Day 119 – spring-fed stream to Seiad Valley – 18 miles


It was very hard to get up early this morning – made even harder by my bad coughing fits. The cafe was calling, though, and we forced ourselves up and on the trail. Almost right away we met a southbounder named Vogue. He shocked us by sharing the info that we were only the 319th and 320th northbounds that he had met. Given how many people started this year (estimates range anywhere from 700 to 1200) and how far back we are in the pack, this must mean that a lot of hikers have gotten off the trail for whatever reason.

The terrain wasn’t very challenging all morning – which was good because I was still moving very slowly. We dropped down past a spring and a few logging roads to reach Grider Creek. We would follow it all the way to the forest service campground near where it fed into the Klamath River. The trail rolled gently up and down, losing elevation gradually along 12 miles of brushy path. We dropped back down into poison oak territory and had to watch our feet again.


Finally we reached the campground and started the second leg of the day’s hike – a 6+ mile roadwalk into town. The road was gravel for a few miles but became paved as we approached the river. It was all tough on our feet – paved or not – especially because we were hurrying to reach the cafe before it closed. The river was shallow enough for ducks and geese to stand in and it was frustrating to know that we’d have to go all the way up to the highway and then double back to Seiad Valley instead of just crossing the water now.

We reached the highway with little time to spare and hung out our thumbs for a hitch. The second truck to pass us stopped and we hopped in the back. Because of these kind folks we made it for lunch with only 15 minutes to spare. The ladies working there were extremely nice and didn’t mind us sitting around for a while. Two burgers, a pile of fries and cup after cup of soda later we stumbled next door to the lawn of the hiker-friendly RV park and fell asleep under a tree. The original plan had been to hang around until early evening and then to tackle the steep, hot climb into the mountains. This went out the window soon after we woke up. The most we’d hoped to hike tonight was 6 miles. If we stayed the night in town this still wouldn’t change the day we reached our next resupply. Given our colds (Keith had inevitably caught it, too) and the 18 miles we’d already hiked it was an easy decision to stay.


We had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon reading and napping and rehydrating with cold drinks from the store next door. As the day wore on other hikers trickled in and we all sat around chatting in the nice hiker area the RV park had set up. We bought showers – coin operated! – and went to bed feeling clean and relaxed. Hopefully this will do a lot to beat back our colds.

– Posted from the PCT

Location:Pct mile 1662

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