Pictures!

We finally narrowed down some 3,000 photos to just under 200.  It is so hard after seeing so much.  I am not quite sure 200 photos will cover all, but at least you will have an idea what trail life looked like.  Just clock on the link below and it should take you to a public Picasa album.

Enjoy!

https://plus.google.com/photos/114513904993281768335/albums/5930999795107355089?authkey=CIro2IiSu6yyeQ

Numbers and Spreadsheets!

The Numbers:
For those that like to geek out on the numbers, I compiled all the camping data that Tiffany and I tracked throughout the trip.  Wow, we took quite a few Zero and Nero Days.  We are getting close to having the photo slideshow ready!

The main summary:

This is day by day, every mile on the trail.  Well, kind of; I did not include any of our extra miles that may have been needed to get to and from a town or detours for things like the Paradise Cafe.

Enjoy!

 

Happy Trails!!!

Midnight Chocolate

Jump Photos

To hold everyone over until we can make our way through the thousands of photos; I pulled all of our jump photos to share.  This should begin to give you an idea of what life on the PCT looks like.

What is a jump Photo?
Simply what it sounds like.  You jump and the photographer tries to capture you in form at the apex of your jump.  When we started hiking we took a jump photo every day thinking we would "thru jump" the PCT.  We did a good job of capturing a photo every day until southern Oregon.  Soon we forgot or would not want to stop long in rainy weather.  So we thru jumped the California PCT and had a few throughout Oregon.

I have also included a few jump photo bloopers for added entertainment.  Sometimes it takes a few jumps to get the photo you intended.

Enjoy!

Link to photos:
https://plus.google.com/photos/111715315355412606520/albums/5927302975358287793?authkey=CL6E2--l3NTDnAE

Please let me know if the link does not work.  It should be a public link that anyone can view.

Stehekin to Manning Park

The Last 89 Miles of Trail: 
We took the first bus out of Stehekin to the PCT trail head.  Using the greatest of self control we both remained seated when the bus made its 5 minute stop by the bakery. We were dropped off at High Bridge at 9am.  With our bags full of food for the last time I looked at Tiffany, "Shall we finish this?"


I love the characters we meet on the trail and we kept meeting them to the end.  Halfway through our first day we took a snack break with Hiker Box Special and Yeti.  Yeti is also known as Joe Barbera. He is a lawn chair pilot.  Yes, believe it or not there is a whole community of people out there trying to fly their lawn chairs.  We found out not only was Yeti one of them, but he could quite possibly be one of the most famous lawn chair pilots of our time.  In an attempt to break the distance record in a lawn chair, he ended up breaking the altitude record (21,000ft).  The wind was not in his favor and a mishap in filling the weather balloons left him very short of his distance goal and high in a tree.  No joke, look him up.

We only intended to hike 15 miles on our first day, but the terrain was easier than we thought.  The first night we made it to Rainy Pass.  Yes, it did rain on us at Rainy Pass.  We went to bed hoping the forecast for one day of good weather on this stretch would be true.

The second morning it was overcast and a bit dreary.  We climbed to the crest line.  As we climbed higher the light rain turned into light snow.  The tops of peaks along the crest line had a dusting of snow that had lingered from the evening precipitation.  The clouds looked lighter the more we hiked and like they were lifting, but we had been so lucky with weather in the last 2,500 miles we knew it was probably only a matter of time before our time was up.  Maybe we wouldn't get our last day of sunshine after all.

We worried too soon!  We were delighted when we got to the Harts Pass ranger station.  The skies were clearing and the sun was poking through.  The nice ranger there let us into the residence for tea and to hear an updated forecast.  It looked like we would get two days of good weather on this last stretch.

Yeah! We hiked on from Harts Pass with a lighter step.  We already had some amazing views of the mountain rangers and there was more to come.  Again, I am not sure all the words I could put down would do justice to our crest line vistas.  Hopefully the soon to come pictures will be able to give you an idea.

Over the two days from Rainy Pass to Manning Park we saw more and more hikers who had finished.  Instead of crossing the northern terminus of the PCT into Canada and hiking 8 more miles to a highway some hikers choose to turn around and hike back to Harts Pass or Rainy Pass to get out.  Some, like Broken Toe, decided to turn around with no finishing destination in mind.  He spent a couple days at Manning Park, then decided he simply didn't want to stop hiking.  So for now, he is just headed south.

Several times we got, "Congratulations, you're almost there."  It made me feel excited,  like I was in a race, that moment when you turn the last corner and you can see the balloon arch marking the finish line.  We were truly on the home stretch.

The Finish Line: 

I had been to the northern terminus 8 years before, but this time it felt a little different.  It is actually a bit of an awkward, maybe anticlimactic feeling.  There is no crowd of excited spectators, no rock and roll theme music in the background.  You simply hike up to a wooden marker similar to the one you started at, and you are done.  We finished at 1:20pm with Hiker Box Special.  We made a couple whoops and shout outs telling the trees around us that we had just made it and high fived all around.  We signed the trail register and took a long break.  In some ways it was a bit of a relief.  I knew we were capable of completing the PCT, but at the same time I wondered, could we do this?  So to know that we HAD done it, felt good.

After our break we significantly slowed our pace and sauntered on to our last camping spot only 4 miles away.  We had a fire and drank hot chocolate reminiscing life on the trail.  In a strange way I think I was already beginning to miss it.  At dark we crawled into our sleeping bags for the last time.

Manning Park and Beyond: 
Our last morning we let ourselves sleep in and were slow to pack.  We were only 4 miles away from the trail head and we were trying not to be too early for our ride.  Despite the leisurely manner in which we went about the morning we had done this too many times before.  Our bodies are programed to wake up at 6:15am regardless.  Everything has a place in your bag.  We hit the trail at 7:30 to cover our last 4 miles.

We arranged for my parents to pick us up in Manning Park, BC.  Luckily they arrived early as did we!  Just as quickly as we were dropped off at the Mexican border and put into the PCT world, so were we whisked away in the car and put back into what we refer to as "society".  Thank you Mom and Dad for treating us to such a wonderful re-introduction back into society.

What comes after the PCT? I have come up with quite a few ideas over the last two states. You would think that with all this time to figure it out I would have chosen an idea and have a good plan. Nope, that is what these next few weeks are for. Decompressing, weaning myself off half & half, and figuring out what comes next.

I will follow this post with another one including a slideshow of photos from the trip.  Between Tiffany and I we have to sort through just over 3,000 photos.  It might take a week or two to narrow it down to decent number that will not bore everyone, but still provides a good sense of what the trail was like.  For the number geeks out there I will also include another post with complete trail statistics.

Happy Trails!!

Trail Statistics:
Miles: 2,660
Days: 156
Through Hikes: 1

Stevens Pass to Stehekin

The Dinsmore's:
This is another hiker-friendly trail angel making our resupply logistics easier. They live just a 24 mile hitch down from Stevens Pass. They used be closer 6+- years ago, but had to move when the river washed away their backyard and started to undermine their back deck. According to Andrea Dinsmore, the good thing about the move was that the new place came with a huge building in the back. Half of the building became Jerry's shop and the other half became a hiker bunk room.

Thanks to Gnome Sherpa and Oatmeal Stout for the most entertaining care package on the trail. We tasted just about everything except for the bacon flavored crickets. We experimented on some other hiker. After reviewing the subjects' feedback we decided to hiker box those gems.

Back on Trail:
The trail in Washinton continues to get more and more beautiful. I really cannot describe the views we are seeing in the Northern Cascades that would do them justice. You will have to wait for the pictures.

Despite the overwhelming beauty, our ever more dramatic views are starting to come at a price. On our third day out of town we completed an estimated 100 switchbacks in one day. Where did I get this number? On our climb out of Milk Creek drainage Tiffany counted 39 switchbacks in 2.5 miles. Taking this into consideration, when you add the switchbacks getting down to Milk Creek, then the switchbacks going down the other side of an equally steep Dolly Ridge I am estimating 100 or more switchbacks for the day. No exageration needed.

On our last night before Stehikin we camped around mile 2572, that meant we had less than 100 to the end of the trail. It seemed like it took us so long to get our first 100 miles under our feet. Now it seems like 100 miles is too short. How could we be so close? We reflected on the miles behind us and wondered what our last night in the tent was going to be like.

True to form, the Washington weather gave us a show to accompany our milestone. We heard the wind blow down the Agnes valley, then the flashes of light, then the thunder, then the later of the two clower together! After a week of beautiful days in Washington we knew it was only a matter of time before the rains would begin to fall.

Stehikin:
We got up at 5am to bust our butts to get the 8.2 miles to High Bridge in before 9am. We caught the first shuttle into Stehikin so that we could hit the PCT renound Stehikin Bakery before we started our town chores. From the begining of the trail we had heard stories about the pasteries we would find here. Maybe it is the atmosphere, maybe it was the flaky qiuche crusts, but it did not dissapoint this hungry hiker.

