I drooled all over my sleeping pad this morning, so I think it’s safe to say I slept great. I snoozed until after 6:30 and then finally woke up enough to realize both Marquis and Margot were packed and about to leave. Whoops. I quickly packed and ended up only being a couple minutes after Margot, but caught her quickly because she stopped to put a bandaid on her foot.. her feet aren’t all that happy right now, either.
I started off in my crocs and just kept them on all day. I can’t make myself shove my feet into my shoes! Thankfully Mom mailed out my shoes from home this morning so I can pick them up in Fish Lake in a week. A week in crocs. God be with me. The trail was easy going as far as hiking goes.. no blow downs really at all, majority being soft pine needles and duff, which praise the sweet lord because my feet would not have made it. There were a couple stunning lakes, early in the morning, and then a few look outs, one showing off the gorgeous Odell Lake and all its coves. Not long after this beauty, I started seeing day hiker after day hiker. Ah. Must be close to the road!
I got to Shelter Cove Resort (12.5 total miles, but only 11 PCT miles) just before noon and found Marquis. He had been there for close to an hour already and didn’t eat anything yet! I lasted all of 5 minutes talking with Marquis and Keith, who we caught up to, before I departed and ordered a pizza at the counter. My stomach was growling and everything else I needed to do could wait until after food!
While I was waiting for my pizza, Margot arrived. We agreed to split mine since they’re pretty huge. I started charging my electronics and talking with others on the patio while we waited on the food. Marquis ordered a pizza, too.. but the line had gotten long and they aren’t the quickest. To be fair, they make them to order, so 25 minutes for a fresh baked pizza isn’t bad.
Margot was in the store getting drinks and taking forever. Marquis went inside to see what the hold up was. She had almost passed completely out! Tunnel vision, loss of hearing, having a wave of heat wash over her. When they came out together telling me about it, she looked ghostly pale. She drank some water and eventually was able to eat some pizza.. she had to have been dehydrated combined with not eating enough calories. After really long days she gets nauseous at the idea of eating a meal and has to force herself, and with her getting in late last night, all she ate was a ramen.. which kudos to her, staying up to cook when you want to just sleep is tough.
We sat awhile and made sure she was ok before eventually getting started on our chores. We started our laundry and took turns showering. No matter how much I scrubbed my legs they still looked dirty. Oh well, effort was made and my hair felt nice and clean! Small victories! We got our resupply boxes and organized our food.. and then just sat around for a while doing things on our phones, like ordering necessities for future stops and filing Darn Tough Sock Warranties.
I met a girl and her boyfriend that used to work in Reno at the same hospital I used to work at! We chatted and name dropped and I loved every second of it. She has me missing that city and my friends even more now, especially my Andrea.. but I know I’ll be getting to see her soon some how some way. Maybe I need to take another contact in the biggest little city sometime in my “near” future.
We hiked out of the resort around 6pm and took an alternate trail instead of the one we came in on. All the NOBOs we talked to today said it was a nice trail and had beautiful rivers and lakes, so why not? Plus there’s a dry stretch of trail without water, so this seemed smarter. I’ve heard Oregon is the state of alternates, and so far if one has been available, it’s been nicer than the actual trail.
So, we don’t technically know how far we went.. my app won’t tell me that and I’m back in airplane mode. BUT, we’re guessing close to 3 miles so I picked a mile marker from the pct 3 miles in from the junction to make it add up correctly. Tomorrow we’ll get up to Windigo Pass where there’s a water cache and then continue south on the PCT from there.
The spot we set up in is just off the alternate trail and it feels more remote than the PCT, maybe because there isn’t people crawling all over the place. Laying here I can hear crickets and birds and stuff moving around. It also sounds like it might rain, too. It’s sprinkled a little bit and storm clouds rolled in before the sun disappeared. I think I’m going to close my eyes and try to sleep, once my earplugs are firmly in place. I don’t need to hear what all is moving around out there. Sweet dreams, y’all.
I tossed and turned all night, I just could not get comfortable.. my legs were itchy, I was too hot then too cold then just too.. too. Nothing was working. I guess I did sleep some, because this morning Marquis told us he went to get water from the lake around 1am, and I definitely didn’t hear that, so maybe I was dreaming about not sleeping well. Same thing.
When I did wake, I pressed snooze on my phone alarm. When I rolled the other way, towards the vestibule closest to me, I startled a chipmunk, and it startled me too. It was lightly raining off and on, so maybe it was seeking shelter, or maybe it wanted to chew through my tent, who knew? The three of us all chatted from our beds, all refusing to move with the rain. You could hear it come across the lake before it would reach us, then it would stop and the mosquitoes and their incessant hum would start up again. I had to pee, naturally, so at some point I got out of my safe haven and handled my business, only to yell to them that yep, they’re out in full force still.
I finally packed and got on trail, leaving around 7:30am. Marquis and Margot were still in their tents, but packing. My new shoes hurt like hell, so I knew eventually my pace would get ruined and I’d be chasing them the 25 miles we planned on knocking out today. The mosquitoes were biting, but the picaridin lotion was helping.. helping everything except the buzzing around my ears making me a raging lunatic.
