This post originally appeared on The Trek, which you can read here.

If you want to see more from my 2025 PCT thru hike, make sure to check out my Instagram (@annamckinney22) and TikTok (@magicinthemountains) for daily vlogs!

*these posts are coming straight from trail, I apologize in advance for typos!*

Day 108: July 24, 2025

Location: Southern Oregon
Start: Ashland – 1719.2
End: Ashland – 1719.2
Miles: 0.0
Sleep: Building

It felt so good to sleep in this morning! I tossed and turned most of the night since I’m not used to sleeping in a bed, but I still felt refreshed when I woke up around 9am. We lounged around the motel room before going next door for breakfast.

It just so happened that one of the highest rated restaurants in Ashland was right next to our motel. Morning Glory Cafe was adorable and the ambiance felt like they embodied spring time. The inside was decorated with fun and creative murals and outside was a lovely patio surrounded by flowers and trees. I got local mushroom omelet, pancakes, and polenta. Truffles got pork breakfast burrito which was massive and covered in yummy sauce and veggies. We both drank enough coffee to power a small car and left with full bellies and happy hearts.

We went back to the motel to let our food settle and make a resupply plan for the next stretch. We’d heard it was best to mail resupply packages to some of the more remote places in Oregon. We spent some time looking at the map and comparing notes before deciding to carry 7 days of food out of Ashland to get us to Shelter Cove Resort, and then send a package to get us another 4 days to Bend.

With a plan in place, we started running errands around town. Our motel was about a mile from downtown, so we walked down the lovely sidewalk to downtown. It was an easy and scenic walk and i enjoyed passing by all the cute houses. Our first stop was to Mountain Provisions so that we could do a Darn Tough exchange. The staff was super nice and helpful and we were both able to get new socks.

Next we walked a few blocks down to A Street Copy where I had Amazon deliver my new shoes. These were in place of the pair I missed in Dunsmuir, so it was much overdue! Afterwards we caught the bus to Medford where we could shop at the Walmart. There is a grocery store in Ashland, but we figured we could get more for less at the Walmart, especially since we were going to be getting so much.

I hate shopping at Walmart at home, but having all the options when we’re on trail is such a treat! We got 12 days of food for 2 people and spent $185 which I felt like was pretty good.

We caught the bus back to Ashland and treated ourselves to ice cream on the drive. Ghost has talked us into trying cold soaking for some meals, so we bought Tolenti ice cream in order to use the jars as cold soaking containers. What an absolute treat it was to eat an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting! One of the benefits of thru hiking.

We got off the bus near our hotel and vegged out for a while after town chores. Eventually we began sorting our food and dividing up what we needed to carry vs. what we needed to mail. Afterwards we laid around and called family before venturing out for dinner.

Close to our hotel was a Mexican restaurant so we went there for filling food and margaritas. I have so enjoyed our time in Ashland, I’m reluctant to leave tomorrow! I definitely think we will be back here one day.

Day 109: July 25, 2025

Location: Southern Oregon
Start: Ashland – 1719.2
End: Spring and Tentsite – 1731.6
Miles: 12.4
Ascent: 2672 | Descent: 1397
Sleep: Tent

Great Nero out of town! We slept in until around 8am this morning. It’s felt so good to sleep in a bed these past couple of nights. I slept great and felt refreshed when I woke up. I hopped in the shower to enjoy one final piece of civilization before waking Truffles up and packing up our food to be shipped up the trail.

We headed out to go to the post office around 9am, but on the walk there we read comments on FarOut that said our mailing destination, Shelter Cove, didn’t accept USPS packages. I gave them a call to see what the deal was, and they said they only check their PO Box once a week. They recommended we send a package via UPS or FedEx instead. This three a wrench in our plans, but thankfully Truffles was able to find another shipping place close by that mailed UPS.

We changed directions and walked over to the Mail Stop. The lady working was so nice and happy to help hikers. She gave us boxes to package our food and helped to get us all squared away. We paid around $45 to mail 2 boxes of food. At this point it was around 10am and we had to check out of the motel by 11am, so we headed back to pack up our stuff.

Fitting 7 days of food into our packs was hard, but in just thankful we didn’t have to deal with all that food AND a bear can! We packed up and said goodbye to the Ashland Motel. I had such a lovely time here, I’d recommend it to anyone whether they be a thru hiker or regular person.

We went next door to Morning Glory Cafe again for breakfast. It was so good yesterday we had to eat there one last time. Today we got to sit out on the patio and we enjoyed more coffee while waiting for our food. I got a lemon ricotta stuffed French toast and Gruyère stuffed chicken sausage. It was devine! Truffles got the chorizo scramble with a side of pancakes which was also delicious. While we were eating we saw D&D and talked to them for a bit about our resupply strategy for Oregon.

When we were done eating we walked back over to the motel to wait for our ride to pick us up. Our first night we met a trail angel named Frank who offered to give us a ride back to trail. We coordinated with him to arrange for a ride at 1pm, so we only had about an hour to kill while we waited. We sat in the shade behind the motel and played on our phones while we waited. We had invited Ghost to ride back with us, so he showed up and we all talked for a bit before Frank arrived.

