8/15 – 9/3
-> Ashland -> Highway 26 ->
Right after passing over the Oregon border, it was time to get off trail for the long awaited PCT Days. PCT Days is a two day event that was being help in Cascade Locks along the border between Oregon and Washington.
My pilgrimage from the trailhead would end up taking three different rides and over 5 hours of driving. I found it funny that I would later take multiple weeks to cover the same distance by foot.
I first got a ride to Medford with Daryl whose contact info I found on FarOut, and then I walked to Purple Rain’s (AKA Mandy) house so I could tag along with her to Portland.
Purple Rain had offered on Facebook to drive some hikers up north because she was going to be a vendor at PCT Days! She makes hiking skirts which she sells online and at a few trail gathering events like PCT Days and AT Days. She also has an 8 year old son who hiked 1200 miles of the PCT a few years ago which I thought was incredible! They were set on only hiking as far as he was willing to go since it’s a big ask for a young child to walk 2650 miles. He turned 6 on trail, had a small pack with legos in it, and walked all the miles himself.
Sometimes we hear of kids or babies being brought on trail and there’s equal parts amazement and concern that the kid might be miserable or the baby wouldn’t be remotely close to a hospital. There’s a baby on trail this year that’s trail name is Sleepwalker!
I got in Purple Rain’s car with Ranger, Bird, and Little Slut Tom. I thought I misheard him three times when he introduced himself because I didn’t know he was a hiker. His name had evolved on trail from the less interesting, “Slow Start Tom.” Little Slut Tom is actually mild compared to some of the names I see in trail registers.
We had a really nice drive up to Portland where we made a pitstop at a gas station. Of course Oregon would have a gas station store with native grass growing on the roof, CBD products littering the counter, and kombucha on tap.
Mandy dropped us off at REI in Portland and another trail angel named Sandy picked us up to take us the rest of the way. Sandy is from Ridgecrest and she flew up and got a rental car! She had never been to trail days before but wanted to reconnect with the hikers she had hosted this season.
It was satisfying to be in REI and to need nothing. A few years ago, I didn’t have any backpacking gear and wished I had an excuse to shop at REI because it all looked so nice. I was only doing day hikes at the time.
Last year, I was stocking up on costly new gear while hoping I would make it far enough on trail to justify the investment.
This time, I had all of my comfortably worn out gear on my back and it had proven to be worth the research and the money. I guess I’m a backpacker now.
Three car rides later, I made it to Cascade Locks. It was still two days before the official Trail Days festivities so I wasn’t sure who would be there, but I was quickly attacked with hugs from Manon, Vibes, Juicy, Clumsy, and many others. Free Bird was traveling back from a quick trip to Paris and would be there the next day.
Over the last four months, we had softened all of our goodbyes with a “see you at trail days!” It was a last chance to be together and it was as sweet as I hoped to see all the people I had missed and countless others I recognized but hadn’t gotten to know yet.
Hikers continued to roll in over the next two days. There were constant reconnections and introductions around Cascade Locks as we filled the small town.
The hikers camped on Thunder Island – a small strip of land in the Hood River that was quickly populated with hundreds of hiker tents.
I enjoyed a slow day and some hours at a coffee shop before the festivities began at the brewery that night.
Thunder Island brewery hosted a really fun evening with some small vendors, burgers, and limbo contests. I saw so many more hikers that arrived that evening, including the Germans (Louanne, Lily, Julius) from my first month on trail! Lucas used to be in their group but he tapped out and flew back to Germany.
The brewery played music and we danced at the end of the night on a dirt patch that kicked up dust and clung to everybody’s sweat. Kicking up dust is not as charming as the country singers make it sound. Our faces were smeared with dirt and I could feel it in my throat, but it was incredibly fun nonetheless. The DJ knew what he was doing when he played “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” for a crowd of hikers.
The first day of Trail Days was great. There were raffles, contests, food trucks, and plenty of gear.
I got lots of free goodies and a free new backpack! My Gregory backpack was starting to unstitch on the straps so I went to their booth and asked to buy new straps. Instead, they offered me a brand new pack and let me keep my old one. Unreal!
Free Bird won an entire ultralight gear kit (pack, tent, quilt, etc) in a raffle worth a couple thousand dollars. It was easily the best raffle of the weekend and I was so happy for her.
The food and handouts were nice but the people are the real reason to be at PCT Days. Momentum lives close by Cascade Locks and drove over with her dog, Wilson. We had hiked a whole day together before Lake Tahoe and floated on our sleeping pads in a lake. Since has been hiking the trail in sections and will finish her last section next year! I really valued our conversations on trail so I was glad to reconnect! She brought me some fresh blueberries from a friend’s property and a backpacking meal:)
I also finally saw Kevin and Delinda. They were the only PCT hikers I saw on my first day back near the Mexican border. We camped near each other that night and witnessed a SpaceX rocket launch together, and then I never saw them after that night.
