As I made my roadwalk down Grinder road, I saw a number of signs proclaiming
the area to be part of the state of Jefferson, and after crossing the bridge
over the Klamath River and heading west on Highway 96 towards the town of Seiad
Valley, I passed a sign on the south side of the highway bearing the seal of
the state of Jefferson, showing the double X's in the center of the seal.
I got the impression there was still a lot of sentiment for the good ol'
days of the patriotic rebellion, but not a lot of activity.
Downtown
Seiad Valley was one general store/café/post office building and a trailer
park/campground which constituted the central portion of the town. The
valley itself was unincorporated, which meant there were no specified
boundaries to the valley and surrounding hills that concealed a population of
approximately three hundred inhabitants.
From a
distance, I could see an American flag flying from the top of the general
store/post office building – flags always fly above a post office, and as I
came nearer to the building, I saw the large round sign above the gabled end of
the building identifying the Seiad Store. The sign was a combination of
the state of Jefferson flag and the great seal. The sign was round and
painted green, with two X's in the middle, one above the other, and the words
Seiad Store printed above and below the X's.
I walked
around to the side of the building to the parking lot, and discovered a long
line of backpacks sitting on the ground. Judging from the number of
packs, I would guesstimate there were eight to ten thru-hikers inside the café.
I sat my pack down beside the rest of them, and then walked over to the
post office to ask for my resupply package. It was there, and I thanked
the postal employee for her super friendly service.
The Seiad
Valley Café was well known for its pancake challenge; you eat 5 one-pound
pancakes in under two hours and your meal is free; otherwise, the cost is
$13.95. From the reports I had seen, there were very few hikers who could
finish the breakfast, but they had fun trying. I would like to have tried
the challenge, and I think I could have finished the five pancakes but the
challenge was only available during the morning hours when breakfast was being
served.
The store
was crowded with smelly hikers; every stool, chair, and table overflowed with
long-haired, bushy-bearded hikers. There was no room for locals.
The female hikers were outnumbered four to one inside and outside; I only
saw Orbit, Runs with Elk, and Wendy. Cookie had been here, but had left early
this morning.
I had
lunch with Swiss Army and Storytime, and then took time to repack my backpack
with the new food items; I had an excess of snacks and freeze-dried meals and
offered them to anyone who might want to supplement their store of foods.
Everything I offered was quickly snatched up.
The day
was hot, and the five-thousand-foot climb out of the Seiad Valley was notorious
for being difficult. I and many others decided to wait a few hours to let
the heat of the day pass before setting out. The owner of the trailer
park/campground next door to the café/store had showers and laundry facilities
available, as well as lawn and shade trees, so the group of hikers who was
waiting to leave migrated to the shade trees and sprawled out on the lawn to
await their time of departure.
I took advantage of the time to shower –
best four quarters I’d ever spent, as well as rinse my clothes in the shower.
I didn’t bother to put the clothes in the dryer; I just put them on damp
and allowed the sun to dry them out. My time of departure from the
campground was at 5:00 p.m., which was still several hours away. I spent
the remaining time eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s banana split ice cream and
resting on the lawn.
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