Stehikin is our last town stop before we hit the northern terminus of the trail on the Canadian border and hike into Manning Park were we can finaly call ourselves true thru hikers! In the post office here they had a trail register and what appeared to be the last ten years of trail registers. I was able to find the 2006 enteries from my Colorado friends Oatmeal Stout and Gnome Sherpa. We have a picture for you guys!

To the End:
As the fall colors descend upon the mountains and snow begins to show in the forecast, we will head out to finish our final miles of the PCT. I will head out with mixed emotions. I am so excited to reach the end, but so sad for the journey to end.

Happy Trails,
Midnight Chocolate
Trail Statistics:
Day:152
Miles:2580.2
Falls: 1

Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass

Snoqualmie Pass:

This is another small ski area we pass through. We were happy to get a room at the Summit Inn. After an early check-in we postponed showers for an afternoon breakfast at the adjoining pancake house. We both got the "Summit Breakfast" which included a plate of French toast, 3 eggs, hash browns, 2 pieces of bacon, and 2 pieces of sausage. Hiker hunger is settling back in through Washington, neither of us had any problems finishing our food. This was followed by my usual town craving, a pint of milk. Although I have started to enjoy half &half with its more creamy and full body flavor. Yes, I do believe I will have to start a training plan and put together a diet for when I am no longer hiking 20+ miles a day.

Surprise Trail Magic:

We hiked out of Snoqualmie Pass on Sunday afternoon. Being that this is on I-90 and only an hour drive from Seattle it was no surprise to find we didn't have the trail to ourselves. 

Passing day hikers up and down the trail you never think twice about sitting down for a chat. That was until we met 4 hikers from a hiking club in Seattle. They were taking pictures when we came upon them. As we passes they asked if we were hiking the PCT. Yes. They seem delighted. Where we thru hikers? Yes. I had never had someone so excited to meet us just because we were hiking the PCT. For a moment I thought maybe they were confused as to who I might be or what I might be doing. Nope, today they were specifically out hiking to run into PCT thru hikers and they got us!

We hiked with them for little ways and answered various questions regarding hiking and planning for the PCT. When we took a break with them we didn't realize what this would mean. They gave us sandwiches and some of the best coffee I've had. They sent us off with some candied walnuts. They were so nice to us, it made us feel almost famous.

Ups and Downs:

Washington is proving to be all that we heard about and more. We wind our way up and over high ridges leading to jagged peaks. Then we wind our way back down to a valley with one or two deep blue lakes. The scenery is so amazing.

With all these ups and downs by the end of our 2nd full day I felt pretty tired. Then I thought about our two days put together; we covered 50 miles and had 12,000 feet of elevation gain. That's like running the San Juan Solstice race. We did that with no packs, and a taper week leading up to it. No wonder I was feeling a little tired. Coming into Mig lake camp

Sir Poppins proclaimed, "The Northern Cascades, nature's Stair Master!" For the moment, my legs agreed.

Blasting Ahead:

Approaching the back side of the Stevens Pass ski area we saw a sign on the side of the trail warning us of blasting ahead. We had heard a few blasts earlier in the morning, but didn't know where they came from. Now we knew. The sign told us that three horn blows meant they where going to blast and one horn blow meant the blast was over. The problem with the sign however was that it gave no indication as to where they were blasting. Was there a blast zone? As we made our way through a talus/boulder field with tons of rock precariously balanced overhead I wondered; what the hell do I do if I hear three horn blows? If I run, do I go forward or back? They would surely mark the blast zone, wouldn't they? I shouldn't have dropped the Xanex in Oregon.....

Stevens Pass:

This is no more than another ski area (with some construction blasting) on a pass in Washington. To get to our resupply required a 24 mile hitch down to the small town of Baring. We heard from friends  that this was a difficult hitch. We were prepared for a longer wait. We saw quite a few cars pass us by. We tried to hitch from two motorcycles thinking that would be fun, but no they passed and waved. At least they were friendly. Then we saw a large flatbed truck of hay hauling a long flatbed trailer full of hay. Tiffany put her thumb down. I said "you never know, put your thumb back up." Sure enough the long load pulled over. The driver said he had to go so slow anyway he might as well be stopped. So we headed down the pass with a couple who own a lot of horses and their two dogs Max and Marvin. At first Marvin growled at Tiffany getting in, but half way down the pass he was in our laps licking our faces.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics:

Days: 147

Miles: 2,476

Explosions/Blasts: 5

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

White Pass to Snoqualmie Pass

White Pass:

We were both excited to get to White Pass. It had been 8 days since we had laundry or a shower. We were disappointed to find there was only laundry, but we took what we could get. 

White Pass is a small ski area in the winter. There is a hotel and the Cracker Barrel store and gas station where we picked up our resupply box. Thank you to our trail angels from Colorado for our surprise care packages. They made our day after the shower let down!

Back on trail:

From White Pass we headed up above treeline. It was fun to walk the high ridge line, the true crest. We had a great view of Crystal basin and the ski area there. Made me want to come back in the winter time.

We had a couple days of good weather before the rains and wet weather hit us. Although we would have preferred no clouds or rain at all, it was good timing for our views to be clouded. For two days the trail winds through clear cuts and logging roads.

Big Booms and Bangs:

On September 3rd at 9:40am we heard a very large boom. The noise was so loud and deep it made us pause and look around. There were no clouds in the sky big enough or dark enough for it to be thunder. It is a little unnerving to seemingly be in the middle of nowhere and hear this. Having no idea what it was I time stamped the incident. Maybe we would find out later what it was. We were at least happy that we both agreed that the noise seem to come from a South easterly direction. This was the opposite direction we were headed. So we continued on our way. As we walked we came up with a load of theories as to what we could have heard, some a bit more wild than practical.

We knew exactly where our second round of booms came from; thunder! We had a pretty gloomy day coming into Tacoma Pass. Our spirits were lifted by some trail magic hosted by "Not Phil's Dad". He had canopies with camp chairs set up for hikers. We chatted with Red and Andy DuFresne while we were served hot chili dogs. When it started to rain again we decided not to leave the comfort of the dry cover. We set up our tent in the area. When we went to bed the rain picked up and the thunder clouds rolled in. We had thunder and lightening for about an hour. Then the storm moved over the pass. I have heard thunderstorms referred to as bowling matches between the gods. If this is true, then I think all were out to play.  They were throwing fire balls down the lanes, maybe playing for believers. A couple of times we didn't have a chance to count a second between lightening and thunder and the thunder was so loud it seem to shake the ground and reverberate between the ridges on either side of the pass. This was accompanied by hard rains that created a waterbed under the floor of the tent until the ground had enough time to absorb all the water falling from the sky. All in all, we survived the night. We woke up a little wet, but not soaked. Washington was proving to be as wet as I remembered.

Snoqualmie Pass!

Yay! After 14 days without a shower, 5 days since our last laundry, and wet from multiple days of rain we were so happy to see the Summit Inn from the top of the ski slopes.

Trail Statistics:

Days:143

Miles: 2,402

Showers: 29

Sent thevia the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

Cascade Locks to White Pass

For the time being I am going to skip the Timberline to Cascade Locks post. In part because it was fairly uneventful, mostly because I am falling behind.

Cascade Locks:

Cascade Locks is a small town on the Columbia River. Nearing the bottom of the gorge and headed to the trail head we were greeted by Tiffany's sister. She hiked in to meet us before driving us into Portland. In Portland Tiffany and I went our separate ways. She spent time with her family. I went to my grandparents.

I washed Xena and must say I have never seen so much dirt come out of her fur. I had to rinse her before I washed her, then the wash, then rinse her three times before the water ran clear(er).

Being in Portland in such a familiar place was surreal. It is amazing how quickly it can seem like the trail doesn't exist.

Back on Trail:

From Cascade Locks the trail crosses the Columbia River via the Bridge of the Gods. You pay the 50¢ pedestrian toll at the booth and away you go. I did not realize two things; there is no sidewalk and the surface is large open grating looking all the way down to the river far below. While Tiffany was watching her spit fall to see how much hang time it got I stayed focused. I tried to look fairly cool about the whole thing, but I am not sure that was accomplished. I kept my left hand on the railing and focused my eyes on the other end the whole time.

Once the half mile bridge walk was over and I could breath again Tiffany and I joined my sister, her boyfriend, and a friend on the other side where they started hiking with us for a few days.

Berries and Poison Oak:

If we thought we had a lot of wild berries in the last stretch, this one beat it hands down. Climbing out of the gorge we had blackberries! They are in season and they are almost a weed at lower elevations in Oregon and Washington. As we climbed higher we got blueberries and blue and red huckleberries. You can pick and hike at the same time. Although sometimes you find yourself just standing there picking a handful. The fresh berries are so good. 

What is bad, poison oak. This also grows very well at lower elevations in Oregon and Washington. I tried to avoid as much as I could, but somehow I managed to swipe a leaf and transfer the oil to my side. I had a small patch on my right hip the first night, then a little bigger patch in the morning. After hiking and sweating for 7 miles the second day it was all over my right hip area. I was not happy to have to deal with this again.

