We all slept in until maybe 8 ish? At best? Full bladders were the culprit for not being able to sleep just a weeeee bit longer, since we were inside and all. Oh well.
We got dressed and made our way to the bathroom, then over to eat breakfast. I wanted biscuits and gravy-they were out-so I settled for a burrito. Once I had some sour cream to go on it-I enjoyed it. The three of us sat and talked like old friends and took our time, me sipping coffee, Tashina and Romy sipping tea. It was a great morning, for sure.
We packed all of our gear, my resupply food getting shoved in awkwardly, making my pack seem super large. When we toted everything back to the main restaurant, store, lodge, area to turn in the key-Big Mama was already there to get us! How perfect! She had some gear swapping to do for another hiker, but afterwards we loaded up and she drove us into Medford.
I wasn’t expecting everyone to come in REI with me, but they all did. We shopped, I found pants to hike in, the girls found stuff they needed, Tashina gifted Big Mama something she had wanted.. it was a good time! Back in the parking lot, I shoved my new purchase into my pack and put it on, ready to hangout in this parking lot until Thomas and Steffi appeared to pick me up. Big Mama was uneasy about leaving me, but I promised her I was fine. We did hugs all around, said our goodbyes and see ya laters, and then they drove off.
Tashina & Romy
I walked around looking at my options for entertainment for the next few hours, and landed on chic-fil-a. I ordered my lunch and sat at a table with my pack in the chair across from me. I worked on my blog, I ate, and I wasted a good bit of time. It was hot outside, and the REI was in direct sunlight, so I didn’t want to just sit out there and roast. Eventually I started to feel guilty and Thomas said they were about an hour away, they hit some traffic, so I decided to walk back over to REI to wait.
I found a shaded spot at the back of a different building but facing REI, and I continued to work on my blog and self entertain until they got there. It was kind of odd how fast I just jumped into a stranger’s car without question. They messaged and said 10 minutes, along with a picture of the car. They pulled up, I said “Hi!” We swapped pleasantries and I was in the backseat ready to go.
They are wonderful. Both from Germany, and they hiked the whole desert and decided to take a 3 week road-trip while waiting out the snow to melt. We talked off and on during the 7 hours to Seattle. We all 3 ooo’d and ahhhh’d when we passed through Portland, it looked beautiful at sunset. And when we finally made it to the motels side by side near the airport, we were all exhausted and talked out. It was almost 1 am.
Me & Big Mama
I went inside and the lady took a while to get me into my room, saying they oversold the room I booked but instead of turning me away, they’d upgrade me without penalty. It’s a good damn thing because I was close to coming unhinged. The motel was a dump, an almost $300/night dump at that-I was tired and had to be up early. Yikes.
Romy, me, Tashina
I got into my room and while the bed was clean and comfortable, I didn’t feel like I could walk around without shoes-the carpets felt damp and nasty. It was loud outside in the parking lot near my room. I was so exhausted I passed out pretty quick after laying down regardless. Almost immediately.
Another beautiful night of sleeping like a baby.. I was sleeping so good I didn’t get up until 8am. I even reasoned with myself, it’s only 8 miles.. if I get there too early I’ll get bored and spend more money-my budget wants and NEEDS me to sleep in..
And it was GLORIOUS. I packed so slow that if I didn’t already let the air out of my mattress I would have fallen back to sleep! But finally, at 8:30, I had my stuff packed, my teeth brushed, and was on trail. Because of not taking my synthroid earlier, in between snoozes, I had to wait until 9am to eat anything. No worries, I had a bar for that 😉
The trail was surrounded by rocks again. Into the forest with a blowdown or two, immediately back out into a valley of broken rocks that literally looked like someone jackhammered the mountain, picked all the pieces back up and dropped them through their hands like you do when you make a sand castle. And magically, the trail wound right through it all, with packed dirt and those weird fake looking red rocks. That’s the difference between the AT and the PCT.. the AT would have you scrambling through those shattered and sharp boulders.. the PCT created a legitimate trail to walk on through them. Just the thought of all the work put into making this “walkable” and not “scramble-able” or mostly “get-through-able” had me delighted the entire time.
Even when I turned a corner and had a Texas sized tree to climb over, and maybe scrape a new spot on my calf, I was happy. Fun times. Even with the blow downs I was making great time. I got to the trailhead after 6 miles where I needed to turn off to go to Fish Lake Resort. The two miles of trail to the resort were pristine! A wide path that looked like it had been, dare I say it, recently RAKED? No way?!
With less than a mile to go, I walked into the man with-you guessed it-the rakes! He had a contraption that held two rakes that he swept the whole trail with! He was so nice, told me good luck and we went our separate ways. Before I knew it, and before noon, I had hiked 8+ miles to the resort, had swapped out my shoes for my crocs, and was sitting pretty at the cafe waiting on my appetizer basket and burger.
