Category: PCT Oregon

At mile 2146.7. Hiked 1.9 miles today.

Today was a  sunny town day.With my tent a tent set up at  Marine Park Campground, I went about my chores. Everything is close together and convenient. There are 16 other hiker tents here with about half being southbounders (SOBO). I ordered new darn tough socks to be delivered by Amazon to Kracker Barrel in a couple hundred mile. I bought grocery resupply, showered, and I washed clothes.

Here is the view of the Locks from my camp. Best view in town!

I had one free beer at the Ale House and another at Thunder Island brewery. I sat with Einstein at the bar at the Ale House and the couple he was   talking  to paid for our lunches. More trail magic. Thank you, I’ll return the favor with a future trail magic gift of my own. The owner and bartender at the Ale House was excited about Darwin of YouTube hiker fame reaching Cascade Locks tomorrow.

Here is Thunder Island Brewery.

For dessert there are plenty of delicious blackberries growing all over town. These I picked on  Thunder Island directly across from the campground.

There is Trail Days in Cascade Locks on August 17th – 19th. I should be getting to Canada around August 17th. I’d like to figure out. Way to attend this festival. It would be cutting it close.

At night hikers sat at the picnic table talking about various testosterone charged challenges. The challenge crowd is really in full gear here. WalkAbout had just finished a 63 mile hike in 20 hours and when’s his footgear failed kept going. He has blisters. Einstein (NOBO) is talking about how he did the Oregon 2-week challenge. Hike all Oregon in 14 days. WalkAbout (SOBO) is thinking about hiking all Oregon in 9 days. Could there be competition between NOBO’s and SOBO’s? A girl who ran from Timberline to Cascade Locks (50 miles) is supposed to be in camp. 

At mile 2144.8. Hiked 26.4 miles today.

At some point today I decided to hike all of the way into Cascade Locks, but with 1.8 miles to go I  came across a good tent site next to a creek and decided it would be less hectic to stay there than to enter town late and try to get to the campground. I had considered motels, but the Best Western is $250 per night and other motels are not much better than camping. If a motel doesn’t offer a bathtub that I can soak in or even better, a hot tub or Jaccuzzi, I’m not interested. Really, I find the tent more comfortable. The only reason to sign up for a motel room is to avoid heat, cold, or rain. On the PCT it seldom rains and the temps at night are cool and pleasant. The Appalachian Trail is another story. It often rains and it is humid so that nothing dries out. Sometimes there is cold rain that is very miserable. There is good reason that the AT has trail shelters. The AT hikers often seek the refuge of a motel to avoid bad weather and to dry out. Whether there is a bathtub provided is secondary. I’ve had 3 motel rooms so far on the PCT. Two of them were following a day of very bad weather. None of them had a tub. 🙁

When available, hostels with kitchens are an excellent choice for thru-hikers. I buy a few groceries (hostels also have community food that any guest can use) and cook the meal I want with the heaping quantity I want. With my appetite, going out to eat is expensive and I usually leave the restaurant hungry. 

I started of off the morning coming across this very long slug that was attempting a thru-hike. If this slug can do an inch in 10 minutes it would take it 3192 years to finish the PCT. That is with no breaks for sleep or rest. 

I looked back to see nice views of Mt Hood’s icy north facing slopes.

The trail opened up and I began rob have views of Mt Baker and Mt Ranier.

I reached the famed and beautiful Eagle Creek trail that most PCT hikers take as an alternate. It is closed after a teenager caused a massive forest fire that destroyed this natural wonder.

I loved a peaceful half mile walk through these grassy woods.

It was exciting to have my first views of the Columbia River, but I still had about 7 more miles to the river.

Closer to Cascade Locks I saw these volcanic rock formations.

At mile 2118.4. Hiked 21.5 miles today.

I got a late start after a morning visit to the Timberline Lodge to wash socks and charge battery. Being well rested after an easy day yesterday, the morning hike was as good as it gets. The walk had beautiful views, cool and pleasant weather, and an easily walked trail. The one mishap was when I slipped on very slick mud. One foot slid forward until I was nearly doing a split. My other leg bent at the knee until the knee struck a rock. The knee was bruised, but it could have been a lot worse had my knee struck harder. 

Morning view of Mt Jefferson from Timberline Lodge.

I took two scenic alternates today. The first was Paradise Park which went above the tree line where I enjoyed wildflower meadows and views of Mt Hood. The second was the Ramona Falls trail.

Paradise Park views of Hood.

Here is Ramona Falls with light coming through the trees and hitting the water just right.

After midday I began feeling weak and tired so I stopped to eat and laid down for a nap after crossing this stream.

While at this stream and as I finished resting, Eric showed up. Not far behind him was Rambler from Israel. We hiked on and crossed another raging stream, but this time Eric easily walked across on a fallen tree high above the stream. I followed, but when I got far out and saw how high above the stream I was the log suddenly didn’t seem wide enough. I switched to baby steps as I could feel myself totter a bit with the backpack not helping my balance. Maybe next time I’ll just walk through the water. 

