PCT 2026 DAY 143 – CA Section Q->R / OR Section A – Do I really need to go all the way to Oregon?

Tuesday, October 6th, 2026

After reaching Seiad Valley, California section Q transitions to section R. BUT it also is the start of Oregon section A. The two sections are overlaid on each other making the post titles very long. 😊

I woke up knowing I have 9 miles to hike to get to the center of Seiad Valley. But I knew that the last 6 miles were all a road walk from the forest service campground I had decided not to push towards the day before. So, those 6 miles would be a literal morning stroll.

That gave me time to think of my options once I reached Seiad Valley. Resupplying at the valley store and having a real meal at the cafe were not options. Like in Etna, I had most of the meals I needed, but were running short on trail snacks. And Diet Coke. 😀

Option 1 was to continue north on the trail in the afternoon. The first 6-8 miles of the trail from Seiad Valley were a VERY steep climb up 5000 feet. Splitting that between two days was an attractive option.

Option 2 was to spend a night in Seiad Valley to get more real food meals. I could setup my tent at the Wildwood RV park, but they also had rooms for rent.

Option 3 was to leave the trail for the year and return to my Jeep in Mt Shasta and go home. My knees were having occasional pain, but not constant or as severe as it was when I left the trail in early September. But there was some desire in my mind and body to end the hike there. The steep climb from Seiad Valley was one of the reason for these thoughts.So, I pondered all these options as I descended through the canyon I had camped in the prior night.

The campground was nice, but I’m glad I camped in the canyon instead.

And the road walk begins.

Despite it’s size, I didn’t get to see the Klamath River until I was almost right on top of it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to ford across this river to the other side.

Found this little campsite between te road and the river. I wasn’t sure if it was open to be used by PCT hikers or not. There weren’t any ‘No Trespassing’ signs around. But there wasn’t any reason for me to stop there anyway.

I approached Klamath River Highway 96 and took a hard left to cross the bridge over the river. It wasn’t the end of California section Q, but was a pretty recognizable landmark along the trail (even if the trail was the side of a paved road).

And the town limits sign was another landmark to get a picture of.

But still not the end.

Oh, pictures of my feet on pavement. That must mean…

End of PCT California section Q!!!

I checked out the store first to see exactly what they had. And to get a Diet Coke, of course. 😀

But… they only had Pepsi products. The horror! 😀

I had noticed that a lot of the smaller stores in Northern California seemed to only carry Pepsi products. Must be a distribution issue with some of the more remote spots. Or Pepsi undercut Coke on pricing. Or both.

Wasn’t enough to make me stop hiking, but was disappointing.

I was worried about what the store had in stock for the resupply. Being so late in the hiking season, there were definitely some gaps in what they had. But I believe I could get enough to make it to Oregon.

After having breakfast at the cafe, I did my initial shopping and decided that I would rent one of the rooms at the RV park. They also offered dinner, on occasion. It was Taco Tuesday!

I had thought I could have breakfast the next morning at the cafe, but turns out they wouldn’t open at 9am. I got a frozen breakfast burrito to have something non-dehydrated the next morning and then made my way to the RV park.

Not sure if this was a pay phone or the only spot where a cell phone could get a signal, but it was amusing. The fact that I couldn’t ge ta cell signal ANYWHERE in Seiad Valley made staying at the RV park with WIFI available was useful.