August 7, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Best Western, Ashland, OR.
Miles: 16

Adrian: Got some great trail magic today in the form of three coolers with soda, water and beer. It's truly amazing what hiking will do for the taste of Natural Ice beer. I had two by 9 a.m. :)

I should backtrack and mention that we were camped with Beauty and Gorgeous (b and g from here on out), and Pothead. We were pleasantly surprised to see Moonpie and Uncle Lorenzo show up at about 7 a.m. I enjoy hiking with both of these fine friends and hope we can stick together for a while.

Kirsten and I were hiking swiftly along with our music players on and we totally missed a crucial spring before a long waterless section. I found our mistake on the map only when we were a half-mile passed the spring. Bummed, we took our packs off and quickly hiked back to the spring with our water bottles. Turns out the spring was gushing loudly just a few feet off the trail, though we were totally oblivious of that due to our music players. Thank God I found our error soon enough!

Moonpie had some friends meeting her at Callahan's and she took off for the road to Ashland. A few minutes later while we were all getting water near the Ashland Inn and playing with the resident Golden Retriever, Powder, I decided to take off after Moonpie who I know was trucking to catch her friends. Little did I know that Beautiful also decided to take off soon after me, so us three did some fast miles trying to catch one another. So much fun!

Kirsten: Meanwhile, Gorgeous and I chatted as we hiked along about where we should take our next trip. We discussed various hiking and kayaking trips, of course.

We arrived at the road about 15 minutes behind the leaders. B, G and Miss P. were not going to go into Ashland for resupply. So we said our goodbyes and almost immediately got a ride from two girls and a guy, who all work at Callahan's, a well-known restaurant and lodge.

Our hitch was amazing and as we drove through Ashland they stopped to point out the good grocery stores, coffee shops and eateries. As they dropped us off the two girls gave me their cell numbers just in case I had any questions.

The town itself is picturesque with its cafes, boutiques and theatres all tucked below rolling, forested hills. We decided to skip the hostel and get our own room at the Best Western next door. We ate a late lunch, picked up our box at the Post Office and bought some new shoes, a purchase I've been looking forward to for weeks.

Later we decided to eat dinner at the Indian restaurant in town. We were finishing our meal when the owner, Deep, a younger man from Indian, came over started chatting with us. Before I knew it he was handing me a colorful sari, which belongs to his mother. He insisted I take the sari, saying his mother, who lives in India, no longer wears these bright and flashy saris. Unbelievable. I get to Oregon and someone gives me a sari.

I should mention that our friend Stephen, who joined us for three days out of South Lake Tahoe, is a dad now. His wife, Saskia, had Conrad today. Go Saskia!