Having Colleen and friends along was fun, but eventually they had to leave us. I asked Colleen what she thought of the hike. I don't remember exactly what she said, but something to the effect of "I had a good time, but confirmed this is not something I would like to do." Yes, there is a difference between backpacking and through hiking.

Aunt Jeannie and cousin Carol met us at forest road 23. It was here that I met a guy who had been following my register entries since Mexico. For some reason he really likes my hand writing, enough to inquire about a future marriage. I guess I'll have to see how he signs the next trail register.

Jeannie and Carol brought us our next resupply and a whole lot more. When they pulled up we had fresh fruit, beer, and extra bars. We loaded up and soon said our good-byes. This was also the end of the trail for Xena. She hiked over 400 miles with me from Diamond Lake. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be to see her go. For Xena on the other hand, she seemed pretty content to be in the cushy back seat of the car.

After forest road 23 the trail goes through Goat Rocks Wilderness. So far Goat Rocks has been my favorite section of trail. You hike above tree line, get amazing views of Mt Rainier, and the mountain range the trail winds through is stunning. Decending the ridge from Old Snowy mountain the trail goes right on top of the narrow ridge. This section is referred to as the knife edge. I was a bit apprehensive about this piece, but as it turns out, it wasn't too bad.

After 8 days with no shower or laundry we were ready for White Pass.

Trail Statistics

Days: 138

Miles: 2,303

Xena Days: 32

Shoes: 5

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4 G LTE smartphone.

Olallie Lake to Timberline Lodge

Olallie Lake Resort:

Olallie Lake Resort is another not so resort like place. More of an outpost in the middle of the woods.  It is one small building with a couple of items for sale and two refrigerators. One refrigerator had soda and gatorade, the other had beer. We sampled from both during our visit.

At the lake we met back with Turbo and Connie who had hiked ahead of us on our leisurely paced day. What made our visit to Olallie Lake special was Sam. Sam is the caretaker. Sitting at the picnic table in front of the store she brought out water for the dogs and fresh pineapple and cutting board for us. It is so nice to have fresh fruit on the trail.

Once finished with our soda we moved to the other refrigerator for our second beverage. Our options were limited to Coors light or Budweiser. At this time we were joined by Charlie (short for Charlie Chaplin) and Ranchita. As it turns out Ranchita was formerly Cowgirl. She was given this name for taking two weeks off the PCT to work on a farm. We, especially Tiffany, had been told about this "other" Cowgirl. Being that we were in front, Ranchita heard a LOT about Tiffany. Eventually Ranchita got her new name to avoid having the same name.

Back on trail with friends:

Beth and Shannon joined us for our hike from Olallie Lake to Timberline. After driving from Montana they got a ride from a friend who dropped them off at the lake. By late afternoon we were on our way. We didn't go far the first night.

The deal was that if they brought the chocolate and wine, Tiffany and I would carry it. After setting up camp, cooking dinner, and having some wine Tiffany and I got some lively entertainment. On their drive from Montana, Beth and Shannon re-wrote the words to Waterfalls to fit our PCT hike. It was hilarious in itself, but having them use their bachelorette party favor, the "pecker wacker", they brought along from Montana sent us rolling. I believe Tiffany posted the re-write on her blog.

The second evening we ran into a group of four friends Tiffany and I had not seen since they got off in Sisters. These 4 along with 7 section hikers camping near the same water source made for a lively evening. It was super fun to share the trail culture and camaraderie with our friends from "real life". We made a good dent in the 3 liter bag of wine and got Shannon and Beth to perform their rendition of Waterfalls again. All were impressed and entertained.

Berries! A wonderful bonus to this section were the wild blueberries and raspberries (I believe they were actually huckleberries and thimble berries). We thought we saw a lot on the last stretch, but this was crazy. There were so many growing right along the trail. We could pick them as we were walking by.

A new trail name:

If you are going to have a mishap on your adventure it is at least convenient when it is on the last day. This is what happen to Shannon and how she got her trail name. We had a road crossing! I am not quite sure how it happened, but as I came down the trail from signing a trail register I saw Shannon lying in the road. She was quick to remove herself from the traffic lane and Beth was there to help her move to the side of the road and inventory the damage.

It must have been the smooth even grade of the asphalt that threw her. When I asked her what happen she said she set out to run across the road, then bam! I looked at her and said, "there is no running in thru hiking". 

Further down trail while we were reminiscing the great fall and replacing another bloodied dressing on Shannon's chin, we came up with a few creative tail names. Asphalt Grinder, Biff, and Asphalt Emulsion are a few examples. Shannon didn't take to these, but eventually it was settled, her trail name is Road Runner.

We had two more road crossing before we made it to Timberline Lodge. Luckily both proved uneventful for all and we got Shannon and Beth back to their car with no further damage.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics 

Days: 126 

Miles: 2,107.3

Xena Days: 20

Big Lake Youth Camp to Olallie Lake

 

Our first night out of Big Lake Youth Camp we camped near a small pond.  It was here that Tumbleweed and Puma met up again after several months of planning.  They had met at the Saufley's (mile 450) and found they could both play the guitar.  Ever since then they had worked on finding and buying backpacking guitars, planning the pickup locations, and when they would be able to meet again.  It was here, about 1,500 miles later, that they were able to reunite with two guitars.  It was great to listen to them play together before we went to bed.

 

On our second day out of BLYC we met Connie.  Connie is completing a section of the Oregon PCT and started with little to no backpacking experience.  How did she get on trail?  She use to read an online newspaper column written under a pen name.  As it turns out the author decided to reveal her identity at the same time of her book release, Wild.  Ah, Ms. Sheryl Strayed strikes again.  Connie read the book and decided to give the PCT a try.  I don't believe she had any addictions to work through, but after living a very comfortable life wanted to know what it would be like to give up some of those creature comforts.  Some might give some criticism, but I say good job Connie for getting way outside your comfort zone and giving it a try.  When we ran into Connie and asked her how she was liking the trail she said she was getting lonely, particularly in the evenings.  We said there was no need to be lonely, and invited her to camp with us.  So for the next two nights the three of us camped together.

 

Hello Mt. Jefferson!  Having lived in Oregon for so many years before this I am disappointed not to have discovered Mt Jefferson until now.  I loved the Mt. Jefferson wilderness area and the peak itself looks amazing. 

 

We were told from a south bound hiker, Grapenuts, that the camping around Scott Lake in Jefferson Park was great.  It did look great, but we were near a forest road on a weekend which meant the place was crowded!  You get so used to having the backcountry all to yourself, you forget how to share it.  I went ahead of Connie and Tiffany to find us a spot.  I found a decent one, then lead them back to it.  Just as we were getting there an older man was walking through the spot.  I asked him where he was camping.  He said "right here, we beat you to it."  I don't know why this pudgy weekend hiker that had probably only carried his pack 5 miles got under my skin, but he did.  I said, "no you didn't beat me here, I was here before and just coming back." I stormed off, determined to find an even better spot, before he had the time of day to respond. Ha, and writing this now makes me laugh.  Where was my trail Zen?

 

Hiking into Ollalie Lake we got our first views of Mt. Hood and had some unexpected snow fields.  This snow was fun.  The snow was steep enough to shuffle/slide down, but not too steep you had to worry about any falling.  We met Turbo on one of these snow fields.  He was avoiding the snow until he saw Tiffany, the dogs, and myself having so much fun running down them.  We thought he was named Turbo because of his speed.  He is fast when he isn't going the wrong way, but his name comes from the sound his nose makes when he is breathing heavy.  I love trail names.

 

We came into Olallie Lake mid day.  Here we waited to meet up with two friends who would hike to Timberline Lodge with us.

 

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics 

Days: 123

Miles: 2,053.6

Xena Days: 17

Elk Lake Resort to Big Lake Youth Camp

Elk Lake Resort:

When we hiked into the resort we got there just before they finished serving breakfast. We split a breakfast sandwich and got two stouts. Then the disappointing news. They didn't have laundry. It had been 7 days and my clothes were starting to smell pretty rank. Oh well, we sorted our resupply, then ordered lunch.

At Elk Lake Resort we saw our friends Muppet and Stilts who we had not seen since Castella. It is crazy how long it can be before you see someone on the trail again.

Back on Trail:

We hiked out of the resort with Muppet and Stilts. That night we stayed in a meadow across from some weekend hikers. Watching them hang their food was our entertainment for the night. 

We hiked with Muppet and Stilts for the first few hours then they were off. We only had to make it to the "small lake", they had a few more miles. I would have considered our stop a small somewhat murky pond at best. Despite the questionable water source we had a pleasant evening. We camped with Tumbleweed who carries a backpacking guitar. After dinner he played his guitar and sang for us. Without our radio we forget how nice music can be.

