Chester, California to Ashland, Oregon

We made it!!! 
We hiked ~1700 long miles from the Mexican border to Oregon.

It took us 83 days, 27 zeros (or other off trail days) and a lot of hard work but we finally left California behind...

We're now resting in the coolest town on the trail - Ashland, feeling proud of ourselves and enjoying the comfort of good shower, bed and food.

We came back to the trail about 2.5 weeks ago, after a week in the bay area.
After 2 unsuccessful hours of hitching, we had to spent one more night in Chico,

It turned out to be a good decision, because the next morning we sent text to the tour guide from Sierra Nevada brewery we met a week before, and he was happy to give us a ride back to the trail (more the 50 miles!).

The only problem was he could do it only after he will finish his work, ~4 p.m.

But that tured out to be perfect, since the World Cup final game was playing that noon. It was fun sitting in american bar, full of locals, drinking great beers and watching the game. And we even got a free beer on the house, just because we are PCT hikers :)

We arrived to the trail around 5 p.m and saw there no others then Noam and Idan, the two Israelis that started a day after us. We haven't seen them since Kick Off. What a timing. If we were there an hour later or earlier we wouldn't see them. We chat with them for a while and then Mike, our brewery guide and our ride angel took them to Chester. While we were there Lingo and Sugarpine showed up. We keep bumped into each other every time we go back to the trail and they head up to town. We hoped they will catch us within few days, so we can finally hike together...

By the time we were ready to start hiking it was already too late, so we only walked 3 miles and camped next to a spring, exactly in the middle of what turned out to be the path of the frogs to the water. Yep, few frogs jumped on our tent, while trying to get to the water. Yak!

The next day we decided to take it easy and hike only 16 miles, so Noam and Idan can catch us and that way we can hangout with them for a day or two.

We took our time and enjoyed long breaks, explored everything on the way, including a side trip to see geysers.

 

 

We arrived to a nice resort where we waited for them to come. And few hours later they did. We had a shower, enjoyed the hot pool and had a great dinner in their restaurant together with ~10 more hikers! What a fun way to go back on trail after a week off :)

Next morning we hiked with Noam and Idan. The trail was nice with few lakes along the way. 

We decided to camp at the same spot for the night, after about 28 miles, next to an interesting huge cave. On our way we almost step on a snake... North California seems to be full of snakes...

 

The next day was challenging in terms of water. No water for 30 miles. We carried as much as possible and start walking. It got extremely hot very quickly... This area is a volcanic terrain, which made the hit feels even worse than it was... And it was hot!!!

 

Luckily, some nice people cached water for the hikers on the way, so we had enough water to survive this day, which most of it felt like walking in a big sauna...

  

We camped in a perfect spot at night next to restrooms, with electricity, water and even wifi! Roi and I took a "shower", using a water pipe that was next to the restrooms. Nice end to this sauna day!

The next day we had to walk to a day use area in Burney Falls state park, to get our resupply box. On the way we saw one of the amazing trail magics we saw so far - a spot with picnic table in the middle of the forest, with cooler full of drinks and closet full of food! And even a field shower!!! Wow!!!

We enjoyed a rest and Roi had few sodas before moving on...

 

 

We were supposed to take a shower in the park facilities and do laundry, but after we found out there's no laundry, we decided to skip also the shower and keep hiking... After few hours we crossed a nice creek where we took a "shower" and washed our socks. It was a nice break from another hot day. 

  

We camped that night with Alan, a 65 years old guy that we met few nights before. 

The next day was another long hot day without many water. It felt as if we were back in south California... Only now we are hiking ~30 miles a day.

 

 

And if it wasn't enough I started to have muscle cramps on my right leg above the knee, which was a nightmare. It hurt with every step and I couldn't bend the knee without crying...

That night we camp alone next to Deer Spring, and woke up so many times, since deers were coming to drink water every hour or so... So this is why the place called Deer Spring??? :)

Next day was supposed to be another 32 miles day. But after 22 miles we stopped for lunch next to a nice creek, and suddenly an interesting opportunity occured. Glitter, hiker we met few times, was hiking that day with his father. They were going to spend the night in Mt Shasta city, our destination for the next day. Apparently few minutes walk from the place we sat, there's a parking spot. It took us 2 minutes to decide we are going to join them to the city and skip the next 15 mikes left to the highway. 

It was perfect timing - my leg hurt, it was hot and it was boring trail for the past few hours...(and days...).

That decision allowed us to enjoy an unplanned zero in the town, and still be on schedule. 

The rest was needed! We even went to see a movie. Roi met a guy in town that is married to an Israeli women, and he was happy to give us a ride back to the trail the next morning. It's funny how we bumped into Israelis and Jewish people everywhere we go :)

When we arrived to the trailhead we saw Noam and Idan trying to hitch to the town. We haven't seen them for few days. It was funny, for the second time they took our ride back to town :)  

It was very cloudy and felt like it's going to rain in any second. We walked 25 miles that day, ready for the rain to come. But it didn't... Only when we arrived to the campsite, where we saw Alan, it started to rain. We quickly pitch our tent and had dinner inside...

