The deer were still hanging out when we awoke. We’d heard from a southbound section hiker this next section was “the worst section of trail on PCT”, and it didn’t disappoint. There’d been a fire in this section some years ago that decimated the towering trees that created shade for this area, and the regrowth of the area right now was dominated by the faster, lower brush and weeds. Thus, the trail was significantly overgrown making it almost impossible to see the trail at parts and at other parts, forcing us to claw our way through the brush. Fortunately, this section was only a few short miles of length and we were through it. 

It was positively hot in the morning compared to recent days, especially since we dropped to ~1,300 feet. Our goal was to stop by Seiad Valley General Store to pick up our resupply boxes, eat a meal at the cafe, and hit the trail again. 

I go into the general store to pick up my package only to find it wasn’t there. It’d been delivered to the post office (located in the same building) on Thursday but no one had went to pick it up. It was now Sunday and the post office was closed. No resupply box for me, which sucked since I had new socks, shorts, and other necessities in there. I was frustrated to the extreme, but nothing I could do until the next day when I could call the post office to forward the box ahead to my next stop. 

I coped with the miss of my box by ordering two lunches at the cafe and an ice cream sandwich. Then I purchased food for the next two days until we could stop at a larger town, Ashland, OR, to buy more food. Sandman did receive his new shoes though, which was good since my shoes that he started wearing a few hundred miles ago (when he had issues with his) were shot! They had 750 trail miles on them. 

The hike out Seiad Valley was a steep, 5,000 foot climb over 12ish miles so it was a slow slog out of town that was made especially difficult by being full with two meals. 

A challenging day, but oh well. Life goes on!

Miles: 31

Total Miles: 1,897