Start point
Tent sites at dirt road, mile 1693
End point
Grouse Gap Shelter, mile 1709.2
Miles hiked
16.2
Wilderness area
Rogue River National Forest
Klamath National Forest
People I met
Penguin
Tom
Thad
Rachel and Chris
The day on trail
Chafe sucks so much. Luckily usually a good night’s rest fixes it.
I woke up feeling good. Ketchup took off well before me; I lazed around a bit. I was a little nervous to start, considering the chafe from yesterday. Chafe almost took me off the Tahoe Rim Trail back in 2019. It’s one of the most debilitating things and sometimes just comes out of nowhere.
Oh well. Miles gotta be hiked so I took off. My first full day in Oregon.
Holy sh—. I’m in Oregon. I’m in Oregon. I can’t believe it.
It started off beautifully. I didn’t really leave camp with water because there was a reliable source ahead and I had a little over a liter left from the night before. Easy peasy.
It started off with easy terrain. Rolling ups and downs, similar to the end of Northern California. It wasn’t flat, like rumored, but so far it’s cruisey and easy.
There was a blaze with a message.
Apparently people don’t realize that “flat” is superlative. And they’re still complaining about the minor climbs that they signed up for. I’ll never get it. Especially when it’s this minor. Maybe they’re just tired and pushed themselves too hard. But still.
Oregon also started showing off their mushroom season with this coral mushy past its prime.
It occasionally opened up into beautiful views of Mt. Shasta fading off into the distance over meadows and hills. I can’t call those mountains at this point.
A bit into trail someone was really excited to get some cell service, and they let us know what they found.
I really like how we communicate with each other, leaving notes that you don’t know who’ll find. Whether it’s an H2O with an arrow, LTE, or anything else. Even just scribbling your name in the dirt.
There were more views of Shasta behind some peaks.
I caught up to Ketchup and some of the people from last night’s camp at a stream with nice places to sit, eat, and lots of shade. I refilled my water, prepped a couple wraps, ate some candy, and hung out.
Ketchup and I watched some fun wildlife. There was a little bird taking a bath in the stream. It was hard to get a photo of it. But it was too cute not to try.
After a long lunch, too long, Ketchup took off. I hung behind a bit. I’m still shocked I’m in Oregon.
Later in the day I ran into some more, let’s say, modified blazes.
I came upon a meadow and some views.
And in the trail on that meadow I found two grasshoppers making more grasshoppers. Grassfkers.
But that wasn’t the magic. This was.
A cooler. A chair in the shade. Sodas, albeit warm, in the cooler. And some supplies.
It was so thoughtful they left tampons with a note that said “good luck sis” in it.
I met a guy, Tom, from England. He and I had run into each other a few times earlier today, but we had a chance to hang here.
In the distance we saw a couple hiking with a dog. I shouted a hello to them and they invited us to come hang with them. I made my way along an unofficial trail to catch them.
It ended up being the woman’s birthday, she was in her early 20s. They gave us a cold white claw and had me shout to Tom to invite him over. We split the White Claw back at the camp chair and each had a most amazing warm soda. I opted for Shasta brand cola. It was amazing.
This is the face of a blissful hiker.
I wasn’t too far from the turnoff for camp and I’d passed Ketchup at some point, so onward I went. Crunching gravel under my feet and enjoying this boost of energy.
Soon I got to the turnoff for our proposed camp spot, Grouse Gap Shelter. It’s a frontcountry camp spot with drive up access. I left some sticks with an arrow and a bit K to let Ketchup know where I was.
And the spot was amazing. There were limited views of Mt. Shasta that were getting obscured with smoke blown in from a distant wildfire. The shelter was amazing! There was some random car; I didn’t say hi. I just went in and started exploring. Pit toilets, an amazing fire pit, a really beautiful little walking area with a vista.
Ketchup came in shortly after me, maybe 10 minutes. We immediately started a campfire.
Some cute hoverfly landed on me.
I was scouting areas to view the Milky Way, hoping to get a view of it over Shasta, but the smoke was quickly obscuring the mountain.
About 30 minutes after sunset, a bunch of hikers rolled in. And I was not expecting them. It was Cake, El Dorado, and Janna. Janna ended up getting the trail name Pits.
I had a convergence of people I’d hiked with and I’d been hiking with. It was overwhelming. I couldn’t believe it. It was such a treat to catch up with them and hear about their trek through the Sierra with Florida Man and Piñacolada. I got the story of how Pits got her name (she dyed her armpit hair).
I offered to show them how and where to spot the Milky Way and they took me up on the offer.
It was really great to hang with Cake and El D again.
And the milky way was gorgeous, despite not being able to see Shasta under it.
After some snaps and hanging with Ketchup, El D, Cake, and Pits, I washed up and crashed. It was such a great day.