July 23:Ashland, OR

We had 10.7 miles in on the best trail possible: super gradual downhill...and we flew. We covered 10.7 hours in 3 hours. We also got a hitch really quick. I (Jess) stuck my thumb out, not really expecting them to stop, and this tiny pickup truck pulls over and tells all 7 of us to hop in. One guy in the front seat and 6 of us and all our packs in the back. It felt like a puzzle getting us all to fit, and we added over 1000 lbs to that poor little truck! But it's a good day when you are walking at 6am and you do 10.7 miles and are in town eating breakfast by 9:30am!

A fellow hiker, Boomer, had a friend in Ashland, and she had room for us to stay with her and her family as well. It turned out to be an incredible time. Boomer is our age and, similarly, was a pastor and is now a grad student at a Nazarene University. His friend, Amber, and her family are also solid Christians, and they were so hospitable and generous with their home and space. We sort of took over their front porch with all our hiker gear. We took showers, did laundry, and they cooked up a great dinner as well. Amber even let me wear some of her clothes so that I didn't have to wear rain gear while we did laundry. It was very cool to get to wear what one other hiker called "civilian clothes" :).

One of the coolest surprises was that they had a great church service that they go to on wed nights, so we got to go to church for the first time since we started hiking. It was so great to be with other believers worshipping together again. Very refreshing and encouraging. I can pray and sing a thousand worship songs as I hike, but there's something special about being with the Body of Christ.

Ashland is a very cool town as well. For us, it is probably the biggest trail town we've been in. It's very outdoorsy and hippyish, and has a great biking/ walking culture in town. Almost every house has a front porch as well. It is up there for us with Shasta City as far as favorite places on trail so far. The list grows.

Total Miles:1726.6
Miles Today:10.7
Camp 87:Amber's House- Ashland

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