Day 118 Oregon (Finally Finished California)

Day 118 Oregon (Finally Finished California)
26.94 miles
From near Cook and Green Butte (mile 1672, elevation 4784)
To Sheep Camp Spring (mile 1698.6, elevation 6858)
Upload 5915
Descend 3776

Overall, it didn’t seem like a very extraordinary day. I’m simply logging miles through pretty, but not impressive, terrain. I’m trying to get enough miles done so Becky can pick me up curbside tomorrow. But for an «uneventful day,» it seems like a lot happened: Donomore Cabin, the California-Oregon border, moth researchers, and the most climbing I’ve ever done in a single day on the trail.

My legs are tired since yesterday. The first kilometers (climb and fallen trees) were slow. But since then it has been faster. I wouldn’t classify the scenery as impressive either. That helps me cover ground instead of feeling obligated to stop and take pictures. Some of the rocks look interesting, but I’m resisting the urge to pick them up… At least until after the final climb into Ashland.

Deer

The trails of yesterday afternoon

Shasta is not very close anymore

electrolyte coffee

As a hiker, I’m willing to try mixing up all types of foods in my attempt to be more efficient in consuming calories, protein, and caffeine. This prompted me to try adding some instant coffee to my NUUN electrolyte drink.

You can think of it this way: I tried it so you don’t have to. My palate isn’t critical of most things, but it quickly told me not to make this again. FYI: Despite my taste buds’ objections, I finished what I mixed so I could comply with Leave No Trace principles. I asked the trees if they wanted coffee with electrolytes, taking their lack of response as a sign that they didn’t want anything.

Gaiter repair needed

I just realized that the repaired hook on one of my gaiters failed. It’s not there anymore. Another solution for Ashland. Hopefully this time I can find a real hook at a sewing store.

Donomore Cabin was built around 1935 for ranchers who took their livestock to the mountains during the summer. Some efforts have been made to restore it, but it definitely doesn’t look pristine. An interesting feature is the outhouse, which is located in a 3-sided shelter where the open side faces away from the hut (and uphill towards the spring where people go to get water).

Donomore Cabin Front

Donomore Cabin Inside

Donomore Cabin Latrine

For the past few days I had been joking with the SoBo hikers that I was jealous that they had completed two states while I was still working on the first (note that we all knew I had already hiked about 1,700 miles and they had only hiked about 1,000). But it still felt good to finally finish my first state and start hiking through Oregon, which has a reputation for being a much easier state on the PCT.

photo border

A state made. Two are missing.

Approaching the top of my climb to Siskiyou Ridge near the end of the day, I encountered a handful of parked cars and people. They had hung white sheets with lights next to them. While I was talking to them (they were waiting for dark and eating the dinner they brought (they also offered me some food), I discovered that they were doing moth research here at Siskiyou Ridge, with lights and sheets used to attract and identify moths.

The principal investigator was Dana Ross of Oregon State University. He said so many moths depend on a single plant species that the diversity of moth species can also give a good indication of the health of the plant species on which they depend.

Beyond just talking about moths, the volunteers were from all over the area and it was fun to hear their stories about it. They complimented me on hiking Devil’s Ridge from Seiad Valley the day before, saying that a large percentage of PCT hikers were hiking the road to save the extra two thousand feet of climbing the PCT does. I was also told that Grider Creek used to be a beautiful old growth forest before the fire several years ago. There are now so many dead that hikers are exhausted by the time they reach Seiad Valley (forcing them to walk along the road out of town).

I was also told that all the locals fill jugs with water from the Sheep Camp spring without filtering it. I decided to camp there. The water was coming out of the spring as if it were coming out of a fully opened garden hose. This was the first place on the trail where I got water from something other than a drinking tap and didn’t filter it. I hoped they were right about water safety.

photo moth researchers

Moth researchers

I just thought my shadow was an interesting image.

Afternoon colors

It was pretty dark when I finished dinner and I was ready to sleep. That’s when I heard a group of hikers approaching the spring. My tent was actually a few hundred yards from the spring, but they were talking so loudly that I had no problem hearing them. They called me to ask where there were tent sites. I told them what I had discovered when I arrived shortly before nightfall (there were no big places). They appeared to camp on the dead-end dirt and gravel road near the spring and continued to talk loudly to each other for quite some time, making it difficult to fall asleep. The 11-year-old scouts in my troop need some reminders about volume, but they seem to understand that when talking to someone 10 feet away, they don’t need to talk so loud that they can be heard 100 feet away. These hikers never learned that lesson.

My tent site right next to this group of trees.

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