Sometime close to 11:30 I passed a creek and stopped for water. They swarmed me. I had been non stop moving that whole time, swatting only every now and then.. now, they got me. I filled my CNOC water bag and quickly grabbed my stuff to keep moving, walking with the water in my hands. Eventually, it became too much so I dropped everything in an open spot beside the trail and put on all my rain gear: pants and jacket, plus my bugnet over my head, too.
Since I was starving, and very close to losing my mind, I decided to just try to eat lunch right there. I’d have to sneak each bite up under the head net and quickly drop it. Some of those pesky turds still managed to get in, and I’d have to smash them before I could take another bite-and before they could either.
I ended up needing to go dig a hole after lunch, which really sent me over the edge. My feet hurt. I had already put on my crocs, and now I wasn’t sure I could put my other shoes back on. I bushwhacked my way through the bug infested forest to find my safe from people spot to do what I needed to do. I can play connect the dots across my back and butt and legs thanks to the massive unleashing of all the mosquito troops to my backside during that absolutely necessary adventure. Ugh.
I was so frustrated. I was praying for rain, like hard enough rain to make these pests go away. I grumpy and my friends hadn’t come by yet, unless they passed my pack while I was busy having my butt attacked by bugs.. but I thought they’d have maybe yelled or waiting for me to come back.. so, more than likely I assumed they were still behind me.
I ended up snapping at a man maybe 20 minutes into my post lunch hike. He asked about my crocs, I explained my shoe situation and he went on to tell me about feet changing sizes after a couple hundred miles, so now that I’d walked at least that I probably needed a bigger size. I snapped back something about knowing my feet well enough since this isn’t my first thruhike and that it was most definitely the model change causing the issue, not my foot size changing. I also added in a few curse words during my rant. Yikes. Poor guy. I was in a mood.
Not much farther than that, I started to get hot in my rain gear. The mosquitoes were seeming to get better, too. My feet were still liking the crocs more than the shoes, so when I stopped to take off my rain gear, I didn’t swap my shoes out. I figured I’d give it a few miles, then do it. I still had 16 miles to get to camp anyway. Surely at some point the idea of real shoes will sound better.
Soon after getting back in my hiking groove, I came into a 6 mile burn zone. It looked so desolate, way more tragic than the others I’ve gone through, hardly a single tree still standing, dead or not. Zero grassy patches or bushes growing yet. It made me think of the elephant grave yard in The Lion King. Like the dead trees were long forgotten elephant bones. It was sandy and easy to traverse, but the sun was hot so I had my umbrella out for protection.
I got service somewhere in this 6 mile stretch, so I called and talked to Mom, then Aunt Kathy, and then Uncle Keith. My reception would drop and come back, drop and come back. I was happy to chat and catch up with each of them. It completely changed my mood (them and the fact that not one mosquito existed in this barren wasteland). As we talked, I watched storm clouds roll in.. dark and very ominous. I picked up my pace some. I also saw smiley faces and arrows in the sand, which were in obvious places, so I wondered if my friends got ahead of me for real during my bathroom break.
When I hit tree cover again, the storm clouds were starting to let out little sprinkles here and there, but no outright downpour like they looked to be promising. I crossed a dirt road right as a US Forest Service truck passed by. Another hiker was standing on the other side of the road and told me trail magic was ahead! NO WAY! I was all but running down the trail. Within 5 minutes I was meeting a sweet man with the name “Ducky’s Dad” and another thruhiker named FiddleHead. I’m not sure who Ducky is, but God I love the guy for having wonderful parents out here doing this!
Ducky’s Dad made me 2 hotdogs, a plate of chips, some Oreos and a Mountain Dew. He said ever since Ducky started thruhiking he and his wife learned about being angels and giving trail magic, so now they do it every year! They come out several times a week when they can! A WEEK! Like how incredible are they?!? I sat in a comfy chair, destroyed my hotdogs with mustard and chatted with my new friends. FiddleHead’s friend appeared and then another NOBO named ShortPants.
We sat around, eating, drinking, and being merry. And then it started to rain. I had already asked and showed pictures of my friends, they all agreed they hadn’t seen them. Ducky’s Dad also has a cool wooden bench for us to all sign, and a log book too, and neither Marquis nor Margot were on either.. so, I was again back to thinking they were still behind me. When the lightening started cracking across the sky followed by immediate rumbles of thunder, I was concerned. What if they were going through that six miles of barren burn zone?! Lightening there would be so so dangerous! They’d surely be targets!
It downright POURED on us.. and then even hailed. Fiddlehead, her friend-Banchee, ShortPants and I all helped Ducky’s Dad pack up his goodies and run it all down the side trail to his vehicle. He had so many treats and things for us hikers that it took 2 loads by him plus each of us carrying armfuls too. I was glad we were there to help him, we were all soaked completely though by the time we were done.
