote or bobcat has been eating well. We suspect something else has happened since many of the barns are also empty. probably just new management? Such a loss. We like to visit cats but don’t want one of our own. This was one of our best spots to get a dose of cats. We also visited a couple of thrift stores and a bookstore and of course the Winco Market. Our final stop as we left town was a stop at the Loleta Cheese factory in Loleta. Then we were on the road home.We arrived home around 10pm

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Another Fair Day

Saturday: (08/22) We continued South toward Trinidad. While passing through Klamath we noticed a fair of some sort, so we stopped. It was their Salmon Festival. We enjoyed their parade and looking through the booths. I got to enjoy some very nice berry cobbler as a breakfast prelude. We continued on to Trinidad stopping at Trinidad Bay Eatery for what turned out to be lunch because it was near noon and they no longer served breakfast.  Nice lunch. Then on to Ferndale to the Humbolt County Fair. We enjoyed the crafts, art, animals, and shows. Later we got a motel room and headed out to the Samoa Peninsula to the Cookhouse, an old logging camp cookhouse, for dinner. After too much for dinner, we headed back to the motel for the night.

Klamath Salmon Festival 0822150954a Klamath Salmon Festival 0822150950
Salmon Festival parade. On the right is a home built wooden sports car, one of the cars on display at the festival by a classic car club.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Ashland Zero

Wednesday: (08/19) Up at 0710, too early for breakfast next door at the Morning Glory Restaurant. I took a walk around the Southern Oregon University across the street and around the neighborhood as I waited. A nice chicken fried steak. Then I headed downtown, explored, picked up my resupply box at the Post Office and caught a bus back to the motel. Lunch again at the Mexican restaurant nearby. They make a great chili relleno. I returned downtown to explore and stopped for a beer at the Caldera Brewery Tap House where i enjoyed a couple of beers and some nice French onion soup for dinner.
PCT Ashland Resupply Bix 0819151153
My resupply box looked like it had been kicked all the way to Ashland. All the contents survived.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

MM1700 To MM1716 To Ashland

Tuesday: (08/18) On the trail at 0715. After a short down the trail became up for about 1000 feet. The trail pofile showed a good 3000 foot drop after that but it sure seemed like a lot of up here and there. 
PCT Seiad Valley To Ashland Trail Angel 0818151039
Found some trail magic on the way and even met the caretaker (above) when he stopped to resupply the magic. I scored a nice apple and a drink. I hiked much of yesterday evening and then today with Armstrong. He stopped at dark and I kept going a couple miles. He’s also faster than I am so he caught up mid morning. My exit was at Calahan’s Lodge. At the bottom of the so called trail I met some hikers headed back to the trail. Galaxy had a rented car and brought them up to the trail. I got a ride down to Ashland with him. I checked in to the Asland Motel, showered, had dinner, washed my clothes and had a swim.

Monday, August 17, 2015

MM1677 To MM1700 Into Oregon

Monday:(08/17) MM1700, a 23+ mile day. Along the trail I heard more cow bells and spotted about three cows through a break in the trees in a meadow. They also saw me, and didn’t mind. Further down the trail I came to the meadow and saw a herd of about twenty cows, all with bells on. One cow evidently was frightened by my appearance, or aroma and started running down the steep meadow. That caused the rest to run as well. This was about a 45 degree grassy slope. I certainly couldn’t run down it without hurting myself. Somehow a herd of big heavy cows had no problem doing so. I was Amazed. Interesting tune played by all the cow bells. A while later,

PCT Seiad Valley To Ashland At The Border 0817151457.xnbak
I crossed the border about 2pm. Settled into camp about 2130 with some night hiking. Saw no Nobo hikers until a while after I arrived at the border.
Interesting rock meadows More trail
Above left, interesting rock meadows. On the right, more trail
A trail angel's gift My lunch spot next to a meadow and stream
Above left, a trail angel’s gift. On the right, my lunch spot next to a meadow and stream.
More bare hills near Ashland PCT Seiad Valley To Ashland 0817151714a
More bare hills near Ashland.
PCT Seiad Valley To Ashland 0817151740a Nice trail
Nice trail
Sheep Camp Spring
Above Sheep Camp Spring, one of the many nice drinking fountains along the trail. I had dinner at Sheep Camp Spring with Armstrong. Left there at 1840 with 5.5 miles to go. Stopped at MM1700.
GPS: Lat 42.04632, Lon -122.798653

