Photos from Etna to Crater Lake

We're now way up in Timberline Lodge / Mt. Hood area, visiting Julia's parents. They picked us up from the trail and brought us way up here to where they are staying. Timberline happens to also be right on trail and is a scheduled stop for us! So instead of having them drive us allllll the way back down to Crater Lake, we may hike south from here back to Crater Lake and then get a ride (bus or hitch or something) back up to here and continue North. If we do this, it'll be great to see all those people that were only a few days to a week ahead of us who we may not otherwise see!!

Photo from Dazzle

Somewhere in the last few miles of California. Our friend Dazzle took this photo as we passed by. The last couple hundred miles have been gorgeous.

Update from Seiad Valley

I'm sitting here in Seiad Valley do I figured I give a quick update since Dunsmuir.

We left Castella with the intention of coming all the way here and bypassing Etna. I'm glad those plans changed. We ended up getting a hitch from the first car that passed and were in town within 10 minutes of getting to the trailhead. Scallywag, Julia and I sat in the back of a pickup truck as the woman sped down the windy, steep road toward town. It was about 13 miles in total and boy was it fun!! I'll try to get up some photos soon. In Etna, we stayed at the house of this incredible family who do missionary work all over the world. The house was given to them to use as a means of continuing this work and so I guess hosting hikers is in some way considered missionary work. The family is made of a couple and their 10 kids, many of whom are adopted. They ween't even home the nigh we stayed as they were going on a camping trip of their own, so the big beautiful home was just full of dirty hiker trash. that was a great stay. We also had punch with Dazzle at the Etna pub and he shared stories of his travels of yesteryear. He's done a lot of bike touring and sailing.

We got out of Etna the following day, much the same way as we got in, in the back of a truck. This time it was just the two of us. We were in the back of a 1970s Fors truck, no tailgate and clinging to furniture that the9 lady was trying to sell at a yard sale. Oh well, we survived and got back to the trail by 12:30. That afternoon / evening we saw about 6 or so others, but haven't seen them since! Yesterday we wanted to do a big day, and we ended up doing our biggest day yet by 7 miles. We finished with 34 miles, 54.5km!! We ended up making it to the trailhead of the PCT at Seiad Valley and camped next to the outhouse. We saw a bear on the way down, but he seemed pretty terrified of us and bolted straight away. The walking in general is getting easier. The scenery is still stunning and we're as filthy as ever.

Julia attempted the pancake challenge here. It's 5lbs of pancakes and got through a third of it. Again, hopefully I can get some pics up soon. There's a big fire here and the trail is closed for 15 miles going north. There's a road walk detour but most people are hitching a ride. The waitress offered us a ride at 2:30 and so that what we're doing. Showers at the RV park!!

Tomorrow, after nearly 4 months, we'll be walking out of California. Dang this state is LONG!! We should be through Oregon in less than 3 weeks.

Magic in Dunsmuir

We averaged 21+ miles per day to get from Chester to Castella (Dunsmuir), 170 miles. That includes two resupplies; one in Old Station and one at Burnet Falls State Park. Days in the mid twenties are comfortable and we're rockin'!

It was just under 8 days and we covered 170 miles.

Leaving Chester at noon, we met Baboon and Spins as well as Scooter. We hiked 18 miles and got to Drakesbad Guest Ranch where we found a TON of hiker trash hanging out! A lot of people that we got way ahead of, but with the section of closed trail and our long stay in Chester, we're able to catch up. Neon and OnAMove, Jesse, Mike and Kim from Ontario, gaitor, Tyler, Sam, Hot Wing, Scallywag and Safari. After a few days of being alone, it was great to see so many familiar faces. Some left that night, but most of us hikes out to the trailhead and camped by a parking lot. Felt like a second kickoff! The next day we got out of camp at 9:20 and had the easiest 20 mile day yet. The next morning we were in Old Station and got some packages from the post office. We replaced our bags, had lunch and hung out as it was DARN hot and we were facing a potential 30 mile waterless stretch, up on a rim with minimal shade. We finally left around 6PM and hiked out about 5 or 6 miles and camped with another couple (Chipmunk and Toad) and a bunch of cows. The next morning we were hiking by 6AM. By 10:30 we made it to the ache that was luckily still plentiful and so the waterless stretch was cut nearly in half. People are amazing. The rest of the day was DANG hot. We made slow progress towards the Crystal Lake Fish Hatchery, arriving just after dinner time. There were 6 of us there and we cowboy camped on the lawn under an incredible night sky. The next morning we headed out for Burney Falls State park and another resupply. It was 12 miles and so we got there around 1PM. We would have been earlier but we came up on this brand new awesome trail magic. There was a new table there and the trail angel left a marker for us to sign the table, and there was soda and evidence of beer! We stayed at the park until 6PM again and then hikes out 5.5 miles and camped with Trip, Cactus, Extra Credit, Scallywag and Chameleon.

