July 12 Ashland to Seiad Valley

Our first milestone! Bryan, Hunter and Stephen gave us a ride down to the drop off point on Sunday and took a few photos before they left us alone on the road wondering what in the world are we doing? And so it began.

The last 5 days have been full of ups and downs. Literally. Our trail notes might indicate our next waypoint will be down (or up) x amount of feet but what they don't tell us is that we may go up and down hundreds of feet between points. We have had some trouble with the altitude. It couldn't possibly be lack of conditioning or heavy packs!

We've had one day with very light rain but the rest have been in the mid to high 80s. Tonight, in Seiad it was 89 at 7pm. The heat makes the steepness steeper and we peter out faster.

To add to the adventure we developed blisters. TBG on the ball of his foot and me one on the pointer toe on each foot. I am sure I will lose both nails. Since TBGs are where he walks, he notices it more but rarely complains. Mine just get huge, pop, and grow again. We did the needle & thread trick tonight and hope that solves it.

We have met so many fun hikers. Mostly thru hikers but a few SOBOs as well. We have grown quite attached to Doug and Harold, two gentlemen from the Seattle area. We leap frogged with them all week but bid them farewell in Seiad today as they headed for their next section. There is a chance we meet again. We sure hope so.

Thru hikers have regaled us with tales of adventuring thru the sierras this year (not too many) or the different skips they are doing in efforts to still complete the trail. Most have been sharing what to expect and giving helpful advice.

We have been meeting about a dozen NOBO hikers each day but only 2 or three SOBOs. It feels like we're going the wrong way on a one way street. It's a bit discouraging to have them tell us we'll find water in 20 minutes or1/2 mile or so when in OUR time it'll be much longer. We definitely agree with other mature hikers that have similar speeds-stop, move and "I think I am gonna die!".

Seriously, it's been a good week. We miss our family and friends as they enjoy homecooked meals and rest in their easy chairs! But we can't trade the silence of the mountains or the open skies.

We've seen squirrels, chipmunks, lizards, birds, deer and even a bear. We enjoyed mountain flowers including the oh so fragrant lilies. We are learning to be adept at identifying poison oak as it is so ever present.

Our food lasted beyond our time out. I just had no appetite. I guess because I have so much stored. That's fine with me. We feel good over all.

We are having...fun. We are trying to rejoin with nature and rediscover parts of us we've been missing.

We love you and thank you for following us! Here's to Etna next week!

Please bear with us as we try to blog from our phone. We'll try to uodate and improve!