Days 107, 108

My first morning in Oregon I woke up to very warm weather, despite the fact that it was about 5:45 am. I was happy--very happy--to be getting off the trail for the rest of the day after only 9 miles of hiking, since I was planning to resupply in Medford. I had a ride from the trail near where it recrossed I-5 at 9:30 Wednesday morning so I needed to get moving and fast! I ended up getting there with about five minutes to spare. During the drive, the driver, Stacie, who is part of a film crew doing a documentary, and I chatted about my hike. She had expressed interest in interviewing me for the documentary and so we were just chatting a bit about the details. Hopefully I'll be able to get up to Crater Lake before they move along to their next spot so that I can be interviewed there--it is one of the most beautiful spots along the trail. And who knows...maybe the exposure will help bump up my fundraising!

She dropped me off at the local Starbucks where I got a venti mocha with whole milk and whip cream...I love calories. Shortly after that a work friend from a few years ago, Sheila, picked me up. I'd be staying with her family--husband and five kids! We chatted for a while over coffee before heading back to the house where I was able to clean up, do laundry, and eat. Sheila made it her personal mission to fatten me up as much as possible while I was there. She made hamburgers for me for lunch on Wednesday--three of them to be exact! They are seriously some of the most generous people I have ever met and the stay was so great that it was way too hard to leave. (Thanks Sheila, Eric, and family!)

The next day (yesterday) I didn't do much except pick up some food for the next section and put a resupply box together for Crescent Lake, still about a week away. I wanted also to get some fundraising emails taken care of that had continued to get pushed aside time after time, but time just seemed to be way too short once again so they didn't get done. However, since I'm getting close enough to the end of the trail where time is beginning to feel like it is running out, I decided to stick around at least part of another day to get everything done. So that's what I did this morning. (By the way, another $200 were raised today...thanks Janel and Dan!) After all the shopping, shipping, and packing was done, it was time to hit the road once again. So my pack went in the van and Sheila and I were off. We made a quick stop in Medford so I get a new tube of Chapstick. (Fun Fact: One tube of Chapstick will last you about 1700 miles of hiking.) Then we made another stop in Ashland at the outdoor gear store so I could get a new bite valve for my hydration system. The mice in California had gotten ahold of the original on my last night there and pretty much destroyed it. Not just inconvenient...totally gross.

By the time everything was done, I was hitting the trail around 6 pm this evening. I wasn't going to try to get very far. The real benefit to being out on the trail is an early start tomorrow, which now isn't as necessary as it would have been yesterday due to the lower temperatures (thank goodness!). So tonight I'm camped just north of Pilot Rock and about 20 miles away from Hyatt Lake where I was originally planning to camp tonight. Obviously I'll need to figure out my timeline to make things work, but it shouldn't be a big deal.