Day 41: OREGON!

July 15
23 miles

Today I know I'm going to cross the border into Oregon. It's only 13 miles from my campsite this morning, and I'm hoping to be there around lunch time and really soak it in. That I will have walked from one state into another state. I'm hoping that crossing over into Oregon will be a turning point in the journey--visually and mentally; a little moral boost to push through the next leg.

Those first 13 miles pass fairly quickly. I take pictures of the last of California, and when I pass by little stone monuments, I stop to add my own stone. I was here. I did this.

I pass by a shack out in the middle of nowhere, and think how amazing and difficult it would have been to live here. I wonder about the people who built the house, and what happened to them, and if they were happy. I walk on, anxious to cross into Oregon.

Just as 1pm rolls around, I see the post announcing the crossover into Oregon. I take a serious of pictures, trying to capture my mood at this exact moment: awe, excitement, elation.
I sit in the shade and enjoy my lunch. Mulberry passes me again, stopping for only a couple of minutes to write in the trail register, before he moves on. Maybe I was too excited to reach this milestone, but it feels pretty awesome.

I head on, 10 more miles left to do before the day ends, carrying my happiness with me into Oregon, which looks much the same as California (unsurprisingly), but feels significant every time I remind myself I'm now in a new state.

I pick up a hitch hiker on my to Sheep Camp Spring, and I decide it would be bad luck to remove it before I get there.

And yes, that is dirt covering my legs. It's a dusty, dusty, trail life.


I get to Sheep Camp Spring, which is a pipe stuck into the ground, spitting out clear clean water, and decide to eat another lunch and relax in the shade. A guy from the forest service drives up in his truck to collect some water, as well, and he tells me a guy from the Yukon and a girl from Virginia (Borealis and Mountain Goat!) are a few miles ahead of me, and he had to give them water because they were running out. I think about trying to catch up to them, but it is in the high 90s, even up here in the mountains, and it seems easier to just rest in the shade for a couple of hours before moving on. I'll catch them in town.

I head back down into the trees for a little while, and even though I know it's probably just in my mind, it seems greener in the Oregon forests.  Perhaps this means more water from here on?!

I see a fallen tree, and can't help but think it looks like a creature from Narnia, frozen in time, in mid meal.


I intend to do 28 miles today, but at 23 I see a large campsite that Mulberry is pitchin:g his tent in, and I decide to end at 6:30 instead of doing my now normal 8:30. We chat for a bit; I take my time getting dinner ready and enjoying the extra hours of daylight downtime I haven't usually been getting.
It's 16 more miles into Callahan's Lodge, which is a short distance from Ashland, OR. Even though everyone has talked about going into Ashland, and how cool the town is, I decide I probably won't venture in, and will just get back on the trail the next day.  Borealis was talking about renting a car and driving to the Oregon coast for the day, which would be cool, but I have a feeling I won't make it into town before he leaves. Alas.