I had a very restless night.  Very unusual as I generally just fall asleep while it is still light.  Don’t think I slept much at all.   Eventually I guess I do sleep cause I wake up about 2 hours later than usual and get on the trail at about 6:30.  I only have two miles until I actually enter the town of Cascade Locks.  Right on the trail and the location of the “Bridge of the Gods” which is a bridge across the Columbia River and entry into Washington.

I am really not feeling like hiking at all.  Yesterday was a killer and as I walk the 2 miles, I am actually praying for God to give me a sign if he wants me to get off the trail.   There is nothing wrong with me at this point other than I am tired but I ask anyway.  I always start my day by texting my family that I have started to hike via the InReach device that gives me texting capability and allows everyone to know exactly where I am.  Every 10 minutes it sends my location to the cloud and records it for anyone to see.  I then start hiking and go through a series of prayers as I walk and end with a personal prayer to God the Almighty Father of thanks and praise and requests.  This morning I went directly to the personal prayer.  So as I am hiking the InReach dings indicating I have received a message.  The InReach is on my pack and I can’t see it without taking the pack off and I decide to wait till I get to town to read the message.  There is a family dining restaurant in the town that I plan on stopping at and having a regular breakfast.

I arrive at Cascade Locks and find the dining room which is really right by the trail and the Bridge of the Gods.  Going to have to research why the bridge has that name.  Looks like a nice bridge for sure but Bridge of the Gods!!???  Anyway I take off my pack to read the InReach message and the InReach screen will not turn on.  The light is flashing indicating I have a message but it won’t turn on to let me read it and it won’t turn off either.  It is just not responding at all.  2 miles ago it worked and allowed me to send a message and start tracking and now it does not work.  Well,  I asked for a sign and this seems like a pretty darn clear one.  I won’t hike without the InReach and it mysteriously stopped working.

At this point the PCT is really in civilization and I have phone service BUT Lenora is up in Packwood Washington and they don’t have AT&T service in Packwood.  You just can’t make this stuff up.  So I am in service and she is out.  I just have to laugh.   The kids know where she is staying and have the number and call the hotel and the hotel gets Lenora and she calls me on the hotel phone.  I ask her to come and get me and she starts on her way.  Its another 3 hour drive to pick me up but all on major roads.   I have texted her the story of the SIGN but she has not really received that text yet and on the phone I just tell her we will talk when she gets here.

While I am waiting I have breakfast and then start querying the internet about what to do when you InReach just suddenly won’t turn on for no reason.  Turns out that you have to push two keys simultaneously for 10 seconds to perform a reset on the device.  Before doing the above internet query, being the smart guy that I am, I figured there had to be some way to forcing the device off.  I tried multiple keys for multiple seconds but I never did get the right combination.

Below is a picture of the InReach device:

The proper key combination to do a soft reset on the device is to simultaneously hold the X key and the down arrow for 10 seconds.  After doing the soft reset the device would turn back on and I could see the message from Lenora telling me to have a good hike.   So was it a sign to stop??  Was it just a coincidence??  Never happened before in 4 years of hiking.

The Bridge of the Gods is a steel truss cantilever bridge that spans the Columbia River between Cascade Locks, Oregon, and Washington state near North Bonneville. It is approximately 40 miles  east of Portland, Oregon, and 4 miles upriver from the Bonneville Dam. It is a toll bridge operated by the Port of Cascade Locks. The bridge was completed by the Wauna Toll Bridge Company and opened in 1926 at a length of 1,127 feet. The higher river levels resulting from the construction of the Bonneville Dam required the bridge to be further elevated in 1940 and extended to its current length of 1,856 feet. The Columbia River Bridge Company of Spokane, Washington, acquired ownership of the bridge in 1953 for $735,000.  The Port of Cascade Locks Commission now operates the bridge. The bridge is named after the historic geologic feature also known as Bridge of the Gods. The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods, and the lowest elevation of the trail is on this bridge.

So what was the historic geologic feature: The Bridge of the Gods was a natural dam created by the Bonneville Slide, a major landslide that dammed the Columbia River near present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The river eventually breached the bridge and washed much of it away, but the event is remembered in local legends of the Native Americans as the Bridge of the Gods.

So there are some fires in Washington.  One of them has closed the PCT near Packwood Washington.  So my current plan is this:  I am going to continue hiking.  I am going to go from White Pass near Packwood and head north.  When and if I make it to Canada, if there is still time, I will come back to Packwood and head south towards the Bridge of the Gods and complete Washington.

 

IPhone: 4 miles, 8692 steps

 

 

 

 

A good nights sleep and I get started pretty early in the morning.  Have to use a headlamp for the first hour or so.

When there is light the sign above lets me know that I did not miss some branch in the trail.  I am still on course.  I always find a PCT sign very comforting.

Yesterday I showed a picture of the trail lined with bushes.  When today a number of those are berry bushes and I stop and pick some every now and then.  Huckle Berries and Salmon Berries are both plentiful and very tasty.  They will both be a little better in a couple weeks but I am enjoying them now.