We had a segment of trail which wound its way through the large lava fields around the 3 Sisters. The lava fields were amazing to see, but we worried about the dogs feet. I only had one set of booties for Xena. We decided to put booties on the front paws where most of the pressure is. This seem to work well a long as the dogs stayed on trail.

Big Lake Youth Camp:

This is a large hiker friendly youth camp just passed the 2,000 mile mark. We would have liked to celebrate the milestone with a frosty beverage, but apparently they don't keep this in stock for the kids. We settled for our resupply box, a shower, and clean laundry instead. In addition to this a were surprised with a care package from Colorado. We got a box of Twinkies and some twisted shots. We shared our Twinkies around the hikers picnic table with Ginger Beard Man, Tumbleweed, and Grapenuts. They were all impressed with the shots, but we decided to save those for later.

With clean clothes and full food bags we headed back out.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics 

Days: 120

Miles: 2,001

Xena Days: 14

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

Hwy 138 to Elk Lake Resort

We are both taking our dogs from Hwy 138 to Cascade Locks. The temperatures are averaging 20 to 30 degrees cooler and the distance between water is shorter than when I last had Xena. So far this has proved much better conditions for her.

I am happy that the weather suits Xena, but it seems to be awakening the dragon in Sleeping Dragon (her trail name).  The first night we camped just past Theilsen Creek in a flat spot on the inside of a large bend in the trail. While we packed up camp in the morning I let Xena run around. Both Xena and Lexi went zipping to and from smells around camp. They got each other super amped up. When they saw their first hiker rounding the bend they shot straight for them. They jumped all around them and barked. Aye yi yi! Tiffany and I ran after the dogs and apologized profusely. I think they were mostly super excited, but the last thing we want to do is have other hikers mad at us because of our dogs. Ever since then they get tied up in the morning until we are moving forward. They have too much energy when they are fresh.

On our fourth day we had two big thunderstorms roll over us. Lexi is terrified of thunder. I think she must be able to sense the change in air pressure when a storm is coming. Late morning we were sitting in the sun at a small creek under Diamond Peak. Before we left I noticed Lexi shaking and she started to whine a little. 30 minutes later we found out why. 

Rolling thunder and huge clouds filled the sky above. Eventually the thunder got close enough we decided to head down! The trail follows the ridge on Diamond Peak and we knew we had another exposed section ahead. We headed down a drainage towards more dense forest. We tucked ourselves under a cluster of smaller trees within a large area. The louder the thunder got the harder Lexi shook and the more she would pant. They both really disliked the hail. We covered the dogs with our sitting pads when it first started. When the hail got bigger we spread the Tyvek ground sheet out and held it over all four of us. Eventually the hail went away and the rain eased. We decided to hike out of our drainage.

The sky was lighter above but we could see more weather coming our way. A few miles later we decided to put the tent up and let the next storm pass. We had lost a lot of elevation and found a camp spot just uphill from a small pond. Once in the tent we covered Lexi with a jacket and a sleeping bag. This seems to help calm her. She hides her whole body in the sleeping bag. When the claps of thunder from the second storm came and the hail pelted the tent all you could see was a shaking sleeping bag in the middle of the tent. 

We waited out the rain of the second storm before hiking on. We only hiked a few more miles to our camp for the night. Needless to say both dogs were exhausted. Once in the tent, they did not stir till morning. In total we waited out 5 hours of bad weather that day. It was our forth day of rain since leaving the cabin. This is the weather that reminds me of why Oregon is so green. It also gets old super fast. I hoped the forecast for brighter skies was true.

On this stretch we brought less food per day since we knew our miles per day would be lower with the dogs. I am not so sure this was a good idea. On our fifth night out I was surveying my food bag for extras that would not take too much from the next two days of food. There wasn't much surplus. Tiffany was in the same situation. We settled for a couple spoonfuls of sunflower seeds. About 15 minutes later I fed Xena and Lexi some of their venison glucosemine treats. When I opened that bag it smelled so good. Hmm, this cannot be good. I tested Tiffany. I put a treat under her nose. "Does this smell good?" I felt better about myself when she said, "yeah, smells good, what is it?" I waved around the bag of dog treats. We both laughed at ourselves. Now our hopes for Elk Lake Resort were set high. We heard they had good food. Although from this little incident, it doesn't seem it has to be too good.

The night of the dog treat incident we camped at Lake Charlton. This is very close to a gravel road. There are huge family tents and people practically car camping. To further torture our senses, when we left camp that morning we could smell someone cooking bacon.

As we slow down our pace for the dogs we are starting to see other thru hikers pass. It seems like every day the number walking by during our breaks increases. The "pack" must be catching up to us.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics 

Days: 118

Miles: 1,959

Xena Days: 12

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

At The Cabin

Our rest at my parents cabin was 3 days and our longest break from hiking. The first night there were 8 hikers including Tiffany and I. My Mom insisted on cooking for us all. I warned her about how much hikers could eat.  She hoped they ate like cannibals. I told her I was not sure she really understood how much they could put down, but they would certainly eat whatever she put in front of them.

When we arrived at the cabin Mom had us draw cards for the shower line-up. In between the shower rotation we drank beers and Jimmy Buffet Margaritas. Mom set out a serving line for taco salad. In less than an hour it was all gone! Mom was delighted not to have to put away leftovers, but as hikers continued to snack throughout the evening she was amazed. Later she would say, "now I know what you mean when you say they eat a lot".

The fire danger was too high to have a campfire in the ring in front of the cabin. We all still migrated to the sitting logs around the ring anyway. Like usual we swapped some more hiker stories. Below is one of my favorite.

That's All I've Got:

A hiker has a bear wander up to his camp. He puffs out his chest, bangs his trekking poles together, and yells at the bear to go away. The bear pauses for a moment and looks at this odd human in bewilderment. The bear does not appear to be frightened like it should be. The hiker continues his bear scarring act, but a horrifying thought comes to mind. 'This is all I've got'. There is no bigger set of trekking poles or step two in bear encounters. Luckily for this hiker the bear lost interest and sauntered off.

Luckily for most of us out here usually only park bears are so casual around humans. All bears we've seen are scared away.

The first night we found a bed for everyone in the cabin. Between Dad and a few of the other guys, earplugs were the only way I was getting any sleep through the snoring. Although this didn't keep me from hearing T Grit's nightmare. In the middle of the night I heard a loud "Oh shit", then a thud. In the morning the household found out that T Grit had dreamt that a wall was falling on him. When he woke up under the pitched roof he yelled and thrust his hands to support the falling wall of his dream. Gavin in the bed next door suggested he turn the light on. When Grit came to a full awareness of his surroundings he said he was okay and went back to join the snoring choir.

The second night we were joined by Two Step & Split. I think the core cabin crew was tired from the night before. We enjoyed a more subdued dinner with the 6 of us and went to bed fairly early. The second night on a bed was even better than the first.

The 3rd and 4th night at the cabin was just Mom and Dad and Cowgirl and me. This worked out well for relaxing, taking the time to organize our resupply for Portland, and coordinating the upcoming hiking with friends. Cowgirl soaked her feet several times in an Epsom salt bath she hopes will help with her foot pain. I joined in a couple games of Boggle with Mom and Cowgirl. I play more for the entertainment value of others. After dinner the four of us also played a couple rounds of Rummy.

All in all our cabin stay was what we had hoped for. With Mom's home cooking we certainly made up for any calorie deficit we had and then some. Wednesday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and packed our bags.  To quote someone from our anti-campfire night, "the trail isn't all back flips and fireworks is it?"  We headed back to the trail.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics

Days: 112

Miles: 1,852

Showers: 25

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

Ashland to Hwy 138

To get back to the trail from Callahan's Lodge we had to cross under the interstate and walk about 1 mile of old Hwy 99.  Road walking is not so fun.  We heard Gumby and Double-It might have got on trail just before we did.  It was true!  About 2 hours into the hike we ran into them at our first water stop.  It is always fun to be reunited with friends you have been hiked with throughout the trip.  We hiked with them on and off for the rest of the day.

The 4 of us camped at a trail side camp near Hyatt Lake.  We were all disappointed by the condition of the lake water.  We had thoughts of swimming, but the water was murky and almost too warm to seem sanitary.  We settled for a chat at the picnic table and watching Double-It boil over his cooking pot twice.

Gumby and Double-It were taking an alternate route, walking a portion of the Oregon Skyline Trail.  We decided we would meet back up with them in two days and the four of us would partake in the all you can eat pizza at Mazama Village restaurant as described in Yogi's trail guide.  Hiking out of Hyatt Lake was one of our smokiest mornings yet.  It was super thick smoke that impeded any view we would have had.  Yuck!

In order to get to Hwy 138 by the time we told Mom and Dad we would meet them we had to book it.  We had a 29 mile day.  We came into camp just as it was getting dark and dark clouds were rumbling in the distance.  Sometimes we feel like our timing is so lucky.  Not 10 minutes after we found a spot and got all our things in the tent we heard rain drops.  Yeah, we made the right decision not to hike on.