I all but devoured the app basket: mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers, Mac and cheese balls.. and then because I ate that so fast, I only ate half of that beautiful burger! I should feel like such a failure. Hiker hunger hasn’t set in yet, even if the desire for town food has!
I paid up, got quarters and my resupply box I shipped here, then headed down to the shower and laundry house. The resort has a campground, cabins, and then free PCT hiker camping on the backside of the lake, “up the hill some.” I figured I’d get clean, do my laundry, then venture to the other side of the lake.
My shower was hot! I had to pay with quarters to get it going, and then pop one in every now and then to get extra time. Once I felt clean enough (that shower wasn’t all that clean feeling to begin with), I stood in the stall in my crocs and nothing else, drip drying. I don’t hike with a towel. After awhile of standing there and starting to freeze, I pulled out my thrift store tshirt I wasn’t going to wash, pat dried myself as much as I could, got my rain gear on and then washed all my dirty clothes and the now soaked t shirt too.
Clothes were washing, phone was charging, I moved my pack outside to get more room.. life was good! I was sitting on the counter in the laundry room, staring into space (my phone was charging at the outlet too far away to reach) when Tashina and Romy walked in! They had hitch hiked here after raccoons got into Tashina’s food bag and destroyed everything she had! As sad as I was that her food was gone, I was THRILLED they were here with me!
The problem: they had walked all over this resort and couldn’t find the free camping! I put my clothes in the dryer and then went to look too, for myself and pretend budget purposes. There was a picnic table and no room for tents anywhere that didn’t have a blown down tree or overgrown bushes everywhere. Oh darn. Looks like we have to share a cabin now! Hahaha
Tashina and Romy
We all left our stuff there, walked back to the cafe/lodge/everything for the resort area, and (after quite the wait because their internet went down) booked a one room cabin for the 3 of us to split! Heck yes! I got my stuff from the dryer and brought everything back to “home base” and then once we had our cabin cleaned and ready for us, we took all of our stuff over there. The girls went to shower and do laundry and I went back to the cafe to hangout with the WiFi for awhile.
I was desperate to figure out a plan. The snow north of here to Crater Lake is “awful” per sooo many people. Tashina and Romy were planning to rent a car, road-trip for a week or so, then get back on trail at the Washington/Oregon border and hike south.. because Romy’s flight would come sooner or later and they’d have to get her to Portland regardless. While that sounded like a blast, A. I didn’t want to interfere with their plans and B. If I hiked SOBO from that border, I’d have to get back up to that border to get across Washington to Canada and then back again to fish lake to go south.. the logistics seemed too difficult and expensive for me to manage.
Like I’ve been saying, I’ve been watching the intel for the Canadian border and the idea to hike south from there straight through to Mexico (skipping the almost 200 miles I’ve already done, of course) was sounding best for me. However, looking up rental cars was almost $800 to drop off in Seattle in a few days. And then I looked at buses: Medford to Seattle-very cheap but very long and just sounded miserable.
As I was about to give up completely, I came across a post in one of the PCT groups from a guy named Thomas. He and his girlfriend were going to be in Sacramento today, getting a rental car in the morning, driving straight through to Seattle, had a trail Angel picking them up the following morning and taking them to Mazama to the Lions Den hostel.. which is right where you start to get to the Canadian border! They were looking for 1-2 more hikers to help split the cost..
I messaged him, and got no response. I was back to feeling defeated. Like what even is this year on trail?! And then, a few hours later, as the 3 of us girls are eating dinner.. I got a response! 2 had backed out, so I was in luck!! Thomas and Steffi would pick me up on their way through Medford (roughly 5-6 hours north of Sacramento!)! All I had to do was pitch in $100 for the car/trail Angel! Done and done!
Suddenly, I had a plan but didn’t have any real preparation done! I downloaded the Washington maps in the app, made sure the topo showed up in airplane mode, and Tashina talked with Big Mama.. she’d come pick the 3 of us tomorrow by noon, drop me off at REI in Medford, and take them where they needed to go for the night, because they couldn’t get their rental car until the following day. YAY! Plans! Made!
We went over to a campsite and hung out with the couple that Tashina and Romy hitched in with. We had a great time chatting and laughing until sunset.. and then as required, we had to go see the sunset over the lake, snap a few pictures, and then get ready for bed. The cabin has a bed, sink, microwave and mini fridge. Romy took the bed, Tashina and I set up sleeping pads and slept on the floor, all of us happy to have the next 24 hours sorted out. And thank goodness, because I’m exhausted!
I’m pretty sure I woke up before the girls.. and I was immediately worried about how much noise I made overnight. The one nice thing about being alone is it doesn’t matter how much racket you make when you roll around, if anything it’s helpful to keep critters away.