I enter the Mark O Hatfield Wilderness but there is not sign to let me know that.

The Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness is a wilderness area located on the northern side of Mount Hood in the northwestern Cascades of the U.S. state of Oregon, near the Columbia River Gorge and within Mount Hood National Forest. Prior to Wilderness designation it was known as the Columbia Gorge Recreation Area. The slopes of the Wilderness rise steeply to a slightly uneven plateau and on to mountain peaks, talus slopes, and lakes with elevations ranging from approximately 100 feet near the river to 4,900 feet on Mount Defiance. The main waterways in the Wilderness are Herman Creek, Eagle Creek, and Tanner Creek. The area was named for former United States senator and Oregon governor Mark Hatfield. Established in 1984 (President: Ronald Reagan)

 

Wahtum lake was pretty.  Crystal clear.  The trail was little confusing here and I did not look at the layout and at one point chose the wrong trail to take.  It seemed like the more used of my options and so I took it without checking.   In about 1/4 of a mile I got to a sign indicating the junction with the PCT was 1/4 back!!  So I headed back down and took the trail less taken.

Yup, now I am headed on the PCT and looking forward to the Columbia River and heading into Washington.

Got to a little bit of a clearing and took the picture above.  Pretty impressive.  You can see there are some burned areas however and I wonder if I will enter some of that.  Actually I am pretty sure I will because last year a large portion of this trail was closed and as mentioned earlier the Eagle Creek Alternate route was closed.

Going in and out of burn areas now and the lush understory with the berry plants are totally gone.  Wild flowers however are starting their comeback.

There are two main apps to help navigate the PCT.  One is called HalfMile and the other is Guthooks PCT Hiker.  The milage I use comes from HalfMile.  Guthook and Halfmile generally have a 3 mile difference.  At mile 2135 (2138 in the below image from Guthook) shows how the PCT starts the descent to the Columbia River and the Bridge of the Gods (the lowest point on the PCT at 77 feet).  It looks as if you are going to fall off the end of the world.

The red arrow in the picture above points at the location of Teakettle Spring.  If this was not in a burned out area it would be easy to pass right by without the sign.  In the burned out however it is impossible to miss.  So the water seeps from underneath a rock and someone has damned it up a bit and put in a pipe to let the water drain down into a pool and then goes underground again.  There is about a pencil size stream coming out the pipe and it is delicious cold water.  I meet to hikers here and are going South.   Benjamin (“Sly”) and Conner (no trail name).  Benjamin is talking non stop about nothing in particular and indicates his trail name used to be “Story Teller” but he changed it to “Sly”.   Conner indicates he thinks trail names are silly.  He is going to be a lawyer when he gets off the trail.  He is traveling with a dog which is giving him a bit of a problem at this time.  The dog wants to play.  Conner wants to hike.  Conner eventually wins the battle

Not too much longer, about 30 minutes, I get my first look at the Columbia River.  Hard to believe that is about 8 trail miles away and the most brutal 8 miles I have had on the PCT.   Not only is the trail very steep but they seems to have used the most plentiful resource in the area, very sharp rocks, to build the trail.  And when a tree fell across the trail rather than cutting the tree they decided to take these very plentiful and very sharp rocks and pile then up on both sides of the tree to create a path.    About 7 hours spent getting down!   My feet were fine because of the new boots I had but my hips were screaming at me.  Had to stop many times and just give them a rest.   Once I got down to the bottom at Dry Creek which is an odd name for a creek with lots of flowing water) and there was a spot to camp I just dropped my pack and that was where I was going to stay.  Others folks came by and they all went the additional two miles to get into the town of Cascade Locks right by the Columbia River.  There was no way I was going another foot.   I mentioned to others that came down, as almost all of them stopped at Dry Creek to soak their feet in the cold stream, that I thought that was the most difficult part of the PCT.  None of them agreed with me.  They all had places they thought were more difficult.  They are all wrong.

IPhone;18.3 miles, 45235 steps.

Lenora’s Story
A young hiker Good News (aka David) needed to check the hiker box and get back on the trail at White Pass so we took a ride. It was a chance to get familiar with the area as I expect to pick Don up there. Evidence of wild fires. There is a huge fire-fighter camp here with tents, trucks, equipment. It is strangely empty as the firefighters are deployed all over the mountain as the area covered in fire near here seems to grow daily. The area Don will need to cross next week has a 19 mile detour around the 10 miles of trail that is in the fire. I am thinking this is a good part of the trail to skip over but we shall see.
Good news is that he is only two miles from Cascade Locks and the Bridge of the Gods.
Tomorrow I will move up the road about a block to the Packwood Inn where they have a first floor room that I think might be big enough to not make Don crazy from claustrophobia. Marilyn is great and I like my cozy little room but the other place is very accessible and will be easy to stay in until the room up at Packwood Lodge is available.
Signing off with thanks for the wondrous journey we are on.

Well here we go again.  Moved ahead to Lolo pass.  It was a paved road most of the way to get up there and Lenora has a big day ahead of her to drive to her next destination which is Packwood Washington.