On the 4th day out of Ashland we met back up with Gumby and Double-It and made our way to the Mazama Village.  We were all excited for our pizza.  All excited for nothing.  We found out they have not had the all you can eat pizza for several years.  Damn you Yogi!  We settled for the all you can eat soup and salad bar.  We must have started to eat real fast and/or smelled really bad.  A restaurant patron sitting at the table next to us kept looking over at us as if we were a show.

On the last day before Hwy 138, the trail goes through Crater Lake NP.  You have an option to take the Equestrian (still the official) PCT or the Hiker PCT.  We opted for the Hiker PCT because it goes up to and follows the rim of Crater Lake.  Crater Lake was created thousands of years ago when Mt. Mazama blew its top and caved in on itself creating a huge hole.  Over time rainwater cooled the bottom of the crater, sealing the bottom, and filling it with water.  Nearly 2,000 ft deep, the lake is the deepest in North America.  It is also known for its clarity, being able to see as far as 130+ feet into the deep blue water.  

We got to the rim early in the morning along with Lodgepole, Maverick, and Gavin.  Luckily we had clearer skies and great views of the lake as we hiked around the rim.Once leaving the rim the trail heads straight north to Hwy 138 through pumice fields, dry forests and lots of down trees.  We had to step, jump over, and make our way around over 100 down trees in this short stretch of trail.  It seems that National Parks have both the best and the worst trails.  Any trail near the tourist hot spots are wide and well maintained.  Get outside of that 2 mile radius and you have some of the worst maintained trails on the whole PCT.  Or so it seems.

Cowgirl and I were the first to arrive at Hwy 138 at 4:15pm.  About 1/2 mile before we got to the highway Cowgirl had a wiggly waggly reunion with her dog.  We sat with Cowgirl's parents while Lodgepole, Maverick, Gavin, Gumby, and Double-It hiked into the highway junction.  As scheduled my parents showed up at 5pm.  We all jumped into the cars and were off for our 3 days of rest at my parents cabin.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics

Days: 108

Miles: 1,852

Days of Poison Oak: 15

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

Seiad Valley to Ashland

Hiking out of Seiad Valley is one long hot climb through a burn area from last years fire.  We were so tired from a long and late 32 mile day coming into Seiad that we wanted a little extra sleep, but also didn't want to get out too late to avoid any heat possible.  The forecasted high was 107 degrees.  We settled on getting up at 6am with a 7am start. The climb was hot as promised and smokey.  We did not know what fire the smoke was coming from.  On the way up we met two other hikers at our water stop.  With all the heavy smoke in the surrounding hills we asked them if they knew anything about the fires causing all this smoke.  They looked at us quizzically, "what do you mean, what fire?".  At first I kind of laughed, then realized they were not joking.  Hmm, sometimes I am not sure about the instinct of other hikers.  They did light up a cigarette during the break, maybe the air is all the same. 

As we have entered Northern California and even into Southern Oregon we have heard bells.  When we first heard them we thought someone was camping along the forest roads.  We soon found out these were cow bells.  For some reason I do not associate herds of cows with cow bells in the national forest lands of this area.  I feel like this should be found traveling through the alps of Europe.

On day 102 we crossed the Oregon/California border.  It seemed so far away and to take so long, but all of the sudden we were there.  The further we hike the faster time seems to go by.  I feel like it took us forever to get to mile 100, and now it seems like we pass 100 miles without thinking about it.  The desert, then Kennedy Meadows, the Sierras. As we hike on they slowly fade to the background and are becoming memories from miles past.  So as I waved goodbye to my native state of California, I walked into my home state of Oregon.

When we hiked into Ashland, I actually mean that we hiked into Callahan's Lodge.  Callahan's is just off of I-5 within Ashland city limits.  Many hikers get rides into Ashland to buy their resupplies throughout Oregon.  We already have our Oregon resupplies in boxes with Mom and Dad and we had a package waiting for us at Callahan's Lodge that will take us through our next stretch.

Callahan's Lodge is a hiker friendly lodge that offers showers, laundry, camping and a Hiker Dinner.  The dinner was an all you can eat pasta dish.  By the time we showered and ran a load of laundry we were hungry and ready to tackle the hiker dinner.  We heard of other hikers eating 2 and 3 plates full of pasta.  When our heaping plates of pasta came we dove in.  Sadly though, we cannot compete with other hikers and their hunger.  I ate my salad, two homemade dinner rolls, and 3/4 of my plate of pasta.  Tiffany almost finished her full plate of pasta.  I think our stomachs are actually shrinking.  We eat a lot throughout the day, but not all at once.

Full of pasta and beer we pitched our tent in the backyard of the lodge.  What a luxury to have soft grass and level ground!  I still had poison oak and went through my routine application of pink calamine over my calves, ankles, and feet.  I started to tape my heels and toes as these seemed to itch the worst at night and while hiking.  The tape seemed to avoid some of the aggravation from the shoes and kept me from scratching the skin to bloody sores.  That night we fell asleep with a thick smoke descending over the Ashland valley and Callahan's Lodge.  I could not say I was too excited to wake up and start hiking in that the next morning.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics

Days: 103

Miles: 1,727

Days of Poison Oak: 10

Bears: 5

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

Etna to Seiad Valley

Etna:

Yeah, a brewery! Etna is a small town just a 15 mile hitch from the trail. Cowgirl, Emperor, and I got a ride in the back of a beat up pickup truck. Once in town we checked into a motel and started town chores. The lady at the motel made our day when she offered to throw a load of laundry in for us in between one of the motel loads. This allowed us to shower and hang out in the room while the laundry was being done. Much better than walking down the street wearing our rain gear in the heat of the day.

With fresh clothes we headed to the brewery. Finally I had a stout! I also got a Ranchero BLT, this is a BLT with cream cheese. So good! On our way back we shopped at the small grocery store for a resupply.

That night there was rain off and on when a thunderstorm rolled through. We were delighted to be indoors watching trash TV and eating microwave burritos. My poison oak was still bad. So i enjoyed the burrito and tv in my underwear with pink calimine lotion smothered all over my legs. Reflecting back on this, I must have made quite the spectacle.

The next morning we slept in, then had breakfast at Bob's Café. I had French toast, then another half order of the French toast. Maybe hiker hunger is setting in.

Back on trail:

We got a hitch to the trail by 10:30am and were off. Our wildlife count was down until this stretch. We saw two bears on our first day out of Etna Summit. One was a cub running across the trail. We were a little concerned about where the momma was, but never saw her. We had two rattlesnakes rattle at us on the side of the tail. 

The first night we stayed next to an old creepy cabin. Poor choice. There were so many noises that came out of that place. I took two Benadryl to help with the poison oak. I was so sleepy and just told Tiffany to nudge me if she heard a noise she was concerned about. Bats living in the cabin took to the sky just after dusk. They seem to enjoy buzzing the tent. Sounds cool, but I got a nudge every minute. Finally I said only big noises. I got one final nudge before I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Cowgirl was left to defend the tent alone. I don't think she slept very well. I on the other hand didn't move till the alarm went off.

Day 100

We survived the bats and curious deer!

Our second day was another long one, 32 miles into Seiad Valley. We decided to do this because Seiad is a super hot spot with a 6 mike road walk. We wanted to make sure we did the road walk later in the evening to beat the heat. We saw two more bears! Again one was another cub. I got to watch it climb a tree. Note, climbing a tree will not save you from a bear. They are really fast tree climbers.

We were pretty tired when we got to the road and it was super hot. At times we had a breeze, but it was not so satisfying. It was a warm furnace breeze. We were happy when we got to the Seiad Valley RV park at 8:30pm.

Seiad Valley:

Seiad is a small town of 350 people. There is a post office, small store, RV park, and small restaurant. We didn't stay long enough to visit more than the RV park. We came in, showered, and organized our resupply packages. We also had another wonderful care package waiting for us here. Incidently our friends sent us socks. This was just as I had punched my fourth hole through my two well worn out socks I was wearing.

Once organized for an early departure I tended to my poison oak. I was able to get the blistered patch on my left thigh to heal, but it had spread to calves and toes and somehow jumped to my right thigh. Not being able to shower and wearing the same clothes every day does not help in healing poison oak.

Trail Statistics

Days: 100

Miles: 1,662

Days if Poison Oak: 7

Bears: 5

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

Castella to Etna

$1 Shower and Laundry: 

Before I dive into this segment I would like to preface this with letting everyone know that I prefer machine washed clothes. I would gladly pay the usual $5 to run a load of wash through at the local laundry mat. However, in this town stop there is no such option and I must resort to creative measures to wash some of the sweat and grime from my clothes. Here in lies the art of the $1 shower and laundry cycle.

