Date: July 26, 2017
Miles: 1922.6 – 1954.7
I vaguely remember what happened on this day. I walked through some woods, saw a pine marten, and camped on top of Koosah Mountain with all of the mosquitos in Oregon. The end. Continue reading “Day 108: Marten And The Mosquitos”
Date: July 25, 2017
Miles: 1904.1 – 1922.6
Its always hard to leave civilization, even if civilization is an RV park that overcharges for everything, and especially when the pack is full of too much food and water. I’m still not rocking this resupply thing, but at least I’m not going to die for lack of food out here. Continue reading “Day 107: Backwoods Banquet”
Date: July 24, 2017
Miles: 1869.6 – 1904.1
I took the Oregon Skyline Trail alternate today to get directly to my next resupply spot, Shelter Cove. I stopped for lunch at Crescent Lake Campground and had a quick swim to take the edge off of the growing heat. The campground is a popular place and it dawned on me that it now feels different being in a place with so many ‘regular’ people. I forget that they probably don’t want to see me picking my toes at the picnic table or hanging my underwear in a tree to dry. Transition back to regular life may be rough. Continue reading “Day 106: The OST”
Date: July 23, 2017
Miles: 1836.7 – 1869.6
Today could be summed up in a few words: Mt. Thielsen. Tons of bugs. 32 miles. Aching legs. Bed. Continue reading “Day 105: The Lightning Rod Of The Cascades”
Date: July 22, 2017
Miles: 1818.4 – 1836.7
The monotony of miles of buggy forest walking was broken today by the wonder that is Crater Lake National Park. We had a perfect day for the views, with barely a cloud in the sky, warm temps and a slight breeze. Joe Dirt, Polliwog, Donkey, Roi, Matthew and I headed up to the Rim Village, where we were greeted heartily by a touring group from France and had a delicious breakfast and a wonderful server at the lodge restaurant. After we finished we all found comfy chairs inside by the fire or the window, or the rocking chairs on the outside patio, and threatened to take naps there for the rest of the day.
We knew we had to get moving eventually, however, so we filled our packs with four liters of water each (on top of waaaay too much food) and hauled our loads up the Rim trail along with the other tourists. The Rim trail is an alternate to the actual PCT, which runs further West of the lake, and I am really glad that we took it. The views of the lake and of Wizard island in the middle were stunning from every angle.
It took me a long time to go a few miles because of all the photos I was taking. We took a side trail up to the Watchman’s Tower and the view became even more spectacular. We could see Diamond Peak, Diamond Lake, and Mt. Thielsen to the North, the expanse of Crater Lake just below us, and Union Peak, Mt. McLoughlin and Mt. Shasta to the South. It was a highlight of the whole hike so far.
We descended back down to the rim trail and continued on through snowy patches, making trail slushees along the way, until the trail headed into shaded forest with melted snow puddles…prime mosquito country.
They came out in force and we tried to outrun them but it was impossible. Only deet got rid of them. We camped at the junction between the PCT and the Rim trail with Valley Girl, A-Game, Rodeo and Bug Juice, built a fire and had dinner together with some water and beer that Bug Juice found at a water cache a few minutes away.
Date: July 21, 2017
Miles: 1798.4 – 1818.4
I hate to say this about nature, but sometimes it’s a little frustrating. Like today. The morning began with a thick cloud of mosquitos, most of them stuck to the outsides of our tents, waiting for us to dare to unzip our doors. Later in the day, I walked right past an arrow and an X in the trail and went a mile in the wrong direction. I wasn’t the only person who was having a hard time sticking to the trail…I helped two hikers find their way back to their car on highway 62 after they climbed Union peak and got a little off track on the way down. They then gave me a ride to Mazama Village at Crater Lake. There I picked up my resupply box, which I discovered had already been opened by some hungry mice. It looked like they had a nice meal of Luna bars. They left me most of the food, which was nice of them.
We had an ok dinner at the Village and chatted with some remarkably clean park visitors. I took a quick shower to wash off the day, organized my food bag (actually just dumped everything in it) then hit the hay with the hope that tomorrow would be more enjoyable. Or at least have fewer mosquitos and mice.