A restricted view of Mount Hood from Lolo pass.

Right off the bat on the trail are some wild flowers and a small stream.  Looks to be an easier hike than the week before.

Come around a corner and was just struck by the beauty of the cliffs to the left and the trail emerging into the sun.  Sometimes, most times, pictures just don’t do the scene justice.

The shale rock here is not the normal rock on the trail.  The new boots are working nice.  Not feeling any of the rocks.

 

Another cold stream.  I really should stop at each of these and use the lifestraw to get a drink but I normally don’t.

View of a pretty lake that I would later find out is called “Lost Lake”. Pretty!

Sometimes you need to take the time to look behind you!  Had I just kept looking forward I would have missed this really cook look at Mount Hood.

A lot of the time I am in what is called the “green tunnel” which is what the forests of Oregon and Washington are called.  All you can see is forest.  But sometimes you break out and can see the valley below.

 

I didn’t know I was in Bull Run Reserve and now I’m leaving it.  What is Bull Run Reserve I wonder…..

In 1892 a proclamation by President Benjamin Harrison established the Bull Run Reserve.

Portland residents are blessed with some of the purest drinking water in the nation, but this clean water undergoes a lengthy journey before arriving at the tap. Rain, fog drip, and snowfall in the forested Bull Run watershed collect in Bull Run Lake and various tributaries of the Bull Run River, then flow then into the Bull River, which itself is a tributary of the larger Sandy River system. Since 1895, Bull Run has provided Portland families with safe, clean drinking water, and Bull Run has been closed to human entry for over 100 years. The fact that Bull Run continues to provide Portland families with clean drinking water over a century later is no accident – it is the result of decades of hard work by conservation groups like Oregon Wild and pro-environment elected officials. In the 1990s, when storm runoff and erosion from reckless logging projects on federal land threatened to foul Bull Run’s water, Oregon Wild pushed the city of Portland to take a stand and help Oregon Wild in stopping these destructive projects. Bull Run with Mount Hood backdropHaving the clout of a major city enabled even more efficient work with Congress to permanently protect the watershed, and in 1996 Oregon Wild won passage of the Oregon Resources Conservation Act in the U.S. Congress, which prohibits logging in the Bull Run watershed. A few years later, in 2001, Oregon Wild built upon its success with Bull Run by winning passage of the Little Sandy Protection Act, which expanded the size of the Bull Run Management Unit and further prohibits logging in the Little Sandy River watershed upstream from Aschoff Creek.

see: http://www.oregonwild.org/waters/forests-keeping-our-water-clean/protecting-portlands-drinking-water-bull-run-reserve

Now doesn’t that look like a nice trail.  Soft with lots of plants on either side.

I get to Indian Springs Campground and decide to stop for the day.  The campground is “abandoned” but there is a jeep road that comes up to it and there is a still one picnic table there.  Also a very well hidden pool from a spring that provides some nice cold water.  Figure I will be there alone as have not seen anyone all day but I end up with two other hikers spending the night as well.  At this point there is an alternate trail to the PCT which is called the Eagle Creek Alternate which follows Eagle Creek from this point to the Columbia River.  Described as the most popular alternate trail on the PCT.  Unfortunately this trail is closed because of the fires last year.  Too bad.

 

IPhone:  14.8 miles, 36047 steps

Lenora’s Story

I want to get a head start on my share this week.  I had a long day today but a good day.  I wanted to check out needlework in Portland, OR and so found two shops to visit not to far from my path.  The first was closed and it looked permanent.  Full of stitching stuff but scattered across floor and counters and very messy, like a clumsy burglar had decided to ransack the place.  It was sad to see.  I wonder what might have made a person who loved needlework and opened a shop lock the door and go away leaving precious stock in such sad disarray.  I say a quick prayer for the person and ask our Lord to look over him or her.

In Stitches in Portland is a lovely shop and worth the detour and the narrow streets and the challenge to find parking.  I have been wanting an extra curved arm for my System 4 and they had one in stock.  I wanted a farm oriented ornament for Martha but could not find one that suited so off I went.  65 miles to go to Packwood and the day is wearing on.

Packwood and the Historic Hotel Packwood is all you could want in a Historic western hotel.

The room is, well cozy. It is also warm. Fan and window serve to cool the room but with temperature in triple digits it just isn’t all that cool today. The front porch of the hotel is warm but inviting and the hikers seem to hang out and talk about adventures on the trail. I hear that the pizza place nearby is a good bet for dinner. A walk around the corner takes me to the Library where I meet this fellow.

Heading past the library I see what looks like a very old version of today’s strip mall.
The wood is weathered, the shake roof is real shake and covered with moss. No idea how long ago is was abandoned but I hear this town took a real hit in the 1990’s with the close of the lumber mill and wonder if this is a leftover from that time.

End of a good day and as the air cools the room becomes comfortable enough to sleep.

 

Get started this morning at 4:15.  My feet feel better.  There is a paved road about 8.8 miles away where Lenora thinks she can pick me up.  By 5 am however I am feeling pretty good and indicate that I will continue to Timberline, the goal.  I put the bandages that “Wild Oats” gave me on my heals and it does feel better.

