Day 118: A New Friend!

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Wendy

Day 118
August 14
mile 1972.5-1989.5
17 miles

Before it was light out, wile I was half asleep, I heard a noise near me. I thought it was probably an early morning hiker headed out on the trail. Then, I heard it again! This time, I knew it was too close to me to be a hiker! It was a large animal. I shifted in my sleeping bag and told it to go away. It did and then came back! I was too tired to look, but knew it was a deer. I decided that I better get up and eat my breakfast. A lot of moisture had condensed onto my sleeping bag and groundcloth overnight. I packed up my wet belongings and started walking in the overcast morning light.

After a few miles, I reached the Obsidian Falls area, where a unique kind of shiny, black rock could be seen along the trail.

I had only previously ever seen this kind of rock in museums and enjoyed this section of trail. It ended all too quickly, however! I soon reached the Obsidian Falls, which were nice, but not remarkable.

I almost took a break there but decided to keep moving. I climbed the terrain above the falls and saw two men packing up their camp. As I headed on toward a tiny stream, I saw several other backpackers hiking down a different trail. They waved to me as I moved away in a different direction. I then started up a hill and found an open space to take my break. The sun had come out and I decided to take the opportunity to dry out my sleeping bag and groundcloth.

As I snacked, I watched a woman, hiking with her dog, study her map on a trail below me, and then head on. The two men approached and greeted me. I think they thought I had camped here last night. Once my gear was fairly dry, I re-packed my pack and headed out again. I walked by the two men again as they sat beside the trail taking a break. They now learned that I was hiking the PCT by myself (“You can’t do that!” one said) and asked me when I started. They said they had met a few others with similar start dates.
I continued on, feeling pressed to make it to the pass in time to meet my friend.
I passed by another man who was out hiking with his dog. I thought he was headed in the opposite direction, but then discovered he was going the same way that I was. He chatted with me a bit before I headed on. The landscape shifted into volcanic rock and my energy was fading. I felt so slow today!

The trail climbed steeply and my breath became labored. This was hard work! I looked back and was astonished to see the day hiker gaining on me! That never happens! He ended up needing to stop to give his dog some water and asked me where I was from. I finished up the climb, followed the trail to the left, and never saw him again.

The trail descended back into the woods and I reached the supposedly always flowing Minnie Scott Spring. Another solo female backpacker was adjusting her pack on a rock just before the stream. I said hello and went to check out the situation. It turned out to be an extremely shallow stream, where finding a running trickle looked to be a difficult task. Hmmm… I headed back along the stream and collected what I could and then sat down along the trail in the grass to filter it. The other hiker still needed to collect water for herself, and we started chatting. She asked me about my two liter (gigantic!) collecting bag and a couple of other questions and I soon learned that she was out here on her first backpacking trip ever! She had flown to Portland from Houston in order to hike a 200 mile section of the Oregon part of the PCT. I thought she was incredibly brave to do this alone! After her first two nights, she was finding the solitary nature of the experience to be difficult. I told her that if she was near any thru-hiker and didn’t want to be alone, she should ask if it would be okay to camp near them and that I could guarantee her that 99% of them would say absolutely!
As I drank my ice coffee, and ate my Snickers, she headed back out. Suddenly, I felt like a good friend was walking away from me! I wanted to catch back up to her and keep talking! I finished my snack, filtered the rest of my water, packed up, and headed out, expecting to see her not too far ahead. I was wrong! The girl was moving quickly! A family of four walked by me and I continued down to a meadow. Two women were approaching me and in the distance, I could see my friend heading into the woods to start the next climb! The women wanted to chat, though. One of them asked if she could shake my hand when she learned I was hiking the whole PCT! I told her she was sweet. The other one asked if there was water at Minnie Scott Spring and how far they were from it. I headed on and eventually caught up to my friend on a climb. She immediately let me pass and I was disappointed that she didn’t seem to want to chat. Then, I started asking her questions. Was she going into Bend? She said she was not, since she had just started from there a couple days ago. I asked her when she planned on finishing at Cascade Locks. I was also curious about what she had done to prepare physically for this because she was definitely in good shape! She said she had been doing CrossFit. Later, she lamented about following the advice of an older man employee at REI when she asked what to wear on the trail. She said she felt dumpy, but I disagreed! I told her she was welcome to come with me into town if she wanted and that she would have a sure ride. She thought about it and then asked if I would be willing to pick her up a hiking skirt at REI if she gave me the money. I told her of course!
A bit later on, she said that she was thinking more and more about coming into Bend with me. I turned around and smiled. We calculated how many miles she would need to hike a day in order to finish when she planned to if she made this extra trip. It turned out to still be very doable!

As we crested the peak, we met a group of women hikers who were very excited to talk to us. “Are you hiking the entire trail?”. They were blown away when I said yes and just as excited when Connie said she had just begun her hike two days ago.
After we left them, Connie said, “You must get that all the time!”. I told her I loved it!
I felt under a good amount of pressure to not arrive late at the road as I didn’t want my friend to have to wait for me. I told Connie I was going to pick up the pace, but that she should hike at a speed that was comfortable for her and that we would wait for her.
When I needed to, I stopped to take a pack break and a few minutes later, was surprised to see Connie approaching! She was an impressive hiker!
I stopped at the next lake for a moment and said that I wished I had time for a swim. She said I would have time later on, but I knew my schedule was too strict. We headed on and I again took the lead. I kept checking my watch and the miles I had left. I had not a minute to waste! I did realize that the stress I was putting on myself to get there exactly at 3 was a bit ridiculous. Surely, my friend would understand if I was a bit late…
The trail came out of the woods and headed across a maze of lava rocks. These ones were a bit harder to walk on than the previous lava field. I could see the road, but the trail kept looping around in crazy directions. I could see a stone tower by the road and people standing on top of it and I imagined my friend being able to see me approach from it. I also imagined that she was telling the other people about me and my hike and that they were all cheering me on!

