Nature - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2014

Etna to OREGON!

Wow, am finally in Oregon for the second time.....long story that will follow shortly. We left Etna and walked to Seiad Valley. It was one of the most beautiful walks yet. There were flowers galore in bloom and the Marble Mountains are gorgeous. I did take lots of pics and will add them when I can. The only complaint that I would have is the heat - triple digits most of the time and it is really challenging to walk all day when it is so hot. We did take every opportunity we could to jump in a brook and cool off. We walked into Seiad Valley (one of the best little trail towns there is) and ordered breakfast. Then sat outside while it got hotter and hotter. We tried to walk out of town and up (11 miles, 4500 feet of elevation climb) but Legs just didn't feel good. So we waited until it cooled off and went a little further. The following day, we started walking, but Legs could not go far. So I climbed the next mountain to find cell phone coverage and called the Seiad Valley Store owner to see if he knew of anyone that could come get us as we had stopped at a forestry road. He said he would come in a hour and a half. When he got there he said that he had decided to take Legs to the hospital. I thought "what a generous man", well, little did I know how generous. The hospital was another 2 hours away from where he picked us up! And in Oregon. In the end, Legs was diagnosed with giardia and given antibiotics. Of course it took the ER doctor three days to figure that out.

Finally, we were back on the road hitchhiking back to Seiad Valley to return to the trail. We got a ride back to the forestry road with a fellow thru hikers parents for which we were very thankful. And three days later are in Ashland Oregon. It was a bit of a let down as we had already been in Oregon for three days but we are here and on our way. Crater Lake is our next goal which is almost a fourth of the way through Oregon and only 100 miles from Ashland. I think that our journey through Oregon will go very quickly after our long trip through California. Is it time to slow down? Enjoy the ride? I am for sure not ready to come back and go to work....no way. So maybe a little slower journey wouldn't be too bad. We will see until that is decided I can't wait to get to Crater Lake which is supposed to be awesome. Oh and the weather here has changed, not so hot and we have had thunder storms the two days we have been here.

Entry 14 of 14
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