The 4 of us hikers huddled under some trees for a bit until the rain and hail slowed, then we each grabbed our gear and headed separate ways. I was the only one going SOBO. From the trail magic spot, the PCT climbed a bit-now looking like a little stream where the trail used to be. But I kept my crocs on. I couldn’t even pretend I was going to put those hellish shoes back on.
Ducky’s Dad painted this!
I was passed by a woman and her two pups, trailrunning. Apparently the PCT is part of a 100km ultra run tomorrow, and she is a volunteer, setting out signs, flags, and water stops. She passed me again on her way back down. I wonder how the race is going to work tomorrow and if I’m going to get trampled first thing in the morning.. better drink my caffeine early! As a runner, I despise having to dodge people, I can only imagine how a trail runner would feel losing their momentum in a race for a ton of thruhikers.
I crossed paths with another pup, a black and white floof with her own doggy pack on. She saw me and practically leapt into my arms. Her dad was apologetic, but let’s be honest, I loved every second getting to kiss and love on that sweet girl. I didn’t want to let her go!
I got to our planned campsite around 6:45. I scouted out all the spots around the lake (well, my side of the lake), and picked spots for the 3 of us. There’s a couple nearby and then some loud people out a ways. I set up my tent, which was wet on the outside but thankfully dry on the inside. I unpacked and then got water from the lake to make my dinner.
I sat and ate and watched a deer sneak through our camp. It was peaceful, but I was concerned for my friends. It was already after 8 and neither had shown up yet. When I was still 5 miles from camp, I got a message from Margot when I briefly got service again and she said they were just walking into the burn zone when the storm hit, so they had to run back to tree cover and wait it out. I was relieved to know they were safe, but I knew that meant they’d be getting to camp late.
Marquis showed first, sometime close to 8:30. He told me out their day, and the misery of the mosquitoes. They didn’t get my Ducky’s Dad trail magic, but they did get trail magic from someone else!! I was thrilled! He started setting up and I ducked into my tent to get warm. My clothes are still pretty wet from the rain and it’s making me cold. As I was starting to snuggle in my quilt, Margot arrived! Right at 9pm! She’s starting to set her stuff up and cook her dinner. It’s getting darker sooner now.. she came in with her headlamp on, and now that it’s 9:30-it’s almost pitch black out there. I don’t like that. I wish it was still bright until 10pm like it used to be.
Anyway, I’m exhausted. We hike 11 miles into Shelter Cove Resort tomorrow-eat at their cafe, get our resupply boxes, shower, do laundry, and then hit the trail again. An “in and out” but you can always expect those to take a few hours. I guess we’ll see how we’re feeling after we get our chores done, then decided how far to go from there.
Today was another long day, but to where yesterday was long for not only the duration but also the work involved-today felt easy going, just a lot of easy miles were covered, if that makes sense.
There were no real climbs today. The terrain was just meadows and creeks in the beginning, a bit exposed, and then it turned into woods surrounding lakes and creeks, until hitting deep woods with lots of shade. Somewhere in the shade is where I ate lunch. Margot caught up to me and ate her lunch with me too.
A mile or so later, we came to a gorgeous lake. I had originally planned to eat there, but I’m telling you when that stomach growl gets that one deep deep rumble, all plans are thrown to the wind and I have to eat immediately. Haha. Anywho-we had to get water from the lake regardless, so we decided to swim there, too. Why not? It was beautiful and sunny, the water was refreshing and so clear.
We splashed around and then got out to dry off in the sunshine. My feet felt nice after the cold water numbed them some. If you didn’t know, I’m still mad at my new shoes. After we got to hiking again, I couldn’t keep my pace up. I stopped and took my shoes off for another little rest, when I still had 8 miles to go, and got absolutely swarmed by mosquitoes. They swarmed so fast that I just decided to put on my crocs and knew once I got a little ways away from the bugs, I’d put my shoes back on.
Except, I never put my shoes back on. The bugs were relentless that whole 8 miles, I was practically running in my crocs. When I got to camp and Marquis was there in all his rain gear and headnet, I did the same. He hadn’t set up camp yet, wondering if we’d push to the next lake. We’re at one now, but he was hoping the next one would be less buggy. They’re pretty awful.
We waited for Margot to get to camp to decide to stay or not. At least that was the plan. My feet are THROBBING. I tried propping them up on tree stumps and stretching and massaging. No dice. They still hurt. And the bugs would. not. stop. So, after maybe 10-15 minutes of waiting, I gave up and made the executive decision for me that I would be camping right here, regardless of what they want to do.
Once I was working on setting my tent up, Marquis relented and started setting up too, right as Margot appeared. She said she wouldn’t have wanted to push on anyway. We all set up and ate our dinners in the safety of our tents. My feet are absolutely hating me right now. I’ve got them propped up on my pack and I’ve taken more ibuprofen. I can only pray it kicks in. Because this is miserable. I hope y’all are much more comfortable than I am right now. Sweet dreams, guys.
