Category: Long Distance Trails

Start: 555.6

Stop: 569.8

Today’s miles: 14.2

Total PCT miles: 757.7

Just after midnight, three hikers came down the trail and started setting up. They kept their bright headlamps on, and frequently glared at my tent.. causing me to stir this way or that to get their lights out of my eyes. It was real annoying. That, plus my feet throbbing from all the elevation change yesterday really had me frustrated. Eventually their stuff was up and their lights were out.. and I finally fell back to sleep.

I woke up around 6:55 and immediately rushed to pack, for two reasons: 1. Breakfast buffet! 2. I had to pee and wanted to do so inside. When I got out to pack my tent, Marquis was still asleep! I could hear Margot starting to pack and all it took to get him moving was a, “Marquis? Breakfast?” And he was up, out of his tent and almost completely packed before I finished taking down my tent. His hiker hunger has kicked in, too.

We walked down to the lodge together, with Margot trailing not long behind us. I used the bathroom, scrubbed my hands, brushed my teeth, washed my face. It’s the little things. Once Margot was there and back from the bathroom, too, we went in. Breakfast was good, nothing fancy or phenomenal food wise-just regular breakfast buffet foods: bagels with cream cheese, ham, sausage, eggs, potatoes, quiche, fresh fruit, pancakes, and a waffle maker.

It was beautifully laid out-although trash would look beautiful if on display here-it’s a gorgeous property.. and we each got several platefuls. Plus unlimited coffee and water, too. We stayed there for what felt like forever. Once we were certain we couldn’t eat one more single bite-we hung out in the lodge’s main area.. comfortable cushioned sofas around a massive fireplace (that wasn’t on).
We relaxed, let our food settle, and finally headed back to the trail around noon. I had to purchase some overpriced batteries in their gift shop, my headlamp died last night and I didn’t want to risk not having it available.

When we started hiking, I was slow moving until my legs realized what was happening and decided to start working again. We went mostly downhill all afternoon, starting with sandy exposed trail and ending in the deep, thick, forest. It was easy going and we passed a lot of people out and about.. I felt real cruisey, even if my feet did start their throbbing by the end of the day.

When I got to where we had planned on camping, I saw a sign in the pine needles.. “I Push” which had to be from Marquis. As I waited for Margot to catch up to me-to decide on staying or going-mosquitoes found me and started their relentless torture. I started spraying my picaridin and swatting like a lunatic. When she arrived, maybe 5 or so minutes later, she said she didn’t want to push, and I gratefully went to set up my tent.

I had it up and me and my pack inside it within minutes, cursing the bloodsuckers the whole time. Margot would have been in hers even faster but where she originally wanted to set her tent was a tad too small so she had to move it. We set up camp before 5:30, and it’s now 8:15.. dinner has been eaten, Stache appeared out of no where, other people I don’t know have showed and I’m pretty sure that’s Henry and Pamela down at the end. It’s been filling up so fast lately. I’ll be happy when we’re out of the criss crossing bubble with both NOBOs and SOBOs.

Anyway. I was trying to wait for the sun to set to sneak out and go pee-for both mosquitoes and the people I don’t know.. but I don’t think I can wait. Thankfully, Poptart text me today and told me how to make sure my phone charges and wont drain my power bank.. so, since I don’t have to wait for this baby to hit 100%, I think I’ll go pee and go right to sleep! Sweet dreams, y’all. Pray the pests don’t attack me too harshly.

Start: 531.2

Stop: 555.6

Today’s miles: 24.4

Total PCT miles: 743.5

Welp. I definitely slid a lot last night. I’d roll over and then have to kick a leg out and push my sleeping pad back up to the “flat” spot. Other than that, my sleeping quilt kept me toasty warm and I slept ok, considering. I did wake up before midnight to go pee, and was afraid I’d wake everyone else up, because it was completely silent out there. Weird.

Margot and I got moving around 7 and came across Marquis by 8. He slept in, knowing we’d be behind him, and had just packed up his stuff. Good timing indeed. We all set out hiking in the cool morning air, with frequent views of Mount Jefferson off in the close distance.

Marquis quickly got away from us, Margot and I leapfrogged each other off and on all day. We had 3 climbs of the day, the first one being not bad, the second one being brutal and the third just frustrating because I was ready to be done. The two of us ate lunch together, early, sometime well before noon. I was starving. My hiker hunger has 100% kicked in. I cannot seem to get enough to eat. I usually just stop because either I don’t have enough to continue eating or I’m just tired of chewing. My stomach stays growling, though.

