Trail Day 103: Old Highway 99 (mile 1716.2) to tentsite by Hyatt Lake Outlet (mile 1738.7)

22.5 PCT miles

Getting up was a challenge this morning. I had a soft, comfy bed and air conditioning. I was in no hurry to leave it. I took my time getting out of bed,  then took my time packing up my bag.

When everything was packed and ready to go,  I headed out,  leaving $20 on the table for housekeeping as I had tracked more dirt in than I expected and left a lot of trash by the trash bin.

I returned my key to the office, checking out, then headed across the street. The hotel was right across the way from the onramp to go back south on I-5. By staying in this location I had missed out on the charming/trendy downtown area of Ashland, but it was so convenient and had everything I needed.

I  positioned myself right at the base of the onramp, with a gravel pullout behind me, preparing for a long hitchhiking session. To my relief, the first car that turned onto the onramp pulled over. It was a woman headed to a music festival near Sonora. Later, when I thanked her for the ride and told her hitchhiking made me nervous, she told me that she had pulled over because I looked “safe.”

After I was dropped off at Old Highway 99, I started looking for where to pick up the trail again. The trail actually followed the road for quite some time before spurring off further down.

Trail spur off Old Highway 99.


When the trail became a trail again there were some very steep sections, but thankfully none were too long. The temperature was much more mild than it had been the past couple days and there was a cool breeze.

After the initial steep sections, the terrain the rest of the day was just as mild as the temperature. I alternated walking through dried grasses and forest area, but there was nothing particularly remarkable about it. It was a pretty chill day of hiking.

The PCT  
The trail views are still smoked out.
Walking the forest. 


Towards the end of the day I walked through some of the nicest public land areas I have seen on the trail. There were nice, clear, easy to read signs on the trail. I found the nicest, cleanest, best maintained pit toilet that I have ever seen. Even the trail register box was nice, with an organized spreadsheet that had information category spaces for you to write in. Typically,  the trail registers have been a rusted box with a plain, wrinkled notebook.

Nice sign and trail register.


I also ran into local residents in this section. I chatted with a woman walking her dogs and made way for a trail runner coming though.

After it had gotten dark, I crossed the Hyatt Lake outlet bridge and cowboy camped at one of the tentsites to the side of the trail. 
Sunset on the trail.
View of Ashland at twilight

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