After about 7 miles, I enter the Mt. Hood National Forest. The Mount Hood National Forest is 62 miles east of the city of Portland, Oregon, and the northern Willamette River valley. The Forest extends south from the Columbia River Gorge across more than 60 miles of forested mountains, lakes and streams to the Olallie Scenic Area, a high lake basin under the slopes of Mount Jefferson. The Forest includes and is named after Mount Hood, a stratovolcano. The Forest encompasses some 1,067,043 acres.

Mount Hood National Forest was first established as the Bull Run Forest Reserve in 1892 (President: Benjamin Harrison). It was merged with part of Cascade National Forest on July 1, 1908 and named Oregon National Forest. The name was changed again to Mount Hood National Forest in 1924.

For more see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood_National_Forest

This is about where the PCT crossed Hwy 42.  Turns out we have another trail angel at this location.  I’ve got 8 miles, it is only 8:30 and I have a trail angel.  How great is that!   The trail angel is Connie and she has a tent set that holds an enormous amount of food and chairs to sit on.  Just before I got here (about 3 miles earlier) an lady passes me on the trail going very fast and says excitedly that there is trail angel at mile 2070!  News of a trail angel travels like wild fire along the trail.  When I get to the trail angel location that lady is there as well as “Wild Oats” and about 6 other hikers.  The tent has all sorts of supplies to make sandwiches and salads.  Cookies of all sorts.  Drinks of all sorts.   I made a huge turkey sandwich and had two drinks.  So, I have no seen  or heard of angel in Oregon at all and yet the last two days here they are.  The lady that rushed passed me and told me about angel is Jan.  Jan does not have a trail name.  She said someone tried to name her “Bleeder” because she bleeds easily when scratched by bushes near the trail.  She said she did not like the name and did not accept it.  The rules are you don’t get to pick your own name but you can reject one given you.  She is from Australia and started the PCT in 2016 with her husband.  The made it to Etna, CA (about mile 1600), that year and then had to go home for a wedding.  They came back in 2017 and did from Etna to McKinsey Pass.  She said her husband was having increasing memory problems and when they reached the pass and went into Eugene he could not remember where he was.  Turns out he had  a brain tumor and had an operation but died 4 months later.  She was now here in 2018 to finish the trail in his honor.  She is probably 70.  As I write this I think I would name her “Inspiration”.

“Wild Oats” is getting worse and is going off the trail at this time.  She is waiting at the trail angel spot to get picked up and is going to spend some time getting her ankle in shape and this will finish.

At this point I think I am still going to continue.

 

The first glimpse of Timothy Lake.  The trail will go right around this lake and it is beautiful all along the way.  About half way around the lake my feet have gone down hill fast.  I ask Lenora to come and get me at the next paved road which is about 6 miles ahead.   She indicates that is not a problem so now all I have to do is get there.

The picture above is at the other end of Timothy Lake and shows a stream that flows into the lake.  The screen capture below shows the path of the PCT around the lake and across the stream.  This is a beautiful area and lots of folds recreating and camping in this area.

I now have about 4 miles to get to Forest Road 58 where Lenora will pick me up.  Most of this 4 miles in uphill for which I am grateful.  My feet handle going up much better than going down.  About half way there I meet a man that is out for a day walk and we talk for about 30 minutes.  He is training for and thinks he wants to do the PCT and has lots of questions about it.  He wants to test my pack so I let him try it on and he indicates there is no way he can carry that much weight for very long.  I assure him he actually can and there are lighter options for almost everything I have.  He says he had been told that anytime he sees a PCT hiker he should give them food.  So he gives me a Cliff Bar and thanks me for taking the time.  I’m guessing he will be on the trail next year.

I go the next couple miles to the road and get there at about 3:45.  Lenora and already there and meets me with a hammer.  I’ll let her tell you about that story.

So another 3 day hike.  I am going to keep this up until I get it right!!

Iphone: 19.2 miles, 49942 steps, 13 floors

Lenora’s story:

It is amazing what happens when you realize you are close to a goal.  Instead of taking two days to reach the goal of mile 2079 Don is able to make it by this afternoon.  He is mostly suffering from foot pain and we stop to get some epsom salts to soak his feet which are already better by bedtime.

The Hammer Story:  I already showed the photo of the hammer I found on the road.  I was so proud that I had thought to arm myself against the many dangers of wild Oregon that when I got out of the car to greet Don at Pick-up point I grabbed the hammer to show him that I am prepared for anything that may come my way.  He saw me approaching with a hammer (a large hammer) in my hand and he put up his hands and started backing away.  I never expected to appear threatening, especially to my own husband, but there you are.  I am one scary white haired lady and you better watch out!

With Martha’s help I managed to get my rooms in Packwood booked for the next two weeks and in Snoqualmie Pass for the week following that.  Still have to decide what to do about the end of August and Labor Day.

