Pacific Crest Trail series in the Ashland Daily Tidings inspired by "Wild"

• • Hikers' helping hands - 07-24-2012

  • Trail angels point the way on the PCT A long-distance hiker was hauling an efficient, 10-pound pack on his back, stuffed with only the bare essentials. Yet "Charlie," a 30something who only wanted to give his trail name, was perfectly content when he was coming down the Pacific Crest Trail near...

• Following her footsteps - 03-30-2013

  • 'Wild' readers track the trail of author Cheryl Strayed Like hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail, author Cheryl Strayed's life moves in switchbacks. Months before she first visited Ashland in the summer of 1995, she was an overburdened, unprepared young waitress who planned to mourn the loss of her...

• Dad, take a hike - 08-11-2012

  • Families are bonding on the PCT It's unusual for families to spend months together, hiking dozens of miles a day as they inch up the West Coast toward Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail. The 2,663-mile trail is mostly populated by men in their 20s and 30s who set out on their own. But Don Krebs is...

• PCT hikers are a different breed - 07-26-2012

  • How to differentiate them from others with backpacks It's easy to spot long-distance hikers who have arrived in Ashland after trekking 1,700 miles or so on the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico on their way to Canada. Known as "thru hikers," they look tired, dirty and in need of a cold drink and...

• The mark of time - 08-23-2012

  • Old-fashioned trail registers face a new age Crack open a trail register hidden along a popular hiking spot and you'll see a dashed-off sentence or maybe a doodle that serves as a record of who passed by and when. But look closer and you'll see history. Naturalist John Muir signed trail registers...

• One step at a time - 06-19-2012

  • Long-distance hiker hoofs it back home You have to go a long way to top Mary Kwart's accomplishments. So far, the 60-year-old has walked 20,000 miles — almost the circumference of the earth — on isolated trails, in the heat, snow, rain and wind, mostly alone and loving it. Kwart just completed...

• They're coming - 07-13-2012

  • A record number of long-distance hikers are now reaching Pacific Crest Trail trailheads near Callahan's and in the Greensprings Cam Honan arrived at Callahan's Lodge late after a long, wet day. Hungry and in need of a shower and sleep, he learned that all the rooms were booked for a wedding. No...

"Wild" triangle

In her best-selling book, "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail," author Cheryl Strayed devotes Chapter 15 to her three days in Ashland, traversing these spots:

• Ashland Hostel, 150 N. Main St., gave Strayed her first warm shower after two weeks and a "real actual bed" in a former closet in the 1910 house.

• Ashland Food Co-op, 237 N. First St., is where Strayed spent her last $2.29 on a bottle of organic lemonade, had her feet massaged and sat on a lawn that has since become part of the building, housing the deli, kitchen and eating area.

• Historic Ashland Armory, 208 Oak St., was the site of a Jerry Garcia CD Retrospective that Strayed attended Aug. 11, 1995, two days after the Grateful Dead singer died.