At last, I arrived at the road, just 2 minutes after the hour. Strangely, no one was there. I didn’t even see the tower. I didn’t want to walk up the road for fear that Connie would think I had abandoned her, so I sat down by the road and dug out my food bag. I was so tired and so hungry. Several minutes later, my friend drove by and stuck her head out the window. “There you are!” she exclaimed. She motioned for me to get in. She began telling me about her ordeal finding the trail and wanted to immediately head into town. It wasn’t easy for me to cut in and tell her that someone else, still on the trail, was hoping for a ride… We headed up the road to use the restrooms and and our way back down, found Connie, looking off into the distance. I felt bad about not being there when she arrived!
We headed toward the town of Sisters, which I had thought from reading the town descriptions, was a very tiny place. It was a lot larger than I had imagined! Allyson asked if we wanted to stop at the coffee shop. That sounded good to me, even though I was dehydrated. (When she had first asked me if she could bring me anything, I thought about asking her for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bottle of water, but then decided not to. Still, I hoped she might bring something… She did not, however). The coffee shop smelled SO good inside! I instantly became happy! I bought a cookie and coffee and paid for Allyson’s treat, as well, since she came all the way out to help me. Then, we relaxed into the leather couches while Allyson started to look up motels in Bend. The choices were overwhelming. She didn’t want to stay long, so we headed right back out. This time, I was given the task of picking out a motel, while she drove, which was a bit stressful for me.
We found one with a pool, but it turned out not to have a washer or dryer. My mind started to become overwhelmed with all of the activity around me as we pulled into the motel. Allyson told me to relax for a minute while she checked us in, and then we took our things up to our room. I started rinsing out my dirtiest articles of clothing, one by one, and Connie took her shower. Then, I showered and we headed out to find dinner. Again, it was a bit of an ordeal. Bend was a big place! It was not at all a trail friendly town. A car was a requirement. We located a tavern-like place and then spent a significant amount of time trying to find a parking space. Then, upon entering the very loud restaurant, we learned that there would be a wait. So, we headed back to the car and drove around town some more. We stopped at a burger place that was more like a fast food restaurant, but they sold wine. As we sat at an outside table, eating, I started to relax a bit. I wanted to get a milkshake after my meal, but suddenly Allyson said that it was almost 8 and REI was about to close! So we raced across town and got there 10 minutes before closing. I asked for my resupply box and then ran around the store, trying to remember the things I had wanted to look for. Why did I not make a list? Allyson helped me find a new shirt, I looked for a matching bandana, which I could not find, I tried to find a plastic eye dropper bottle (also not there), and then remembered I needed another tent stake (my titanium stakes were worthless!). Connie found her skirt, and we checked out and headed on to Whole Foods. Allyson’s sister had had a lot of experience with C. Dif from strong antibiotics over the course of her life and also worked as a nurse in the ER. She wrote down the names of 2 antibiotics that would probably help, as well as the strain of probiotic that I needed in my system. It turned out that the probiotics I had been taking since Lone Pine did not contain this strain and that is why they weren’t having any effect. I bought capsules of the specific strain, another box of general probiotic capsules, and a yogurt like shot of probiotics to drink tonight. I also bought a fudgey brownie. Connie bought a bottle of wine for us to share. She said she was so grateful for our willingness to take her in, but I was just so happy that she had joined me! We headed back to the room and Allyson brought our clothes to the laundromat and washed them for us, while I opened my resupply box and started sorting. I learned that Connie was inspired to come out and hike this section of the trail after reading “Wild.” She had already been a fan of Cheryl Strayed before this book came out, when she wrote an advice column for an internet site. Many people who had seen me on my hikes had mentioned how brave I am to hike them alone, but I thought what Connie was doing was far more brave! I don’t think I would have undertaken my first backpacking trip ever all alone, and I certainly wouldn’t have flown across the country to hike 200 miles my first time! We weren’t able to find a wine opener anywhere and were growing more and more tired by the moment. I fretted about which bed to sleep in. I didn’t want to offend my old friend or make my new friend uncomfortable after just meeting her…
When Allyson returned, she said I could share the bed with her, so I did. However, I was not at all comfortable and my mind raced all night long. In my exhausted condition, I was not able to get any sleep.

Day 117: Another bad day for my intestines!

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Wendy

Day 117
August 13
1947.9-1972.5
24.6 miles

Even though I was now in the “easiest” part of the trail, I was feeling more and more exhausted and therefore getting up later and later. I think the accumulation of miles was finally catching up to me. I had not had a day off from hiking since July 4th! And I was still very sick. So far, neither the Guatamalan tea, nor the Old Man’s Beard had had any positive effects. I had another emergency this morning, and while I was in the middle of it, I heard a man cough. Someone was coming down the trail! I did what I could and stood there as the person passed by. My eyes grew wide as I realized it was my 75 year old fiend, Phil, who I had last seen at the Callahan’s. How on earth did he catch up to me?! I waved to him, but he did not seem to recognize me. I guess that was for the better, given the situation I was in. I packed up my tent and stuffed all of my possessions into my backpack and headed back out to the trail. It didn’t take me too long to catch up to my friend. “Phil!”
He turned around and now recognized me. “Wendy! Was that you back there?”.
I asked him how he was now here. “Well, I’ve really picked up my speed since I last saw you,” he began. I was incredulous. Then he explained that the night he stopped at the Fish Hatchery, the smoke in the air from the nearby forest fires was so thick that he was having trouble breathing. He called his wife and she came to pick him up and bring him back home for a few days. He decided to get back on the trail just after Shelter Cove. Today, he was going to head out on the Elk Lake Trail and be picked up by his wife to spend another few days in Bend. I told him I planned on getting there tomorrow from MacKenzie Pass. I mentioned that his pack looked a lot smaller now! He explained that Slacks’s friend, who he had never met, saw him on the trail and told him that his pack was looking very lopsided. He asked if he wanted help adjusting it and spent several minutes adjusting all of the straps for him. Slack then came along and apparently had the same reaction to seeing him as I did! He couldn’t believe that he was now at the same place as him and Phil had fun playing with him about his increased pace and endurance. I thought it was so sweet that these guys took the time to help him and also thought it was interesting that Slack and I were the two thru-hikers that were repeatedly being placed in his path. I liked this connection. I slowed down my pace to keep chatting, as I was enjoying our conversation. I began to grow hot in the rain layers that I had started out in and stepped aside to peel off the extra clothes. Phil told me his last name so I could look him up in the phone book if I needed to be driven somewhere while I was in Bend.
Then, I got moving. I told my friend that I would be at the Pass as close to 3pm as possible. I still had nearly 40 miles to hike before then!
I walked through another burn area with the sun glaring down on me and walked by the Elk Lake Trail turn-off.

Soon after, I found a grassy slope to sit on and enjoyed an ice coffee and snacks. It was now 1pm, and I still had 31 miles to hike by 3pm tomorrow! That thought alone exhausted me!
I began the next, steeper climb. My tummy was hurting and I felt lethargic. At the top of the climb, on top of a pile of rocks, I noticed that I had some reception and stopped to check in with my friend. She wanted to know if I had plans for the evening. I began to worry that she might want to go out and do something in town. All I could think about was getting a shower, washing my clothes, picking up my resupply box that I sent to REI, sleeping, sorting, and eating! There was no time for anything fun…
I headed on, feeling worse and worse. This was a bad intestinal day! As I approached the next lake, I heard a woman calling for her dog. When she saw me, she asked if I had seen him. I had not. She was very surprised to hear what I was doing out here and especially that I was doing it alone. We talked about my illness and she sympathized, as her daughter had picked up something similar during her world travels and still struggled with it years later. She asked me to keep a lookout for her dog, who had chased after some big animal, and asked if I could yell back to her if I saw him. Before we parted, her dog came trotting over to her, now without his pink pack that was holding its dog food! It acted extremely nonchalant, as if nothing had happened and he had never left her side. I left her to the task of searching out his pack and headed on, stopping at the lake to snack and collect more water. I could see her family sitting on the shore of the opposite side of the lake.

I thought the trail would take me over there, but it headed away from the lake and back into the woods.
Soon after, the trail emerged from the woods back out into an open landscape. I could see a huge snowy mountain in the distance, but had no idea which one it was. All I knew was that I was happy to be back in an open expanse again. It had been a long time!

I listened to some Ray LaMontagne as I walked and felt energetically fed. A large group of teenage girls headed toward me and a couple of the leaders asked me about my journey as they passed by. They were planning on camping at the same lake as the woman and her dog. I still had many miles to go…
I re-entered the woods and came across a nice, flowing stream, saw a cute deer, and had another intestinal emergency.

The trail climbed again and I walked through a field where I could see a tent set up in the distance and a couple walking around outside of it. I thought that must be where the upcoming pond was. I continued to walk and came upon tent after tent. This was a crowded area! The mosquitoes were out in full force again. I needed my own space, so I walked by the pond and all the campers and headed back into the woods, searching out a possible camp spot.

After several minutes, I decided to pull over. I could have set up my sleeping bag on a large rock, but decided it would be better to sleep on dirt and thus moved. Once again, my intestines demanded immediate attention. When was this ever going to end?! I had had enough!