Frank is a high school English teacher and spends his summers shuttling hikers around. He drove us up to the trailhead off Hwy 99 and wished us luck. We started hiking around just before 2pm and didn’t have any plans for the day. We set off with Ghost and the 3 of us ended up walking and talking the whole day! It made the time go by quickly as we chatted about Ghost’s 2023 AT thru hike, his life in Canada and Norway, and our time working as guides.

The terrain was super cruisey with minimal ups and downs so we were able to hike fast. We covered ground quickly and made it to the water source around 4:30pm. There were at least 6 other hikers there and we sat around filling up water and talking about our time in Ashland. There was another water source in 2 miles and it seemed like most people were heading there for the night. Ghost hiked ahead of us but Truffles and I weren’t far behind leaving the water.

We had one small bump to get over before arriving at the piled spring and Tentsite. There were at least 10 tents set up all throughout the woods and clearing around the spring. We found a decent spot to pitch the tent and went to sit with a group of hikers who had circled up for dinner. We recognized most of them but hadn’t been formally introduced. We ate with LFG, Mad Dog, Peaches, Reece’s Christ, and Ghost. We all talked a bunch as we were cooking and it was fun to feel like we were all part of a community. Truffles and I have camped on our own pretty much every night and even when other people have been around, no one sat together to eat. This felt like a special treat and is just another sign that Oregon is a great place to be.

While we were eating Trevor showed up. We hadn’t seen him since the desert so we spent a while catching up with him before he hiked on. The large group ended up talking until almost 9pm. I went to set up the tent and got to watch the sunset through the bug net.

Leaving town always makes me kind of sad to leave civilization, and Ashland actually felt like civilization compared to some of the smaller “towns” we hiked through in NorCal. I wasn’t reluctant to leave today, though, and the homing and community I felt today reassured me that this is where I need to be. All the luxuries and consciences of town will be there when we finish, but these memories and moments are once in a lifetime. What a privilege it is to be out here!

Day 110: July 26, 2025

Location: Southern Oregon
Start: Spring and Tentsite – 1731.6
End: South Brown Mountain Shelter – 1764.9
Miles: 33.3
Ascent: 4838 | Descent: 5015
Sleep: Tent

Another big day on trail! We woke up around 5am and gave our first round of overnight oats a go. We hadn’t been able to find any high calorie honey buns at Walmart, so we decided to try cold soaking oatmeal. We each did 3 packs of maple syrup brown sugar instant oats with granola, peanut butter, and chia seeds. I thought turned out really good and was super filling! We were packed up and on the train around 6:15am.

The terrain today was pretty easy, but I felt like I was moving so slow this morning. My pack felt like it weighted a million pounds and I was tired and couldn’t find my rhythm. After several miles I stopped to dig a cat home and Truffles passed me with the promise of waiting for me at a road. I eventually caught up and he was chatting with a section hiker and a guy waiting to pick up his wife after she finished her section hike. He husband had given Truffles a lemonade which he split with me, and we all chatted for a bit before we started hiking again.

The trail parallel a gravel road for several miles, so we decided to take the road along with the section hiker. His name was Shadow Man and he was from San Diego. The road walk was maybe 5 miles long and we chatted with him the whole time about his previous section hikes and how our thru hike has been thus far.

We rejoined the trail briefly before getting off again to take a blue blaze to Hyatt Lake Resort. Our food bags were still bulging so we couldn’t justify lunch, but we wanted to try the famous huckleberries cream. We walked the road 1.5 miles to the resort where we each got 2 scoops in waffle cones and a soda. We sat out on the patio eating and relaxing before finding the will to continue on.

We decided to keep walking the road rather than backtrack to trail. According to FarOut comments the road walk was just under 7 miles. The first few miles weren’t bad because the road hugged the lake, but once we were away from the waterfront our enjoyment decreased. It was boring and felt like it was going to last forever, but several hours later we rejoined the trail.

We hiked for another couple miles before stopping to get water and eat a late lunch at Grizzly Creek. We tried to eat quickly but we were tired and unmotivated. We left our lunch spot at 4pm and weren’t sure where we’d end up. There was a water source and camping 4 miles from lunch, or 12 miles. So it would either be a short day or a long day. We said we’d make our minds up when we got to the first campsite.

Our FarOut the elevation profile for the afternoon looked very intimidating because it was a long climb. In reality it was only about 250 feet per mile, so it was very smooth and gradual. We were able to keep a good pace going uphill and were at the first spring/campsite before long. It was around 5:30pm and we had 8 miles left total the cabin. We decided to go for it and started moving fast (or as fast as we could go).

We finished out the climb and worked our way downhill for a bit before leveling out and just cruising fon basically flat ground. The trial maintenance in Oregon so far has been pristine! There are still a few downed trees here and there, but for the most part everything has been sawed and cleared. We used this to our advantage and hauled ass to get to the campsite.

We rolled into the South Brown Mountain shelter right at 8pm. There were multiple tents set up and we were the last to arrive. We found the least slanted spot we could and set up quickly. The mosquitoes had come out in droves the last hour of our hike, to the point that we had to stop and put our bug nets on. It made setting up the tent very frustrating because you were constantly being bitten.

Miraculously we got the tent to and were able to collect water from the hand pump before hiding in the tent. We ate dinner in the safety of the tent and then set up our beds. I know we’ll sleep good tonight!