July 29th, 2022 by Jon
When we woke up, it felt like it was already about 70 degrees. Today it was supposed to get very hot, the hottest of the heat wave, and it’s also the day we drop down into the valley. We got up a little early at 5:00 to try to beat some of the heat. After packing up and eating, we hit the trail just before 6:00. We hiked across the meadow we camped near and then began the long descent towards town. The trail wound its way through burnt trees as we followed the ridge downhill. We passed a campsite 0.2 miles after the spring we camped by, which we would later discover is where Biscuit camped.
We continued hiking and, after going up and down small bumps along the ridge, began descending a series of switchbacks. This area was not burnt, but still had MANY blowdowns across the trail. We continued on, and soon we crossed a small intersection and joined an unused forest road with trees growing right on the old road. You could tell it used to be a road by how wide it was, but the trees there had to be 30-40 years old by now, given how tall they were. We followed the old road as it switchbacked down the mountain some more before coming to another ridge that we followed for a while.
From there, we walked near a chasm and then began descending into it. This was the Grider Creek Canyon, and we would spend basically the rest of the hike today in this canyon. We worked our way down the wall at the very end of the canyon, pushing our way through brush that grew heavily over the trail. We took switchbacks down the side of the canyon wall and began hiking north along it. The trail itself would make its way along, and we stopped at a few creeks that ran down the side of the canyon into Grider Creek, which ran north towards the Klamath River. The trail was mostly covered with trees, which helped a lot because stepping into the sunlight made it feel extremely hot. Plus, the humidity was significantly worse than usual down here. It almost felt like you could chew on the air.
We hiked 11 miles by 10:00, then hit Grider Creek Campground by 12:30 or so and took lunch there under a well-established bridge. The shade it created was just what we needed, and the water was very cool. We sat there for a while before beginning the 6.5-mile road walk away from the campground, as it slowly descended and passed by a few houses that were way out in the boonies, and slowly made our way towards Highway 96. Once we got there, we had about a 2-mile road walk along its side to reach the Seiad Valley Store, where we would finish for the day.
When we got to the road, it was unbelievably hot. Astoundingly hot. Hotter than any weather I have ever hiked in. I was… not in a great headspace. So after hiking 4 miles, when I heard a car coming from behind us, I threw my thumb out in desperation. A very kind man pulled over and asked where we were headed. When we told him the Valley Store, he smiled and said that was where he was headed! He told us to hop in, and we got into a nice, air-conditioned car. My God, it felt amazing. The car made quick work of the rest of the road walk, and we were dropped off at the store at 1:30. Conveniently, in just enough time to place an order at the cafe attached to the store. Hooray! When we got inside, we found Biscuit and said hi to her, and then ordered some food for Missile, who was a bit behind us.
While waiting for our food, we checked the weather, and it told us it was 108. Holy moly. We ate food, drank milkshakes, and chilled there for a while. Missile was extremely happy to get his club sandwich when he arrived, and we all left feeling full and happy. We went next door to the store, bought some snacks and cold drinks, and then sat out in the shade of a large tree right on the pavement of the parking lot. We sat and talked with other hikers, dumped water on our heads, reorganized some food, and tried to do nothing. I unpacked the new shoes I had sent myself and excitedly got to throw away my old ones. It felt like walking on pillows once again, and I was very glad to have them. We checked our phones again at 4:00, and it said it was 112 degrees. Ugh. So hot.
Eventually, around 6:00, we made our way over to the RV park. When we got there, it was still 110 degrees. We found some shade there to set up our tent. We paid for our spot and got towels so we could shower, but skipped the laundry because it cost extra. We should be in Ashland pretty soon, and we booked an Airbnb that has laundry, so we will do it there. In the meantime, we took our showers, rinsed out some of our clothes, and stayed cool with more beverages.
Around 8:00, some dark clouds rolled in and joined the smoke plume from a fire about 30 miles away. It’s thankfully moving southwest, and we are headed northwest. Hopefully it stays headed that way. A few raindrops fell, but the main concern was all the lightning and thunder. We really don’t want any other fires to start, so we will need to check on that tomorrow before we leave. Also, one cool thing about today is that we hit mile 1653 today! That means we are now officially less than 1000 miles away from the end of our hike. Woohoo!
What would those shoes feel like wearing? The red shoes. Great post!