 

I have a good nights rest and get up early in the morning and actually start hiking before daylight at 4:30.  I am a morning person and I just hike faster and better in the morning before it starts to heat up.  Most of the hike today is pure forested walk but still very rocky.  More wild flowers and I have seen this far and all I took pictures of today.  Most of these were taken at Lemiti Creek about 5 miles into the days hike.  The creek actually had some cold water in it.  I use the lifestraw to get the cold water right out of the creek.  Very refreshing.

An amazing sea of purple flowers in an opening of the trees.

During one of the ascents there is a hiker that is actually going slower than I am.  I can see that she is having a very hard time walking.  Her name is Liz with a trail time of “Wild Oats”.  I did not ask how she got the name, I should have.  She has twisted her ankle hitting a rock on the trail just the wrong way.  So easy to do.  Her goal is to complete Oregon.  She is married, has 2 kids and they allowed (her word not mine) to go on this Oregon adventure as long as she had a device where they could track her.   Sounded vaguely familiar.  She says she has some bandages that work great on blisters and gives me some of her supply.  We pass each other the rest of the day as one of us rests and the other is walking.  I’m resting a lot because my feet are now on fire and each step is felt.  It’s always something on the PCT.  I am a bit discouraged because I am feeling good otherwise.  My trail legs are back and my stamina is back and now my feet are causing issues.

The next water source is a placed called Warm Springs River.  The PCT Hiker application indicates that despite the name, this river has very cold water.  Coldest water since the High Sierra’s was the claim.  Really looking forward to getting there which I eventually do.  Eventually….. actually it is only 1:30 in the afternoon.  I have done 15 miles and the water is as advertised.  Deliciously cold!!  I dump all the water I have and fill up with the cold water.  My feet ache and so even though it is only 1:30, I have had it for the day.  The camping is not very good at this spot but I find a flat spot and claim it as my own.  “Wild Oats” stays her for a long time as well with her feet submerged in the cold water for as long as she can take.  Eventually however she decides to try and make a few more miles.  I spend the rest of the day with my feet elevated.

Turns out Warm Springs River is quite the PCT destination and by dusk there are 10 people at least that have found somewhere to place a tent.  Places I never would have considered.  Around 8 pm three guys come in and set up next to me.   They are very hyped up and loud and so excited that they have just finished a 33 mile day.  And what makes it better, they say, is they did most of the 33 miles high as a kite.   About 9pm I warn them that I am getting up early to leave.  So are we they say.  What time I ask.  9 in the morning they respond.  I indicate I will be up packing at 3 and will try to be quiet.  So I guess we each have are own way of doing things.  The catch phrase of this PCT season seems to be “you have to do your own hike”.  I have heard it over and over again.

When I get up at about 3:15 I can see there are even more tents in the area.  People came in late an must have been desperate and I can’t even imagine being able to sleep on the ground where they had tents.

Iphone: 11.7 miles, 30363 steps, 5 floors

Lenora’s Story:

We continue to be up and down.  While I have a day to stitch and rest from a restless night Don is again struggling.  This time it is feet. I end up spending the entire day trying to line up lodging for next week after we leave here.  It is frustrating as so many towns near the trail are very small and the lodging is often not a chain but a local business and do not advertise online.  Finally gave up.  There is always tomorrow.

 

Lenora is a tad worried, based on my history, of me starting at the start of the next 100 mile section because all the reasonable pick up points are near the end of the 100 miles and none at the start.  So we find what looks like a reasonable point off of a dirt road called Breitenbush.  GPS indicates a 2 hour drive.   Ends up taking about 4 hours as the road is pretty rough but not at all dangerous.  Had it been dangerous I would have just turned around and come up with another plan but both Lenora and I are sure she can handle getting out without worries.  It is a rough area however and Lenora says this is going to be a rough hike when we reach the destination and I get out of the car.

 

The rockiest areas seem to create the most wild flowers.  The hike starts with a little bit of an ascent and there are some wild flowers along the way.  I have not identified any of them except for some wild strawberry.

 

Burned out are and lots of rocks.

Mount Jefferson looming as I am making the ascent.  The valley below Mount Jefferson is beautiful.

 

As I finish the ascent I come to this large pond.  Would be good water but I don’t need any yet.

This reminds me of the High Sierras.  Not many trees and very rocky and to your right it is straight up and to your left it is straight down.

About 1 pm I get to upper lake.  Very pretty.  Along the way I have hit a couple rocks just wrong and/or stepped directly onto a sharp stone which I could feel very clearly on the bottom of my foot.  The boots I have been wearing are thin and well worn.  I knew this BUT so far Oregon had been a pretty pleasant hike on soft forest ground, not this section however.

Just a little later in the day.  Nice sign to Red Lake (have no idea where Red Lake is).  The other sign clearly could use some work.  Olallie Lake is in 1.5 miles and I figure I will stop there and have some lunch.