My leg was still hurting badly, but at least the views were nice, and not boring as the days before. So I tried to be optimistic...

Next day 30 more miles, with more wonderful views! 

 

The day after my leg started to feel better, but then after 26 miles the pain got back and we had to stop. We woke up to a fog, with a wet tent from the inside and outside... But the weather became better within an hour. 

20 more miles and we arrived to the highway that leads to Etna - the last town we are going to stay in north California.

We catch a ride with a truck together with 6 more hikers. We were sitting on the open back of the truck trying not to fall on every turn...

In Etna, after we found out there's no vacancy in the local motel, we called Tortuga's wife. Tortuga, our hiker friend, lives in Etna and gave us his number so we can come to his place. She was very kind and invited us to stay at their house in our own bedroom. Tortuga was about to return from the trail at the evening. At their place we also met Princess and Mr sandals, a couple from Germany we met few times on the trail, and Moxey, the funniest girl we met on trail.

All of us ate dinner at Tortuga's friend house with homemade food and desert. It was fun!

The next day Theresa made us a great breakfast, took us to a bakery and joined us to lunch at the local brewery. Later she gave us a ride back to the trail. We only hiked 10 miles that day.

The next day we were back in business - hiked 31 miles. 

  

  

Next day 14 miles to a tiny town on the way where we had late breakfast. On the way we saw a bear (3rd time on the trail). It was running away few seconds after seeing me... We also enjoyed a little bit of blackberries picking.

  

 

After 3 hours break in this tiny town called Saied Valley (mainly because it took more than an hour to get our food...) we continued hiking 15.5 more miles, including a 4500 feet steep climb over the first 8 miles. We climbed it between 2-5 p.m - the hottest time on the day! At some point I had to stop every 20 steps or so, to rest. It felt as if my knees are almost touching my nose... 

We arrived to the campsite quite late, and amazed to see there 10 more hikers. I can't recall where was the last time we camped with so many people...

That was our last night in California. Roi was carrying a bottle of Whisky for the last few days, and we happily toasted to the last night in this long never ending state.

The next day we finally crossed the border to Oregon, and a new chapter in our PCT experience began.

 

We had lunch on Oregon land, with some more Whisky ;)

At night we were camping alone, with a thunderstorm coming in. Great start for our Oregon chapter... Luckily the rain didn't come.

The next day we had to walk only 17 miles to the highway, where we hitched to Ashland, our first Oregon town.

We are having 2 zeros here before diving into out Oregon experience...

In the meanwhile Lingo and Sugarpine decided to stop hiking (I can totally understand them...) and we had a nice beer lunch with them in town (they are going to see Crater Lake with a car and stop here to meet with friends).

We were very close to stop hiking in the last few weeks, so I can imagine how they feel... 

As Roi says, the PCT is more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge... And it is one of the hardest challenges I experienced so far in my life...

Things are pretty bad back home right now, which makes the challenge even harder, since we keep thinking about our families and friends, hoping everyone is safe and OK.

At the same time it makes me think this world is so crazy and fragile. So spending time on the PCT might be the best thing we can do right now... :)

Lake Tahoe to Chester + Bay Area

We made it to the PCT midpoint!!!

Some interesting stats...

So far -

We walked 1334 miles out of 2663 miles.

We walked 67 days, excluding off trail days.

We took 26 days off trail, including 3 days on PCT kickoff, 2 days in Yosemite Valley and 6 days in the bay area.

We hitched 28 times from and to the trail, excluding rides with people we know.

We spent 15 nights in other (kind) people houses.

We ate 19 burgers each.

We are wearing our 3rd pair of shoes.

I just got new shirt after the first one had more than 10 holes on it...

We still have a long way ahead of us, but I it's starting to feel doable.

From Lake Tahoe we had a late start and got back to the trail on noon. It felt good to get back.

It's funny... It felt like going back home. As if we belong to the trail... Or the trail became part of us.

As we kept going the sky became darker. Rain is coming, there was no doubt. The only question was when.

On our lunch break we met Tortuga, after not seeing him for about two weeks. We were sure that after 3 zeros, there's no chance we will see familiar faces on the trail, but I guess u can never know...

Just before our last few miles we met a couple that were hiking around Lake Tahoe for few days. After a few minutes talk, where Roi mentioned about a dozen times how hungry he is, they started to give us some of their food, mainly energy bars, but still, it made Roi super happy :)

During the night the rain started. And unfortunately didn't stop until noon the next day. It wasn't heavy rain, but it was wet and cold enough. 

Suddenly, I started to miss home. Our real home...

Luckily the rain stopped around noon. On our lunch break we met Tortuga again, and he had a lot of food he didn't need. And Roi was happy again :) 

We camped on a beautiful spot that night with great views of Lake Tahoe. Last night rain seemed to be far away.

The next morning we were so glad to see clear blue sky, that we decided we will try to go for a burger challenge. We had to walk about 28 miles to get to a road called Doner Pass, where there's a restaurant. 

Of course we made it! The restaurant was closed, though... 

Apparently they only working on weekends, but we didn't walked in vain.

