| Date: July 19, 1998 | | Location Pacific Crest Trail - Day 1 | | Where: Russian Wilderness - Klamath National Forest | | (Edit note: John Stolting has been backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail in sections for several summers. Irv Dayton and I join him for this section. The following are my edited handwritten trail notes.) - - from Carter Meadows Summit to Foster Area - 5.1 miles - - I pick up John at his house @ 6:15am. There is little traffic, and we make great time. By 10:00 we are in Ashland. Stop downtown and locate Ashland Outdoor Store, but they are not open until 11:00. Stop at Hilt for gas. By 12:00 we are at the Seiad Valley General Store. The Cafe is closed on Sundays, so we venture down the road to a tavern, which we walk in, and walk out. Scary! So, its back to the store and buy ham and cheese and bread for sandwiches. We check out the RV Park, which will be our campsite at the end of our backpack. Irv arrives at 1:00 and soon we are on way to Grider Campground, a short way up Grider Creek from Seiad, where we leave my RAV4. Then Irv drives us out to Ft. Jones, and then south thru Etna and Callahan and on to Carter Meadow Summit. Its hot, in the 80's and our trail takes off up the south slope. We climb to 7200 ft, and then several downs and ups. I am dragging my tail. These guys are animals. What in the world made this sound like a good idea. I can find no joy. What would possess a person to do this? At 6:30 we stop at a stream in a meadow, set tents up on a jeep road, strip down and wash off in stream. Gnats are terrible. Once the sun goes down my attitude improves. Sleep with tent fly off, choose breeze and the stars. Total Miles 5.1 |
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