I am surprised when I get to Olallie Lake.  Right on the trail (about 400 yards away) there is a general store and a campground and in the campground there is a trail angel cooking up some food for the PCT’ers.   I wander in and he offers me banana pancakes or a hot dog.  Took the hot dog.   He also has watermelon which I eat about a ton of that :).  Oddly he has no drinks and indicates can go buy some at the general store.  About this time 4 other hikers arrive to the feast.  I go over to the general store and buy 6 big Gatorades for us hikers and the host.  The host tells us that he is doing this because he tried to hike the PCT last year but only made it about 100 miles but got an appreciation for the types of food that hikers eat and thought he could help the situation.

I hike another 4 miles or so to Jude Lake and decide to stop for the day.  My feet are already sore which catches me by surprise because I have had NO issues with my feet at all.  Jude Lake is very warm and not very easy to get clean water from but I do fill up and get water for cooking and for breakfast.  The water tastes ok but is warm.   That is a little bit of a problem in this part of Oregon.  There is plenty of water but it is all from lakes and it is warm.  Getting the water at the end of the day and leaving it out in the open at night helps cool it down a little but even with that it is still warm.

Iphone: 12.7 miles, 31059 steps, 12 floors

Lenora’s Story:

Finding a good drop off or good pick up place remains a challenge.  Some roads are described as rough and others just say unpaved.  No way of knowing which will be better.  The drive to Breitenbush was long and scary.  The section where the sheer drop-off beside the car seemed to go on forever and I was not looking forward to the trip down.  But, you never know how things will turn out.

.

The above are different views of the road down the mountain. Not sure the pictures do it justice.  Guess you had to be there to appreciate it.

Since wild fires have affected this area so much I decide to stop and learn about what has happened.

I see a lot of neat things on the way down and the section where the road is narrow and the drop-off sheer is way shorter than it seemed on the way up. I hug the wall side of the road and am in the good spots soon.

.

I expected to lunch in Sisters but this is taking way longer than expected.  As I bump slowly along I see a hammer standing on end on the side of the road partly obscured by the thick dust that covers everything near the road.  For some reason I stop and pick it up and feel suddenly as if I am equipped to handle anything that comes my way.

One of the problems of using a hammock is that there is no covered place to put my pack.  Doing some internet research last weekend I found out that most people just leave their pack on the ground under the rain fly and with all the pockets open.   The pockets are left open because the critters will get into your pack if they want to and if you leave it open then no damage will be done as they eat or tear though the fabric.  The pack can also be hung from the ridge line of the hammock or tied to a tree.  Does not basically change the issue with critters.  I just left it on the ground and did not seem to have any  issues.

So I brought this high tech spork and it came with a carabiner to attach to the pack.  Normally I would keep the spork in the top part of my pack and safe BUT I said, they gave me a carabiner so I will use it.  Problem is when I take off my pack to rest I just let the pack fall to the ground and roll where it will and then I will typically lean on it while I have a snack and/or just rest.  Apparently one of those times it caught the ground just right and bent the working part of the spork back into the handle.  When I tried to bend it back, it broke.  So the picture below is my attempt to use duck tape to put it back together.  It worked to stir up my Carnation Instant Breakfast but later when stirring a freeze dried meal it came part and the spork got buried down in the pouch of food.

Picture of the lake where I spent the night.  Not bad huh?

In this section of the trail there is a nice lake about every half mile.  Really amazing.  For every good lake (for drinking water purposes) there are probably 2 stagnant lakes that could be used if necessary.

There are plenty of logs down on the trail.  Most of which you can just step over or go around.  For this one I had to remove the pack and crawl under.  Not bad so far this year.

Still on course.

When I starting hiking this morning I was surprised by how sore I was.  Something that I had not noticed the day before.  But each step, either going up or going down caused a little stab of pain in my hips and gluts.   Lasted about half the day and then everything was ok again.  I did not think I was making very good progress.  Stopped by a lake and had something to eat and multiple times to have a snack or just to rest.

At one point a through hiker came by and asked me if I knew anything about shin splints.  Yes, I know something.  They hurt and probably won’t go away without ice and rest.  Right he says and indicates he needs to get to Elk Lodge today and get off the trail, get to Redmond or Bend and rest.  I indicate we could give him a ride BUT I was not going to be able to make it that far today.  He felt he had to.   His trail name was Ranger, because he was one once, and he had been stationed in Dahlonega, GA.  Such a small world.  We talk for awhile and he said he has had to come off the trail 3 times already.  Once early on because his blisters where really bad and he had to wait for them to heal.  Once because his leg got swollen and he thought he had a blood clot (something he had earlier in his life) and went off for 2 weeks.  Once because he was feeling really weak and it turns out his body was eating his muscle because he had lost so much weight.  So he had to get fattened up again before going back on trail.  He did not want to go off again but felt he had to.  He was in a lot of pain (and yet faster than me!!).

He took off.  I followed a little later.  Never saw him again.

I just kept plugging along and realized I was actually pretty close to Elk Lodge and I could probably make it.  So on a day when I thought I was being slow, I actually ended up doing 18 miles.  Lenora notices I am almost there and leaves to pick me up while I have 1/2 mile away. She has an hour drive.  I get there about 10 minutes before she does. Just enough time to have a cold glass of water and a cold diet coke.  There is a lot of water in this part of Oregon and it is all warm!  Looked for Ranger at the Elk Lodge but he was not to be found.  There were lots of people about and I’m sure he got a ride into Redmond.