Every time I’ve opened my notes app to drop a new name in my list of people I’ve met on trail, I’ve read their names at the top and wondered where they went. I thought they must have quit because I hadn’t heard anybody talk about them. They thought I had quit too and had nicknamed me rocket whenever I came up in conversation.
It was surprisingly reassuring to see them and to learn that they had kept hiking. It called back to those first steps and the undercurrent feeling of uncertainty at the start of such a long pre-planned commitment. Even with plenty of confidence and excitement, it took experience and a few days to feel a sense of belonging. I was so happy that they had made it that far too and that we had mutually been thinking about each other. There’s nothing like that first week on trail!
The first day of PCT Days wrapped up with some funky live music and the following day was full of festivities too. There was a pie eating contest and raffles and lots of socializing or resting in the shade. It was nice to have a break from trail without the town responsibilities of food resupplies or laundry.
Some rain and heavy wind rolled in that evening and PCT Days had to end early. Vendors packed up and moved out hours before expected but we all made the best of it. Whitney thought it would be fun to make a margarita in a bear can which was shared between a dozen hikers.
As the rain got stronger, we continued to hang out outside together and played music that had lyrics relating to thunder or rain.
Thunder only happens when its raining
I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
Thunderstruck
Etc…
When it got later, we all crowded in the tiny arcade in town for some karaoke. It was a good way to end the weekend.
I should have taken so many more pictures with friends while I was there. After four nights in Cascade Locks and two full days of reconnecting with everybody, I said goodbye and made my way back to Ashland to continue hiking the trail. I said bye to Ivy, Juicy, Manon, Nick, Clumsy, Trout, Toasty, the Germans, Vibes, Free Bird, and others. I would probably not see them on trail again because they were far too many miles ahead.
Now, back to hiking. After two weddings and a trip to trail days, I finally had no more reasons to get off trail and was excited to have a straight shot hike through Oregon and Washington.
To get back to Ashland, I tagged along in a rental car with Skittle, Grizzly Adams, Wrong Way, Dr Pepper, and Red Berry. Aside from Red Berry, they were all new to me.
Wrong Way is a German child therapist who also happened to love techno music and raves. He played German techno for most of the drive home and we shared some lighthearted conversation when I wasn’t napping in the back of the car. Grizzly Adams had already hiked the nearly 200 mile section from Ashland to Shelter Cove, so we dropped him off in Shelter Cove on our drive down. Spoiler: I catch up to him later on in Washington
Once in Ashland, we stayed at the Columbia hotel which was one of my favorite stays on trail. They offered hostel style rooms with bunks and they gave each guest a robe and slippers. The whole place had funky art and decor.
I walked to Safeway to resupply on food, cut my hair with some hiker box clippers, and slept like a rock.
The next morning, Redberry, Dylan, Skittle and I began planning for the next stretch of trail. Unsurprisingly, there was a fire to work around. This one was called the Diamond Complex Fire and it consisted of over 30 individual fires near Crater Lake that were caused by lightning strikes. The trail around the west side of Crater Lake, and the Rim Trail, were closed.
Despite the threatening sound of 30 small fires, the total acres burned were only 2.5% the size of the Park Fire that chased me out of NorCal.
The first step in approaching an active fire zone is to consider all possible re-routes around the fire (if any). Then each hiker decides if they want to walk an alternate path on roads and random trails or to hitchhike ahead on the PCT. Up to this point, I still had a “continuous foot path” which meant I had walked around any closures because I prefer the idea of connecting border to border without breaks. I wanted to keep that connection if possible so I copied down the information for the alternate and mooched off of Red Berry’s note taking.
For my final set of town chores, I mailed my spare backpack home, and swapped out my defective Garmin device at the post office. The old device had stopped sending my location via satellite. We walked to the post office and then to the library to print shipping labels and then back to the post office. The library was beautiful and i could have spent all day there.
Before getting back to trail, a few of us ate at an Indian Buffet. I had four plates of various dishes and of course felt like a blimp afterwards. It wasn’t the best meal choice before a hike, but we rested it off on public benches until we got a ride back to trail with Daryl. Daryl was the same guy who gave me a ride to Medford.
I hiked out with Wrong Way and Red Berry and was excited to get moving again.
I had A LOT of food when I left Ashland.
This was my view looking south towards Shasta. The trail moves back east for a bit, so there were still some views of California and I enjoyed the send-off before heading straight north into Oregon.
The first full day in Oregon was beautiful. I really loved the golden grass and open patches of hillside because I figured they wouldn’t last. I caught a couple snakes and could hear Peregrine falcons in the trees. The weather was a little warm but perfect on the ends of the day. When the mid-day heat set it, I held on to the fact that I would probably miss it as summer closed out and I moved further north.
