Farewell Ashland
We’re leaving finally Ashland tomorrow! After 5 days of rest, Evan’s knee is healed enough to leave town. We’re taking the train down to Redding and catching a bus to Burney to get back on the trail. All said and done, we will have skipped about 350 miles of the trail. It’ll be a bummer to miss Trinity Alps, but this way we should still be able to make it through the Sierra section before it starts to snow down there. Trade offs.
Ashland has been a good little town to get stuck in. We’ve been at the Ashland Hostel for the past few nights. I’ve always avoided staying in the dorms at hostels in the past because I feel like I need my own room where I can lock myself away from other humans, but this place hasn’t been bad. It’s cheap, it’s quiet, there are puzzles.
Here’s my short Ashland recap, in case you ever find yourself here:
- Best place to stuff your face with tasty things: Creekside Pizza Bistro. They have a pretty good lunch special, which is a slice, salad and drink for $7. And judging by Evan’s face while he was eating it, you must try the crookie (a baked to order chocolate chip and toffee cookie served hot, with vanilla bean ice cream and shaved chocolate.) I’m not a fan of chocolate, so I skipped the crookie.
- Cutest looking lodging that I didn’t stay at: Palm Hotel. I have nothing to say other than it looked really cute when I walked by today.
- Highest concentration of shoeless white people with dreads: Ashland Food Co-op. This store makes for some amazing people watching, and they’ve got lots of interesting foods to try. Just try not to step on a shoeless hippie’s toes.
I’m excited to get back to the trail soon! Going from walking 20+ miles/day for weeks on end to being mostly sedentary and eating a lot has been quite the transition. All this down time has me thinking too much about what I’m going to do, when I’m going to get a job, where I’m going to live once I finish the trail. I’m looking forward to getting back outside and putting those thoughts on the back burner again, at least for another couple of months.
About The Author
Meesh! I know that we don’t know each other that well but I enjoyed getting acquainted with you at various shindigs in the past. I’m finding a lot of inspiration from following your journey here. Recently I took myself on a solo backpacking trip on Section M of the PCT finishing with climbing the Sierra Buttes from Tamarack Lakes. It’s been a while since I’ve been backpacking and it felt good to get back in touch with a passion of mine. Wilderness seems to be the right medicine for my spirit!
Thank you for sharing your experiences! I just subscribed so I can stay updated as you make your way south.
Live in Love!
Kat Kovaleff
Aw, thank you for the kind words. 🙂 I’m excited to get to the Sierras. Not too long now…
Now I know where to go when I need to get my fill of shoeless dreadlocked hippies and warm cookies & ice cream. Oh, and rumor has it that the Trinity Alps will still be there whenever you’re ready to go back and hike that 350-mile stretch. Keep on keeping on, Jukebox!
I’m glad Evan’s knee did not derail your adventure. Hostels are great! Now we know why there aren’t any barefoot hippies with dreds at TTITD anymore; they’re eating granola in Ashland. Crater Lake looks lovely, thanks for posting photos, I didn’t make it there last month. I’m probably going to cross the PCT at the Sonora Pass in the next couple weeks but you probably won’t make it there by then, otherwise I would pick you up for a resupply–lots of hikers resupply at the Dardenelles. Keep blogging and posting photos for us layabouts.
I wish we could take you up on the resupply offer! But yeah, we’re still too far. Camped out at Belden tonight.