I set up my cowboy camp as the air cooled and cooked my pasta in the darkening night air. In the distance, I heard a loud rumbling. It sounded like an avalanche on the big mountain nearby! I hoped everyone camping underneath it remained safe. Tomorrow, I would have to get up fairly early, as I had to hike 17 miles by 3:00!

Day 116: A nice ending

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Wendy

Day 116
August 12
mile 1922.2-1947.9
25.7 miles

I got up at 7 am and added some warm water to the Mountain House bag of scrambled eggs and bacon that John had sent me, and then boiled some more water for coffee, which I was not willing to replace with bitter tea. For dessert, I had poptarts. After I packed up my tent, I grabbed some more Old Man’s Beard from the branches around me and headed back to the trail. It was now 8:16! My starts were getting even later!

In the morning hours, I encountered three older men who were section hiking southbound, who were in high spirits, and then a younger couple later on who did not say anything.
Even though the trail climbed, it remained in the woods. I was finding Central Oregon more quiet and peaceful, rather than boring. The tea was so far not aiding my intestines and I had to take care of the resulting problems a couple of times. I made it down to the junction of Charlton Lake and found an army box with a register in it. It was dedicated to AsaBat, who had passed away in this area. He was the man responsible for creating the very valuable water report that PCT hikers now rely upon to determine where it is possible to collect water in the desert section of the trail. The register asked hikers to write down any memories they had of him. I saw that Cowboy and Birdman remained 10 days ahead of me and that Smooth Operator was now 7 days in front.
I walked down the side path toward the lake, hoping it wasn’t too far off the trail and was happy to find that it wasn’t! However, there was a group of people talking loudly there. I found my own little area, collected water and then boiled water for my medicinal tea. While it steeped, I filtered the water and found out that the people near me were mountain bikers. I could also hear some children in the distance. The sun baked me and I kept shifting my position to find a little more shade. By now, all of the food that I had pre-boxed for myself back in April was stale. I had put summer sausages in several of the boxes and many of them had gone bad. The latest one seemed alright, so I had some of that for lunch, followed by plantain chips and a good amount of the chocolate/caramel bar that John had sent to help swallow the bitterness of the Guatamalan tea.

After I ate, I packed up and silently headed back to the trail.

I entered another burn area, which I found quite pretty in its own way. Flowers grow quickly in these areas and their color seems more vibrant against the deadened trees that they grow under. The sky was a pretty blue and provided a nice backdrop through the remaining trunks.

The trail undulated softly and I arrived at another lake after about seven miles to collect more water. Unfortunately, my intestines were still acting up. I had a nice snack break with an ice coffee, snickers, and a packet of honey almond butter.
Then, I decided to listen to some music.
A little further up the trail, I was surprised to come across Muppets and Stilts, who I had briefly met at Shelter Cove for the first time. They were chatting with a southbounder. I made my way past them and continued up the hill. In the forest, I encountered a ranger, who I thought might ask to see my permit. He said that he was out checking for fires. He told me that ten of them had started today! He chatted for a couple of minutes and said he wished he could talk longer, but had to get moving. I did, too!

My goal was to make it to Desane Lake at mile 1947.5. Daylight was running out! I stopped to take a brief snack break on top of the ridge and then got moving again.
At 7:20, I finally reached my destination, only to find two tents already set up there! The campers were already ensconced. I walked along the edge of the lake looking for another spot, but saw nothing. My heart sank. I tried to get down to the edge of the water so I could at least collect some for my dinner, but couldn’t figure out a way to get there, as the surrounding land was too marshy. I walked a couple more minutes and dejectedly sat along the bank of the trail, looking at my trail information. It appeared that the next lake was 1.6 miles away, which meant I would arrive after the sun had set. I decided I better try to walk as fast as I could.
Fortunately, there turned out to be another one that was closer! I headed towards it and found that I had the whole area to myself! How perfect!

I collected water, looked at the reflection of the clouds in the pond, and then picked out a spot to set up my tent. I was having a tough time deciding which way to face! The mosquitoes had been out all day and they continued to bother me as I set up.

I walked over to the lake to watch the clouds turn color with the setting sun and then climbed into my tent to boil water for my linguini dinner. I made some more medicinal tea, which I drank with some chocolate covered graham crackers.
It gets dark out so early now! I’m not looking forward to the earlier nights in the weeks ahead. As of today, I only have 5 weeks and 2 days left on the trail…

Day 114: Rain, thunder, hail, and lightning!

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Wendy

Day 114
August 10
mile 1884.2-1911
26.8 miles

It was strangely dark in the morning, which did not entice me to get up. I felt very tired and lay in my sleeping bag a little while longer, finally getting up at 7:01. A light rain began to fall outside my tent. For breakfast, I had poptarts (to conserve my water) with my coffee, along with a couple of surperfood squares to help with nutrition. By the time I broke down my tent, packed up, and got on trail, it was 8:08 once again!

I walked out into the mist and light rain. The entire sky was cast in a dark gray color and I was disappointed not to be able to see any of the view that I expected to see in the daylight. I climbed over 1,000 feet, and gradually, blue sky overtook the gray, revealing a sea of white puffy clouds below the mountains.

At a bend in the trail, I saw another brown weasel scampering across some rocks. It turned to look at me, revealing its very cute face before dashing off. My mind was focused on reaching Summit Lake Campground in just over 12 miles, where my guidebook said there were a lot of yogi-ing opportunities. I hoped there would be people there with extra water. For now, I was fine.

The air was cool and damp, and it wasn’t long before it began to rain again. I wondered where all of the thru-hikers were! I seemed to be completely alone in this section of the trail. I figured that most of them had probably taken the Oregon Skyline alternate that cut off over 8 miles of distance.
I soon came across two couples taking a break. They asked me where I was from and one of them responded, “You’re a long way from home!”.
Actually… We chatted for a few minutes and then I headed on. The mosquitoes were out in force and I got several bites on my calves and thighs. The rain picked up and when I finally reached the campground, which was much tinier than I had expected, all I saw was a few vehicles. No one was around. Disappointed, cold, and wet, I headed up the next climb as thunder boomed. A man in a yellow poncho was making his way down with his frightened dog. I wondered if it was such a good idea to be climbing into the storm. Lightning flashed and before long, hail came crashing down on me. A large chunk pelted my thumb and it stung and throbbed for a long time. It hit my head and neck and hands. I kept moving. I was at an altitude of nearly 7,000 feet and in the brunt of the storm.
After the hail turned back to rain, I saw a man head towards me. It looked liked he had the moss that I had seen on the trees hanging from the top of his head. When I got closer, I realized it was just his hair. He said he was out playing on Diamond Peak and seemed to be in high spirits despite the weather, unlike me. He said that one day, he would also like to hike the PCT. I pretended that everything was well, making no mention of my intestinal problems, which were quite awful today. I put some of Wildcat’s essential oil into some water and drank that, but it was having no effect. I found a large tree to somewhat shelter me from the rain as I sat down to snack. Then, I continued to climb, reaching the exposed part of the trail. I hoped the storm was not following me!

At last, I reached a running stream across the trail! I had hiked 41 miles without collecting any water, which was a first for me! Fortunately, the rainy conditions did not make me feel thirsty. Even now that I didn’t have to worry about conserving water, I still didn’t feel like drinking much! I made two trips down to the stream to collect water where it was flowing the best and then started to filter it. The rain started again, making the process very unpleasant. My hands were cold and I needed to start moving again. I still had nearly four miles of ridge walking to do at 7,000 feet before I headed back down into the forest. I thought back to where I would be on the trail according to the miles I had left to hike and thought about the day I hiked Kearsarge Pass.