I later caught up to Dylan and we hiked the last couple of hours together from Little Hyatt Reservoir until we set up camp at the Hyatt Reservoir. We cowboy camped in an equestrian campground with some corrals nearby, but it was empty and didn’t look maintained. The sunset was beautiful and we watched a family of deer come out of the trees to drink from the edge of the water.
In the same extreme that I overpacked food, Dylan did the opposite. He was packing more like a thru-hiker is expected to, but I did not envy his selection of food which seemed to be half cliff bars. Different strokes. I shared some extra snacks and my full sized bottle of Cholula hot sauce.
We woke to a very cold morning with fog sitting on the water and a barrage of birds sounding off – it was goose Mecca.
I got started at 7:30am because Dylan and I wanted to push to make it to Fish Lake for – you guessed it – a burger. The restaurant was open until 7pm and I would need to do 29 miles before then. It was possible, but I would have to stay focused all day and not stall at all.
The resupply points in Oregon are very different than those in California. The trail in California went through a mixture of regular cities and mountain towns that often required hitchhiking off of trail to resupply. While Oregon has similar cities near trail, you can get by with just the “resorts” which are really campgrounds with a small store or a restaurant if you’re lucky. These stops are more convenient to access since they’re often right on trail, but the stores are pricy with limited options (mostly snack foods) and many hikers choose to send their own food ahead because of this. There were no Safeways, Grocery Outlets, or Walmarts for weeks to come.
Fish Lake was the first “resort” stop in Oregon.
I picked my first huckleberries and enjoyed the small shaded forests while I listened to the book Educated by Tara Westover (highly recommend). I met a couple of other hikers named Loophole and Dirtnap and we compared notes on our favorite berries we had found on trail so far. I bonded best with hikers who took the time to appreciate new wildlife and plant life.
The highlight of the day was definitely the fields of lava rock which served as a reminder that the Cascades are a volcanic range.
I made it to the road and had a 1.1 mile walk down to Fish Lake Resort. I wasn’t even hungry for town food since I had been in Ashland a couple days before, but it was fun to accomplish the goal of making it 29 miles before 7pm. I had gotten pretty accurate with predicting how far I could hike by assuming that I could do 3mph with 1.5 hours worth of breaks added on for eating, resting, and filtering water. I didn’t like to calculate or plan every day out, but it helped when I had a deadline.
I ordered some fish and chips at the resort and sat out on the deck. It felt great to sit after such a long day.
There was one other hiker at the resort, a German woman, who told me there was rain in the forecast starting the following day. I was both thankful for the information but also wishing I didn’t know at all. She was planning to wait a day or two in Fish Lake for the storm to pass.
I felt the familiar heat from the other times I had to decide to rush through or to wait out a storm. I decided I couldn’t stop for this one because I had been off trail for so long already. Although I had some trouble with my rain gear before, I had more experience dealing with wet gear and could pitch my tent if I became miserable.
Fish Lake had a designated spot for hikers to stay at for free which I really appreciated. The next morning, I grabbed breakfast and a blackberry honey latte. After recharging all of my gear and finishing my previous blog post, I set back out on trail.
The clouds started to crowd out the sun and it was raining before 4pm. I became a little bit excited about the rain as much as I also wanted it to go away. If I could keep my important gear dry, then it’s a great feeling being bundled up inside the tent while it rains and it gave me an excuse to set up camp early. I also wanted the validation of getting through all of the different conditions I could encounter on the PCT and that normally involves some wet weather.
I packed up my wet tent in the morning and organized my gear so I wouldn’t have to open it up often once it had its rain cover on. I pulled all of my snacks out for the day which went in my hip belt pockets or fanny pack and then I cold soaked rice to eat later for lunch. I could do any of these things under the canopy of a tree, but I got cold when I stopped too often. The good thing about rain is that it eliminates any unnecessary pit stops.
The weather was a mix of snow, hail, and rain. Hail was the best because it bounces off of clothes instead of absorbing. I moved as quickly as I could to stay warm without slipping on the muddy trail and the momentum helped me not to fixate on the potential misery.
It was too warm just a couple of days before!
Warm weather rain is hardly a bother on trail because gear normally dries out after, but cold storms are a whole different beast. I decided that I needed to pick up my pace so I could finish before October and avoid more of this type of weather. I had hiked in “feels like 22 degrees” rain in my first month and didn’t want that again.
When the rain relented that afternoon, I had some rice and spam for lunch and passed the 1800 mile marker! I snacked on some fresh washed red huckleberries next to a creek that had dozens of tiny toads hopping out of the way.
I set up camp early again before the nighttime rain kicked in. As I ate dinner and set up my gear, I started collecting and drinking rainwater in my cold soak jar by putting it at the corner of my tent. My water would consequently taste like top ramen but it was worth it not having to filter water in the mornings when my hands were cold.