At the bottom of that first climb’s mountain there was a sketchy ish river crossing. Originally I was ahead of Margot, when we passed Ramona Falls (gorgeous), but then I missed the turn and went over a half mile in the wrong direction. Once I realized it, I backtracked.. UPHILL.. and then a man stopped me to tell me in way too many words that “the Australian girl” was waiting for me at the sketchy crossing. Cool cool. Sorry Margot!

I rushed to get there, and I was glad she was ahead of me now.. because she told me where to go to safely cross the rushing water. That grey silty water is awful to cross, not only is it too dark to see the bottom of the stream bed, to know where you’re stepping, but it’s also got so many tiny pebbles that your shoes get filled with them. Meh, whatever. I got across and we walked up trail a bit and stopped, so I could clean out my shoes.. she already had while waiting on me.

That second climb was a rough one, and it came during the heat of the day. Some parts were exposed and steep.. and so much sand. This whole area looks like it’s one wind blow away from dissipating before our eyes. I got cell phone service somewhere in this second climb and called to make a reservation for us for the breakfast buffet at Timberline Lodge in the morning. I tried to do other random things, like venmo Curmy for our resupply boxes, but I lost service again.

Coming down that mountainside, we had to cross another stream, soaking our feet. It wasn’t a bad one, but I waited for Margot either way, to make sure she felt comfortable crossing it. It’s a good thing, too, because she wasn’t certain that I was ahead of her, so she would have waited for me there. Sometimes it’s really hard to remember where people are when you back and forth so much, and when she and I are both known for going down the wrong trail sometimes.

From there, we were on that third huge climb of the day. It was kicking my ass, but I didn’t have to stop and take breaks like I used to. I was able to just keep moving.. occasionally pausing only to let other hikers coming towards me safely pass. After that whole “slip down the mountain” deal yesterday, I only stopped where I knew the ground was stable. There was mud and huge sand steps to take to get up this thing, it was steep and I was exhausted. My feet were throbbing, but the only thing keeping me moving was learning that I could order a glass of wine at the bar at the Timberline Lodge until 10pm.

Every northbound person I passed, I asked them about the lodge. How was breakfast? When do they stop serving dinner? How late is the bar open? Do they serve food? Haha-I was a woman on a mission. Somewhere around the top of that last climb, I could see ski lifts and I had service. I called Mom and chatted while I walked, which ultimately caused me to go the wrong way and have trouble finding where Marquis set up camp.
Eventually I did make it, after circling the lodge twice. Margot had passed me in my wanderings.

We set up our stuff quick, and then went to the lodge. I was under the impression that I wouldn’t be able to order food, but boy oh boy was happily proven wrong. I ordered a glass of wine and a pulled pork sandwich with chips, always the epitome of class! Haha. Margot ended up getting a huge bowl of tomato bisque and it looked so good too. I devoured my food entirely too fast. Then got a second glass of wine.

We sat, ate, drank (wine, beer, soda, water), laughed and got warm enough to brave the cold temperatures outside. It’s been chilly at night here. I’m glad I kept my warm leggings, although I didn’t break them out tonight-I probably should have. In the morning we have an 8am reservation to the all you can eat breakfast buffet. My stomach just growled again while I wrote that. How ridiculous. Meh, ok, time to get some sleep. Goodnight y’all!

Start: 505.9

Stop: 531.2

Today’s miles: 25.3

Total PCT miles: 719.1

It started raining overnight, the light pattering turning into a more steady pour around 1:30am.. waking me up and causing me to fumble in the dark to close my tent vestibule. The place we were camping was also right next to a train track, so several times throughout the night, a long train would come barreling through. Each time, it would wake me, but then the steady hum and rumble of it, mixed with the rain, would lull me back to sleep. I actually slept pretty dang well.

We overslept a bit, only by 30 minutes.. so by 7am we were walking up the road, the majority of the tenters still fast asleep, I won’t lie, I was a bit jealous. We got breakfast from a walk up burger place: bacon, egg, and cheese bagel for me, yum. Then we headed to the restaurant we ate at yesterday so Margot could get a coffee, this little burger joint doesn’t make coffee. I was drinking a Monster (thank youuuuu gas station!), but Marquis got a coffee, too.

