The Trail

A few highlights from a ~700 mile hike through Northern California, the Orgeon Coast, and Washington.

Israel was kinda stubborn about wearing sunglasses...

...like, really stubborn...

This is where I slipped, slid down, and bounced off a pine tree!

Just a ladder going up a rock on top of a mountain. No biggie.

Yep, that's hail.

Good ol' Chester, CA. The Lutheran church was really hiker-friendly here!

These burned sections are really quite beautiful, in a melancholic sort of way.

Waiting out the day's heat in the cool (literally) Subway Cave before starting our night hike along Hat Creek Rim.

Yeah, so that night hike which was supposed to spare us from the heat didn't quite let us escape the following day's 104°F desert scorcher. Luckily, the amazing Burney Mountain Guest Ranch was around to save the day after finishing Hat Creek Rim!

Burney Falls!

This was the view from our campsite one night. It was sublimely beautiful - photos don't come close.

View of Shasta in lovely Mount Shasta, CA. This crystal-laden hippie haven was gearing up for its Fourth of July celebrations.

But seriously, crystals everywhere!! If you've been, you know what I'm talking about.

...nope, still not about that sunglasses life.

Because there was still so much snow in Orgeon along the PCT, some hiker buddies and I decided to jump on over to the

Oregon Coast Trail

southbound for a few weeks, and then jump back up to the PCT in Washington!

I had told my companions that I was set on flying a kite along the coast. The second I saw this beautiful kite shop, I knew it was the one for me.

Yup.

We stumbled upon a wedding about to start!

On a minus tide like this, people head out to dig for clams.

Super windy days like this are why most people hike the OCT southbound (SOBO). The prevailing winds during the summer blow primarily northwest to southeast. Walking against sand like this feels like you're getting blasted with sandpaper - not fun!