Date: August 12, 2017
Miles: 2233.5 – 2258.2
Last night, lightning lit up the insides of our tents and jarring claps of thunder made us yell with abandon, but this morning was the type of damp quiet that a storm leaves behind. The sky was gray with a few widening blue patches and lazy rolls of thunder rumbled benignly in the distance. The heat and humidity had broken as well, much to this Washingtonian’s relief. Continue reading “Day 125: Beauty And The Heat”
Date: August 10 & 11, 2017
Miles: 2190.5 – 2233.5
This morning started in the lush green, quiet forest that reminds me of childhood camping trips, with a vintage glow from the rising sun through tree branches and the smell of dry evergreen incense.
Date: August 9, 2017
Miles 2163.7 – 2190.5
When we left Cascade Locks yesterday, Matthew informed all of us that Washington was about to get thunderfluffed. But today Washington showed us who’s in charge. Our second day in this state gave us a heat and humidity wave and two consecutive climbs of 1500 and 3000 feet respectively. My legs felt like lead and I had no energy for much of the day, but I had nowhere to go but North so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Continue reading “Day 122: Washington’s Gone South “
Date: August 8, 2017
Miles: 2144.2 – 2163.7
“Washington is about to be Thunderfluffed.” ~ Matthew aka Fluffy aka Thunderfluff
This morning we went back to Bridgeside for breakfast and waited with Matthew for the post office to open. I swear he’s been waiting for socks to arrive for about a month. No luck here, though. He has the worst time with the United States Postal Service. Continue reading “Day 121: Socks, Sweat and Mouse Toilets”
Date: August 7, 2017
Miles: 2134.1 – 2144.2
I woke up every couple hours last night to the sound of strange noises echoing in the trees around my tent. I had never heard such barking, yelping, moaning noises in the forest before and it kinda freaked me out, to be honest. I was tired and ready to get the heck out of there when I finally got up this morning. Continue reading “Day 120: Shrek’s Swamp”
Date: August 6, 2017
Miles: 2106.4 – 2134.1
A fire near Crater Lake has closed the PCT and the alternate Rim Trail, the Whitewater fire in Jefferson Park has grown and expanded the closure of the PCT in that area, and a smoldering burn has caused the US Forest Service to close the Eagle Creek alternate trail, which is one of the most anticipated sections because it contains several gorgeous waterfalls, one of which you walk behind. The actual PCT in that area has no waterfalls or anything else to speak of, really, other than Wahtum Lake – which today was being dipped into repeatedly by a giant helicopter as part of the firefighting effort – and some views of Mt. Hood. I have hiked the Eagle Creek trail several times so I wasn’t terribly heartbroken about the closure, but I was bummed that my friends won’t be able to see it. Continue reading “Day 119: Oregon Is On Fire”
Date: August 4 & 5, 2017
Miles: 2073.2 – 2106.4
From Timothy Lake to Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood came in to view, huckleberries appeared and the trail meandered through the woods. Continue reading “Days 117 & 118: Best Buffet On Trail, For Real”
Date: August 3, 2017
Miles: 2043.1 – 2073.2
Roi and Rodeo woke up at 2 am this morning to start their 50 mile day from Olallie to Timberline Lodge. The rest of us slept until the sun made an appearance and got ready for a normal day. I left most of my gear with Tim and slackpacked to Timothy Lake. It was glorious to hike all day without 30 pounds yanking on my shoulders. Continue reading “Day 116: Sunrise, Sunset”
Date: August 1 & 2, 2017
Miles: 2012.3 – 2043.1
Morning at Rockpile Lake was bright and quiet. There were only two other hikers who had camped by its shore, a young man whose trail name was Yay Steve and his father, Steve. Continue reading “Days 114 & 115: Missing Mt. Jefferson”
Date: July 31, 2017
Miles: 1998.5 – 2012.3
I spent a few more minutes at the pool this morning, soaking up civilization, before Matthew and I headed for the post office and then caught a ride to the trail. We ended up going to the Santiam Pass trailhead and hiked out from there, stopping to talk to a Forest Service ranger about the Whitewater Fire burning in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness and the subsequent closure of 11 miles of the PCT. He confirmed that we would be able to get off of the trail at its junction with the Woodpecker trail where, lucky for us, Tim was planning to meet us to give us a ride around the closure and to spend a couple days with us. He also let us know that the next few days were going to be hot (107 degrees!!) and very dry, so we may find out that the fire has expanded its boundaries. Continue reading “Day 113: It’s Hot And Dry. Again. “