The cycle begins with the shake out and strip down. You want to make sure you have everything in order before you start to maximize your time once you put your quarters in. Once you have all clothes to be laundered in a pile under the shower head and you yourself are ready to jump in, grab your quarters. It's shower time! Plunk your first 2 quarters in the shower machine. You want to start with a quick scrub of the legs to get the major dirt off. Then stomp on your clothes and lather up. The soap suds from your shower wash down to your clothes. Stepping on the clothes pile neads the soap in. After 5 minutes the shower stops. Then you get down to the dirty work. With your bar of soap continue to lather and suds your clothes and make sure you have the extra dirty parts and pieces scrubbed well. Time for round two; the rinse cycle. Plunk your remaining two quarters in the shower. Finish any showering necessary, then dance! Fast feet work best to continue to work the soap through the clothes and rinse. After your second five minutes is up you have a clean body and clean(er) clothes. Wring most of water from clothes then hang dry on food hanging line tied between two trees.

Goodbye Xena:

The morning I left Castella Mom and Dad picked up Xena. I would have felt more sorry for Xena if she didn't look more excited to see Mom & Dad than when she first saw me. Even still I was very sad to see her go. I heard later that once home she didn't do much more than sleep for the next two days. Maybe a good decision to send her home.

Poison Oak:

Unfortunately the most memorable part if this section was my poison oak rash. I must have picked it up on my bare legs on the way into Castella. The night at the state park I had a horrible bug bite on my left thigh that I scratched all night. Turns out it was not a bite, but poison oak. I managed to irritate and spread it all over. I got it on the back of both knees, on my thigh, and for extra discomfort a small patch where the sun don't shine. Itchy! The worst was the large patch on my left thigh which blistered. I put anti-itch cream on it, but it was still a tough mental challenge not to touch my legs.

On trail:

The trail from Castella to Etna takes you through Castle Crags and then through the Russian wilderness. Pretty and hot! It was nice to gain some elevation again so we had cooler nights, but the heat persisted throughout the day. There was one day that I noted beginning to sweat by 8:30am. 

In this stretch we decided to try for our first 30 mile day. We wanted to see what our bodies could do. Also this set us up for a 25, then 9 mile day into Etna. We did it! Although, we were very tired at the end of the day. I fell asleep so fast that night!

With our easy 9 miles out to Etna Summit we were able to get a hitch and be in town by 11am!

Trail Statistics

 Miles:1606

 Days:98

 Days of Poison Oak:5

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™II Skyrocket™ an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.

Burney Falls to Castella

We tried to sleep in at Burney Falls, but 6am was as late as we could stay in our bags. Chief was already on the trail and other hikers were slowly packing their things and heading off. Cowgirl and I helped Maureen clean up camp then rode with her into the town of Burney.

Burney:
Driving through Burney we looked for a coffee shop or small deli. We settled for a picnic table near a drive through coffee hut. This is were we stayed and had a mid morning lunch with Maureen. Eventually she left us to shop and be on her way to find the next spot she would meet up with Chief.

We found out Gumby and Double-It were in town, so then walked over to their hotel. This is where we waited for my parents to arrive with Xena.

I was so excited to get Xena for the trail. She arrived in style. Apparently the nearest car rental had not updated their fleet since the early 80s. She floated in on an old Murcury boat. When she lept out of the car she was full of tail wags and excited to greet the other hikers. Thank you to Mom and Dad for delivering her!

That night our group grilled brauts and drank beer at the picnic table outside our rooms. I was even able to get Mom and Dad to join in my daily jump photo.

We got another sleep in day, what luxury! Once packed and sorted Cowgirl and I went to breakfast with Mom and Dad. Back at the hotel we wrote a few more creative postcards, then made or way out of town. Mom and Dad dropped our now group of three off at the state park.

Back on Tail:
First day out we hiked in the heat of the day. Not a good idea with a furry dog. It took us a while to go only a few miles. Once we arrived at Rock Creek and our stopping point, Xena went for a swim. I am not sure she intended to go so far in by the surprised look in her eyes, but she didn't seem to mind as it cooled her off quickly.

The next day we got up at 4:30 to avoid hiking through the hottest part of the day with Xena. The day was fairly warm, but we were able to hike until 1pm. Then hiked again after 4:30pm. Xena was no problem in the tent that night, she slept the  hardest.

The next two days got hotter and we had to take longer breaks in the day to avoid the heat. Xena was still getting her trail legs, but the heat would easily do her in.

We have yet to see any of the wildlife in this stretch. We had heard many tails of bear and mountain lion sightings. We had seen a lot of bear scat on trail ourselves. The scent of dog must have kept them all away.

By the the fourth day we realized that the maximum mileage we could get in one day with Xena was going to be 20 miles. If the days got hotter, this could drop to 15. Our options to remedy this was getting up even earlier and hiking till much later or pushing her through the heat of the day. The forecasts were showing 100 degree highs for Castella and 110 for Seiad Valley. I was beginning to realize I might have a dilemma.

By the 5th day we were breaking by 11:30am. The only reason we made it so late was because we were hiking on a west facing slope. The hill's shadow provided shade for the majority of the morning. We crunched some trail numbers to figure out how we could avoid hiking in the heat, but also avoid super early and super late hiking. We could do it, but we would slip behind schedule. A decision had to be made.

We were okay with a little slip behind the schedule, but with friends and family joining later down trail we were concerned we might find ourselves too far behind. We really want to try to avoid hiking through snow in Washington. The major decion maker was not wanting to push Xena through the heat. It is one thing for us to suffer willingly through it, but I don't feel right making Xena deal with it.  Where we got phone service I began to make plans with Mom and Dad to pick her up.

Of course the morning of our 6th day Xena woke up excited and ready to go. Maybe it was the same excitement of the previous mornings, now I just had a guilt about plans to send her home.

We had a nero day into Castella. I was glad to walk the last 2.8 mile of road in the cool of the morning. Despite my guilt and disappointment in sending Xena home, as the temperatures rose quickly I felt like I was making the right decision.

In Castella Cowgirl and I had late morning breakfast burritos and coffee and picked up our resupply package and another great surprise package from a friend. This was all at a small hiker friendly market next to the PO.

By mid morning we made our way to the hiker/biker camp at the state park for the rest of the day.

Happy Trails!

Trail Stats:
Mile: 1,506.5
Day: 93
Showers: 18

Old Station to Burney Falls

We left Old Station a little later than intended. Maureen lured me in with fresh coffee, then Cowgirl, and before we knew what to do we had a hot stack of blueberry pancakes placed in front of us. Yes, we had another great breakfast before our start out of Old Station.

The plan for the day was to hike the first 7 miles in the morning. Stop for a long mid day break. Then continue on to the Road 22 cache where we hoped there would be water (17 miles in to a potential 34 mile waterless stretch). If there was no water there this could end up being a parched walk for us.

On our hike to an overlook, that would be our rest stop during the heat of the day, we took a detour to the Subway Cave.  This cool subterranean walk is 1/3 mile long through a lava tube. The lava rock  floor is very uneven. Combine this with the narrow cone of light from your headlamp and you sometimes feel like you have vertigo. We turned our lights off in the middle of the cave. This is what "pitch black" really is. Lucky for us there was light at the end of the tunnel despite the disturbing name "rattlesnake collapse" at the end. Climbing out of the cave the temperature rose back up 20 degrees and we headed back to the trail.

We arrived at the overlook and our mid day waiting area around 11:30am. The sun was already hot and the only shade was on the backside of the pit toilets. Lucky for us we arrived just behind Chief and he was on the same game plan and... Maureen was there with the camper. So we had an alternate option for shade other than toilets.

About 4:30pm we pulled ourselves away from Maureen's traveling vortex. We made our way across the top of Hat Rim. About half way to Rd. 22 there is an abandoned lookout and weather station with several roads nearby. It was nearing 8:30pm and we knew our sun light was fading fast. By the map it appeared that we could take a road paralleling the PCT. The road would be less overgrown and in the fading light we wouldn't have to worry as much about stumbling over the bulbous lava rock trail.  We happily took off down a well graded wide road hoping to sneak into camp just under the last rays of light. In 5 to 10 minutes there was a feeling of unrest. Something wasn't quite right and upon further thought the terrain wasn't matching up with the topo maps. As it turned out our brilliant idea led us in the wrong direction. We were glad to catch our mistake so early, but still lost 20 minutes of light. Frustrated we trod back to the junction. Near the junction I found the road we had intended to take in the first place. It was very overgrown and looked worse than taking the trail. Mental note; not all red roads marked on the topo maps are equal in width, maintenance, or general appearance.

Yeah! We made it to the Rd 22 cache at 9:15pm and it had lots of water. We took about two liters each and then found a flat spot for the night. There were limited flat and smooth spots large enough for the tent footprint so we ended up camping next to Chief. For the first time on the trail we cowboy camped. With little light pollution and close to a new moon the stars were amazing.

