Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles by Chris Townsend

Author:Chris Townsend
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sandstone Press Ltd
Published: 2014-10-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

FORESTS, LAKES & VOLCANOES: OREGON

Wrangle Gap to the Columbia River

August 1 to August 26

444 miles

The walk through Oregon began with an urban break in the city of Ashland. My first full day in the State I walked just four miles along a dirt road before a car carrying some of the geology students stopped and offered me a lift. Their two weeks sojourn in the woods was over and they were returning to Ashland. I’d been considering hitch-hiking there anyway in order to sort out my broken pack so this ride was welcome. I was in the big city by lunchtime (not that big I guess but with a population of 20,000+ it seemed huge to me). As it was Sunday the only outdoor store I could find was closed so I decided to stay overnight, which actually became two nights. Ashland is famous for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which was on at the time so the town was very much Shakespeare themed. I thought of seeing a play but the one on that night was Henry V, which didn’t appeal. I think A Midsummer Night’s Dream would have been more appropriate for my walk. Instead of a play I went to a party – beer, music and talking. This was the students’ end of course party to which I’d been invited and was just like the many student parties I’d been to back home when I was at college. I was also offered a floor to sleep on, which was welcome.

Much of my second day in Ashland was spent in the Sun Cycle outdoor shop deliberating about a new pack. As I’d suspected mine couldn’t be repaired, at least not here. Ideally I wanted another one with an internal frame – one as similar as possible to mine in fact. However none of the internal frame models in the store were anything like as big as my 100 litre monster. I did try, dumping the contents of my old pack on the floor and attempting to stuff them into the biggest internal frame pack they had, much to the amusement of the tolerant and helpful staff. It was quickly evident that there was no way it would all fit. This meant I had to overcome my prejudices and consider an external frame pack (prejudices formed by using one on the Pennine Way in England six years earlier and not liking it), which meant one with a separate rigid tubular frame from which the pack hung. I ended up with a pack from The North Face with what I hoped was a promising name, Back Magic 1, chosen mainly because it was big enough but also because this was the model Dave had been given back in Mammoth Lakes and he’d been very pleased with it. With more pockets and compartments and the external frame it was as different as possible from my pack so I’d have to relearn how to pack it and how to adjust the straps for a comfortable carry, both of which were now automatic with my old one.

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