Planning Our Return to the Trail

Last year was a lost year to hiking in many ways although we got back out in the Olympic Mountains when restrictions loosened.

This year, we are in full swing to return to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) to finish a major section in Northern California and Oregon – from Castella, CA to the Crater Lake Rim.

Our trip will start next month by driving to Klamath Falls, OR. We’ve reserved a rental car (Enterprise made it easy!) and both driving a vehicle to the crater rim. We’ll park our car there and return to Klamath Falls to turn in the rental car. Then we hop on the Amtrak in Klamath Falls with our packs and ride the train for 2 1/2 hrs to Dunsmuir, CA, arriving at 12:30am. There, we will stay at a small resort overnight and prepare to hit the trail.

The trail begins near the small town of Castella. Over the next 8 days, we will hike 150 miles to the village of Seiad Valley where a mailed food drop will be waiting for us.

Next, the trail will take us to the California/Oregon border and to Callahan’s Lodge south of Ashland, Oregon. In 4 days, we’ll walk 63 miles. At Callahan’s Lodge we’ll sleep in luxury in a lodge room and eat a restaurant meal. We’ll pick up our second shipped food drop here.

The final leg of this trip will be 107 miles in 7 days. Leaving Callahan’s Lodge we’ll traverse the southern Oregon Cascade Mountain until we come to Crater Lake National Park. A one-night wilderness camp in the park will set us up to finish at the Crater Rim at mid-day on our 19th day of the trip. Our car will be waiting for us and we’ll drive somewhere to celebrate in motel splendor with showers and restaurant food.

Look for more posts as we get ready and especially keep us company as we post reports as the Dogleggers hit the trail again.