Sunday, August 16, 2015

MM1660 To MM1677 Close To Oregon

Sunday: (08/16) Up 0600. As I was putting on my shoes Pocahontas, WonderWoman, and TrampOn, the three girls from Etna passed by. Early starters. I finished the remaining 1000′ climb then had about 5 miles of rolling easy walking. Then I dropped down to a dirt road and had another 1000 foot climb. After that climb it’s supposed to be just a rolling easy hiking. But, I was dragging and stopped at 17 miles for the day. Camped at MM1677.
Lily Pond Lake
Lily Pond Lake
GPS: Lat 41.947292, Lon -123.022542

Saturday, August 15, 2015

MM1653 To MM1660 Seiad Valley

PCT Seiad Valley Toucan Bonanza 0815150746c
Saturday: (08/15) Up early, breakfast at the cafe with Toucan and Bonanza. Excellent food. I waited for the Post Office to open at noon.
PCT Seiad Valley Breakfast Burrito 0815150744 PCT Seiad Valley California Omelet 0815150744a
The burrito like Toucan and Bonanza had. My meager repast, a California omelet, on the right.
PCT Seiad Valley Cafe Store PO 0815150641b
The town of Seiad Valley in one building.
PCT Seiad Valley Cafe 0815150641 PCT Seiad Valley 0815150639a
Notice the XX in a circle emblem on the wall of the restrooms above. Seiad Valley is part of, or wants to be part of, the State Of Jefferson. The State Of Jefferson wanted to create a new state from parts of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Possibly some folks actually want to do it but I think it is mostly for the tourists now.
I updated my blog and Facebook as I waited for the Post Office to open at noon. Interestingly, when I entered the box area a couple of minutes before noon I was motioned inside. The clock on their wall was 8 minutes faster than my phone which, of course is accurate time. I could have entered 6 minutes earlier. Darn. I loaded my pack and headed over to lunch, an avocado chicken melt with peanut butter milkshake. Yum!
PCT Seiad Valley Toucan Bonanza 0815150746c
Then I was off down the road to the trail head .8 miles West of town. There is a 4200 foot climb over 7 miles exiting town. I made six miles before stopping for the night at MM1660. I pitched my tent on a thin rock ridge.
GPS: Lat 41.879808, Lon -123.202272

Thursday, August 13, 2015

MM1614 To MM1632, Buckhorn Spring

PCT Etna To Seiad Valley 0813151933_HDR PCT Etna To Seiad Valley 0813150836a
Thursday: (08/13) Passed by a half dozen NoBo (North Bound) and same for SoBo hikers. Toucan was one. Long day with increasing smoke in the air. Camped at MM1632 for a 21 miles. Only 21.5 miles to Seiad Valley.
GPS: Lat 41.669908, Lon -123.251367

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

MM1599 To MM1614, Fischer Lake

PCT Etna Bobs Cafe 0812150637
Wednesday: (08/12) Off to breakfast at Bob’s at 0600. The cook hadn’t arrived so the waitress started my breakfast burrito. Back at the Hostel and all ready to go at 0711, 50 minutes early.
PCT Etna To Seiad Valley 0812150955 PCT Etna To Seiad Valley 0812151438_HDR
On trail 0900. Started with SuperTramp on a ride back to the trail provided by a local trail Angel. Met Cookie and Mr E and another SoBo thru couple. Also met a German man doing a SoBo through. Bonanza passed me NoBo while I was taking advantage of a cell signal.
PCT Etna To Seiad Valley 0812151938
I stopped for the night at Fischer Lake MM1614. With Bonanza from NC, OMW (Old Man Walking) and someone else who arrived after I tucked myself in.
GPS:Lat 41.496723, Lon -123.105197

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Zero in Etna

PCT Etna Alderbrook Hostel 0811150742 PCT Etna Alderbrook Hostel 0811150626
Tuesday: (08/11) Up at 0600 as usual. Tea outside as folks woke up. I rode a bike down to Bob’s for breakfast with Aquaman and Genie. One stayed at the city park, the other at the hotel. A relaxing morning chatting and wasting time.
PCT Etna ld Ahoes 0811151212a
I kept checking on my the arrival of my shoes. About noon the proprietor announced the arrival of a new package. It wasn’t mine. But evidently mine arrived when I was away, because there it was. I put on the shoes but haven’t disposed of the old ones until I’m sure. These have never been worn before. Over the morning almost every one departed. I had lunch at Dotty’s drive in. Now I have experenced both nearby fine dining establishments. The museum is closed all this week because of a fair, unfortunately not here. Two strikes. Brewery closed both days I’m here and museum all the week I’m here. When I returned from lunch and a stop at the library one hiker had arrived, Supertramp. Clark Kent arrived later. About 1100 three girls, Pocahontas (BC), WonderWoman (Vermont), and TrampOn (Philly) arrived. I headed to dinner at Bob’s. The girls arrived at the restaurant shortly. I decided to hurry back and get my shower before the crowd. I then loaded my pack. Ready to go tomorrow.