I sat up in the dark that night and realized that my tent was sitting in a growing puddle of water. I poked at the floor of my tent like a waterbed and watched the pine needles swirl through the see through fabric. My first thought was relief that the bathtub of my tent was still waterproof after so much use, but I didn’t want to pack up in a puddle. Using my poop trowel, I reached out from my tent and dug a small trench to drain the water to a slightly lower tentsite.
The next day, the storm had past and I watched steam rise from the forest floor as the first light of day hit. The sky was clearing, but the air was very cold.
It was an easy and beautiful day hiking towards Mazama Village in Crater Lake National Park.
Just like that, I would be arriving at another store and another restaurant. That’s three “towns” in 100 miles. This is one of the reasons Oregon is referred to as the easy state on trail. There are still mountains and climbs, but they’re all softer and the logistics of the food carries are much simpler than Washington was rumored to be. The way thruhikers talk about Oregon, you’d expect the state to be flat and paved.
I was planning to stay at the Mazama campground for one night and then begin the three day road walk around the Diamond Complex Fire following the route we planned before leaving Ashland.
When I got service on trail, I learned that the closed section had just reopened. There were still 10 miles of trail closed but rumor had it that would also open the following day. The timing for this news could not have been better. Instead of spending days walking on highways, I could stay on trail and see Crater Lake too!
I slept well at the campground, but it was a frozen socks type of morning. There’s no stronger optimism than slinging wet socks over your tent and expecting they’ll dry on a freezing cold night.
I ate dinner and breakfast at the cafe (very underwhelming food, sorry) and was excited to see Legend and Bee there in the morning! I think it was at least 1000 miles since I saw them last, at the road into Tehachapi. We talked for over an hour before I left to continue hiking.
The hike from Mazama up to Crater Lake was really cool because I had been there once before with my family. I even recognized a random spot off of the highway where we had pulled over to play in the snow a few years back. It felt funny just walking up to these places that were once isolated in my mind as road trip stops.
The cashier at the crater lake cafe was excited to meet another Californian since she grew up in Carpinteria. I had not quite internalized that I was no longer in California until that conversation.
The official Pacific Crest Trail has no view of Crater Lake and passes by to the west, but nearly all hikers choose to take an alternate along a stretch of the Rim Trail. Camping is not permitted on the Rim Trail, but it’s only 10 miles along the lake before rejoining the PCT.
Crater Lake was beautiful and I took my time walking alongside it.
The days after rain are special because they bring back the ease of mind that was taken for granted before. I could stop and enjoy a view without my hands going numb from the cold wind. I didn’t have to keep all of my gear wrapped in plastic and didn’t have water running down my socks and into my shoes. Some of my gear was still damp or outright wet, but it wasn’t getting more wet at the very least.
I rejoined the PCT on the northern point of Crater Lake in the evening and camped at Grouse Camp which was situated near a big rocky hillside where I listened to the little pikas screaming. I had a hard time being motivated to get up in the cold the next day, so I didn’t leave camp until 9:45.
While I lingered in my tent, I began to calculate my mileage for the rest of the trail. If I wanted to finish before October, I would need to average 25 miles per day for over 30 days. 25 miles days wouldn’t be difficult by that point, but any days off in town would increase that average.
Even though I had a majority of Oregon and all of Washington ahead of me, the end started to feel close.
I continued to enjoy the clear weather and chose not to listen to any music or audiobooks until I had finished 17 miles. It helped me to move quicker and I enjoyed working through my thoughts and the creative ideas I would get when I had nothing distracting me.
Later that day, I got to the highest elevation that I would encounter on trail in Oregon, only 7573 feet. The highest section in California, Forester Pass, was over 13,000 feet.
I later found this beautiful cliff – a rare sight in the dense woods of Oregon- and I set up camp early. Even though I had the new pressure of averaging 25 miles per day, I couldn’t pass up this site.
The sunset was warm and the stars were bright. As I laid just five feet from the cliffside, I remembered how I used to sleepwalk as a kid and feared that I would sleepwalk outside. One time, I chickened out of sleeping in my grandparents’ backyard because I worried I would sleepwalk around their neighborhood. Thankfully this wasn’t a concern of mine anymore!
Despite all of the small lakes, Oregon’s water sources were not as frequent or clean as I expected. There were many silty ponds that would do some damage to my filter, or buggy seeps that were flowing slowly by late summer. This day, I had to hike off trail almost half a mile for a slow flowing humid seep.
Thankfully there were a few water caches to bridge the gap. At the Windigo Pass water cache, I caught up to Flora, Postman, and Whisper of the Wind.
To my surprise, there was another fire closure and reroute starting at Windigo Pass. I’m not sure how I dodged this information before, but it would only be 20 something miles of road walking to get from Windigo Pass to Shelter Cove.
After a snack break, Postman showed me how to get around the closure on his phone and I left to make my way down the road.
Along the dirt road, I came up to a roadblock where a man in a yellow vest was redirecting hikers to keep them off of a road that firefighters would be using to move equipment. Understandable.
