Memories from August 5

Lakes all the way from Taylor Lake to Elk Lake Resort, usually hidden in tree cover just off the trail.

Got in 23.5 miles to Elk Lake Resort around 1:30pm after taking a wrong turn at trail sign to Island Meadow (and apparently, Elk Lake Resort). Jan had  wanted to get in for lunch but didn’t make it until dinner. Word has it he was asking about showers at Shelter Cove which he’d argued against taking there. I’d argued that it was OK to get in to Elk Lake for dinner but wound up executing Jan’s idea and he mine.

Jan and I decided to split up since wanted to wait for a package coming the next day and I wanted to keep some semblance of being on schedule for the Oregon in 14 Days Challenge.

Elk Lake Resort had showers but no laundromat. I could smell how bad my clothes were when I had to put them back on after showering. I did try to wash socks by putting the shower head inside them one at a time until the water ran clear. However, when you squeezed the sock, the water is still brown. It’s amazing that washing machines get them so clean.

I was about to head back out on the trail when the opening ceremonies if the Olympics came on. I managed to drag myself less than a mile up the trail back to the PCT and cowboy camp. So much for staying on schedule.

Here’s one of the lakes from this morning.

Memories from August 4

This morning I got up early as I had cowboy camped near a paid campground in the dark and wasn’t sure if I’d strayed onto it. The end of the Oregon Skyline Trail did have some nice ponds even if it didn’t have the views its name implied.

I made the walk in to Shelter Cove by breakfast and was a little disappointed that they didn’t have either a restaurant (I should have just checked the trail notes) or that their store didn’t have a box of cereal. Instead, I fulfilled my childhood dream of eating cookies like cereal. Except I made it better by eating out if a pie crust.

Jan showed up as I was trying about to head out and we planned to meet up at Elk Lake Resort on the morrow. The PCT didn’t have real eye poppers either for the rest of the day but here’s a nice lake view.

There were a lot of deadfalls which we’ve been hopping over, under, and around for the past few days. Like many, I’d gotten to complaining about them and felt distinctly humbled when a guy named Hammer said that it just made him appreciate how we the trail crews did on the rest of the trail.

Towards evening a guy with a campsite near the trail called out as I was passing and offered a beer. I had been intending to push the mileage a little and get to Taylor lake but wasn’t committed and was lacking energy so I plopped down to join him. Pathfinder and XC joined us but both left before I did. When I finally got moving it wasn’t long before dark but between the beer, snacks, and rest, something had changed and I felt a sublime urge to run the shallow downhill as the evening turned to dusk. It was wonderful, even dodging and slowing for the deadfalls. Shortly after dark, I stumbled into a site near Taylor Lake and was greeted by Strapless (so named because his backpack doesn’t have a hip belt) who had left the rest break where I’d been humbled by Hammer earlier than me and I hadn’t really expected to catch him. We talked pretty late while the mosquitoes swarmed around his tent and left me, protected only by a sleeping bag alone.

Memories from August 3

One big highlight from today is that Jan discovered that the Oregon Skyline Trail shortcuts about 10 miles of the PCT and passes by Shelter Cove, a resort which we both dearly hope has hamburgers. The which of taking a shortcut while trying to hike across Oregon in 2 weeks might be questionable if we hadn’t had  13 miles added by having to walk to the east around Crater Lake. Jan is almost giddy.

 In other news, we saw some cool sights today. First up was free marijuana. This counts as a sight and not an experience because I didn’t take any.

Second was mount Thielson. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it in thr Sierra but Oregon seems to be about appreciating the tree and not the forest, except when it comes to actual trees in which case you mostly just see forests of them and they lose their unique qualities.

Third was the highest point in the PCT in Oregon ans Washington. This is mostly an interesting view because it completely defies your expectations for how such a place would look. Not exactly inspiring

These red hills which were nearby were pretty cool though.

Finally, the sunset looked like the forest was in fire. Note that this is the only picture from today taken on the Oregon Skyline Trail. That’s because it’s pretty representative of the “skyline” you see.

Memories from August 2

Alarm was set for 4am. I didn’t hear it until 4:06am. Jan says his sleeping mat is so thin he could feel though the ground 2 yards away but didn’t mind the extra minutes of peace. We broke camp and headed out onto the east rim road around Crater Lake. Both Jan and I have made all forward progress from the Mexican border by foot so we’re walking the road around the side of the lake not in fire.

Before sunrise a ranger passed and asked us if we were OK. I told him we were walking the East Rim Road because the West Rim Trail was closed by fire.

Jan and I met on a road walk where most people hitched. It’s fun to be doing another one with him. His humor, particulaly on point this morning while he is in good spirits makes the journey enjoyable.

The morning sun gave us the best views in Oregon so far, but not of Crater Lake.

I think that Jan and I might be some of the few people to ever have hiked try East Rim Road since it’s not part of the PCT and we’re hiking it the first day of the closure.