Monday, August 10, 2015

MM1592 to MM1599, Etna

PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0810150817_HDR
Monday: (08/10) Met Shameless and Pudding on the climb out from Panyes Lake. Gavin caught up to me at the top. Gavin and I hiked down to the road together and arrived at Sawyer Bar Road at 1000 where we met Cheese.
PCT Etna Alderbrook Hostel 0810151147b PCT Etna Alderbrook Hostel 0810151205
I checked in to the Alderbrook Maner Inn. Took a shower and washed clothes.
PCT Etna Alderbrook Hostel 0810151129 PCT Etna Bobs Cafe 0810151321
Then I borrowed a bike to head off to Bob’s Restaurant for a late lunch of CFS breakfast. I stopped at Ray’s Market for the all important gas canister. None there. Went to the Hardware store and found one. Whew! Others met include FM, Mama Squirrel, Lets Party with dog Easy and No Boundry, Tikimon, Granny. Four hiker dogs at the hostel.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

MM1575 to MM1592 Paynes Lake

PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0809151106 PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0809151521**
Sunday: (08/09 Passed one SoBo hiker and passed by four NoBo hikers. Two of those were Alex and Dave returned from a night in Etna. I camped at Paynes Lake which , fortunately has green trees. For the past 6 miles the trees have all been burned. Tough trails too, both up and bad condition.
PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0809151853
Arrived at the lake at 1715. Enough time to have dinner and hike on to the highway but little chance of getting a hitch that late. And I’m tired. Gavin arrived about 1900. His blisters are bothering him. MM1592, a 17 mile day.
GPS: Lat 41.343795, Lon -122.960443

Saturday, August 8, 2015

MM1558 to MM1575 Trinity Alps

PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0808151323_HDR PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0808150723a_HDR
Saturday (08/08) Met Chopper and Chucksy and later Just Dave and Alex. Dave and Alex had a plan. They were hurrying down to the highway 93 to hitch into Etna for the night and some beer from the local brewery. Then they will hitch back and hike another 22 miles to do it again at the official Etna exit the next day. Check the photos above. Nice air don’t you think. The smoke has really gotten bad. Fires in all directions, fortunately not too close.
GPS: Lat 41.210662, Lon -122.878175

Friday, August 7, 2015

MM1537 to MM1558, Scott Mountain

PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0807151213 PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0807150945
Friday: (08/07) On trail 0715. Met Huff and Puff and Paul from UK. Also met Mr Puddles (Canada) and Better Half, Crazy “A”s and Hendricks two solo NB hikers. This section, without too much up and down, was really smoky with clouds above so not a good solar day. Made it to highway 3 at Scott Moutain, MM1558 for the night. A 20 mile day. Saw a couple of does with fawns today.
GPS:Lat 41.27557, Lon -122.699475

Thursday, August 6, 2015

MM1518 to MM1537, Park Creek Rd

PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0806150709 PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0806150709a
Thursday: (08/06) Another smoky day.
PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0806150728 PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0806150917
Not bad trail today.
PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0806151150a PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0806151150c
An interesting pod flower an an interesting me with tree.It was nice enough to share me on a break. Still lots of burnt areas though,
PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0806151229 PCT Dunsmuir To Etna 0806151859a
A nice spring about 1/2 mile beyond Deadfall lake.
I stopped at Deadfall Lake for dinner but I wanted more miles so I continued another 3.5 miles to camp at a trailhead. Good weather except for a lot of smoke in the air. Met lots of other hikers today, some heading North as I am and some heading South doing sections or day hiker. One couple, Burgundy and Giggles, passed me last night but they caught up to me again at White Ridge Spring. I stopped for dinner at Dead Fall Lake. There was a big group camping there. Evidently one of there party is a paraplegic. He caught his first fish here and wanted to return. He came in on a four wheel bike. He’ll be on the lake in a pontoon boat and they intend to take up to the peak above the lake. Note, it was 3.5 miles on to the lake already. He and his friends are determined.
GPS: 41.34307, -122.53710