DAY 117: ASHLAND

miles: 29.5

Ashland bound today. Couldn't be more excited. Ben and I are taking a break from the trail for a few days to go to a wedding, resupply, see a few friends, rest, and deal with my foot situation. We will be off the trail August 15th - 20th... I know that is a long time and that is why we've been pushing so hard to get to Oregon. This is also why we are SO. EXCITED. 5 days off!!!

We still have a lot of miles to do to get to Ashland, so we stayed in trail-mode and powered through miles like usual. The miles got easier, as the terrain shifted from steep and ridiculous to rolling and gentle.

Interstate 5 is a popular thing on trail signs.

Crossed a lot of roads today.

Gorgeous plant life and meadows tightly hugging the trail...

Reached Mt. Ashland, land of the sparse.

My Pop tarts are always smashed.

 

Ben cooking lunch.

 Our lunch spot was under a shaded tree near some very unexpected trail magic! A cooler full of pop and a trail register! We scanned the names and saw how close we had gotten to reaching some of our friends. Bummer we will be behind everyone once again after we hit the trail on August 20th...

When the trail looks like this (and it often does)

I love when the signs are huge and obvious.

Rogue River National Forest! 

The last 10 miles down to I-5, Callahan's Lodge and Ashland were mentally tough. I dealt with it well though, plugging into my iPod and tuning in to some well mixed playlists by Mike. Thanks again Mike for the much loved and appreciated music that gets me through the rough patches. I was literally dancing my way down the trail by the time I hit the freeway.

There was one unnerving section though where the trail went through some tall bushes. Bushes containing bumblebees that got stuck in my hair. It felt kind of good, in a weird way, because they are so soft and furry, but once I ran my fingers through my hair and realized what was happening, I flipped.

Bumblebee hair.

Some trail magic hangin' out off to the side.

Hit the freeway and promptly threw my pack down and landed on top of it. My feet were killing me like never before. A car pulls up and I think that it's someone offering me a ride (which I would have to turn down because my good friend from Outdoor School, Justin aka "Baloo" would be arriving shortly to swoop us all up) but it was Lighthouse, another hiker I hadn't seen in forever! He was being dropped off by a trail angel to hit the trail as we were coming in to town. It was good to catch up with him while I awaited Rocky and Manchurians arrival. They were behind me all afternoon, as today it was my turn to be in front, leading the pack. The three of us are well matched hiking partners: we all have a similar pace, similar hiking style, similar town style, are similarly disciplined and even have similar aches and pains. This matches us well, and we will miss hiking with Manchurian when we part ways tomorrow. All three of us take turns hiking in front, in the middle and in back depending on our moods that day, sleep the previous night and energy/pain levels. Today I charged ahead because it was a "get-to-town" day. On these particular days I am exceedingly motivated and tend to have super human strength and energy regardless of outside influences.

So... I flew to Ashland. Ready for that break.

After catching up with Lighthouse, Rocky and Manchurian arrived, as did Justin and soon we were flying on I-5 towards his home. Next stop? Caldera Brewery.

I didn't take any photos of these glorious evening, even though I should have, considering how amazing it was. Good food, fantastic beer, nice setting, good company, old friends mixed with new ones, and a happy glow.

Our 5 day break could not have kicked off any better.