Maui waved and jovially called Jan a dirty hippie as the car which had given him a ride drove by. Maui had left a few hours before us so given that we had to wait for my resupply box, there was no way to have made it through before the closure.

We stopped about 15 miles in at the Cleetwood Cove trail where we got water from the kiosk which sells boat tours of Crater Lake and ferries people to Wizard Island. I wasn’t convinced that there were four days of food in my pack so I bought two bags of Chex Mix.

We took a cross country (ie bushwhacked) shortcut down a hillside about a mile before the road intersected the trail. The soil was so soft you could almost have skied down.

Jan an I camped at around 6:30pm which is early, about 8 miles before the next water. We got up early and with 9 of 14 days left to get across Oregon during the challenge sleep is still important. Given the setbacks so far, we’ll have to average 33 to 34 miles per day to make it. That’s doable as long as the terrain stays pretty flat and we’re efficient at resupplies. 
The trees all have eyes and they’re looking at us. (To the tune of that song from The Sound of Music).

Memories from August 1

I had my alarm set for 4am so I could get into Mazama Village by 7:30am and be out by 9am. Got up at 6am instead with the excuse that Jan was still behind me.

I got into Mazama Village and had breakfast with Maui until 10:30am. Jan showed up part way through but neither of us wanted to be in a hurry.

When I finally got over to the store where my resupply box had been shipped, it hadn’t arrived. Admittedly, the online resupply company had sent me an e-mail saying it might me as late as this afternoon but I’d discounted that since my previous resupply box had arrived a few days before despite being ordered only one day earlier. This what makes going border to border in Oregon in 14 days difficult. The miles can be hiked but recovering from logistics delays can be difficult.

Eventually my box showed up, and my abuse of the unlimited soda refills ended. While it was nice to get a shower and do laundry, I was antsy to get moving. When Jan and I arrived at Crater Lake Rim Village around 5pm, however, we found that a nearby fire closure had just been expanded in the last hour to all trails on the west side of the lake. That meant we’d have to hike around the east side of the lake on 25 miles of road instead of about 7 miles of scenic trail. There was a fancy restaurant nearby so we had a white tablecloth dinner which cost more than my entire resupply box as consolation. This also gave us a chance to plan the road walk.

We started down the road at 7:30pm but since Jan had gotten up before I’d even intended to, we camped at a day use trailhead earlier than planned.

I was pretty frustrated with how it had a turned out. Just to rub salt in, a box of brownies mom had sent apparently showed up Mazama Village within an hour of me having gotten my package and presumed there were no other packages for me. I could have hiked back for the brownies but that would have felt tantamount to abandoning the Oregon in 2 Weeks Challenge.

Some of the high brow merch you can get at the Mazama Village Store.

Smoke from the fire pouring into Crater Lake. There’s a guy on the right side of the photo trying to take a picture of the lake.

Presumably, he got a picture like this. Crater Lake is formed in a caldera volcano. Is it about to blow?

Memories from July 31

Today was also focused on catching up to the Oregon in 2 Weeks Schedule. I’d have to make it 45 miles to Mazama Village at Crater Lake which didn’t happen. I only made it 35 and called it because I figured I’d still get in before the store where I’d had a resupply package shipped would open. Its too early to be tired due to sleep loss. The good part is that Oregon has finally produced some good views.

I had been flagging a little on the walk up to the ridge when I ran across a peppy hiker named Lefty whose bright manner was energizing enough that I was able to carry on pretty well until a downhill could pull me along independent of my own will.

Also worth mentioning is Maui who I’ve been leap frogging for a few days. He s a laid back type who hikes in board shorts and a straw hat. While he can be a little quiet until you get him going, he seems to love hearing about people and has an easy laugh which is triggered by the slightest humor. I find that breaks taken in his company are unintentionally long.
This burn must have been recent since, when I went to dig a cat hole, the top few millimeters of dirt were charred.

The ridge walk continued.

I passed the 1800 mile mark.

The campsite where I crashed tonight had another tent which I initially thought was unoccupied. About half way way through pulling my gear out for the night, a dreamy, stoner voice wafted out of the tent and with the salutation of, “greetings earthling” struck up a largely one sided conversation. It’s fascinating what people tell you when they’re high and need someone to talk to.

Memories from July 30

The big objective for today is getting back on track with the schedule to cross Oregon in 2 Weeks. It’s an arbitrary thing but helps time go by since most of what I passed today can be described as trees without a lot of adjectives.

Here’s a pretty representative picture of what today looked like except that it’s been graced by a reminder that politics happens, even in the woods. 

Apparently, I’m 2/3 of the way to Canada.

Several miles of path sewn with dirt and small, red pumice rocks which acted like marbles under the feet took me over an old lava field in the early evening. This was an interesting visual change but unwelcome by the feet.