 

Iphone says:  18.4 miles.  49178 steps.  13 floors

Lenora’s Story:

Thank goodness for the inreach and the computer.  If I were not able to track Don’s progress I would not have known that he was able to make it to Elk Lodge until it was too late to leave to pick him up.  I leave when he is about 1/2 mile from the lodge and arrive in about an hour.  When I get there I see the familiar blue pack and find a place to park.  When I head to the pack I don’t see Don but the pack is upright on the ground and looks as if it had exploded with bags and gear spread all around.  No sign of my husband so I sit on a rock by the pack and send him a text.  Then looking around I notice a porch looking area with people sitting at tables and I head for that building.  Before I reach the porch I see an entry way and stepping inside I see Don paying for his drink.  Another successful reunion.  When we get out to the pack I can tell how completely spent he is.  He is so tired and done in.  I am ready to drive back and it is an indication of his fatigue that he is willing to let me drive.  We have an easy drive back on the Scenic Highway that surely lives up to its name.  It is more beautiful around every turn of the road of the road.  I am really enjoying this section of Oregon.

I have continued to work today and the Christmas Tree is now  finished.

I had a great nights sleep and feel good.   There was one set up issue on the hammock.  The foot side was a bit low as I did not pay much attention.  End result was I keep sliding and my feet would get crammed into the very end of the hammock.  Even so, slept great.

Get started hiking about 5:30 or so.  Hammock is easy to take down and pack up.  I know I have a short 1/2 mile climb and then a descent to Charlton Lake where I plan on eating.  I get to the lake and it is beautiful and has a nice area for camping.  The place seems empty.  I have something to eat and refresh my water.  While eating, Steve and Dawn walk on by from the other direction.  Turns out they made it to Charlton Lake yesterday and spent the night here and were just getting going.  So they went 5 miles further than I did yesterday.  I caught them because I start early but know I probably won’t catch them again.  I wish them good hiking.  I indicate that I think the trail is going to be pretty flat and Steve just laughs at me and says that is a mean thing to say.  I wasn’t being mean, I was being delusional.

So the trail was not as flat as my brain told me it was going to be.  But it was definitely not difficult by PCT standards.  It is just that I am not in trail shape yet and so any hill of any duration is taxing.  I’ve noticed that Oregon seems to be a 3 to 4 up followed by 3 to 4 mile down sort of state.  I am fine going up if the weather is cool and I tend to hike a LOT faster in the morning that I do in the afternoon.  Hot and uphill is killer for me.

I’ve said it before but the PCT always seems to find a way to get into your head.  Even if the terrain were flat, I run into a big fire destroyed section shown in pictures below.  Brutal destruction and what would have been a nice stroll in the woods becomes a hot march through a barren desert (dramatic enough for you :))  Took about 2 hours to navigate the destroyed area and I felt a little weakened at the end and my pace definitely slowed.  I was hoping at the beginning to get at least 18 miles in today.  No way that is going to happen.

Much later in the day I come to a sign.  Signs and wild flowers I almost always have to take a picture of.  No bikers allowed.  Can they do that?  Can you actually tell people that can’t do what they really want to do?  That seems like infringement of my rights!  I object.

Entering a new wilderness area in a new national forest.  Time for some research.

The Three Sisters Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Cascade Range, within the Willamette and Deschutes National Forests in Oregon, United States. It comprises 286,708 acres, making it the second largest wilderness area in Oregon, after the Eagle Cap Wilderness. It was established by the United States Congress in 1964 ( President: Lyndon B. Johnson) and is named for the Three Sisters volcanoes. The wilderness boundary encloses the Three Sisters as well as Broken Top, which is southeast of South Sister. For more info see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_Wilderness

The Deschutes National Forest is a United States National Forest located in parts of Deschutes, Klamath, Lake, and Jefferson counties in central Oregon. It comprises 1.8 million acres along the east side of the Cascade Range. In 1908 (President:Theodore Roosevelt),
the Deschutes National Forest was established from parts of the Blue Mountains, Cascade, and Fremont National Forests. The forest contains five wilderness areas, six National Wild and Scenic Rivers, the Oregon Cascade Recreation Area, and the Metolius Conservation Area. For more info see:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deschutes_National_Forest

I get to Stormy Lake and it is beautiful and so I decide to stop for the day.  One guy described the lake as beautiful and legendary but that the mosquitoes are biblical.  Pretty accurate.  Most of the lakes are inviting for swimming but this one actually had a nice beach.  I did not go swimming but I could see the appeal.

I’ve realized I’m not going to make the desired destination for the week.  I am just not making enough miles in a day.  The Elk Lake Lodge is ahead about 18 miles and it has paved roads that lead to it.  It is 1.2 miles off the trail but there is a side trail that leads down to it.  Once again I will come off trail earlier that I wanted BUT I feel good and have been eating.  My legs are feeling stronger and I think I am working back into trail shape.  Whatever, we are going to keep the schedule for Monday morning starts.  I will just be skipping parts of the trail until I am strong enough to actually make the miles I have planned.  Generally I have to do about 17 miles a day at a minimum.   So I figure it will take 2 days to get to Elk Lodge.  The second day will be short but probably necessary.