In the forest, I climbed a steep slope to sit in between a couple of trees for my next snack break.

As the sun set, I found a flat space to camp in front of a large pond. Again, I struggled with my tent set-up. The tension was never right and it was impossible to zip up. I would have to re-stake it over and over, even after I finally got inside.

Light rain continued to fall. I watched two fisherman walk past me on the trail and was reminded of Cheryl Strayed’s scary encounter on a similar part of the trail. (I wondered if I was on the same part of the trail). I felt my vulnerability, but fortunately, nothing frightening happened. I cooked my pasta, cleaned up, and as I zipped up my tent, wishfully said aloud that it that it would last another 800 miles. (Right?) Just then, the zipper completely broke… This can’t be happening! At least I would be able to get to an REI in less than 100 miles, where I could buy a more durable tent if I was willing to spend another $300. Somehow, I got the zipper to work again, so that I didn’t have a huge opening for the mosquitoes to fly in all night long. Now, there were just the handful of tears that I had been working with. It wasn’t looking good for the long haul, however…

Day 113: A Risky Situation

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Wendy

Day 113
August 9
mile 1856-1884.2
28.2 miles

Someone walked by my tent at 6:43 while I was still in my sleeping bag. It must have been Purple Haze. I got up shortly after, ate some breakfast, broke down my tent, and packed everything up. I looked at my watch after I stepped back on the trail to find that it was now 8:08! Oh, dear! My starts were getting later and later and the sun was now setting earlier and earlier!

I continued the climb, looking down to see the now dreaded Diamond Lake below.

In just under three miles, I reached the Mt. Thielsen trail intersection. I got confused about which way to go, first heading the obvious way, then upon discovering that wasn’t right, bumping into a tent. Back and forth I went! Finally, I realized that the PCT headed in the complete opposite direction, where I hadn’t even noticed a trail!

I noticed that I had a little reception here, so I spent a few minutes catching up on Facebook news, and then a hiker going south passed by. I stepped aside for him, slightly scaring him as I lost my balance in some rocks along the edge of the trail. My body had long lost any sense of agility with the increasing tightness I was forcing upon it. I headed down the other side of the mountain. The trail wrapped around and lead down to a beautiful creek!

It was an idyllic setting and I decided to take a break and enjoy it by having an ice coffee, even though it was a bit too early for that. I had only hiked five miles so far, but I needed to collect water and knew there weren’t any other sources coming up for awhile.

I kept looking back at the trail, expecting Tumbleweed to head toward me any moment, but was surprised that no one showed up!
The trail climbed gradually over the next five miles and I arrived at the sign proclaiming that I was now at the highest point in Oregon and Washington.

There was nothing remotely spectacular about the view. It’s interesting to me that snow remains on some of these mountains all year round, while it melts on the much, much higher Sierra mountains.
Just before I stopped for lunch, I saw a couple of hikers taking a break on some rocks along a ridge. The older man appeared to be on the phone, but the younger one waved to me. I found my own spot to stop a little farther ahead and they passed by and waved again as I was eating.
They seemed surprised when I caught up to them. They told me they were just taking their time. They asked me some questions about my hike and said that they had met a couple from Vermont who were also hiking the whole trail. I said I knew who they were- Lotus and Hermes. They never learned their names, but said that they had given Lotus their benadryl from their first aid kit after she was stung by a bee and broke out in hives. Lotus and Hermes weren’t carrying a first aid kit and when they saw the father and son, asked if they had one. It was another story about chance encounters and the incredible timing of them. I asked them where they planned on stopping for the night and they said they would be taking a side trail down to a lake. The only water sources in this section were quite a distance from the trail. One was a lake, and one was described as really gross small pools of water that were way off the ridge. My guidebook said that a trail angel kept a stock of water for PCT hikers at Windigo Pass, but I had read that he retired from trail angeling this year. I asked the father and son if they had seen any water there when they had parked. The son said he did, which made me happy. I had already decided to make the risky choice to bypass the water sources off the trail and hope for something there, but now my decision was solidified.

I continued on ahead of them, still needing to hike many miles to reach Windigo Pass. My intestines acted up again and I had to stop a couple of times to take care of them, as well as snack to pick up my energy. I reached the intersection leading down to the gross pools of water and decided to keep going. I still had over six miles to reach the road.

When I finally arrived, I found a bulletin board with a nice note on it for Wildcat and Baxter that was left by their friends Muppets and Stilts, but I saw no water. I walked across the road, looked around a campsite, and again found nothing. My heart sank. I knew I had taken a risk and this time I had lost. A car drove by and I looked at them, half hoping they would stop and offer me any water that they might have, while the other part knew that I had gotten myself into this situation, and I would need to take full responsibility. I headed up the next climb and soon after found a nice spot to set up my camp. It was now 7:33 and I had hiked over 28 miles! In the process of setting up my tent, a wasp found its way inside, and I could not get him out! I kept hitting the outside wall of the tent that he was crawling on, but that only made him mad. He flew to another wall and we repeated the process. Now, I had an angry wasp trapped inside my tent! No matter how much I opened the flap, he did not detect the outside! He finally positioned himself on the pole at the apex of the tent. I put down the groundcloth inside the tent with the wasp still there and then started throwing my various items inside. I didn’t hear him buzzing anymore but never saw him fly out. I used some of my remaining water to make dinner, cleaned up, and hoped I would have enough water to get through the next day.

Day 112: Crater Lake!

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Wendy

Day 112
August 8
1830.2-1856
26.2 miles

As much as I did not want to, I had to get out of my sleeping bag and make my way out of my tent at 12:30 in the morning to pee. I was SO tired in the morning, but got up at 6:30 anyway. Again, I had to pee before I even ate my breakfast! How unusual! I took the time to cook some oatmeal and then boiled water for a second time for my much needed coffee. While I was packing up, a hiker came by from a different path than I had taken last night. It was Purple Haze. He must have taken the road back to the PCT.
I headed out at 7:53, concerned about finding the trail as it turned off onto the “new PCT” which wound the rim of Crater Lake. My guidebook made me think that it was easy to miss. I was surprised to come across several small streams within the first couple of miles and stopped to collect some very cold water at one of them. While I sat beside the stream filtering the water in the damp woods, I noticed wads of wet toilet paper around me!
I headed on without any problem finding the correct path to take. The day was cool and overcast. While in the woods, I saw two large weasels scamper across the trail! They moved too quickly for me to take a picture, but I was grateful that I got to see these creatures! They would take a couple of running steps, then spring into the air, and again, run, run, spring! The trail climbed and the mosquitoes once again came out. When I reached a paved road, I noticed that I had two fresh, symmetrical bites on the back of my thighs, just under my skirt line! As usual, I was confused about where to go when I hit the road. I took out my GPS and kept my eye on it as I walked ahead. I reached a stonewall near a parking lot and saw a few people out for a stroll. I knew there was a water pump near this area, off the trail, but I had already filled up and did not need anymore. However, I saw a couple of buildings and assumed one of them must be a restaurant! That was worth checking out! First, I headed over to the stonewall to see what the people were looking at. My jaw dropped as I saw my first view of Crater Lake! Although the sky was filled with gray clouds, it was a magnificent, unexpected sight to me. A few tears welled up in my eyes as I realized I had just walked over 1,830 miles to see this! Wow!

