Today marks two months since we started this trip in June. Its also
the day where people say the season begins to change. It seems so quiet
in the woods right now. It kind of feels like the calm before the storm,
is Fall going to hit the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Crest Trail
soon? Are the critters all hunkering down waiting for that first snow to
fall. Its hard to imagine while its eighty degrees and sunny on this
beautiful summer day. But we all know its coming. The weather will
change soon and bring cold days and even colder nights, along with some
wet stuff.
We hiked hard for parts of the day, but also had some great
relaxation times. We spent over an hour at Charleston Lake where we swam
and chatted with new friend Moss. It was a beautiful lake and for the
first time ever, I was swimming before Lauren.
We are now in the Sisters Wilderness area. It is beautiful! Hundreds
of lakes in this big bowl. We are camped at Brahama Lake. It is also
beautiful. Made 28 miles somehow, even with the long break.
I watched a tiny ant carrying a feather today. It was amusing and
amazing at the same time. Is his queen a fan of fancy feathered hair
pieces or was he just very confused. Nature never seizes to amaze or
surprise me.
We are now just 51 miles from Bend. We found out that d=rt were
waiting awhile for us back where they left the note. They had tried to
wait for us and asked other hikers if they had seen us. It made us feel
better that they had tried very hard to find us before giving up!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
8/14/12
The mosquitoes struck back this morning with a vengeance. It seems that
hundreds were waiting for us to get up and out of our tent. I didn't
deal with them for long, reached for the deet in no time. Snausage was
out of camp early and we left shortly after. Its honestly hard to enjoy
camp with hundreds of mosquitoes buzzing around your face.
Made great time to Windego Pass, where I met Just Bill. Hotshot showed up as well. We then had to decide weather to take the Crescent Lake alternate or not. Snausage did a really good job convincing us to take the alternate, promising less mosquitoes, easier trail, more water, and 7 less miles. We were sold. Today I Really enjoyed hiking with Snausage, Just Bill, and of course Groaler Bear.
The alternate was alright. Flat for the most part, very easy miles. But the dust was horrendous. These trails are used by horses a bunch, I think they tear up the trail pretty good. But we had plenty of water and very few mosquitoes.
I was exhausted all day today. I woke up last night needing to pee, eat, and drink water. Of course I waited for over an hour before doing any of that, so lost a lot of sleep.
These days seem to fly by. I often get completely lost in thought while hiking by myself. I no longer think about the motion of walking, it mostly just happens. The miles fly by and I feel great.
We made it to a campground around 7 pm. I think we hiked nearly 29 miles today. This campground along Trapper Creek has huckleberries everywhere. Groaler Bear, Snausage, and myself are paying $15 for this campsite. I would have hesitated but I was exhausted and tthe huckleberries are amazing. This is the most I have ever seen, and I will certainly eat my $5 worth of berries tomorrow morning.
We have 77 miles to Bend. Plan to get there on Friday. If we do make it, we will have hiked over 325 miles in just 12 days. That will be a new record for me, and is amazing for Lauren too. Time for some much needed rest.
Made great time to Windego Pass, where I met Just Bill. Hotshot showed up as well. We then had to decide weather to take the Crescent Lake alternate or not. Snausage did a really good job convincing us to take the alternate, promising less mosquitoes, easier trail, more water, and 7 less miles. We were sold. Today I Really enjoyed hiking with Snausage, Just Bill, and of course Groaler Bear.
The alternate was alright. Flat for the most part, very easy miles. But the dust was horrendous. These trails are used by horses a bunch, I think they tear up the trail pretty good. But we had plenty of water and very few mosquitoes.
I was exhausted all day today. I woke up last night needing to pee, eat, and drink water. Of course I waited for over an hour before doing any of that, so lost a lot of sleep.
These days seem to fly by. I often get completely lost in thought while hiking by myself. I no longer think about the motion of walking, it mostly just happens. The miles fly by and I feel great.
We made it to a campground around 7 pm. I think we hiked nearly 29 miles today. This campground along Trapper Creek has huckleberries everywhere. Groaler Bear, Snausage, and myself are paying $15 for this campsite. I would have hesitated but I was exhausted and tthe huckleberries are amazing. This is the most I have ever seen, and I will certainly eat my $5 worth of berries tomorrow morning.
We have 77 miles to Bend. Plan to get there on Friday. If we do make it, we will have hiked over 325 miles in just 12 days. That will be a new record for me, and is amazing for Lauren too. Time for some much needed rest.
8/13/12
The day was great. We hiked 25 miles and Lauren said it was the
first time she felt good doing that many miles. She flew today too. I
honestly had trouble keeping up with her.
We hiked the first 8 miles by ourselves. It felt good to hike at my own pace and in such an amazing place. Tielson Creek was beautiful. Crystal clear freezing cold runoff coming right off of Mt. Tielson. Its amazing how a little thing like good tasting water can really make a hikers day great.
The day seemed to fly by. We spent a lot of time dreaming of the food, beer, and company we will have in Bend in a few days. Then, around 3 pm we found a note on the trail, it read... 8/13 12:45 PM, Shaggy and Groaler Bear- sorry you missed the bbq, we will see you in Bend in a few days... Tree, d=rt, and Sage. We missed them by 2 hours! Our minds raced as we tried to figure out when the bbq was, where it was, and how far we were from a road. We were also, of course, sad to miss Tree and d=rt. Would have loved to play with Tree's dog Sage too. We were both frustrated and excited to see them soon.