I set up the hammock nice and level this time and have a good sleep.

Iphone says: 12.9 miles.  34332 steps.  18 floors’

Lenora’s Story:

Not so much exploring for me so far this year.  I am happy to stay in and stitch.  Moving and traveling and selling a house have kept me from doing much stitching or beading lately and I am reveling in the free time.  Today is a pretty normal day for me.  Stitch a little, check on Don and Stitch again.  Watching anything on tv that might be a rerun so I can concentrate on the stitching.  By the end of today Don knows he will not make it to the pick up point and is looking for an alternate shorter.  We agree on Elk Lake Lodge and since it is about 19 miles away we expect me to meet him sometime Thursday.

Stitching progress continues.  Finished Stone Fence and started on the Christmas Tree piece.

During the weekend I was checking all my PCT applications and looking at topo maps and elevation maps and decided that it was going to be an easy and a fast week.  But I guess when you want it to be an easy and fast week your brain can flatten things out.  Starting out at Hwy 58 and it is a beautiful morning.  Lenora drops me off and as we are getting ready another car pulls in and two folks are obviously getting ready to hike.  I expect to see them later in the trail as they are fairly young and I’m sure faster than I.  Even if they were not young they would probably best faster than I.  There are lots of cars at this trailhead, as there were when Lenora and I were here last week scoping out the place.  I’m wondering who belongs to all the cars and where they are.

So I start off and early on I take the picture below.  The sun was just streaming through the forest and the picture screamed out to be taken.  This is Oregon hiking.   Almost always in a forest with light filtering through the trees.  Mornings and evenings especially beautiful.  Mid-day it is much hotter with directly sunlight coming straight down.  It is hotter than I expected on the PCT during the day.  The nights are down to 50’s and 60’s and are very comfortable.

 

Not too far ahead, about 3 miles, I hit the first of the MANY lakes in this section.  Below is a picture Lower Rosary Lake.  There is a Lower, Middle, and Upper Rosary lake.  At this time the couple from the parking lot catch me and we talk for awhile.  They (Steve and Dawn) are on a two week adventure hiking up to Timberline Lodge where they have reservations two weeks from now.  A nice way to spend their vacation.

 

The Rosary lakes got their name because the outline of the 3 lakes taken together resemble a rosary.  Yah…. I can see that.

About 10 miles into the hike I reach the cutoff to Bobby Lake.  I’ve talked to a couple south bound hikers and have been told that Bobby Lake is really nice and an excellent place for a swim.  So I take the little diversion to Bobby Lake to have a lunch.  There are probably 10 tents set up right along the lake.  So this is where most of those people are from the parking lot cars.  Lots of noise.  Lot sof joyful complaining about how cold the water is.  I have a light lunch and refresh my water and move on.

Notice this sign pointing to where I have come from.  So its good news and I just continue going the other way.  Thought it odd they would have a sign only pointing in one direction.

The rest of the day is just hiking and resting through the forest.  The trail is definitely not as flat as my mind had pictured it.  I stop at a camping site that has two trees that look the right distance apart.  On this section I am hiking with a hammock rather than with a tent.  Want to give it try and see how it works.  The hammock is a snap to set up.  I’m not really hammock trained and so the first time I got into the hammock I was not all that careful and I got in and fell right out the other side onto my back.  It was pretty funny and I was laughing at myself and momentarily worried that I would fall out during the night.  Anyway with a little more care I was of course able to get in just fine and there was no worry I would fall out during the night.  It actually works out great.   The only issue is there is no privacy with a hammock.  I’m use to getting naked in the tent, cleaning up with some wipes to remove sweat, and then get into night clothes which remain pretty clean.  Can’t do that with a hammock.  There is not a tremendous amount of modesty on the trail and I have no problem with nudity but it just bothers me when I have no idea who might be coming along.  Looking ahead, I know the next part of the trail will be flat 🙂

Iphone says: 13.7 miles.  35890 steps.  13 floors

13 floors seems like good news.  At least I am walking fast enough that the phone noticed I might be going up or down hill.

Lenora’s Story:

Monday again. Week 2.  We have passed by the quilt shop in La Pine at least 3 times and so this time I decide I have time to stop.  As I get out of the car the phone alerts me to a call from Suzi the cabinet lady.  After a discussion about cabinet removal I get to explore a really great quilt and craft shop.  The colors are bright and interesting and there are so many patterns.  Every time I see a shop like this I want to take up quilting.

Needle Nook was very efficient and the thread to finish the Penguin arrived today.  I am in prime finishing mode.  When Penguin is done I am moving on to Stone Fence.

Don is making progress and I am relieved to hear he is eating so far this week.

On the stitching side the Penguins are done.

I have started in on Stone Fence.  The maple leaves are going slowly.  This is going to take some time. All in all a good day.