Four eyes and that road again.

DAY EIGHTY-FIVE, August 2, 26.6 Miles
At mile 1726.6
The first of last night's storms may have passed harmlessly over, but the next few didn't. Half asleep, woken by thunder and its lightning directly above me. Loud like you cannot imagine. Loud. Then the hail. Then the wind. Then the rain. Damn. Damn. In the end, it wasn't too bad and not enough to leak through, but at the time, with that storm above my head, not fun. Awoke to a very grey morning and a small lightning fire on the other side of the valley. Enough rain to get wet, not enough to justify a jacket, quite annoying. May or may not have been stalked by a Cougar, felt like I was and turns out a number of hikers saw one in the area over the last few days. Creepy. Then along the trail comes Ben, ultra-runner extraordinaire, basically the first person I'd seen on trail in 100 miles, other than a couple of firefighters. He's super nice, lets me know Atlas is only a short distance ahead and offers me a place to stay in Ashland. Wonderful. So with a meeting time and place arranged I charge onward through rain, overgrown trail, day hikers and hot, hot, sun to my old friend Interstate 5. Had to walk about a mile down it, which I did so on the concrete barrier, most excellent fun. Ben and Sally are wonderful people, Ashland is my favourite place in America and I have this outstanding Prefontaine shirt to wear. Met a guy who will run the PCT north from halfway point next year, then south the following year, his eightieth. Unbelievable. Big ultra running community, so I'm quizzing folk, as ultra running is where I see myself if long distance hiking gets out of my blood. Double zero.