Then, my mind returned to the hope of some warm breakfast! I headed over to the main building, dropped my pack inside the doors, and found a gift shop and small take-out cafeteria. It was enough for me. I bought a microwavable breakfast sandwich, yogurt, and coffee, and felt so happy sitting inside eating it! I took out my maps and tried to figure out which way the trail went as I sat at the table. It seemed pretty easy to follow. Surprisingly, the food wasn’t hurting my stomach too much! I used the restroom and headed back out to the lake, hoping someone could take my picture. The people there seemed too occupied with their own group, so I moved on. I laughed out loud at the realization that I could be stuck in the lab right now, being made to tell people who will never listen, what to do. Or, I could be right here, looking at the natural wonder of the deepest lake in the United States after walking the entire length of the state of California!

I kept stopping to take pictures of the changing viewpoints as I walked along the rim.

The trail climbed, then dropped back down to the road, and then re-entered the woods. It was not marked, so a large part of my focus was always checking to see if I was still on the trail. A couple headed my way through the wooded part of the trail and the woman said she was impressed by me! I think she mentioned all of the weight I was carrying. At the points along the roads, I saw many more people who drove there, got out of their car to take a quick photo or two and then got back in. Several times, I hoped that they would stay long enough to take a picture of me in front of the lake, but they always seemed to jump back into their vehicles too quickly. Tumbleweed had talked about how strange National Parks are and I agreed. They feel like the city to me, teeming with people, most of whom seem to seek a quick and easy form of gratification. As a thru-hiker, they are the places where I feel the most anonymous and the most unseen. No one knows what I am doing or how far I have just walked.
A couple of hours later, I reached the busiest overlook point. I was finally able to ask someone if they could take my picture. I threw my arms in the air, as I posed, and said, “I just walked 1,830 miles!” to which I received no response. Maybe I wasn’t heard, or maybe there was a language barrier. Or maybe it just wasn’t a comprehensible statement. I walked down the pavement, re-slung my pack on my back and headed on. By now, I was tired of looking at this lake. I just wanted to get back onto the solitary trail and back into my own space. I still wasn’t done with the tourist section yet, though. Not knowing where the trail went, I climbed a steep hill where I thought the trail went. Nearby, there was another crowd of people in street clothes gazing at another view.

I wanted to see what they were seeing, but then discovered I had already be seeing a similar view for the past couple of hours. I checked my GPS, dismayed that I had just wasted the time and energy to make this extra climb. I headed back down, mistakenly continued to follow the road up, and then turned back down, realizing that I needed to cross the road and finally head away from the lake.

I saw a strange cloud formation in the sky that looked like a thunderhead. Hmmm… The trail went back into the woods and I came across a couple of people headed in the opposite direction, but none of them wanted to talk. I was just left to counting the number of miles I had left over and over in my head.

Later in the afternoon, I heard thunder. I stopped to put on my pack cover and rain jacket. My maps and guidebook pages had mentioned an alternate route that went by Diamond Lake, where there was a pizza place and heated bathrooms. One of the early “trail angels” that I had had problems with advised hikers to stop here. Nowhere did it say how far off the trail it was. Another previous hiker had mentioned that it was a good place to collect water in this otherwise very dry stretch of trail. As the rain started falling, I imagined arriving there to find friendly hikers, a nice pizza dinner (something that I had barely had on this hike!), and a heated bathroom in which I could rinse my very dirty clothes. This scene kept my spirits boosted as I continued to walk in the rain, my energy decreasing with every mile. I came upon a stretch of trail with downed trees everywhere! Many of them had fallen across the trail. The terrain was fairly flat and I could see the line of trail stretched out in front of me with tree after tree laid across it. I felt like I was in a hurdle race!

I made it to the road and then to the trail junction with the sign to Diamond Lake and the number 9 below it. 9? The lake couldn’t possibly be 9 miles away… It must be a half mile or less. Why had there been no mention of its distance from the trail? I decided to head down and see. I reached an outhouse and a parking area, but no one was around to ask. I took out my maps, studied them to the best of my ability, and realized that they did not cover the area that I needed them to! I only had an enlargement of the Diamond Lake area itself! And now I was just wasting my hiking time. I still couldn’t believe that the lake could be nine miles away. The hiker’s advice about stopping there for water would make no sense! There was a water source 8 miles ahead on the PCT! I decided to walk a bit and see if it appeared. After awhile, I realized that it probably was in fact 9 miles away and dejectedly decided to turn back. I had seen a couple of jugs of water back at the intersection and decided that I would at least be able to pick up some water there if there was any left. So much for the company, pizza, or bathrooms, however! I was mad that I had listened to someone’s advice that I had already learned not to trust. And I was mad that I had spent so much unnecessary energy and effort hiking useless miles, taking time away from my actual progress.
Fortunately, when I arrived back at the intersection that I had started from, I found a little remaining water in the few gallon jugs left by some former hikers. I sat and filtered it, collecting my calm before heading out again.
In a mile or two, I heard someone singing and strumming a guitar! It sounded nice. As I approached, he stopped. I looked over to see Tumbleweed sitting on a log with his tent already set up. It was 6:40. “Hey!” he said. I went over to chat with him for a moment. He said that Purple Haze had walked by a little bit ago and that he and I were the only hikers he had seen all day! I told him what had just happened, expressing my frustration. It helped to have someone to commiserate with. Tumbleweed looked so relaxed and calm. He was not at all worried about getting to Canada by the 17th, but I was still very stressed. Some of these guys made it look so much easier than it was for me! I told him I was going to keep going as I need to get in my miles in the evening since I can’t ever get up early! He waited until I was out of earshot to start singing again, to my dismay. I wished I could stick around and listen to him!

After a couple more miles, I saw Purple Haze setting up his tent along the side of the trail. I had now started the next climb. The woods became more and more dense and there looked to be no possibilities to camp anywhere as it started getting dark! I started to worry and thought I might have to night hike. I had noticed that in the past four days, it had started to get dark noticeably earlier. Where I was once hiking until 8pm, I now found myself stopping closer to 7:30. I walked on, scanning the terrain, still seeing nothing but steep slopes covered in thick brush.
At 7:45, I finally spotted an area in which I could set up my tent alongside the trail. I breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow, it all works out. I got to work on setting up my tent, which I had been greatly struggling with. Now that I was in need of it to protect me from the rain, I had to learn to work with it. We needed to learn how to get along! By the time I started cooking my disgusting pasta dinner, it was dark out. After I cleaned up and crawled into my sleeping bag, I heard my liner rip. Wonderful…. Was there anything I owned that was going to survive this journey? I still had well over 800 miles to hike!

