Was eager to get back on the trail after a morning bus ride, a wait at the Yreka STAGE office: a bench in the sun - fortunately it was overcast that morning, no restroom - a gas station a few blocks of residential neighborhood away; a dumb transfer point for the driver to recommend when I could have waited at the shopping center south of town and had things to do: wifi, dining, shopping. Then another bus "back" to Etna. Got to Etna about 1pm, had a hearty salad then swapped my daypack for backpack again at the Alderbrook Hostel, decided to try to hitch up to the pass since the Alderbrooks "designated driver" wasn't available, got a ride almost immediately, from a military contractor (about to head for the Phillipines: "a lot happening there" he says, who owns one of those "white" square-mile tiles on the Forest service checkerboard maps just the otehr side of Etna Summit, which he has "done nothing" with, though he thinks he should log some of it. On the way up the hill to Etna Summit, if you look at the FS maps, you'll see two white parcels covering nearly the whole road up. the south-facing slopes of the upper square have recently been clearcut. This was a surprise to my driver, who hadn't been up there in a few months, and was also discussed by Dave of the Alderbrook, who drove me up the first time a week ago. Dave mentioned that a lot of people in the area thought this was a bit of an outrage. He talked a bit about what the Spotted Owl "did to" the logging industry a few years back, though he allowed that the industry had brought it on to themselves to some extent.
Finally back on the trail, a look around confirmed my eagerness to do so this afternoon: the clouds had broken up into one of those crisply fresh partly cloudy days, and along the trail, the wildflowers seemed to have all burst into bloom. Rested, I seemed to manage to take lots of picts and make good time, about 10 miles that first afternoon. 2nd day, even more stunning skies, horizons and rock-garden displays. Was feeling good, wanted to hike, but found myself stopping every few steps to take pano's and low-angle closeups with background context. Only made 5 miles that day! Next day I struggled to catch up but still only made about 10 miles. Last day, determined to make up some distance, despite the continued photo-op hangups and a few "side-trips" to off-trail lakes and peaks, including one "accidental" wrong turn down 700 ft to o a lake I hadn't intended to visit due to some bad sighnage... I ended up trying to make it back to the car hiking by flashlight after dark, but still didn't quite make it (not sure how much furtehr, so I settled for a nice camping spot, then in the morning, it was a five minute walk to the car.
Now this Seiad restaurant is closing, and I'm leaving my backpack here, heading to Oregon to leave my car at around Mt Ashland (the mt not the town, bicycling back to Seidad tomorrow, overeninght for $10 at the next door RV place (that expects 1000 through-hikers starting later this month.) Then it's up a tall hill next morning early before it gets too warm.
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