No PCT miles.
This was my 2nd complete zero of the trail. And boy it was surely needed. Ashland is great place, and I got a lot done.
For once, I slept relatively well in a town. I did not eat myself silly the previous night. Also, sharing a room with only one person who did not make noise, contributed to this. I woke up around 6am and headed upstairs immediately to make some breakfast. I ate a complete package of granola and some bagels. I tried also to plan the resupply for the rest of the trail, but got swept away by socialising with people. I was first to be at the table but gradually hikers showed up. Hikers do not sleep in, even in towns.
After the breakfast I went to a corner of the living room and did the resupply strategy. I have saved too much of my boxes and probably cannot consume all the stuff I bought before the trail. I asked Mikko to halve the boxes as they contained too much for one carry. But then we agreed just to divide the remaining stuff evenly to the locations left. Lets see how that works.
Ashland Hostel is a superb place. It is homelike, with amazing staff, good kitchen, working Internet, nice people and it is close to all that you need. I needed to take care of the shoes so I went to check all the three gear shops that Ashland has. Mountain Provisions was the first one. They did not have anything in 16, and no Altra Lone Peaks either. My strategy was just to go to the shoes that worked for me previouisly. They did have Altra Timps, in size 15. They felt fine, and I said that I would come back to them if I would not find Lone Peaks from the other shops. Finally I was able to buy some tyvek to replace my all shredded ground cloth. The other shops did not have any better alternatives, so I went back for the shoes. I was also able to change my Darn Tough socks to new ones, and get new tips for my hiking poles. It seems that very rare shops do the Darn Tough replacement, but luckily this was one of them. I was very happy about the gear section of the Ashland visit. The shop even printed a return slip for my previous shoes when I asked, as the library is closed on Friday.
When I was roaming the streets of Ashland, a girl called me from a car parked next to the sports shop. She was excited to meet a thruhiker, and told me she is planning to do the hike soon. She offered to take me to some used gear shop, which I declined as I got my business all sorted out. Once again, I got apogolized about Trump. Instead I went to the grocery shop, a Co-op. It had a really nice organic and vegetable selection. I did now what I have all the time intended but failed to execute in towns: buy lots of vegetables and beans and make a big salad. The store had a superb selection of protein bars so I was able to do my resupply at the same time. I did not need anything else, except some refried beans.
Once I got back to the hostel, I made the salad. It was huge and I was able to finish only half of it. I socialised with a French couple, and then started to catch up with the blog. The day goes quickly in town, and the evening was creeping in. I could have been a bit more productive, but conversations kept interrupting my intentions. I did arrange to have a lift for the next morning, but then my room mate offered to take me to the trail head as he was going to the same direction. I happily accepted. He also loaned his Chromebook so that I could extract some pictures from my cameras memorycard.
I thought a bit wheather it would be reasonable to take another zero and let the feet heal. The blisters in my heels were big and quite painful. But somehow the idea of staying felt wrong. It is so easy to get stuck in town, and spend time unnecessarily. I resolved to get up early the next morning and do the blog, and then just hit the trail. This evening, I did eat way too much and anticipated an uneasy night. I punctured the blisters and went to bed around 11pm.
This was my 2nd complete zero of the trail. And boy it was surely needed. Ashland is great place, and I got a lot done.
For once, I slept relatively well in a town. I did not eat myself silly the previous night. Also, sharing a room with only one person who did not make noise, contributed to this. I woke up around 6am and headed upstairs immediately to make some breakfast. I ate a complete package of granola and some bagels. I tried also to plan the resupply for the rest of the trail, but got swept away by socialising with people. I was first to be at the table but gradually hikers showed up. Hikers do not sleep in, even in towns.
 |
| Maybe the nicest hostel that I've been in - Ashland Hostel. |
After the breakfast I went to a corner of the living room and did the resupply strategy. I have saved too much of my boxes and probably cannot consume all the stuff I bought before the trail. I asked Mikko to halve the boxes as they contained too much for one carry. But then we agreed just to divide the remaining stuff evenly to the locations left. Lets see how that works.
Ashland Hostel is a superb place. It is homelike, with amazing staff, good kitchen, working Internet, nice people and it is close to all that you need. I needed to take care of the shoes so I went to check all the three gear shops that Ashland has. Mountain Provisions was the first one. They did not have anything in 16, and no Altra Lone Peaks either. My strategy was just to go to the shoes that worked for me previouisly. They did have Altra Timps, in size 15. They felt fine, and I said that I would come back to them if I would not find Lone Peaks from the other shops. Finally I was able to buy some tyvek to replace my all shredded ground cloth. The other shops did not have any better alternatives, so I went back for the shoes. I was also able to change my Darn Tough socks to new ones, and get new tips for my hiking poles. It seems that very rare shops do the Darn Tough replacement, but luckily this was one of them. I was very happy about the gear section of the Ashland visit. The shop even printed a return slip for my previous shoes when I asked, as the library is closed on Friday.
 |
| New shoes, again. How long will they last? Or my feet? |
When I was roaming the streets of Ashland, a girl called me from a car parked next to the sports shop. She was excited to meet a thruhiker, and told me she is planning to do the hike soon. She offered to take me to some used gear shop, which I declined as I got my business all sorted out. Once again, I got apogolized about Trump. Instead I went to the grocery shop, a Co-op. It had a really nice organic and vegetable selection. I did now what I have all the time intended but failed to execute in towns: buy lots of vegetables and beans and make a big salad. The store had a superb selection of protein bars so I was able to do my resupply at the same time. I did not need anything else, except some refried beans.
Once I got back to the hostel, I made the salad. It was huge and I was able to finish only half of it. I socialised with a French couple, and then started to catch up with the blog. The day goes quickly in town, and the evening was creeping in. I could have been a bit more productive, but conversations kept interrupting my intentions. I did arrange to have a lift for the next morning, but then my room mate offered to take me to the trail head as he was going to the same direction. I happily accepted. He also loaned his Chromebook so that I could extract some pictures from my cameras memorycard.
 |
| Ah, salad. I have missed you. |
I thought a bit wheather it would be reasonable to take another zero and let the feet heal. The blisters in my heels were big and quite painful. But somehow the idea of staying felt wrong. It is so easy to get stuck in town, and spend time unnecessarily. I resolved to get up early the next morning and do the blog, and then just hit the trail. This evening, I did eat way too much and anticipated an uneasy night. I punctured the blisters and went to bed around 11pm.
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