Day 111: A very rainy day into Mazama Village

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Wendy

Day 111
August 7
mile 1811.2-1830.2
19 miles

I stayed in my tent a little longer than I wanted because of the rain falling outside. It would seem to stop and I would get hopeful, but a few minutes later, it would just start right back up again. Fortunately, my sleeping bag remained dry. I ate breakfast, packed what I could inside my tent, and strapped my wet tent to the top of mypack. I hadn’t seen where Wall-E camped last night and saw no one pass by in the morning.
The terrain was gentle as I started and then began to climb. A man with a huge backpack labored slowly ahead. When I passed him, he told me I would be running into a bunch of boyscouts ahead. The rain continued to come down. The scouts were much further up the trail than I had expected. I passed by them with their garbage bag covered packs and then sat on a wet slope and snacked in the rain. My body was cold.
I couldn’t imagine that Baxter and Wildcat and their friend would choose to camp out in these conditions and not push for the store. Maybe I would see them there after all.
About half way through the day, I ran into my third Southbounder. His name was Vogue. He told me that there were a bunch of people ahead of me (Yes, I know…) and that I was the 126th northbounder he had run into. He seemed to sense my dejection because he then said that I was still at the front of the pack! My eyes grew wide and a smile spread over my face. He said that the main pack was now between Chester and Etna and that most of those people would not finish. He also said that I am now in a lull in the trail, but that the last 700 miles will be beautiful. “You’ve hiked this trail before?”. Yes, he said that he had previously hiked it northbound. I was so happy to hear that it wasn’t just me who found this part of the trail boring! His southbound experience had so far been amazing. He had sunny blue skies for the entirety of Washington and could see many of the views that he had not been able to see on his northbound hike.
After he left, my energy lifted a bit. His words helped counteract the constant rain. I wanted to write a message on Facebook that said, “You guys… I think I’m actually GOOD at this!!”. I always knew that I was fully capable, but hearing that I was toward the front of the pack, especially in my sick condition, made me think I had finally discovered what I excelled in.
A few minutes later, I reached an intersection and stepped over a huge arrow drawn with sticks, as well as the letters “NO” and proceeded straight ahead, before I decided to double-check my decision… Whoops… I often want to take the path of least resistance.
I headed on, feeling a bit better, but still wet and cold. I met a group of three, who I passed, and then found a place to sit on a steep embankment along the trail for another snack. Then, I plodded on. Because it was so wet out, I hardly drank any of the three liters of water I was carrying and as I got closer to the road, started dumping some out.
At last, I reached the road and turned right to walk the mile down to the store. It was still raining. I hadn’t seen another northbounder all day, but suddenly, Viking overtook me on the road walk. I wasn’t sure where to turn down to get to the store. I had read that if we walk in on the road, that we have to pay an entrance fee to get in! At a certain point, I just cut down the bank and arrived at the restaurant and gift shop. I brought my pack into the entrance and was surprised to see Tumbleweed there!
After I used the restroom and inquired about my box, I found out I needed to head back to the store. There, I found Ole, TrackMeat, and a few other hikers. I waited in line to collect my box, thankful to have it in my arms, and then headed back to the restaurant to eat. I had to wait a long time to be let in and was then taken to the nearly empty backroom with plenty of open tables! I returned to the entrance to invite Tumbleweed over to join me if he wanted and I was happy that he decided to. He was the first person I had heard of who was also planning a September 17th finish! Everyone else I had talked to was planning on finishing later than that, and I still felt a tremendous amount of stress about my ability to finish the hike in that amount of time. I also needed to buy a plane ticket when I arrived in Bend. I ordered a chicken sandwich and some hot chocolate and Tumbleweed headed for the soup and salad bar. He had no fork to eat with, however. Our waitress was very inattentive, so after waiting several minutes, when she appeared again, I told her that he needed a fork from across the room. Tumbleweed told me that I am very direct! Sometimes, I am…
I charged my phone and camera battery as we ate and caught up on stories. I asked Tumbleweed if he had met Forrest Man. He paused for a second and then said, “I thought that was his name, too”. Later, he had asked him to clarify. “So, your name is Forrest Man?.”
“No. It’s Forrest.” I asked Tumbleweed why he would call me “Man” and why there wasn’t a pause or a tone change between the two words. He didn’t understand it either, but found it interesting that I had had the same experience! The chicken sandwich started hurting my belly almost immediately after I finished it. When was I ever going to be able to eat a meal again?
After the meal, it was time to sort through my food and pack up again. Tumbleweed headed off for the trail. The rain had now stopped and the sun had finally come out! I went outside to sit on the bench and do my sorting. People coming in for dinner made comments about me being able to feed them…

Finally, I took off my rain pants and saw the mud caked on my legs. “Just a tiny bit muddy” I said to a man sitting nearby before I headed back into the restroom to try to wash some of it off. I had planned on taking a shower and doing laundry here, as well, but I was running out of time. I decided that the surprise shower I was offered a couple of days ago made up for one here. By now, there was a large contingent of hikers gathered around the store. Baxter, Wildcat, and their friend, Susan had in fact come in, as well as Beer, Ranch, Viking, and several other hikers who had obviously skipped huge parts of the trail and hitched up here. Some were trying to figure out where to stealth camp, as all of the paying spots were now taken. Commando and Purple Haze were able to get the last RV site. I wanted to get back onto the PCT, so I headed out, not sure of how to get there.
Fortunately, a ranger helped direct me to the side trail that lead back to the PCT. I climbed up the hill with my full pack and hiked until I reached the intersection with the PCT. There, I found a flat spot to set up my tent, eat a few snacks, and head to sleep.

Day 110: A surprise reunion and awakening during the night

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Wendy

Day 110
August 6
mile 1782.5-1811.2
28.7 miles

I knew I would have to get up on the earlier side in order to catch up on some of the miles I missed yesterday. Of course, waking up is always tough for me. The mosquitoes and flies buzzed around me as I ate my breakfast, making the first part of my day even more unpleasant than it already was.

My morning began with the continuation of the climb I had started the night before (I actually had at least 2/3 of it go). On my way, I saw the section hiker I met at the Callahan’s packing up his camp, and then at the top of the climb, found another hiker I did not know taking a break. The trail remained in the forest and offered nothing spectacular in terms of scenery.
For a moment, I saw Ole and Track Meat, who had just emerged from a side trail, presumably to collect water, but they sped away as we started the next climb. I stayed within my own means and rhythm and did not try to catch up to anyone.
After ten miles of hiking, the guy I did not know, named Wall-E, came along during one of my short breaks, asking where the spring was. I told him that we should find it any minute now. A sign on a tree further up ahead pointed down to it and we were both relieved that we had not passed it. Water was scarce in these parts of Oregon! Because we had different methods of filtering water, we were both able to collect at the same time in different areas of the small pool. While I filtered, the section hiker came down and kept loudly asking where the spring was. I found it odd that he couldn’t see the water directly in front of him. As he complained about his shoulder pain, I left Wall-E to commiserate with him and headed back to the trail and to my own space.
Soon afterwards, I came across 4 men, taking a break. They were speaking to each other very loudly. I had no idea which direction they were hiking, but quickly learned they were also headed north.
I found a secluded spot off the trail to each some lunch and make myself an ice coffee. The bees wouldn’t leave me alone, however! They swarmed me at every break I took. I watched the men pass by, still loudly interacting.
Not long after, I saw a women and a couple taking a break. I assumed the couple was the same one I had seen yesterday, and as the woman was looking in my direction, I said hello to her first. Then, the female of the couple came running over to me and threw her arms around me. It was Wildcat and Baxter, who I hadn’t seen since Kennedy Meadows. “You caught us!” they yelled. I smiled. I felt like I had been slowly gaining on people whose names I had been reading in the registers ahead of me. I told them about my sicknesses and Susan, their friend, asked me some questions to help determine if it was really C. Dif. that I was suffering from. From my answers, she agreed that it was. We talked about our projected finish dates and when we planned on arriving at Mazama Village. Before I headed out, Wildcat said that she was still carrying her essential oil kit and offered me the one for digestion. “Maybe it will help!” she hopefully offered. I told them that I had to get going to stay ahead of the annoying hiker behind me and zoomed off.
It didn’t take long to catch the group of men, who were startled to see me. They didn’t notice that I had taken a break. One by one, they let me pass, until the leader asked me for a favor. He was in charge of the group, but had failed to bring a large enough map and wanted to know how on track they were. I gave him my estimate for the miles they had hiked so far and then asked if he wanted me to confirm that with my GPS. I had to wait for my phone to turn on, and then wait for it to pick up the GPS signal. Meanwhile, his buddies were shouting at him to “let her go!”. “You’re holding her up!”. I smiled and then confirmed what I had already told him. As I walked away, he said that they were using me as their pacemaker. “I wouldn’t do that,” I strongly stated. “That’s not a good idea.”
Wall-E came along and also wanted to know what mile we were at… We ended up leap-frogging each other for a bit, as we took our little breaks at different times. I wondered if we would be close enough to take each other’s photos at the 1800 mile mark, but he stopped to make a phone call just short of that point. So, I took a picture of the marker itself and moved on.