I camped after dark as I’d stopped to catch up with Bert and Monique who I’ve been leap frogging with since I met them in South Lake Tahoe. There were a number of trees which had fallen acriss the trail which made going slow, especially in the dark. My intent had been to cover 43 miles but in the end I’d only made it 41. I finished listening to Pride and Prejudice today. I hope to start Dracula tomorrow.

Memories from July 29

This looks like a pretty nice place, right?

That’s why, when my resupply boxes delivery date was updated to today from yesterday, I was of the opinion that is would just hang around until the mail carrier dropped it off. Jan, however, caught a ride into Ashland since wanted to exchange his Darn Thoughs (Darn Tough socks have a warranty which lets you replace them if they have holes for the entire life of the sock which makes them the favored brand of sock for most through hikers I’ve met). While he was doing that, I took a bath in the Jacuzzi in our room. Perhaps we were each productive in our own way.

Jan showed up before the mail carrier with both our resupply boxes as I’d given him my ID to get my package from general delivery if he could. They even gave him a box for someone with my last name but a different first name. We left that one for the mail carrier to take back to General Delivery. By the time we’d repacked our backpacks, it was noon and we are lunch at the restaurant. Finally, by 2pm, we got back on the trail.

Since it was hot, we made the questionable decision to hike what we thought would be a shadier route back to the trail, then re-hike a mile or two instead of walking back up the exposed road we’d come in on. In practice, the route we took was steep enough that we were covered I sweat by the time we could start re-hiking back to the road where we’d gotten off to go to Callahan’s. In slightly mutinous mood, we considered just walking up the nearby I-5 to Canada.

The trail that evening started rather undecided as to whether it wanted to go up or down, switching frequently. Eventually, it decided to break out along a hill where we could see Pilot Rock.

Since we didn’t make it as far as planned, Jan and I decided to synchronize schedules for the Oregon in 2 Weeks Challenge but not hike together. He likes hiking later and I prefer to get up earlier. It’s easier to do big miles when you can do them the way you want but having the same schedule will keep us motivated knowing that the other is expecting to see him at each resupply.

Memories from July 28

Our campsite was really comfy last night and Jan didn’t want to get up for 5:30am reveille. I don’t normally set an alarm but we wanted to make to our next resupply, Callahan’s Lodge, in time for the bottomless pasta supper with the idea of getting back to the trail, even if not making it very far thereafter.

Less than a mile before the Oregon/California border, it appears that border security is suffering from California budget shortfalls.  

The border itself. Featuring myself and Jan’s finger.

The GPS agrees, we just walked across California. I’ll just let that sink in. It stall hasn’t for me.

My first impression of Oregon is that it would be pastoral but for the hills. Most of today looked like this.

It’s not uncommon to hear woodpeckers but this looks like a woodpecker hit squad was called in to “take care” of a particularly irksome tree.

We ran across some trail magic, two coolers of soda just after a break and so were forced to take another break. The sun was hot at the moment and it was hard to get going again.

Jan had been walking slower than me for most of the day but as we were closing on the day’s objective he came flying by as fast as I’ve almost ever seen anyone hike. He’d previously picked up a new blister and had been feeling crumby so instead slowing down and feeling sorry for himself, he’d decided to get it done ASAP.

Our resupply packages had not yet been delivered when we arrived at Callahan’s Lodge. Also, they had a special breakfast option for hikers with all you can eat pancakes. Also, they’d had a cancellation so we could split a room four ways for the same price as camping, laundry, and shower. So we got a room and it was nice. There was a balcony, fireplace, and hit tub. Despite going to dinner in a bathrobe (several other hikers did as well), I didn’t feel like hikertrash. Even for those without a room, there’s a large room off the entry way where hikers could explode their packs while repacking. Callahan’s is the classiest hiker friendly place I’ve experienced. In the end I only found one hiker besides Jan to split room so it was a little pricey for me since I’d put the room on my card but in return I got a king sized bed to myself. 

Memories from July 27

Jan and I woke up to a 4:30am alarm so we could finish the exposed section of the ridge before the heat was turned on. By early morning light, it was one of the better ridge walks of the trip because of the constant openness of the views because of the burn.

Shortly after our first stop to collect water I started to feel unsteady. Thinking back through what I’d eaten, I realized that that I’d barely had anything but sugar since yesterday morning (Campbell Soup seems to have gone for diet over hearty and so dinner last night, while surprisingly filling contained fewer calories than a pair of pop tarts). I took an emergency food break to stuff my face before continuing. Making such a beginner mistake this far into the trail made me almost feel ashamed. Several hours later, all that food kicked in and I ran on and off after a later water collection break to make myself feel like I was back in the game.

Jan and I camped about a mile short of the border between California and Oregon. I haven’t processed the fact that I’m within a relative hairsbreadth of having walked across California.