Nice campfire last night. Nice having wine with dinner. Nice company having Tabasco as a hiking partner. I slept past 6am and my Seattle friend woke me at 6:22am. Still, we were on trail around 7 and hiked 6.5 miles to Seiad Valley. The last 1.5 miles was on a fairly busy two lane highway with virtually no shoulder to hike on. We had two different SUV type vehicles, with guys driving them, move as close to the edge of the highway as possible as they passed us. I was incensed that there are so many immature, stupid boys in men’s bodies out there in the world. They easily could have hit us and this was a dangerous section of “trail” that unfortunately, can’t be rerouted by the PCTA without significant funding to build a bridge over the massive, polluted Klamath River.
Seiad Valley consisted of a small RV park next to the highway and a fire department building and one block building with a tiny PO, small convenience type store, and a small café. We visited the PO first, then perused the store for five minutes before entering the “Wild West” café for food. We sat on stools at the counter, joining the four other patrons. I ordered a lunch BLT with hash browns, a chocolate milkshake and a Pepsi, while Tabasco ordered two huge breakfast burritos. Our northbound fellow thru-hiker friend, Bugaboo, came in the café and told us he planned to try the pancake challenge.
The pancake challenge is a famous institution on the PCT. Travel Magazine in 2003 awarded this tiny café the #3 best place in America to “pig out” on food, so its reputation is world class. The way the challenge works is that there are 5 pancakes for $8.95. If you can eat all five in two hours or less, your meal is free. The challenge is that each pancake weighs one pound. Yes, it’s true, five pounds of pancakes consumed and it’s free! They have photos by year of thru-hikers who have succeeded. So far in 2005 two hikers have achieved success.
I finished my meal, then went outside to organize my food for the hike to Ashland. When I returned to the café, Tabasco had not only polished off his first breakfast, but also had finished a milk shake and a second full breakfast including eggs, bacon and pancakes. Bugaboo had begun the challenge, having eaten the first massive pancake in only 9 minutes. I watched as Dave, the chef, poured three scoops of batter on the griddle and brought the second pancake to Bugaboo. It was larger than a standard plate and about an inch thick. He worked on the pancake as Tabasco and I cheered him on. Unfortunately after 2 pancakes, he was totally stuffed and beginning to hurt. He shifted his goal to eating more than 50% of the 5 lbs. of pancakes so he could claim that he ate the “majority” of them. I now believe that Tabasco had a legitimate shot at completing the challenge, while Bugaboo seemed doomed from the start. We watched him, in total agony, work for over an hour on the third pancake, which he cut like a pizza pie into two sections, one just over half of the pancake.
I actually left the café to buy resupply food and some more wine to go with trail dinners and made a phone call on the pay phone before returning to see Bugaboo still working on that 3rd pancake. Eventually he came outside and announced he was victorious, eating just over 2.5 pancakes. Unfortunately he was green at the gills and several times, for about 2 hours, almost had those cakes come back up. Thankfully, I know better than to take on such a challenge, but I have no problem with the half gallon of ice cream challenge. The three of us hung out at the side of the store, claiming some shade to escape the hot noon heat (elevation 1320; 90 degrees in the shade).
Neither Tabasco or I wanted to start that 4000 foot, steep climb in the stifling heat, so we sat for quite a while. Mid afternoon we met southbound thru-hiker, Harry “Mac” McManus from Salem, Oregon. We sat in the shade talking about the trail, the war in Iraq, scouting, hiking and living. Mac was a great guy to spend time with and it was difficult to leave town in the heat, instead of waiting until evening to hike. But around 3:30pm Tabasco and I left town and resumed with another mile on the highway.
We then began a steep 5 mile climb, taking us from 1340 feet to 5100 feet. The climb was manageable for the first 4 miles, but the last mile kicked my butt with a steep, relentless grade. I watched Tabasco disappear ahead of me and thought about how I could have stayed with him four years ago when I hiked the AT, but now don’t have the same level of stamina on big climbs. At least I never stopped for a break on the climb.
About 5:40pm we reached a spring and reloaded on water, then finished the climb to Lower Devil’s Peak. At the ridge top, around 6pm, we decided to explore the quarter mile side trail to the true summit, where the remains of a concrete block fire lookout tower remains. The camping opportunities on this knife edge summit were adequate and with a 360 degree panorama and a steep 4000 foot drop all around us, it was the perfect place to stop for the night. I set up my tarp tent, using rocks to hold all the stakes. It was tempting to cowboy camp, but with a totally exposed piece of flat ground at the top of an exposed bare mountain, I wanted a little wind protection.
Tabasco and I cooked dinner and had a glass or two of wine as sunset took place. The gorgeous pink and orange hues of sky, contrasted with the dark silhouette of jagged distance peaks, was a perfect backdrop and end to a nice, relaxing day on the trail. Tabasco made several calls on my working cell phone to Seattle to work on rides to Canada next weekend. Now 10pm. I’m wrapping up this entry so I can get some sleep. Only 58 miles to Ashland, only 38 more miles left in California!
Today’s weather: sunny, low 51, high 93. Today’s mileage: 13.0; cumulative miles: 1,256.5.