The alternate trail, with all the waterfalls, started leaving Cascade Locks on a paved path. It was easy moving and surrounded by damp greenery. As the paved path turned into an actual trail, the views opened up. We were following along a creek, slowly ascending. It was beautiful. The temperatures were a little cool, from the overnight rain, and the skies were still cloudy, making the walking really enjoyable. We passed several small waterfalls, surrounded by huge walls of rock that the trail was carved into.

We stopped at a swimming hole and waded in waist deep. It was way too cold to swim, since there was no sun to warm us up.. but it was fun either way. Marquis and I traded shorts after we got out of the water to dry off. I had bought a new pair from Walmart, because the ones I started in have gotten so big they’re making my hips chafe from bunching them up with the drawstring. The new ones though, I can’t handle the material once they’re wet-either by water or by sweat, which is crazy, I know, but it makes them just a little too tight for walking. How annoying.

I was only joking with Marquis at first, but then once I got his shorts on and they were comfortable, we agreed to swap for a day. Yay! I was walking so much easier in them! And he got a kick out of my shorts being so short on his long legs, it was quite hysterical! Not far after the watering hole, a hiker was walking towards me, so I stepped to the side of the trail to let him pass, and the entire ground of the trail crumbled beneath my feet and I slid right off the side of the trail into a bunch of briars and downed trees. Awesome.

That dude was mortified and tried to help me up.. but the briars were digging into my skin and I knew I just needed a minute to catch my breath and think through my options. I handed him my poles, asked him to put them somewhere “up there” and then told him he could go, I’d be fine. Then, once he was gone, I slowly started to climb my way up the soft dirt, with thorns digging into my hands, knees, legs. Dammit, I JUST finally had my legs heal, and now I have a whole knew set of open wounds. There’s a word I want to yell, and Samuel L. Jackson yells it best. Ugh.

Continuing on, after my mishap, the trail went behind a large waterfall, through a tunnel. It was truly something special. It almost felt like something from Iceland, not northern Oregon. Then, there were cascading waterfalls that Margot and I sat beside to eat lunch. It was peaceful, even with my new booboos throbbing and stinging.

The trail eventually went through a burn zone with several blow downs and some overgrowth, each bush scraping my new wounds making me walk slow and wince every few steps. Then, before long, the trail grade increased tremendously and we were climbing steeply up to the top of this mountain to reconnect to the PCT. As tough as the last 2ish miles were, they were totally worth it to see those waterfalls. I could have happily done without the blow downs, though. Especially the ones requiring me to sit and scoot under them, in Marquis’ shorts no less.

The three of us stopped to eat dinner around 7:30, at a water source on trail. We still had a mile or so to go, but we were afraid the campsites would all be taken, forcing us to continue another 3+ miles in the dark. We ate, laughed, and dug out our headlamps to make sure they were accessible. I really didn’t want to night hike again, but at least I wouldn’t be alone.. assuming I could keep up with those two.

There were several blowdowns along the way, causing us to clamber over or under and all in all slowing us down. It was close to 8:30 when we got to the first campsite area, and it was a deep discussion on how to proceed. There was already 5 tents set up in this small area. Margot’s tent is small, so she found somewhere she could squeeze in, my tent being the largest, I found a spot but the reason it was available was because it was really freaking slanted. It sucked.

Marquis said he was going to continue. We were concerned that if we got there, in the dark, over more blowdowns, and it was full too.. we would be screwed. He kept moving and we stayed. Instead of setting up right where the space was for my tent, I crowded the trail and had my tent basically set up right along it, my guyline for my vestibule just barely touching the side of the trail. It seems a little flatter, laying here.. but I have a feeling I’ll be sliding tonight.

Even as I’m laying here, utterly worn out, a couple just appeared from the direction Marquis is hiking.. there’s no way he’s made it there yet, and if these two pushed past it.. why?? Either way, I think they’re trying to squeeze in as well. There’s 8 tents in a “3” tent space. It’s amazing what thruhikers can manage, especially when we’re tired and just want to set up camp.

Speaking of tired, I truly am. And my legs are stinging from my scrapes-and-surprisingly, it’s quite cold. So, time to bundle up and get some shut eye before I go sliding down this mountain. Goodnight, y’all.