From the Rd 22 cache we slowed down. We only had 25 miles and 2 days to get to Burney Falls State Park. We did still get a decent start to the day in order to avoid hiking through the heat over the more open lava beds. On our leisurely stroll we ran into an asphalt truck driver where the trail comes near a road under construction. He was surprised to see hikers wandering so close to the road. We had a brief conversation, and before he said good bye he offered us two cold drinks. He said his son worked for this small company, Yerba Matte. What a coincidence, my brother was just working with a film crew at our family cabin this winter filming an advertisement for this very drink. Sometimes the world seems so small.

The second exciting event to our day of leisure was seeing Anish (sp?) fly by us. She is trying to beat the PCT record, obtaining the fastest known time. Ironically we were taking a 3 hour nap by a small stream to beat the heat after doing about 10 miles. I would guess that when she waved hello and sped past she already had 25 to 30 miles in for the day.

That night we camped in a not so picturesque, but flat spot within 10 miles of Burney falls state park. This gave us an easy morning hike into the park. We choose to take an alternate route into the park. This alternate follows the main creek and begins at the headwaters spring. The creek starts as a muddy pool then gradually gets larger as the bed elevation drops and more springs and underground streams find their way into the drainage. This is caused by the porous and non-porous layered geology in the area. Eventually the large creek cascades over the side of a rock band creating Burney Falls.

Once in the park we found the general store and got down to business. First up, we got a swirled soft serve ice cream; followed with a chocolate milk, then a package of meat and cheese for lunch. ...maybe we are not losing weight for reasons other than being girls.

While polishing off the rest of our lunch we watched hikers come and go. Most of them where staying at the park and before too long the picnic table we were at was full. Then we got kicked out of the vicinity for drinking beer on the patio of the general store. We all moved to the campground with Chief and Maureen where alcohol was allowed.

That night 10 hikers camped together. We polished off 6 or 7 packages of hot dogs (I think Maverick won eating 10) along with too many beers and some "Redneck Red" wine. Luckily for Cowgirl and I we knew Saturday was a sleep in day because we were meeting my parents in Burney to get my dog Xena.

Happy Trails!

Trail Stats:
Mile: 1,423
Day:86
Showers: 16
Bears: Still 1

Belden to Old Station

Belden:
Belden is a super small town stop on the trail. Crossing over the tracks you literally cross over into a whole new world. The town is known for its weekend raves.  The PCT takes you right through the heart of the festivities. It appears to be a cross between country fair, burning man, and hipster hang out. We looked quite out of place walking through the hordes of bikini and board short clad campers, some carrying around decorated parasols. The quiet of the trail leaves you in a bit of shock when you are all of a sudden around so many people.

In recent years they closed the post office at Belden. If you want to receive a package you have to mail it to The Braatens. These are local trail angels that take hikers in and hold resupply packages. Luckily, they live far enough away we could not hear the rave music through the night.  We picked up not 1, not 2, but 4 packages here. We were lucky enough to receive 2 care packages on top of our normal resupply and new sleeping pads. Thank you to all of those who wrote us such nice notes and words of encouragement. This helps us keep on truckin' even on those rare difficult days. I will note the gift that received the most laughs and questioning looks was the paddle ball and condoms package. "Why..." And "who...". We had to explain our failed badminton conquest. This combined gift could only come from my physical education and heath teacher friend. Keeping us active and safe...

Back on trail:
Once again, what goes down usually climbs straight back up. We got an early start on our day out of Belden. The trail climbed for 5,000 feet out of town through a South facing exposed burn area. We knew if we hit it early enough we could stay in the shade of the hillside until we were through the burn. Luckily the climb only took half the day and the rest was on easy rolling terrain.

Our second day out of Belden we hit a major milestone. The Halfway Marker! It felt so great to reach it, but also to know that we still have 1,325 more miles of great hiking ahead of us. The only downside to the day was that it was one of my worst days. I was happy to make it to the halfway marker, but wanted the day to be over so I could fall asleep and wake up to a whole new day. I am not sure why, but for some reason I woke up exhausted. I felt like I was drugged. I also had rapid movement diarrhea. Crappy! (literally) I went slow and it seemed like all I could do to make it our 21 miles that day.

Luckily my halfway hell day did go away. The third day out proved to be much better hiking for me. I must have slept hard, because I don't remember waking up at all that night. Usually I wake up at least once or twice during the night. Our third day we entered Lassen National Park.

At the recommendation of our guidebook we had intended to stop in at the Drakesbad Ranch for a drink and possibly dinner before finishing our last 2 miles of the day. When we got to the turn off we found two other hikers. It turns out management had changed recently and dirty hikers trash was no longer welcome. Oh well, we had a snack and settled on a new camp spot a little further up trail. However, we got side tracked just a half mile down trail walking through the Warner Valley campground. Chief was camping with his wife near the trail. We greatfully drank an ice cold lemonade and visited before intending to head out. Then Chief said his wife, Maureen, was slack packing him tomorrow and offered us the same option. Hmm, it didn't take long for us to decide that making this our stopping point for the day and getting more miles in tomorrow without a heavy pack was a darn good idea. Then we switched from lemonade to beer.

Slack packing:
Slack packing is when someone takes the majority of what you normally carry in your bag for you and you hike with just what you will need for the day. We were so lucky to have this opportunity. We were also lucky to camp with Maureen. She made us fruit, bread, and eggs for breakfast before we set out at 6am.  I kind of felt guilty passing Lefty with my next to nothing bag.

In addition to our wonderfully light bags we also received a little trail magic. 3 miles out of Old Station we saw a banner on the left side of the trail reading "Hiking Fools". We veered left on a path that lead us out to an open camp area with a ring of camp chairs, coolers, and our hosts, Pocahontas and Legasouras. They hiked the trail previously and have come back to provide trail magic. We enjoyed cold soda, watermelon, and bagels with Chief and Mr. Clean.

Old Station:

We rolled into Old Station around 3pm.  What a luxury to cover 24 miles before 3pm.  We found Maureen at the Hat Creek RV park and campground.  Thank you so much to Maureen for shuttling our extra gear around for us.  What a life of luxury.  At the small hat creek store we got milk shakes and some tacos since it was
Taco Tuesday.  Yeah!  Hat Creek campground also had showers and laundry.  We know it won't last long, but at least when I meet up with Mom and Dad i will only have 3 days of stink instead of 7.

That night we got two meals.  We made our Knorr rice meal and Maureen treated us to homemade chili and fresh bread.  What are we going to do when she leaves Chief?

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics
Mile: 1,378
Days: 82
Showers: Averaging 1 per 5 days!

Sierra City to Belden

Sierra City:
Sierra City is a small town 1.4 miles off the trail with a population around 225. We stayed at a hiker-friendly place called the Red Moose Inn. You get a free shower, free laundry, and free camping in the back yard. During the day they are pretty much only open for hikers. They serve an all you can eat rib dinner that was delicious.  They open to the public for breakfast and we were sure not to miss out on that too.

In the corner of the bar reserved for the hikers there is a scale. All of the guys have lost from 10 to 30 lbs, the most lost at the weigh in was 50. All of the girls, 0 lbs lost. Wonderful to be so efficient at conserving our energy, storing and converting fats.

Like most places in Sierra City the grocery store closed early and opened late. We didn't have enough time to count calories and resupply after chores so we had to wait until they opened the next morning. Then due to the heat we chose to wait until later in the day to begin our hike.

Back on trail:
Our hike out of Sierra City starts with a 3,500 ft climb. Seems like we hadn't had a good long climb in awhile. The wind must be blowing smoke from another fire as our views to the south were blotted out by a thick haze.

We didn't make it as far as we were hoping in our half day, but found a flat spot. We still didn't have a reprieve from the bugs. On the first night there were so many flies under the tent at the end it sounded like rain. Thank goodness we have netting in the tent.

The highlight of the second day out of town was the thunderstorm. Mid day some dark menacing looking clouds appeared in the sky. Naturally the rolling thunder started just as we were to start a long climb over an exposed ridge. Before we got above tree line we decided to stop and cook and watch what the weather might do. It rumbled for an hour or so, then appeared to be clearing. So we made our way to the top of the ridge.

When we flipped to the other side of the ridge we could see that the storm had not cleared. It was in the distance, but not far enough away to make us comfortable staying on the ridge for too long. After watching a couple lightning strikes stretch to the distant ground we hustled our butts along. The ridge was exposed for a good three miles. I cannot say we were in the smartest place, but it was really cool to watch the storm from our vantage point.

Not long after descending from the exposed portion of the ridge we found our camp on a broad saddle in the trees. For the night we were across the trail neighbors with Gumby and Double-It.

Third day out was hot hot hot!  The humidity made it seem even warmer. At least in the desert you could dry out. The motivation for the day was knowing that a fork of the Feather River was at the end of our day. The camp site was supposed to have a good swimming hole. We beelined it down our 3,000 ft decent into the drainage and found it.

