Miles: 14
Adrian: Part two of a series...Out of the tent you go and as you do you grab your sleeping pad thus emptying the tent of all its contents.
Placing the sleep pad next to the tent and all the items you've placed outside the door, you sit down and prepare breakfast. Go ahead and take the stove and windscreen out of the cook pot and pour about 2 cups of cereal (usually granola or Cap'n Crunch Berries) into it along with about a half a cup powdered milk and finally a little under two cups milk. Stir and enjoy. When finished pour some water into the cookpot and wash it out the best you can with as much water as you can spare (sometimes you are dry camping in a long waterless section, sometimes you are next to a river). Yes, the next meal may taste a bit like cereal if you can't spare water, but the cereal tasted a bit like pad Thai from the night before so who cares.
Take an energy bar and some dried fruit out of the food bag for your mid-morning snack. Put that stuff into the mesh pocket on the outside of your pack so you don't need to unpack all your stuff to get at it in a couple hours.Now, if things are regular, take the tissue paper and go for a walk off trail into the woods. Dig a "cat hole" 6 inches deep, make your deposit, and bury the treasure. Clean your hands with the gel alcohol...this is very important.
In camp, fold and roll the tent (hopefully Kirsten has pulled the stakes and poles as agreed upon). Pack your backpack by putting the sleeping bag in first followed by the clothing, food, stove/pot, windscreen, personal items, maps and wind breaker jacket. Fold and insert the sleeping pad into the back of the pack and close the top. Oh yeah, and don't forget to brush your teeth too!Before hiking away from camp be sure to check the map for water sources and make sure you've got enough to make it. If you are on time, it should be around 6:30 a.m. when you begin the day’s hike. If you're not on time, you will have to make it up with fewer rests and more time at the end of the day. Enjoy the morning hours, as they are the best of the day.
To be continued...
Rooster left very early to hike into town and we left a bit later because we were going to hitch it. Rooster is going to hike around the closure tomorrow too while we take a bus. We've had enough of the smoke around the area and done with dangerous road walks.
We entered the Russian Wilderness and for a time re-entered a granitic realm that looks, and actually is out of place here. The tread was pretty rocky and there were many hidden climbs in the last few miles of the hike. The road was pretty quiet but we got a ride in about 20 minutes from a guy and his son who was running supplies to the fire lines in the area.We stopped in the historic town of Etna and had some beer and burgers at the local brew pub. After lunch we went to the motel, did laundry (for the first time in a few weeks!), and hung out till dinner at Bob's Ranch House down the road (mediocre food).
Later we watched The Wedding Crashers with Squatch, Cache, Chris, and Landshark. Went to bed pretty late, but tomorrow is a zero day.
Walk good...
Kirsten: Moonpie came up with a wienie roast idea. Yes, three cheers for nitrates! I left a note for our friends (Lil' wrangler, Beautiful, Gorgeous, Mr. Clean, Chris, etc.)
The idea is meant to celebrate our "almost" crossing into Oregon. I'm calling it the "Damn-We're-So-Close-Oregon-We-Can- Nearly-Taste-It Wienie Roast."
Etna, by the way, is such a neat little Norman Rockwell town. The streets were emptied when we arrived because it’s a Sunday. The only restaurant open is the brewery, which offered burgers, salads and several locally brewed beers.
Guess what today's highlight was? Laundry. This may gross some folks out. I haven’t done laundry in a washing machine since Truckee. I've washed my clothes in rivers, sinks and showers. It's not like I'm a vagrant. Don't judge!
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