Day 94: Tuesday, August 6

Tenting behind Callahan's near Ashland, a zero day

Went to the legendary Morning Glory Cafe with Kristin for breakfast first thing this morning and it exceeded my expectations considerably. Had a ginormous coconut-almond waffle with lemon butter and a nearly as ginormous mocha and felt immensely satisfied. Got laundry and other errands done the rest of the morning and she dropped me off at Callahan's around 11. Immediately I ran into HB Special, whom I had not seen since the Saufleys' (mile 454, June 1). As we sussed out, he's been just behind me for quite a long time. He and I had lunch on the patio (I got literally 5 bites of veggie lasagna for a cool $10.50 ... no one ever said that Callahan's, for all its friendliness and convenience, has good deals on anything), shot the shit, and decided to go back into Ashland proper for the afternoon. He had errands to run, I really had no reason to go except that I didn't want to hike (tired, hot) and I'd be bored hanging around Callahan's.

Got a ride into town with one of the employees who had just gotten off the clock, along with Egg (last seen a week or so ago) and Flower, whom I first met today because she's trying to do the 1450-mile Kennedy Meadows - Cascade Locks section in seven weeks, so she's moving just a little faster than average. Got dropped off at the Rodeway Inn with HB and spent more time doing absolutely nothing of value in one of the rooms there with Dandy Greens/Oatmeal and Britta. Eventually we peregrinated to the Shop n' Kart discount grocer across the street, where I obtained dinner for myself and beer for the masses. Drank some more of that in the motel room, then hitched back to Callahan's courtesy of a ride from local hero Chuck (PCT class of '94). Sat in the gazebo in the backyard with HB and Flower, ate a bunch of chips and guac, and consumed more beer as dusk set in. A nice zero day, an unexpected zero day, but Jesus I've got to get out of here. Also, no more predictions at the end of journal entries about what I will and will not do the next day, because they're always wrong. Recent examples are:

Day 79: "Burney is probably out of reach for tomorrow because we'd have to hike through the heat of the day to get there." (Reality: hiked all the way to Burney through the heat of the day with Shorts)
Day 86: "Etna is definitely out of reach for tomorrow, it's 36 miles away and that's too far." (Reality: hiked all the way to Etna with Shorts)
Yesterday: "I'm not going to take a zero here tomorrow, I have nothing left to do in town and I love hiking oh so much." (Reality: took a zero because the thought of hiking on these legs in this weather made me sick)