Now its 9 pm, time to sleep. I am really enjoying our new friends company, Snausage and Hot Shot. Glad we have gotten to know them and hope we will see them more in the future.
We hiked the first 8 miles by ourselves. It felt good to hike at my own pace and in such an amazing place. Tielson Creek was beautiful. Crystal clear freezing cold runoff coming right off of Mt. Tielson. Its amazing how a little thing like good tasting water can really make a hikers day great.
The day seemed to fly by. We spent a lot of time dreaming of the food, beer, and company we will have in Bend in a few days. Then, around 3 pm we found a note on the trail, it read... 8/13 12:45 PM, Shaggy and Groaler Bear- sorry you missed the bbq, we will see you in Bend in a few days... Tree, d=rt, and Sage. We missed them by 2 hours! Our minds raced as we tried to figure out when the bbq was, where it was, and how far we were from a road. We were also, of course, sad to miss Tree and d=rt. Would have loved to play with Tree's dog Sage too. We were both frustrated and excited to see them soon.
Now its 9 pm, time to sleep. I am really enjoying our new friends company, Snausage and Hot Shot. Glad we have gotten to know them and hope we will see them more in the future.
8/12/12
Crater Lake was actually probably one of my favorite National
Parks yet. I suppose I was not expecting much, a big over-hyped lake.
But I found much more. We walked along the rim for 7 miles. It was very
peaceful and relaxing. Also the tourist watching was endless.
We spent the morning leisurely, ate a big breakfast at the gift shop. Started hiking at 9. Got to Rim Village at 11. Left at one in the afternoon. 6 days of food and 7 liters of water. We are in a large, 26 mile waterless stretch. Luckily a young lady named Hot Shot had a friend who is bringing us water.
We are at highway 138 with Hot Shot and Snausage. Good times. I love this trail.
We spent the morning leisurely, ate a big breakfast at the gift shop. Started hiking at 9. Got to Rim Village at 11. Left at one in the afternoon. 6 days of food and 7 liters of water. We are in a large, 26 mile waterless stretch. Luckily a young lady named Hot Shot had a friend who is bringing us water.
We are at highway 138 with Hot Shot and Snausage. Good times. I love this trail.
8/11/12
The terrain today proved to be easy and we had over 23 miles in by 4
pm. We were motivated to get to the park and eat at the all you can eat pizza buffet. We walked with several other hikers today. In Mazama
Village there are at least 13 hikers. Kind of a party on the PCT.
We ate, we drank, we resupplied our 6-7 days of food. Tomorrow we will hike on to Bend. I am exhausted!
We ate, we drank, we resupplied our 6-7 days of food. Tomorrow we will hike on to Bend. I am exhausted!
8/10/12
Today was a lot of fun. It always goes well with a good night sleep.
Last night I slept so well. We were close to a highway, but very close
to aa raging creek. The white noise produced was perfect for sleeping.
We saw Creeper and Carpenter today, along with Hotshot and Snausage. It was great meeting some new people along the journey today.
The terrain was extremely mellow. It felt like a walk in the park. Very pretty though. Refreshing to be in a wilderness area again. Yesterday we crossed about 30 roads, some dirt, some paved. Today we crossed zero. Its very refreshing to find places without roads, cars, people, shopping malls.
We really enjoyed seeing Devil's mountain today, and walking the ridge around it. It was so beautiful as the sun was setting. We found snow on the north side of the ridge which was an excellent combination for our beers we carried for so very long. It was like another birthday celebration for Lauren. We ended up hiking 26 miles today, not bad.
We have 21 miles to Crater Lake tomorrow. I am very excited to see another park I have never seen before. Should be fun.
We saw Creeper and Carpenter today, along with Hotshot and Snausage. It was great meeting some new people along the journey today.
The terrain was extremely mellow. It felt like a walk in the park. Very pretty though. Refreshing to be in a wilderness area again. Yesterday we crossed about 30 roads, some dirt, some paved. Today we crossed zero. Its very refreshing to find places without roads, cars, people, shopping malls.
We really enjoyed seeing Devil's mountain today, and walking the ridge around it. It was so beautiful as the sun was setting. We found snow on the north side of the ridge which was an excellent combination for our beers we carried for so very long. It was like another birthday celebration for Lauren. We ended up hiking 26 miles today, not bad.
We have 21 miles to Crater Lake tomorrow. I am very excited to see another park I have never seen before. Should be fun.
8/9/12
I don't think sleeping under the stars is for us. We tried again last
night, but between the mosquitoes and ants, we did not sleep much. I was
exhausted when it was time to get up, Lauren said the same.
The miles went by slowly and fast at the same time. We hiked over 27 miles somehow. Only saw 5 other hikers today.
My back was killing me at the end of the day, but Lauren gave me a back rub, how lucky am I?
I have carried 4 beers that I bought for Lauren's birthday, over 120 miles now. We have been taking medicine for the stomach bug though, and can't drink alcohol until the pills are gone. Tomorrow we will celebrate with a beer at the end of the day. We are both excited to see Crater Lake.
Wow, I am completely exhausted.
The miles went by slowly and fast at the same time. We hiked over 27 miles somehow. Only saw 5 other hikers today.
My back was killing me at the end of the day, but Lauren gave me a back rub, how lucky am I?
I have carried 4 beers that I bought for Lauren's birthday, over 120 miles now. We have been taking medicine for the stomach bug though, and can't drink alcohol until the pills are gone. Tomorrow we will celebrate with a beer at the end of the day. We are both excited to see Crater Lake.
Wow, I am completely exhausted.
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