Even still, I had snoozed through my early alarms and popped awake at 7:20. Knowing I wanted to get a minimum of 12-13 miles away, but preferably even more, so I’d be that much closer to Fish Lake for the following day, I started packing. I could hear them both moving around some, and then I heard Tashina out of her tent, so either I really woke her up or she was waiting to hear us move before she did.
I was completely packed by 7:49. Tashina was sitting at the picnic table trying to sew her nice hiking pants where they ripped, and Romy was just starting to stir. We all said our good mornings and goodbyes, as I put on my pack and walked to the bath house. The building was on the way out, so I didn’t want to backtrack. I brushed my teeth, used a real toilet, and scrubbed my hands one last time for good measure. The girls had come down to the bathroom, too, so we said our byes again and I was on my way.
The trail is under there somewhere
The trail was once again gentle, except when I’d hit a blowdown or 19. I’d be sailing along, listening to my audiobook, not a care in the world, then get smacked with a jungle gym of trees the size of minivans piled over the trail. I’d venture around, up and over or under, take a breather, and then keep moving. These trees are so massive, and so absolutely beautiful. There’s moss dangling from their very high limbs, and such greenery all around. It’s truly beautiful when you’re not in the chaos of the blowdowns.
Once I got to the top of the morning’s climb, which never really felt all that much like climbing, I sat and ate lunch.. it was almost exactly noon and my stomach for the first time in a while actually growled. I ate while sitting on a log, listening to my book (One Second After, really good, fyi) and felt completely at ease. I couldn’t care less if I walked 15 more miles or only two. I was just going to see where the day took me.
I did hit some patches of snow today. But all said and done, if you put every patch I walked over together, it all combined took less than a minute to get over. So I won’t complain about snow today. I will say i was pretty chilly though. I hiked in my rain jacket most of the day to keep warm!
Sometime around 3pm, I came to a shelter.. which is really more like a little cabin with plastic strips for a door with a huge wood burning stove in the middle.. there was two sides that had platforms im assuming to sleep on, but the smell of the stove made me a little queasy.. sometimes charred wood sets me off a bit, so I immediately went back outside. I definitely didn’t want my stuff to get that wood smoke smell on it, so I went across the way to the picnic table to sit a while.
I took my socks and shoes off, letting my toes air out. My right foot is doing like my left foot did, and it was tender as hell. I could see flat tent sites off in the near distance, so I had somewhere to set up camp. I was almost done listening to my book, so I decided I’d just sit and listen, then decide what to do. Around 10-15 minutes of sitting there, two women appeared. They were out day hiking. We chatted a while, and then a man and his 2 German Shepards appeared. He was doing trail maintenance and just wanted to inform us incase the chainsaw scared us. Nice guy. Gorgeous pups.
Eventually the two ladies left and I could hear the man and his chainsaw in the distance. I was determined to finish this dang book! Just before 4, I finished it, and then was left feeling a bit energized. I decided to continue hiking another 4 miles, so it would be closer to 6pm when I got to camp and then I would have less time to kill this evening and even less walking to do tomorrow to get to Fish Lake. Wins all the way around!
That 4 miles started off great, thanks to trail maintenance guy. Plus the trail was lush and gorgeous and I was just happy. Then I hit more blowdowns, slowing me down. And then, the trail went through this odd rocky area that looked like the people brought in a fake red rock to supplement the trail with, but these little nuggets made my feet scream.
When I finally came across a campsite, I was quick to set up. Just as planned, it was right at 6pm when my tent was up, my bed was made, and I was sitting on a log making dinner. The mosquitoes here suck, but nothing like when Andrea and I were attacked. I had my first ramen bomb tonight.. ramen noodles mixed with instant potatoes. Not too shabby. The wind isn’t blowing, but it is cold. I’m shivering some and the sun isn’t even down yet. I wonder what the temp is… gotta be in the 50s at best, maybe high 40s?
I’m excited to get to sleep.. because I can sleep in tomorrow and still make it to Fish Lake by lunchtime! I’m 6 miles away from the road crossing, and then it’s 2 miles from there. I’ll get to eat from a restaurant but still set up camp there tomorrow night. I’m not sure if I’m going to zero or see about getting into Medford to rent a car.. I got updates today that the snow north of here is horrible, so I may take some time and slowly road-trip up to Washington to start southbound from the Canadian border the end of next week or the start of the following week. Once I get some WiFi I’ll be able to come up with a better plan. I hate the not knowing.
I’ve been chatting with Zebra, who I met on the AT, and she thinks I could make the SOBO trip before November first, even if I start in July from the border.. and that way we can all but guarantee no snow. At the very least, there will be minimal snow. Lindsay and her husband, Erik, that I met in Ashland left Fish Lake today to head north, too. So, maybe we’ll all be SOBO hikers this year. Alright, my fingers are numb. Time for bed! Love y’all! Goodnight 🙂