When we got to camp we dropped our bags and headed straight for the water. It felt so good. Refreshing, but not so cold your limbs went numb like the high Sierra streams. After washing off we ate our big meal of the day. Chili with a package of Ramen. Other hikers arrived and we went back down to the river to join. I was still hot just sitting around and I was looking forward to another cooling dip. When I got back to the river I saw a snake on a rock, then saw it swim into the water. Brownie said they were water snakes. Gumby said she saw several swimming on the other side, but they were small. I was glad to have swam in ignorant bliss of their presence on my arrival. No matter how small they were there was no way in hell I was getting in that water now.

Fourth day out and Fourth of July. The heat wave did not relent. Law of the trail dictates that what goes down must come back up. We had an early morning to get a cool start on our 4,000 foot climb out of the Feather River. The climb actually didn't end up being nearly as bad as everyone was making it seem like it might be the night before. Even so, the day was hot and being it was the 4th of July, this gave us all the excuse we needed to hitch out for a beer and pizza at Lakeside Resort.

Kiddo, Brownie, Cowgirl, and I got an easy hitch into the resort. Brownie said he wishes he could hitchhike with three girls all the time. To our delight the Lakeside bar was really a bar. We had plenty of beers to choose from and a great place to sit away from the bugs.

When we were waiting in the lounge area before we left a lady came up to us and asked if we were hiking. When we said yes she asked if she could shake our hand. I thought, there are a couple hundred of us who do this each year and even after washing my hands they are not the cleanest, but sure, if you want to shake my hand go for it. She said she read the book, Wild, and told herself if she saw any of us she would shake our hand. Ah, Ms. Strayed has put hikers in the celebrity category again.

The rest of our hike into Belden was fairly uneventful and marked mostly by the 4,000 ft decent into town. If I had to choose between a steep descent or ascent; I would climb all day. ...unless the descent was covered in snow. This one was not, instead it was covered in poison oak.

We had heard some interesting stories about Belden. We crossed the railroad tracks and into "Belden Town". We hoped finding the Braaten's where we mailed ourselves a package would not be too difficult.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics
Mile: 1,290
Days: 79

Echo Lake to Sierra City

South Lake Tahoe:
Due too the extended forecast we decided to take a zero day in South Lake Tahoe. Not only did this allow for us to sleep in, we also got a lot of town chores completed.

First on the list was to get to the outfitter where we bought new stuff bags for hanging our food. We are finally past the point where we don't have to use the bear vaults. They are heavy and a pain in the ass to pack into the backpack. That means second on the list was a stop at the Post Office to mail our bulky BV 500's home.

Then shopping! One of the stops was a K Mart where we purchased a 6 pack of cheap socks. We are going through socks so fast there doesn't seem any point to buying more expensive wool ones. I still carry 1 pair to sleep in and 1 wool pair to hike in if the weather turns really cold. Otherwise I would rather put the wear and tear on socks I don't feel bad about throwing away in 4 weeks.

Note, as the rain came down throughout our day of chores we felt better and better about our decision to zero in South Lake Tahoe.

We already had 3 days of food that we mailed ourselves to Echo Lake when we originally intended to hike through. Instead of stopping in Soda Springs off of Donner Pass we decided we would add two days of food to our load. The grocery store was great here and I ended up with more like six days of food. That is why you should not shop hungry! Hiking I have grown accustom to always having a snack on hand and continually feeding myself thought the day. I did not have a snack with me on our hike through town running chores.

That evening we spent re-packing food, eating in the room, and catching up on unimportant, but very entertaining TV shows. We turned in at hikers midnight (9pm).

Back on trail:
This stretch of trail has been marked with mosquitos and flies. We pass through so many boggy Meadows and green hillsides. You cannot complain about the veiws, but the bugs are horrible! We are both happy to have head nets. They look ridiculous, but provide a slice of sanity when you can no longer take the constant high pitched buzz by your ear.

Our first night we found it hard to find a good camp spot near where we wanted to stop. We were hoping to gain some elevation and put ourselves out of mosquito range. No luck. We camped with Papa Joe and Postholer, but everyone was in their tents to avoid the mosquitos.

The next morning we walked 2 minutes out of camp and found Brownie packing up his camp. Funny how you can be so close to other hikers and not even know it. We hiked off and on with Brownie and Team Siesta throughout the day. I didn't get the whole story, but as far as I understand Team Siesta is a group of 5 that has been hiking together since near the beginning. As their name suggests, they enjoy long breaks in the middle of the day. We have not seen them since their break at Barker Pass.

On our second night out we camped with Brownie and the three of us discussed what we were hoping to order tomorrow at Donner Ranch. According to the guide book and trail rumors Donner Ranch is a .2 mile walk off trail to a restaurant. They were supposedly giving hikers a free beer. Free beer or not, we all wanted a sandwich.

We planned it so that we would have 16 miles to Donner Pass. This should be late enough that we would be ready for some food. The day was hot! We had about 2,500 ft of climbing. By the time we made our way down the switchbacks through the ski area to Donner Pass we were all ready for something cold. Ice cold! We could almost taste it. Then we saw it. A sign was posted at the trail head listing services in the area. Under "Food and Beer" they had a description of our restaurant. However it also had a disappointing hand written note across the food and beer, CLOSED. We were heart broken. No ice cold soda or ice cream or beer or ravioli with meat sauce or Ruben sandwiches with extra dressing. We had to settle for our sun heated water and a thin strip of shade under a corrugated steel building beside Hwy 40.

After an hours rest we continued on. We were now aiming for another spot 7 miles from the highway. There are very few huts and shelters on the PCT, but we were supposed to be passing one we could stay at called the Peter Grub hut.  We thought it would be fun and a break from hiding from the mosquitos in the tent. Luck did not favor us this day. When we got to the hut we found that it was closed for repairs. Strike two. We continued on and found a mosquito infested camp next to the meadow.

The next two days into Sierra City were hot hot hot and filled with flies and mosquitos. Before we crawled into our tents we went through the entertaining process of hanging our food. It usually takes a couple throws, some untangling of rope and branches, then balancing our food bags (see Tiffany's blog for a picture). Brownie finds it especially funny to watch.

We made a huge decent into Sierra City which is at 4,200 ft. Switchbacking down we heard familiar voices. We soon happened upon Gumby and Double-It. Yeah! Part of the six pack. We finished the rest of the decent to the hwy with the group. Near the trail head we found some trail magic. We took a break in the shade drinking some not so cold beer.

While lounging Gumby was able to hitch all five of us a ride in a huge van. How lucky are we!  Soon we were in town headed to the hike friendly Red Moose Inn. We were ready for an all you can eat ribs dinner.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics
Mile: 1,197
Days: 74
Showers: 13

Sonora Pass to Echo Lake

Sonora Pass is the location that is used to determine the earliest entry date to hike into the Sierras. Many use this to determine their start dates for the PCT or the John Muir Trail. Other than that there is not much to say about Sonora Pass. It is simply a high mountain pass you can drive over. Just another beautiful place flanked by towering peaks, with snowfields, and streams.

Carson Pass:
The one pass to note on this stretch was Carson Pass. Not so much that the trail was any nore or less spectacular, another beautiful place. The visitor center and the volunteers inside made our day.  Half way through our hike the weather rolled in and it started to rain, then rain and hail, then back to rain. When we got to the visitor center the rain had cleared, but we were still quite damp. We were pleasantly surprised to find a warm stove, other hikers, and a few spare seats in the visitor center. The two volunteers sign up to work in the summer when the PCT hikers roll through.

That evening we hiked 7 miles further to a camp that was one of the only spots we could find sheltered from the wind. We were happy to be out of the wind, but we could still hear it ripping through the tree tops. I didn't sleep well, waking up to large gusts.

Our hike into Echo Lake was only 8 miles, but it rained the whole time. By the time we got to Echo Lake we were cold and soaked. Neither of us had brought rain pants. It wasn't supposed to rain like this... So we thought. Oh well. We had planned to spend the night at a nearby youth camp, but we found out they stopped taking hikers in last year. Tiffany loaded the forecast for the next few days. The storm was to continue. Between the closed camp and poor weather outlook we decided to find a ride into South Lake Tahoe.

To get into South Lake Tahoe we connected with a local trail angel. It turns out she had read the book Wild and when the local outfitter put out an ad in the paper for those who wanted to be on their trail angel list, she signed up. This was just 3 days ago and we were her first hikers. As much criticism as I have for Sheryl Strayed's book, I do owe the ride in and out of South Lake Tahoe to her.

In South Lake Tahoe we stayed at the Apex Inn with Spoons and Whistler. It was a cheap hotel, but had everything we needed inside and was in proximity to all that we needed. As always, the first order of business was a shower, then laundry, then food and beer. We found out there were several other hikers in the motel as well. One of which was Papa Joe. For those who might remember from earlier posts; Papa Joe is Joe Anderson of Casa De Luna or The Anderson's one of the infamous trail angels of the desert.

As the rain poured down outside I think we were all glad to be in a solid structure.

Happy Trails!

Trail Statistics
Mile: 1,094
Days: 68
Showers: 12