Day 57: CALIFORNIA Ashland OR to Yreka, State of Jefferson

August 17, 2014


When does warmth feel good on a 100 degree day?

When it is the warmth and kindness of strangers helping you out! I met three kind strangers today.

I finally left Ashland after one night at a hotel and two nights at a hostel style place called Ashland Commons. It was a really nice place.

It was hard to get motivated to get back on the road. And when I did it was brutally hot. I do not like the heat. But stranger 1 gave me some water so I didn't have to drink from a manure/pesticide/fertilizer infested river.


But I made it to California! ("Smells worse already." - Rafting guide from yesterday)

I also got to see my first views of Mt. Shasta. There is still a lot of forest fire haze. Can't see too much.



I didn't know where I would stay. There is little tree cover and it is highly developed so wild camping and stealth camping are very difficult. But fortunately I stopped at a Shell near Yreka and after talking with the owner, Frank, for a while he offered to let me stay in his backyard! His shift was almost over, so I met him at his house where Shawn, his wife, made a great home cooked meal for us. Somehow things seem to work out even when you don't have a plan.

I got to talk a little libertarian politics with Frank, which I enjoyed immensely, and I learned about the movement to form a 51st state: Jefferson.  I even got a Jefferson State t-Shirt with the state seal on it. Pretty cool.

So thanks to Frank and Shawn for your hospitality!