The trail climbed and I grew more tired with each additional mile. I stopped to take a snack break and then put in my headphones for a little extra boost. A couple of boyscouts headed towards me, wanting to know how close the upcoming intersection was.
The trail continued to climb for several more miles. as I made my way down, I came to a nice creek and then saw the beautiful tent site that Baxter and Wildcat planned to stop at. They were not planning on making it to Mazama Village until the morning after tomorrow. I wanted to get there by late afternoon, which meant I had to hike as long as possible tonight. There were a series of small creeks ahead, the last at which, I would need to stop and fill up on water. The next 21 miles were said to be dry.
As I approached this last creek, I looked down to see a tiny frog spring across the trail.

I carefully stepped around it only to see another one just ahead. Again, I placed my steps carefully. All of a sudden, I saw many jumping frogs in front of me! They were all over the place! I set my pack down on the slope of the trail and brought my collecting bag to the streaming water. I started a boil for my pasta dinner, figuring it would be wise to eat here and not carry the water to immediately use in a couple of miles. As I filtered my water and ate my dinner, Wall-E came along. I watched him look down at the ground and stop at his first frog sighting. He took another step and then had the same reaction as I had had at the great number of them! He crossed the water and put his pack down across the trail from me and exclaimed about how tough the latter part of the day was. He wanted to know if this was the last water source we would come to today. Several minutes later, another hiker came along. He, too, had the same reaction to the frogs! It was amusing to watch. After he crossed the water, he stopped to ask us our names. He thought for a couple of minutes and then asked me if I had gotten lost in the Sierras. I shook my head no. He mentioned something about Bear Creek, and still I said no, I didn’t get lost there. He then said he was probably getting me confused with someone else. After thinking about it for a few minutes while he conversed with Wall-E, I realized he was talking about my early attempt to cross Evolution Creek. “Wait a minute… Yes, that was me! I was in a bad mood, then!”. I asked him what his name was and he said, “Commando.” He was aiming to hike several more miles this evening to camp along a side trail with water access. He headed on, followed by Wall-E who had scoped out this area for a place to camp, but didn’t see one. I was the last to leave.

As the sun went down, I started to look for my own spot. I ended up moving a little ways ahead after my first possibility, finding a better flat spot there. I set up my cowboy camp and, for the first time on this hike, decided not to wear my thermal bottoms because it was too warm out. I tried to write down a few notes from the day, but the mosquitoes were vicious. Instead, I closed my eyes and tucked myself into my sleeping bag. Suddenly, I felt something crawling up my bare thighs! I swatted at my legs, only to feel it again! Ants had somehow gotten into my sleeping bag! I probably only felt them because my legs were uncovered! I got up and swatted them off.
A couple of hours later, at around 1 in the morning, I heard a giant roll of thunder rip through the sky like a jet engine. My eyes opened wide. Was that really thunder and if so, do I need to do something about it? A flash of lightning lit up the sky. I guess so. My heart began racing. I had to dig out my crumbled up tent that had been resting at the bottom of my pack, unused for hundreds and hundreds of miles. Did I even know how to set this thing up anymore? In the dark, I worked as quickly as I could, talking myself through the steps. Rain drops fell on my stuff sacks and sleeping bag. I hurried as fast as I could and then threw everything inside the tent and lay awake, listening to the thunder and rain, hoping that I had set up the tent well enough to stay dry.

Day 109: A Kind Invitation and a Walk on Lava Fields

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Wendy

Day 109
August 5
mile 1757.3-1782.5
25.1 miles

“Ahh… Home,” are the words that go through my head as I once again find myself on the thin, familiar strip of dirt, granting me direction and purpose as I take my first few steps of the day. It is a feeling of assurance, knowing, and comfort.
As I walked on, it became apparent that my stomach was in a very different place. It was oddly hurting in the middle of a stretch, days after having eaten any town food. My energy started to diminish as the pain increased. How could my spirit and my insides be in such disparate places? Why wasn’t my body able to overcome the invasion that had been forced upon it and re-find balance?
I struggled as I made my way up the next 1,500 foot climb. Oregon was supposed to be the easiest part of the trail. I had heard that this was where we could do 30 miles a day, but so far, I was finding nothing easy about it.

In just over 5 miles, I reached a sign pointing to a spring. Someone’s shirt was draped over it, airing out. There was a couple bent over, adjusting their packs just ahead of me on the trail. I didn’t recognize them. The woman directed me toward the spring. “You’ll cross a paved road, pass through a gate, then keep following the boardwalk.” This seemed like much father than the 100 yards that my guidebook had indicated! I headed down the path, through tall weeds and across the road, ticking off the landmarks I was supposed to pass through as I walked. At the end of the boardwalk, I found a small black pipe out of which the water was running. I took off my pack, pulled out my filter and collecting bag and balanced on a rock as I waited for the bag to fill. The air was noticeably chillier here in this tree-filled area than it had been on the exposed trail.
As I made my way back up to the trail, another hiker that I did recognize walked by me on his way to collect water. I resumed the climb and then headed downhill, through trees and scrub that offered no views. Before starting the PCT, I had read only one previous hiker’s journal the whole way through (partly due to a lack of time, and partly because I wanted to be surprised by my experience). She often talked about how boring Northern California was and asked her readers to send her e-books to help keep her mind occupied. I was happy that I never found any part of the trail in California to be boring. The wooded sections provided space for me to become introspective and quiet within myself, while noticing the smaller details around me, while the open vistas made me happy and gave me energy.
However, I was finding the Oregon forests to be different and actually felt bored for the first time on the hike, which I felt disappointed about. I had my goal set for the day in terms of where I wanted to get to, mileage-wise, but my progress was not as strong as I had hoped. I kept looking at my watch and calculating the miles I had left to hike, feeling incredibly stressed.
Just before noon, I came across a couple walking their dog. The woman asked me if I was hiking the PCT and asked me about my journey. Unfortunately, my stomach issues and pain were always at the forefront of my mind, and that is what I always mentioned about my journey. After several minutes of chatting, she told me that they were renting a cabin nearby and asked if I wanted to go back with them for a cup of tea. I hesitated, feeling the stress of my schedule. I still wanted to get in 17 more miles today and barely had time to do that. I asked how far off the trail it was and they said it was close by. They thought a little rest and snack might help, but left it up to me. I told them I would think about it as we walked. The man said I could set the pace. It was too fast for the woman, so they told me to go on and wait for them at their truck if I decided I wanted to go to their cabin.
I decided I might as well let go of my expectations for the day and take them up on their kind offer.
We all climbed into the truck and headed down the road for half a mile. I was surprised that their cabin was actually half of a real house! Keith’s brother was watching TV inside and was surprised to find a stranger being welcomed into the space. Evelyn offered me the use of their shower, as well as any food that they had. I opted to shower before I ate. It was the nicest shower I had had on the entire trail! No one was waiting for me to hurry and get out, there were several shampoos and conditioners for me to choose from, and it was a nice, big, luxurious shower! I was given a fluffy towel to dry off with and then Keith cooked me up some scrambled eggs, as Evelyn put out a bowl of yogurt and cup of tea for me. They were watching some old home movies, and I learned a great deal about their family in the small amount of time I was there! They said that it was completely up to me as to when I wanted to get back to the trail. They only had to get ready for some guests coming over for dinner. Evelyn offered me a couple of slices of watermelon after I finished eating and then I knew I would have to get going again.
She drove me back to the trail and gave me a hug before she got back in the truck. This was the first time on any of my three long hikes that someone had invited me into their home and I felt so grateful. I was so glad that I abandoned my stressful plan and allowed for this opportunity to be pampered and recharged.
I headed back into the woods, bypassing the next water source, off the trail, as I had just filled up my bottles with tap water. When I became tired, I sat down on a fallen tree and made myself an ice coffee as a treat. My mood had drastically improved, thanks to the kind offering I had just experienced.