We again saw Rambler and I took the lead of the three of us as I began a climb. I thought it would be short, but it was long  and steep. Rambler was right on my heals so I climbed faster. It was a long climb so I wore myself out  with my fast pace. 

Here is a late day view of Mt Hood.

People: At the end of the day Hot Sauce passed me. After I was in the tent. Magic Beans came by and asked where the spring was. I told her that it was another 0.2 miles north on the trail. She asked whether it had tent sites. I told her that it did have tent sites and that Hot Sauce was there. Magic Beans took off to join Hot Sauce. That’s the first and last I expect to see of those two.

At mile 2096.9. Hiked 7.4 miles today. 

This morning I hiked a half mile and was at 1000 miles remaining to finish the PCT. I continued to Barlow Road where there was a picnic table and trash can. I rid myself of my hiker trash and proceeded across the road. I saw two trails across the road but could t find any PCT sign or marker. Checking my GPS, I saw that the trail did not quite cross the road right here. Following GPS I returned to the picnic table where I picked up the trail. As I hiked toward Timberline I noticed more lilies like I had seen earlier and decided to photograph them this time. After a mile and a half I saw a sign for Palmeter trail. I first thought that Palmeter must cross the PCT twice and maybe it was a shortcut. Then I realized I had been hiking the wrong way since the picnic table. In fact, I was nearly back to where I camped the night before. Also, I was exactly at the spot where I had 1000 miles remaining. This may make me the only PCT hiker to hit the 1000 miles remaining point twice on the same thru-hike.

This was doubly irritating because I hiked 25 miles yesterday and cowboy camped on the side of the trail to make it possible to get to Timberline early for the breakfast buffet. I also woke early for the same reason. RRRRrrrrr 🙁 

The trail viewed looking in the correct direction.

I did reach Timberline and enjoyed a huge lunch buffet. I ate one or more of each of the 8 desserts. That was after I stuffed myself with everything else.

After a good deal of trouble, I managed to order new shoes from Amazon which I will pick up in Trout Lake.

On the way

At mile 2089.5. Hiked 24.9 miles today.

Near the end of the day as I crested a hill, I was rewarded for pushing through sore muscles with a stunning view of Mt Hood.

When I wake up tomorrow morning and finish hiking my first half mile, I’ll have hiked 1650 miles and have 1000 miles remaining. 

The morning was tough. My legs were sore until after I took a break at 12 miles. During this long break, I slept, ate, and rested. Eventually after walking again, the muscle soreness went away. I thought hiker legs meant that your legs don’t get sore. 

Here is the only PCT archway I recall seeing. Nearby is a sign asking people to identify and report grey wolves. Simba, going southbound told us he saw a couple of wolves north of Ollalie lake.

Butterfly on Timothy Lake where I took a power hiker nap.

I visited Little Crater Lake which is an artesian spring. You can see 45 feet through crystal clear water to the bottom. I wouldn’t swim here because the water is 34 degrees F (1.1 degree Celsius).

At mile 2064.6. Hiked 27.9 miles today.

In the morning long before my muscles and feet get tired and sore at the end of the day I have a big smile on my face.

I paused to look back at my last views of Jefferson and her glacier.

Mt Jefferson is a beauty when beheld from Olallie Lake where there is a small resort with a store.

The resort has a floating dock that pitches back and forth when you walk out on it. As kids, walking out and rocking on something like this was the kind of thing my brother and I loved to do. Though, it was usually a swinging bridge.

Nate, the Trail Angel, and I at Ollalie Lake. I walked up to the picnic area and Nate called me over for trail magic. He had a griddle and chairs set up and quickly made me a stack of blueberry pancakes. I had 6 pancakes, 3 fried eggs, and coffee. 

Another hiker or two were there when I introduced myself to Nate as Uphill. Nate became excited and said that he had been following me on Instagram and my blog and that he had been hoping to see me. It was nice to feel like a celebrity in front of the other hikers. 🙂 I signed Nate’s register with my trail name and logo. I’ve been signing registers up and down the trail with my logo of a    bent over hiker with trekking pole climbing a steep slope. This signature is really starting to get noticed and mentioned by other hikers.

The hiking was hot again so I stopped at a lake for a swim. As I was sunning myself dry, I saw these blue florescent dragon flies. I think they eat mosquitoes and if so, these were doing a good job keeping mosquitoes away from this spot.

By the end of the day my legs were really sore but I kept on walking to rah Warm Springs river. There I met Hoop Dreams of PCT Class of 2013. She knew Shedder of PCT2013 who had given me a ride from Bend to McKenzie Pass and had gone to his wedding. He had proposed to his future wife on the PCT.

As you can see, Hoop Dreams, Sage Brush, and I had our tents very close to one another. Unfortunately, we found out that Sage Brush snores. 🙁