The next three days are a bit of a blur. We covered lots of miles and were around a lot of great people. Yesterday evening we crossed the 1500 mile mark and camped on a dirt road. Hollywood showed up after dark and camped nearby as well. This morning we got up, ate the very last bit of our food and hiked the 5 miles down to the highway where we would hitch to Dunsmuir. I should mention that at some point in the middle of the night another hiker passed by. It just so happens that it was Cowboy, who we found sleeping down near the highway. He had done 54 miles that day/night!!! Insane. Do the three of us eventually for our hitch to Dunsmuir from a very nice local lady. She gave us a bit of a tour of the town, dropping us off at the grocery store and suggesting a couple of restaurants.

We decided on the Cornerstone Restaurant. It was busy, and for good reason! The food was delicious, and not only because we hadn't had good, fresh food in over a week! We ordered our food, a meal each plus one to share and while we waited we chatted with a nice older man and his wife. They were regulars and he even had a meal names after him! He had a million questions about our hike and seemed to be pretty impressed! He saw me eyeing the scones in the display case and he went up and ordered one and the waitress brought it, and our bill over to our table. The bill read 'Paid by Glen'. WOW. How kind. We were seriously blown away. We've been on a bit of a high all day.

Hanging out in the motel room all day. Resupply done and we leave tomorrow! Another 158 miles in 7 days or less and we'll be at the Seiad Valley pancake challenge!!

A Day in the Life

So we're sort of in limbo here in Chester. Julia's foot is getting better and it looks like we'll try to leave tomorrow unless it really seems like a bad idea. We spent a night at the Seneca Motel, then upgraded for two nights at Antlers Motel and for tonight we'll be at Best Western. I have some time to kill here so I thought it'd be interesting to write down a typical day in our "trail life". It has changed a bit over the time we've been out here, but we have a pretty concrete routine that we tend to stick to.

I'm always first to open my eyes. Typically around 5:45AM. There was a long stretch where my internal clock had me waking up at that exact time each morning. The first thing I do is start the process of waking Julia up. I'm rarely successful the first time around, so I just keep at it until she's sufficiently awake that I can go get our food bags or bear vaults for breakfast. Once I've retrieved them I climb back in and we have breakfast and then SLOWLY start to change into our hiking clothes and put away our sleeping stuff. I get out and pack up my things and then wait for her to clear out and then I'll take down the tent and put away the ground sheet. Once packed up we set out for the all important morning session. The morning session really sets the tone for the whole day. If you cover good distance then it gets you on a roll and you have a pretty solid day, but if it's tough going and you're interrupted by frequent stops for this or that, it can set up a tedious, slow day. My goal is always to get in a minimum of 10 miles before lunch (which is typically around noon). That's not uncommon. Two hours after we start for the day, we'll have a scheduled snack break. We normally try to schedule these around water and shade, as it can be pretty warm by 9AM. Breaks are normally 10 - 20 minutes. After that we'll go for a while and if another break opportunity presents itself before lunch, we'll take it. Lunch time is about an hour or so (used to be MUCH longer in the desert) and we eat and relax, hopefully near water and shade. I've been reading a book lately. The afternoon session is typically accompanied by music or podcasts. We each go into our own little worlds and enjoy the walk while listening to something. Again, we look to the next water source and decide if we need some and we start to look forward to where we're going to have dinner and camp for the night. The afternoon often becomes a bit of a blur. You get in this zone of just hiking and hiking and if there's nothing spectacular to catch your attention, you just stare at the ground for what seems to be forever. For a long while now, we've been having dinner about 4 or 5 miles before we camp. We'll stop around 5PM and cook up dinner and leave within an hour and then hike until 7:15 - 8:00PM, and sometimes later. Once we get to our camp site for the night, we operate like surgeons. We've set up camp so many times that we know our roles and we start straight away. We throw down our packs and we set out the ground sheet. I unroll the tent and go to the back and put in the one pole and the rear stake while Julia adjusts the hiking poles to the correct height and sets those up. I then come around set up the three tent pegs at the front of the tent and then we each do a side one and we're done. Then we start unpacking our packs. I hand things to Julia that go in the tent and she throws them in (often times the mosquitos are bad so we have to unzip, throw in and zip up). Once our stuff is separated from what goes in and what stays out, we take care of cleaning up. We have a bandanna that we use strictly for cleaning limbs (mostly legs and feet) and so we'll do that, brush our teeth etc and then jump in! Once in we get changed into our sleeping clothes (merino base layer) and blow up our mattresses and set out our sleeping bags. I'll often then look at the maps and what's coming up the next day and Julia will read the data book pages and pages from Yogi's book about the next town we'll be in. We discuss the plan for the next day and pass out. If we plan it right, by the time we're in the tent and settled, it's dark, but it doesn't get dark while we're setting up. So if we start our set-up by 8PM we have enough time to get it done without dilly dallying, but if we're at camp earlier, we may have a fire, or clean clothes in a river or creek or something.