He had a posted map on his road blockade that showed the parameters of the newly closed section, but I was confused by his directions and asked him to point out the route. He couldn’t point out where we were on the map but he assured me that every hiker was going the direction he advised.
It was not the way to go.
Small trees encroached on the dirt road until there was no road, trail, or familiar hiker tread to follow. I spent a few minutes poking around and backtracking but decided to push through. The shrubs were thick enough to obscure my steps but I kept walking in the direction I knew the road to be. I made my way around a marsh and emerged on a railroad with scraped legs, relieved and humored. I wondered how many other hikers were sentenced to an aimless 45 minutes of bush whacking. I never even saw smoke from this fire and a local later told me that its been burning for a month and they were hardly trying to put it out.
When I rejoined the road, Postman and Whisper of the Wind arrived. They left the water cache a little bit after I did and they weren’t redirected at all. Turns out the guy in the vest clocked out 10 minutes after he sent me into the woods!
I camped near Postman and Whisper but set out a bit before they did in the morning. It was very cold. I wasn’t able to access a map for the roads I was walking on, but some kind guys in a truck gave me directions. I missed a turn and then they passed by me again and pointed me back to the correct road. I eventually made it to highway 58 where I walked to resupply at the Sinclair gas station store.
Whenever I show up in town, I scavenge for an outlet first so I don’t waste time waiting for things to charge. Flora caught up to me and we both sat out front for a couple hours after I resupplied on my food. I started to finally get rid of things I didn’t need, like sunblock. I had stopped using it well over a month before.
I had missed the mile 1900 marker while I was rerouting around the fire, but I was nearly halfway through Oregon at this point!
I was starting to feel like there were too many stops on trail and wanted to make some good progress. Planning head, I created a new goal that I would start the following morning which was to hike at least 30 miles for five consecutive days. This would put me within 50 miles of Washington and buy me some extra time to burn in Bend.
Flora and I walked the last section of road together which would only be 6 miles before rejoining the PCT. We took a break at Odell Lake and I went swimming and re-bandaged my heels which were bothering me a bit. I think that the new insoles I got at trail-days were throwing things off.
When we got back to the trail, I pulled ahead and left Flora. After eating real food at the gas station and leisurely time at the lake, I was starting to switch into the “push” mindset. Instead of starting around 9am each morning, I would have to be more disciplined with using the available daylight.
The trail was marked high in the trees for backcountry skiers. It was interesting to imagine the snow stacked high but I was happier with my plan to finish before any winter snow fell on trail.
The woods in Oregon are beautiful and there are so many small lakes, but I had to try not to be annoyed at how many views were blocked by trees. Maybe I had gotten picky, but I was missing the panoramas.
I made it to Maiden Peak Shelter before sundown. It’s a backcountry cabin made primarily for skiers to use and maintain but its open to hikers as well! Shelters are very uncommon on the PCT and this was a nice one out of the few. It had a stove and was stocked with wood.
I shared the cabin with a section hiker named Papa Stork. He was friendly and very talkative. It took me a while just to blow up my sleeping pad because he kept asking me questions in-between each breath! I wanted to telepathically tell him that I was tired and needed to get up early in the morning.
We made our dinners and both watched a mouse come out of the wall and run laps around the cabin floor. I would definitely need to hang my pack up.
Papa Stork snored hard but I grabbed my earplugs from my hanging pack and was able to go back to sleep.
>30mi/day, day 1
The next morning, it was game time. Day 1/5 of at least 30 miles.
30 milers were exciting in California. I can still remember each one because they were big at the time.
- Paradise Valley Cafe
- Wrightwood
- 1000 Mile Marker
- The day before Dunsmuir
- Crossing the Oregon border
I had never done high miles back to back but I was hoping to double my 30s this week. That’s what Oregon is for after all, right?
I left the cabin before 7am after eating a full breakfast. It was COLD, again. I had carried three pairs of gloves in the high Sierra but had shipped all of them home since then. There were many opportunities to buy a new pair or ship my old gloves back, but I didn’t bother and allowed the cold to motivate me.
I was able to do 10 miles in time for my morning snack – gnawing on my block of cheese.
The difference between a 25 miler and a 30 miler is starting at a decent time and overlapping small trail tasks to reduce breaks. During brunch, I set up my gravity filter, prepared lunch, snacked, and let my feet dry out.
I accidentally poured lemon lime electrolyte water in my minute rice and then I got moving. I read on FarOut that there was a burn section ahead and it ended up being my favorite part of the day.
It was warm and breezy and new.
I loved how the fallen trees pulled up mounds of unburnt yellow sand and how the slates of rock were shedding around cracked boulders. I saw my first full view of the Three Sisters (a group of peaks) which had me more excited about the days to come. It caused a mindset shift for me.
