Are your ears pierced?

OR-E-GON!

Home sweet home, I am back in Oregon. Myself and the party I am currently hiking in (Macho Taco, Fairway, Half Point, Milarky and myself) crossed the border on the 29th and are finishing our zero today. It is nice to be out of California...finally. It only took three months and 2/3 of the trail to complete it but it has been conquered. It is very possible that I have now camped in Cali more than any other state. My current plan is to be in Portland by August 18th for a quick rest/resupply and then off to Washington. The reason for the quick stop is because I plan to be finished with trail no later than Sept 15th. Why? Outdoor school starts on the 17th of September, and I plan to be working as a field instructor. The transition will be quick from trail and could be interesting but I will be going from one thing I love to another, and I'll be living on the beach...so crying shame.

Any-who this leg has been fantastic. We were able to get a ride out of Etna by simply eating breakfast, that's right Macho and I didn't even ask. A trail angel following his wife by road named White Jeep likes to hook hikers up with magic and rides when he can and we had good timing. Then we entered the Marbled Mountains wilderness. This wilderness was filled with some of the best sights since the high sierras. It also had large amounts of thimble berries (yum) and I saw my first pacific madrone of this trip, which I may or may not have hugged.

This leg also contained Seiad Valley, which is a very steep poison oak infested climb down and a hot steep long climb out. The oak was really stressful to be honest, but I made it through and took a bath to relax afterwards...which broke my watch. On other news, I got a new watch in Ashland...the climb out of Seiad was about 5,000 feet in eight miles, and the climbing continued all day. Some times the trail makers are very literal about the crest part of the Pacific Crest Trail.

All said snd done the company has been great, the views unending and moral high for we made it to Oregon!!!!

On a side note Moonrise Kingdom is an amazing movie.