I then entered the rocky lava bed section of trail. My guidebook had listed the comments of many previous hikers warning about how our pace would be drastically slowed through this section and how hard it would be on our feet. I was not looking forward to it! However, I soon came to find out that their warnings were not to be believed! Through the middle of the rock field was a narrow strip of red clay that was perfectly easy to walk on! Sometimes, I really can’t understand people!

My energy did wane, however, and I stopped several times to rest my shoulders and try to refuel. As evening approached, I reached the state highway and crossed it to find a fast-moving creek on the other side. I could have camped there, but it was too noisy, and too unprotected. Instead, I collected and filtered water and then started the next climb.
About halfway up, I saw a small patch of dirt along the right of the trail. Night was falling and I was thankful that I didn’t need to continue climbing. I spread out my groundsheet and sleeping bag, bundled up, and cooked dinner. Ole and Track Meat walked by and seemed envious about my spot. They were still trying to catch up to Veggie!
We could smell the smoke of a forest fire in the distance, but it didn’t concern me.

Day 108: Stories

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Wendy

Day 108
August 4
mile 1732-1757.3
25.5 miles

The pain in my stomach finally started to subside after midnight and I was able to get a couple hours of rest.
I made my way back up to the trail and resumed my walk on the sliver of dirt that had been cut through the evergreen trees. Before long, I came across two cute deer who were not immediately frightened off.

After my first couple of miles, when I needed to take my first pack break along the edge of the trail, Veggie approached. He, Ole, and Track Meat had gone into the town of Ashland and then attempted to get back on the trail in the evening. At the trailhead, they ran into Legend and Viking, who had been drinking, and was now in the mood to go dancing. He convinced Ole and Track Meat to head back into town to go clubbing. Veggie did not want to go and carried all three of their packs a little way up the trail to a camping spot. They returned in the early morning hours and hadn’t woken up by the time Veggie started hiking. As he relayed the story, a crazy squirrel kept running towards us without fear! It kept scaring me and we had to continually shoo it away!
In a couple more miles, I found Veggie and another hiker sitting around chatting. We were now in a very dry stretch of trail, without much shade. I hadn’t noticed the faucet nearby until I asked where the water was. Apparently, a big group of hikers had camped here last night and there was an unusually high level of animal activity, as well, including a bear! I listened to the stories from the guy I didn’t know as I sat on a rock, filtering my water. He talked about some crazy birds in New Zealand (or Australia?) that would dive bomb people and peck their heads! This guy had camped here last night as well and had spent the morning journalling. Both of them decided to carry very little water, banking on a source not far ahead.
I carried a lot, as usual, and was very happy that I did when I saw the tiny puddle of muck ahead…
A little after noon, I ran into a hiker heading south. I had met the first southbounder of the year, Bobcat, on the day I hiked into Ashland. He was very skinny and it was easy to tell that he was a thru-hiker. He was also very calm and polite and told me about all the smoke in Ashland from the forest fires. Fortunately, it seemed to have started clearing. I asked the guy sitting on the log on the side of the trail if he was also a southbounder. He said his name was Forrest Man and I asked him what Washington was like, as I had asked Bobcat. I was worried about the tough terrain and my ability to hike 25 miles a day, which I would need to do in order to finish the trail by the 17th of September! They both talked about how much snow there was and how extraordinarily slow going it was for the first 200 miles. Forrest Man decided to skip 200 miles of the trail because of the conditions. He told me about spotting a dry branch in the middle of the several feet of snow he was walking on and stepped on it for a break. An entire tree sprung out of the snow when he did so! He also talked about how lonely it was. He said he enjoyed talking to all of the northbounders he met now. I asked him if that was taking up a lot of his time, to which he answered that he has now reduced his miles in order to chat. He didn’t seem to want to stop the conversation with me, so I had to slowly pull myself away. I had a lot of miles planned for today and needed to get a move on it! Before I left, he mentioned that I had a huge dry section of trail coming up (who would have thought Oregon would be so dry?) but that I could stop at Hyatt Lake resort, about 1.4 miles off trail, where I could get a shower. Since I had just showered a couple of days ago, and couldn’t eat real food, I had no desire to hike off trail. He did say there was a pump after the resort.
Ever since I reached the half-way point of the trail, and especially with less than 1,000 miles remaining, I kept my mind occupied by trying to remember where I was and what was happening to me at that same mile into my hike. I was surprised at how much I could remember.

In the late afternoon, I was surprised to reach a bridge spanning a wide, fast-flowing creek! Forrest had not mentioned this as a water source! I was a little perplexed, but happy to be able to replenish my water and make myself an ice coffee! As I sat on the edge of the bridge, Track Meat came along and told me his version of the night’s happening at the dance club and their scary ride back to the trail with a man who was high and who decided to follow them back to their campsite. Without a headlamp, and in the state he was in, he kept stumbling, losing the trail, and shouting out for help. He kept the guys up with his talking until they told them they didn’t mean to be rude, but that they needed to get some sleep. Track Meat took out an entire package of Newman’s mint oreo cookies and offered me one. It was such a treat with my ice coffee! He, too, was surprised about this river. “The southbounder failed to mention this raging river!” I said.
As I sat there snacking, a mother, daughter, and their dog came off a side trail and then picked some blackberries nearby. Soon, Ole came along. I got to hear the same story from his perspective, which was amusing. He had been having a tough time staying awake as he walked today and I asked him why he couldn’t just lie down and take a nap. He wanted to keep up with Veggie. He was also stopped by Forrest and had to excuse himself when he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. He headed on as I finished my break.
I crossed the road leading to the Hyatt Resort and as I was about to reenter the woods, I looked back at the road as a car turned off. I recognized the shirt on the arm hanging out the window as that of Beer. Hmmm… It had been quite apparent to me that he and Ranch had been hitchhiking and skipping parts of the trail, but now I knew for sure.
I came upon the faucet and the multitude of bees swarming around it and topped off my water supply before heading back out.
It was now late in the day and I was growing tired. I took frequent pack breaks and tried to muster up all of my remaining energy.

Eventually, I came out to a flat area with an intersection of dirt roads. I wasn’t sure where the trail was. There were several fire rings around, but the area was too eerie to camp in. I walked by a tree with a no camping sign and was amused to see a fire ring right beside it!

I found the trail as it lead back into the forest and caught a glimpse of the huge orb of red sun sinking through the trees. It was casting a magnificent shade of color on a section of trees on the other side of the trail.

Before long, I spotted an area off to the side of the trail that was suitable to stop at, even though I was surrounded by charred chunks of trees. I set up my cowboy camp and cooked dinner and then watched a man hike south along the trail into the darkening night. I felt slightly vulnerable. Fortunately, he offered a slight wave and kept walking.