Nearly a week and a half into Oregon and it was panning out to be easy in all of the good and bad ways. I had found myself in an easy striding headspace but I felt disconnected from where I was because of the “green tunnel.” I would do 20-25 miles and still enjoy every day, but I was not pushing myself because the difference of a few miles felt negligible without a landmark to push towards. There weren’t many visual indicators of progress when the trees all look the same and you can’t see past them. I took pictures when things opened up, but there were so many tree covered miles inbetween.
Oregon pros: shade, steady trail, less incline, pond lakes everywhere, minimal daily planning required
Oregon cons: less environmental variety, fewer “on top of the world” views, fewer visual landmarks, less animal sightings by far
The simplicity was soothing for a while after California’s extremes with elevation, snow, and fire, but the dynamics of anticipating an upcoming challenge was hugely motivating in retrospect.
I could attribute some of these feeling to my own insularity and socializing less than I did in California. I love California and I couldn’t prop Oregon up against the variety and beauty of a state that had an extra 1200 miles of memories.
Anyways, I really loved this ugly burnt swath of land.
To help motivate me, I had started listening to Wild by Cheryl Strayed. The book is accredited for bringing more exposure to the trail and I have met a few foreign hikers who share that origin story. I had avoided reading Wild beforehand because I didn’t want it to set any expectations for my experience. It’s about a woman who hiked in the 90’s with a nearly negative amount of experience or preparedness and thus has some avoidable rough times.
I have mixed feelings about the heart of the book and Cheryl’s perspectives but she did make me cry at one part when she recounted her upbringing and her mom. I’ve never cried from a movie or while reading, but walking while listening to a book or good music seems to be the recipe for me.
I walked slowly through this part, savoring the open views and the unrestrained wind. I could smell the living woods as I got closer to them.
When I made it to the north end of the burn, I entered the Three Sisters wilderness and there was a young ranger checking permits. He asked if I was going to make it to Canada and I quickly replied with a yes.
I remember noticing that it was the first time I gave a certain answer instead of “I hope so.”
The lakes were silty and easily stirred so I would often have to use rocks or logs to scoop from deeper sections.
I had some afternoon fatigue and then unknowingly passed the halfway point in Oregon. Ten days in and halfway through! I found a spot to camp after exactly 30 miles and had the tent set up before sunset. Not a bad effort!
>30mi/day, day 2
I was on the move at 7:15am and my tent was dry for the first time after it rained a week ago. I could have taken it out to dry during the day but the inside was dry enough that I didn’t bother.
I decided that I was going to go to Elk Lake Resort, which was a mile off trail. I was on the fence about it because it would kill a lot of time and I didn’t need food, but I didn’t want to skip too many experiences for the sake of a mile goal.
I also stopped on trail and talked to a southbound hiker for a while. She had started hiking south after trail days since we were already at the northern point of Oregon. We rejoiced that our tents were finally dry, that the morning wasn’t frigid, and we shared our favorite audiobooks so far. She was loving Lord of the Rings. After comparing notes on the sections we had both hiked, I was excited about what was next. She had good things to say about Three Sisters and apparently I had some lava rock ahead of me!
I expected I would have to night hike because of these time killers, but it would be worth it. Some morale boosts are worth night hiking for.
At Elk Lake Resort, I met a southbound man from Wisconsin named One Step. We hung out and ate together and I had a burger with a side of elk meat chili. I spent two hours there and then snagged an apple out of a cooler on the way back to trail.
One Step had raved about Oregon during our lunch and declared it his favorite place in the country. It was beautiful but I wasn’t sold on it like that.
That was until a few hours later as I approached the peaks which are named South Sister, Middle Sister, and North Sister (originally Charity, Hope, and Faith). The Three Sisters Wilderness would have all the variety I craved.
Within an afternoon, I was entering valleys with contrasting rocky landscapes and lush forests.
I was soaking it in and thinking that THIS is what I was here for.
At the end of the meadow, there was a massive imposing mound of lava rock with veins of shining obsidian. I couldn’t help but imagine what volcanic activity caused this tsunami of rock to grow or spill here.
Then, I was entering another burnt section of forest.
It felt exactly like the ones in northern California. The smells, types of plants emerging from the ash, soil color and type, and the trail condition were all the same. I was subconsciously believing I was in California and I couldn’t decide if that felt far or near.
I started to think a little bit more about home each day in Oregon. I was getting tangibly close to the end, at least timewise, and was excited about seeing family and friends again. I had less time to spend figuring out how to thru hike and more time to ponder life and enjoy the stroll.
I was not anxious to finish though. I met two women that morning who were out for the weekend and they remarked that I didn’t look like a thru hiker because I was still having a good time! How could I get burned out when the grass is actually greener?
I continued to be impressed by Three Sisters Wilderness into the evening. I feel excitement around night hiking because I love watching the day fully close out and also not stressing about setting up camp before the sun goes down.
I saw a few groups of deer which I had been missing since I used to see them every day.