That's really it. It's pretty routine at this point, pretty similar each day.... except for the fact that we never sleep in the same place twice (unless we're in town ;) ) and we're constantly moving forward and seeing different places. It's been awesome.

Update from Chester

We're in Chester. We got here yesterday morning after hiking in from Belden. Last Saturday we left Hiker Haven and got back on trail at 7PM. We didn't WANT to, but we hiked until after 9PM and made it to "Williams Cabin Site", just a campsite where there used to be a cabin, that, ironically, burnt down several years ago. There were 3 weekend hikers there that were heading back down to Belden the following day and so we camped with them. We woke up the next morning and it was a little smokey where we were and it was obviously coming from somewhere down below us. We didn't think TOO much of it and we just continued to climb up towards 7000 feet or so. We had though that Minor and Magic Bag, who also left Belden when we did, had passed us by because we weren't going very fast and we hadn't seen them since the night before. As it turns out, they didn't make it quite as far as we did, and because the fire was much worse than he had thought, they were instructed by the Forest Service folks to head back down to Belden. So we were alone, all alone, but we didn't really know it. The trail that we hiked is still closed and the fire has grown to over 1000 acres. The following couple of days made us raise suspicion because we saw NOBODY, and the day after we left Belden we only did 13 miles. All we could do was keep hiking. At Humboldt rd there was a sign letting people know that the trail was closed Southbound to Belden, and by the time we made it to the Highway leading into Chester, there was another sign saying that the trail was now closed from THERE all the way back to Belden. Wow, we really WERE ALL ALONE out there. Kinda cool.

Along this stretch we hit the PCT midpoint. An unassuming little post in the ground marking the halfway point between Mexico and Canada. How are you supposed to feel at that moment. It's a massive accomplishment to have hiked some 1326.6 miles (to that point) but also a little daunting knowing you have the same distance ahead of you. It took a little over 3 months to get us halfway, but hopefully only another two months to finish this thing off. The terrain is SO much easier to walk and the climbs are nothing compared to the Sierra, and the temperature, although warming up, is nothing compared to the desert. Twenty five to thirty mile days are going to become the new norm, and there aren't so many places to hang out for a while. Oregon will be a smash fest to get through. I found this strategy that keeps you more or less on trail for the entire state. When we get to Ashland, the first, and biggest town on trail, we'll buy all of our food for the state and then mail full resupplies to 5 places that are right on trail. This means no fussing with going into towns to buy food or to go to the post office.

So we're ABOUT to start putting in big days, buuuuut we're kind of stuck here in Chester for a few more days. Julia's foot has been bothering her for almost 2 weeks now and is pretty swollen. We came into Chester to go to the doctor and get it looked at. We got that done yesterday and as it turns out, after some x-rays and visits and the doc's office and hospital, it turns out she's got tendonitis. So the prescription is rest, 800mg of ibuprofin three times a day and a regimen of heat and cold application. Oh well, the Olympics are on, I guess we'll have to stay and watch.

Oh, we also went to the Kopper Kettle here in town. It's highly recommended and for good reason. I watched Julia smash back a plate of pancakes that has me believing in her ability to take down the big pancake challenge up in Seiad Valley, AND she ate a LARGE cinnamon bun (like 5 inch diameter) on top of that. Colour me impressed.

I'm also beardless. I went to the barber today and had the lady touch up the mohawk and shave my beard clean off. I almost didn't recognize myself and my wife thought I looked different than before I had the beard. So maybe I'll keep it clean, or maybe I'll grow it out again. We'll see.