LEAVING CALIFORNIA 

PCT DAY 96: Mile 1679.4 – Mile 1701.4

Monday July 18, 2016:  22 miles (35.2 km)

A heavy mist had washed in over our campsite overnight. As we left the sun was yet to penetrate the heavy vapour clouds clinging to the valley below. It was quite a magical good-by to California.

From our campsite we had just under 10 miles left to hike in California.  And by 11 am we were done. We have hiked a total of 1,689 miles (2,700km) in just a bit over 3 months. It seems to have gone by so quickly. We signed the hiker register and sat near the border sign for a little while before we opened up the Oregon gift.
It was very peaceful and still. The only sound we could hear was the chirping of a particular bird and a distant tinkling of a cowbell. If you closed your eyes it sounded just like a Swiss mountainside. I will have to find out what kind of bird makes such a happy sound.  It will be a lasting memory of this hike. It’s chirping  always made me smile.

And less then a mile after crossing the border we were welcomed into Oregon by a Trail Angel. Dar is from Portland and was  waiting to surprise his son who is hiking the PCT and also to offer all hikers passing through an amazing array of goodies. We had salmon and vegetables cooked on a charcoal barbeque  and a hamburger  washed down with a most delicious coconut water.  What a delicious start to our Oregon adventure. It was tempting to linger and chat to Dar who was very informative on the local geology, being a hydrologist. But we still had miles to make, as Ashland was calling.

Our first impressions of Oregon based on the first 5 or so miles was of a rolling green countryside. The hills were studded with the white candle like flowers we had seen only a few days ago for the first time. And Mt Shasta stood high above the surrounding landscape.

I was in a fair bit of pain by the time we stopped to camp by a creek. We are both feeling tired and are looking forward to a few days rest in Ashland.

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