The sun lit everything up with warm colors as I moved on the west side of the mountains. The evening was only disrupted by rocks tumbling down from the peak of South Sister, which I could hear through my headphones. It was at least 20 seconds of rumbling and dust flying up from the mountainside.
I sat at Obsidian Falls and had some dinner before the daylight gave out completely. Time to get out the headlamp and layer up for night time.
Not long after, I was walking through fields of shattered obsidian. They reflected the sun all over the ground.
Oregon was really pulling out all the stops in one day.
I enjoyed seeing toads, frogs, and an owl while night hiking and was relieved to find a spot to set up camp just before 9:30pm.
What a great, full day.
Excluding the detour to visit Elk Lake, I made it 30.4 trail miles.
>30mi/day, day 3
First thing in the morning, the terrain had changed again. There was a large section of lava rock coming up and i was hoping that it wouldn’t slow me down.
Looking north, I could see Mount Jefferson on the right which was the second to last major peak. Mount Hood would be the last peak in Oregon right before the border.
I was already walking through plenty of lava rock and thought I was going to enter another burn zone when I looked at the mountain ahead. From afar, I assumed the gray was ash and the trees had all burned.
That turned out to be entirely lava rock.
Now I understood why so many people had talked about a big 6 mile lava rock section.
Since it looked fully exposed and hard on the feet, I took an early lunch to hydrate at a water cache and rest my feet before taking on the lava. I caught up with Ranger who I had carpooled to PCT days with two weeks before, and also met some other hikers. While we were resting, a southbounder named Sunshine came by with rumors of free food ahead at a christian youth camp.
Free food. Music to my ears.
The lava field was amazing. Per usual, it was advertised as an inconvenience and was instead the highlight of the day. It felt like another planet entirely, especially after weeks in the trees.
The rumor of free food kept me moving above my average pace and I had already passed Mount Washington by 3pm.
Big Lake Youth Camp was another optional stop on trail, just like Elk Lake Resort. They had been letting hikers have free meals in the dining hall when they were running camps, but their last camp session ended the day before I got there so I wasn’t planning to stop by.
I lucked out. They put ALL of their leftover food in the extra building that they let PCT hikers lounge in. There were too many breads, cookies, and waffles to try, and I loaded up on vegetables from the fridge.
There were a few other hikers there, including Dr. Pepper who I had just met when we drove down from trail days. He tried hard to convince me to hitch with him and Ranger into Sisters to hang out in town for a night or two. I tried to convince them to do 30 milers with me and then go to Bend together. Neither of us compromised on our plans.
I would see Ranger again my last full day on trail, but I have no idea if or when Dr. Pepper finished.
This stop was worth killing time for because trail magic was becoming scarce, aside from an occasional soda or apple.
I also used some clippers to knock down my nasty facial hair and took a full roll of Leukotape from the hikerbox which I used to immediately triple tape over my heels. My shoes were past their regular 500 mile lifespan and the new insoles were only creating hot spots on my feet which didn’t pair well with increased miles each day.
Not long after the camp, I made it to mile 2000! The second 1000 miles felt far quicker than the first.
I had service so I called mom in the evening as I crossed McKenzie highway. McKenzie highway is the logical point to drive into Sisters or Bend, but I was planning to hitchhike to Bend all the way from northern Oregon.
30.1 miles down.
>30mi/day, day 4
The next morning, I walked by a peak named Three Fingered Jack and then could see Mount Jefferson off to the north.
The huckleberries were by far the tastiest up to that point. They were as sweet as apple juice and I couldn’t stop picking them.
The air was warm but I could hear thunder and then there was some light rain before the skies cleared up again.
I felt really tired this day. As I looked ahead on my map, I realized the area I planned to hike to did not allow overnight camping and I would have to hike further past the closure or quit my mileage goal and stop early.
Looking north towards Mount Jefferson, I would have to hike around the left side and all the way north of the peak before I could set up camp.
The day became even more beautiful as I approached Jefferson, but I couldn’t shake the exhaustion. The long days were catching up to me and I felt depleted and mentally tired.
I still had about 15 miles to go so I gave myself an extra break to hydrate in hopes that my mind would wake up a bit. I had caffeine, vitamins, and electrolytes, and nursed two liters of water while laying on my back.
There was a ranger in this area that checked my permit. He warned me about the no-camping section that was ahead and also told me that northern Oregon and southern Washington would be getting rain that day! This was really good news considering how much of the trail was closed in Washington. I was hopeful that it would start to open up more if the fires were under control.
The evening unfolded with a beautiful sunset that painted the mountains pink and then resurged with a deep orange. This was the point of the day, ironically, where I started to wake up and feel normal.
I met a girl named Mosey around sunset. She was in her young 20’s and hiking with a couple European guys she met on trail. She got her trail name because she would sleep in, take her time, and then hike late. We walked a mile together until she caught up to her trail family.
