Day 84: Ashland Zero Day 1

Miles: 0

Wow it felt good to have a full belly and sleep in a real bed.

The smoke is still present and shows no sign of dissipating any time soon.

Today was all about buying gear.

New shoes, socks, shirt and shorts.

My shoes have done 700 miles and have broken down. The tread has disappeared and they’ve caused me blisters for the last few days due to too much stretch and foot movement inside the runner. I couldn’t find any shop that stocked the same type as my last couple of pair so I’ve had to go with a pair of Solomon’s. Hope they work out and there isn’t another period of adjustment.

My socks, well I’m really only getting around 450 miles out of a pair. They breakdown pretty quick with daily abuse and so much dirt and are replaced fairly often.

My much beloved shirt has seen better days and sadly it’s time to go. It is stained beyond reclamation. No amount of washing can bring it back to life or remove the sour stretch of sweat. Given that the weather should start to get cooler, particularly at night as I head further north, I’ve opted for a merino t-shirt which will be perfect in both the hot and cold.

My shorts, they are in the same sort of condition. I sat it the biggest pile of pine sap the other day and there is no removing it. With the dirt that then stuck to the sap there is a large brown stain on my backside and it looks like I shit myself – I ain’t wearing them any longer.

So ensues the gear haul today.

I also went to the movies today.

The film Leave No Trace caught my eye as LNT comes up all the time on the PCT. The story line sounded pretty cool too – a farther and daughter living in the wilds are discovered and ‘society’ tries to subdue them to live ‘normally’. Seemed to fit in pretty well with the theme of life on the PCT.

Picked up my bounce box today as well. That is it for the bounce box. I’m basically taking everything out and carrying it north with me. This will include rain pants and a light polofleece jumper. The idea behind the fleece is that I can walk in it in the rain and still get some insulation, where as, at the moment I just have my down jacket and rain jacket. I don’t want to be walking in rain with my down jacket – that needs to stay dry for insulation at night. While it hasn’t really rained on trail yet it will at some point, Washington especially.