Date: July 20, 2017
Miles: 1770.9 – 1798.4
“I’m a nature lover, but if we eradicated the entire mosquito population from the earth, I’d be ok with that.” ~ Donkey
The mosquitos were upon me as soon as I left my tent this morning, and they didn’t quit until I closed myself in my tent this evening. They’ve grown up now, and are capable of keeping up with me when I walk and attach themselves to me while I’m moving. They can bite through clothes, and a hardy few are even impervious to deet. This is the part of the trek that I’ve been dreading, and I’m just hoping to make it through the next few weeks of mosquito-mageddon without losing my mind.
In other news of the day, we hiked through a lot of trees, but gained enough elevation in the evening to have an expansive view of the Sky Lakes Wilderness, Mt. McLaughlin and Klamath Lake.
We ran into enough snow on the north side of the hill we were climbing to be able to glissade down to the trail below us.
I’m amazed that my running shorts have survived this long.
I camped with Joe Dirt, Polliwog and Donkey, who built a fire to try to discourage the tiny bloodsuckers that showed up. It worked pretty well, but we ate with our head nets on anyway.
Donkey and Polliwog are a couple from the Seattle, Washington, and they are two of the funniest people I’ve met. Joe Dirt is a recent college grad from Santa Rosa, and not only is he hilarious but he can remember an amazing number of movie quotes, including those of his namesake. The only thing he’s missing is a mullet. We’ll see if we can convince him to get one before Canada.
Date: July 19, 2017
Miles: 1738.6 – 1770.9
True to what we’ve heard about Oregon, the trail is relatively flat in this section, although ‘flat’ is a relative term. Usually by this time, a hiker has been anywhere from near sea-level up to the highest point in the lower 48, with a lot of ups and downs in between, so the generally rolling hills of Oregon seem very benign in comparison and big miles can be done easily. The trail here, though, is still a good workout.
From the Little Hyatt Reservoir, we hiked into the Rogue River National Forest and the terrain made a drastic turn to fields filled in with contrasting red and black lava rock.
The day was largely uneventful, consisting mostly of quiet minutes stretching into hours among the trees, and a glimpse of Mt. McLoughlin toward the end of the day.
We’re trying to get to Bend by the end of the month, so we’re ramping up the miles. We did 32 today and will do another 30 tomorrow. My body will make me pay, I’m sure.
Date: July 16 – 18, 2017
Miles: 1701.4 – 1738.6
The first thing that I looked forward to after reaching Oregon was getting to the eccentric town of Ashland. I wanted good things to eat, upper scale grocery stores, and all the hippie vibes. We first hit up Callahan’s lodge where, despite some dismissive customer service, we enjoyed a bunch of food and relaxed a bit before hitching to town to resupply. The Shop n Kart had a great selection of food and a natural foods section that smelled like patchouli (that reminded me of home…). When we were done, we got a ride from a local trail angel, Jennifer, whom we met through Joe Dirt, another hiker we recently met. Jennifer took us all to her ranch outside of town and we had such a wonderful time with her and her husband that we decided to stay an extra day. They were truly some of the most welcoming people that we met during our hike. We laid around, ate tasty things, played with the dogs and then, somewhat regretfully, left Jennifer’s place and headed back to the trail.
Date: July 15, 2017
Miles: 1676.8 – 1701.4
“It’s not a matter of if, but when.” ~ Valley Girl
Northern California did its best to try to keep me from leaving for Oregon today.
I’ve tripped on a million rocks but today I caught a hidden one and fell face first in the dirt. You fall harder with a backpack on, and it adds insult to injury when you land and it slides up to the back of your head, pushing your face right into the ground. I jumped up, looked around to make sure no one saw me crash and burn, cleaned the dirt and rocks out of my wounds and kept truckin’. The trail took a southbound turn for a bit, then it headed north in time for some awesome trail magic provided by a couple families who are updating the Donomore Cabin. I filled my belly with sandwiches and cookies before tackling the last hill.
Finally, I made it to Oregon! The trail suddenly got better…less climbing, a crew out clearing snow for an upcoming ultra marathon, cut-back overgrowth, fields of blooming bear grass and more trail magic. At a trailhead, we found watermelon in a cooler and met hikers Sparkle Motion and Wild Card, who shared their beer with us. At the end of the day, we camped with two of our favorite hikers, Valley Girl and A-Game. It was the kind of day that makes you wonder why you would ever leave the trail.