It was a completely normal conversation aside from when she insisted that she had 5 gnomes in her backpack that were getting real heavy! I asked if they were ceramic because I carry random objects sometimes (a doll chair, a horseshoe, rocks, keychains, etc), but she naturally insisted that they were real gnomes. I guess we’re being weird! I played along and joked that she was a trail angel for giving them free hitches from Mexico.
I would have loved to hike with Mosey more but, as the name implies, she wasn’t in a rush.
The sunsets are better with dead trees or no trees! I was so excited to enter a burn zone at this time of day because night hiking is the best in desert or dead forests with all of the visibility.
I entered the timeless void that is walking in the dark and loved it. At one point, I could see headlamps in the distance on a ridge which was a small reassurance that there was at least one other hiker doing the same thing as me. I had about 10 miles of uphill to close out the day.
There were a few creeks but the larger ones were completely silty and looked more like milk than water. Thankfully, I found a cold spring to refill my water.
I entered Jefferson Park, where I couldn’t camp, and had another 5 or so miles to go. It was serene and I was grateful I had plenty of energy late into the night.
After plenty of uphill and extra miles, my legs were exhausted and I couldn’t wait to get in bed. I started setting up at 11:30pm and was excited to wake up and see Mount Jefferson since it had been dark for hours. I knew that I was now on the north side of the peak and I set up my tent with a door rolled up so I could see the mountain from my bed in the morning.
32.5 miles down.
>30mi/day, day 5
Good morning! This was the best way to wake up going into my last full 30 mile day for the week.
After walking uphill the night before, I was rewarded with sprawling views on the way down. Off in the distance, Mount Hood popped up for the first time.
Mount Hood signified the end of Oregon. At its base there is the historic Timberline Lodge and then just 50 miles on the PCT to the border of Washington.
I was coming up on another lake resort named Olallie Lake and I decided to stop there and fill up on a few extra snacks at their tiny store. The stops in town are frequent when you hike at least 30 miles per day!
Pringles were $5 and they only accepted cash. I bought some froot loops to reminisce on eating them out of my first hiker box in Lake Morena (mile 20). It’s been so long since that first stop.
While sitting at Olallie Lake, I met a lady named Ruth in her 70s who was out for a day hike. We sat together in the shade while she ate her Subway and we chatted. She was there to hike on the anniversary of a fire that came through four years ago which she recounted in detail.
Before she left, she gave me her spare cookie and chips from Subway, and fruit snacks from her car! We exchanged Facebook info later when I caught up to her on trail.
I also finally talked to Toek who I had been seeing at random points since just before Red’s Meadow, 1150 miles back. I hadn’t talked to him much because I got the impression that he wanted to keep to himself, but it turns out he is just German. He was really friendly and wanted to take my picture to remember the people he had met.
Toek triple crowned in the early 2000s which means he had already hiked the PCT, AT, and CDT.
I went back out into the dead woods and soon passed by Ruth again.
The terrain switched up quickly from dead to lush and the weather shifted to match it. The clear light blue sky got choked out by afternoon clouds and fog.
I started to worry about getting rained on but thankfully the weather was pushed out by wind.
That wind was a recipe for some spooky night hiking.
The trees were some of the tallest I had seen in Oregon and the wind swept at the their canopies causing loud creaks and groans as they rubbed against one another. Sometimes they sounded like loud animals calling or like wooden ships at sea. It was both amusing and off-putting.
The forest floor was littered with fallen trees that made me hesitant to set up camp. When I finished my 30 miles, there was nowhere remotely flat to camp so I pressed on an extra mile until a small clearing appeared. That mile felt long because I was ready to sleep. It still didn’t look promising with widow-makers everywhere, but I didn’t know when the next available camping area would be.
I set up for the night and had some celebratory cold ramen. 31 miles down and very ready to sleep.
Now, I had just 20 miles to highway 26 where I would be going to Bend for a few nights!
I treated myself to a full night’s sleep and started around 9am. As I packed up my tent in the morning, I watched a small tree collapse over the trail just 15 feet away. Oof, glad I didn’t get crushed overnight.
All I could think about was taking a shower. Knowing I was close to going to town made me consider how dirty I was and how I hadn’t been in a body of water for 6 days. There was no time to clean or dry my clothes with the pace I was keeping. I had sweat through my shirt every day, both pairs of my socks had holes, and my shoes had weathered 750 miles of abuse.
I wasn’t sure if I could get a hitch to Bend by the time I made it to the highway, but I was motivated to hustle and make it there with some daylight left.
I made sure to at least wash my legs off to remove the week’s worth of dirt and the water was numbingly cold. It felt great on my newly blistered feet.
By the afternoon, I was approaching Mount Hood.
Even with a lunch break and a late start, the idea of town helped me to finish 20 miles by 3:45 pm.
There were still 50 miles to go in Oregon but the end felt so close.
Time for some rest before the last stretch.
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