We hitched 2 miles west and found a better restaurant with great burgers and beers :)      

The next two days were really hot and it felt as if we were in south California again.

We arrived to a tiny weird town called Sierra City before noon. We had lots of time to enjoy a 1 pound burger in the local store and resupply for the next section. 

As the day passed more and more hikers arrived, until there were more than 15 hikers hanging out next to the store. A real hiker trash. 

We spend the night in the town, camping. 

We left the place on late morning, after a good breakfast. 

It was already super hot when we started walking again, even though it was still early. 

Shade... Water... This is all we where thinking about.

No one warned us north California will be as bad as the south...

Nevertheless we managed to complete 30 miles that day, our first 30.

It was one of the most beautiful days we had in the last couple of days, with many lakes along the way. 

Oh, and Roi got another energy bar from a nice couple from Czech Republic.

It always hilarious to stand next to Roi and listen to his conversations with strangers. After a minute talk, I count to myself 30, 20, 10, 5, 2 seconds, and it always comes. This moment when he's trying to look very sad and tell the strangers how hard it is to be hungry all the time. 

It works more than 50% of the times. He gets food. And it makes him so happy...

It's hard to explain, but when you carry your food for the next 4-8 days, you know exactly how much food you can eat every day and usually it's the same menu over and over.

So when suddenly you get extra food from someone, it changes the entire game. It׳s something your body didn't expect to get. It can be even the smallest treat, but once you get it your body is excited. Unplanned extra calories = true happiness. 

The next day it was so hot we decided to refresh ourselves in a big river we crossed on the way.

Our first rattlesnake on the trail

The next day we had an option to take a 6 miles alternate route and go through Bucks Lake, which has few resorts on its shore.

We took this route, not for enjoying the beauty, but for enjoying the burger, pizza and beer we knew we will find on a restaurant there :) 

Surprising your body with junk food is always a good thing...

After a long break, we had to go back to the trail. The minute we hit back the PCT route, we saw a car stopping next to the trailhead. A women came out, with a cooler in her hand, calling us.

The cooler was full with sodas, chocolates and fruits. 

Is this our lucky day, or what?

Her name is Lori and she lives in Quincy - the place where we planned to resupply and spent 4th of July in.

One thing led to another and she invited us to call her once we get into town. And one day later we did. She let us camp in her yard, take shower in her house, do laundry... That's amazing! Someone we only met a day before for less than 10 minutes...

We spent the 4th of July in Quincy, in a huge music festival. This festival is one of the most famous music festivals in CA, and maybe in the US. 10,000 people come to it every year. We enjoyed listening to few famous bluegrass and country artists. As we walked along the festival compound we ran into the Shabbat Tent. Couple of Jewish people from LA area set up this place, giving free food and drinks, trying to create a place where the Jewish people that came to the festival would hang out and meet one another. 

Unfortunately we had to go back the trail that night, and missed their Friday night dinner and Kidush...

It took us more than an hour to hitch back, and finally a nice lady picked us up and apparently she's a friend of Lori :) 

We arrived late in night to the trail and camped about half a mile after Belden, where an alternative festival took place with raving music.

We were so enthusiastic to get away from Belden as far as possible, we hiked 31.5 miles the next day :)

It was extremely hot and almost no water along the way, except for springs you have to walk extra miles to reach them...

South California, what the hell are you doing here in the north???

The highlight of our last day on the trail was the midpoint mark.

We felt very proud of ourselves! 

The only problem is that it's only the midpoint... We still have such a long way ahead of us :)

Once we arrived to the hwy, it took us about 10 minutes to hitch to a big city called Chico, where we rented a car and started our 6 days off the trail.

The "vacation" started with a nice visit in Sierra Neveda brewery, including a tour and tasting...

We spent the night in Chico and the next morning drove to Chester to collect all our mail from the post office, including my new IceBreaker shirt.

From there we started driving south for long hours, towards Big Sur (to the famous hwy 1 drive). 

The next day we explored most of the highlights along the road, including the elephant seals beach, McWay falls (one of the few in the world that fall to the ocean) and the beautiful Pfeiffer beach, where we took our lunch and enjoyed the sun after driving in a fog all morning.

We spent the night in lovely Santa Cruz, but woke up to a wet and cloudy morning :(

We had a great breakfast in one of the local places, walk along the sea and the wharf and hanged out on the Pacific Avenue for a while. 

From there we drove to San Jose, where we met Dani, that was our great host for that night. We took Roi to a great pork ribs place Dani and I tried few months ago, on one of my business trips to the bay area. Roi loved it!

The next two days we explored San Francisco - Pier 39, Fisherman's whraf, twin peaks, Lombart st, Golden gate bridge, market+valencia streets and Sausalito town.  

Super touristic, 180 degrees from the PCT.

We spent the two nights in Foster City, at Hanna and Chaim house (Roi's Family). It was a great opportunity for us to hang out with them and get to know them a bit more. They took us to Afghanian restaurant, which was a big change from the typical american food we had for the last 3 months.

We also had a great homemade breakfasts at their place :)

On our way back to Chico to return the car we stopped in another brewery, Lagunitas. Great end for our "vacation" from the trail.