Day 143 - 9 Days Remaining

***Before I get into this entry too far, I want to encourage you to check out my previous blog entry and think about contributing to the Lance Armstrong Foundation if you can. It is tax-deductible and will help me toward my fundraising goal. Also, I find it pretty cool that the LAF is promoting October 2 as LIVESTRONG DAY. (October 2 is the 13-year anniversary of Lance Armstrong's cancer diagnosis.) Ah, if only it were a day later.***

Now, onto the blog entry...

Well, today went moderately according to plan. If it weren't for resupply stops, I'd have had this trail finished a month ago! It's not that this stop was too much out of the ordinary (minus the distance of nearly 25 miles from Stevens Pass to Skykomish/Bering), it's just the nature of resupply stops. They just take time. You've got to shower, do laundry, eat, and make sure you've got enough food for the next section. If it's a main resupply point, then usually that means you've got a bounce box to send somewhere, which means a trip to the Post Office. Of course, you are doing this in a town you don't know and without a car, which definitely complicates matters. More often than not, the variables conspire against you and everything takes longer than you anticipate.

This would explain why I'm essentially camping at the trailhead at Stevens Pass tonight. By the time all the said resupplying was complete and I was back up at the trailhead, it was nearly dark. So, I figured I would just make camp wherever I could (it ended up being about 1/4 mile up the trail) and hope that I'm able to get up in the morning and get a good jump on the day. If I am to have any prayer of getting to Stehekin by Monday evening, I need to put in at least a 25-mile-day tomorrow. It would be much better to put in a bigger day than that to start building a buffer for navigating all the blowdowns (trees across the trail) that I know are farther up the trail. This is where the shorter days are really a problem. If I had 15 hours of daylight like I did in the Sierras, then I'd be golden, but I've only got 12. And even if I'm hiking for 10 of those, best case scenario is 30 miles.

Of course, the stress level has definitely been ratcheted up a notch. The end of the trail and the race against the weather will do that to you. Everyone is feeling it though. Despite the fact that the weather should be holding up for the time being, you can still never be sure.

Speaking of weather, I learned a couple of valuable things today from the locals. The first isn't actually directly weather-related: The terrain going from Stevens Pass to Stehekin is harsher than the terrain from Stehekin to Canada. The second is that just before I'll get to Stehekin, the trail will take me over to the east side of the Cascades, where the weather is traditionally more favorable. This is big and explains how Skykomish has a forecast for rain beginning next week and yet Stehekin is clear for the next 10 days! Finally, additional good news is that the trail will stay on the east side of the Cascades all the way to Manning Park once it crosses over by Stehekin. So the short of the long is that if everything (hiking schedules and weather forecasts) hold to form, then I should have a small window of favorable weather from here to Canada which would be AWESOME. I'm certainly not assuming anything, but definitely trying to keep moving as quickly as I can while I can.

A funny story before I wrap this up on an important note... Today, as I mentioned, I needed to resupply in Skykomish, about 25 miles from the trail. I waited about 15 minutes before a guy pulled over and offered me a lift. Not five minutes down the road, this electronic device mounted on his dash that I had never seen before started beeping. He proceeds to pick up this phone-like-looking device, took a deep breath, and blew into the small mouthpiece on the other side. He informed me that he had it installed "so that drunk people can't steal his car." I laughed then and I still laugh now when I think about it, because obviously I made it out okay. But that's a perfect example of some of the things you get to experience on a trip like this--never would I willfully put myself in a situation like that off the trail. But on the trail, beggars can't be choosers and you've gotta take what you can get to make it from Point A to Point B. In the end, it makes for a good story.

This is quickly turning into one of my longest entries of the trip thus far, and maybe it's because I'm pretty sure you won't have any updates to read for a while due to the fact that I'll be in some of the most remote terrain on the entire trail. Whatever the reason, I just want to say thanks to everyone out there who has been so supportive of me along the way, regardless of the form of that support. When I started out in May, I had no idea what to expect because I had never tackled a hike of this magnitude or anything even close to it. There were plenty of times when I probably could have quit and felt totally justified in doing so, and while I haven't made it yet, I can say that on several occasions it was the family member, friend, and even stranger who came alongside me and did or said something that helped keep me going. It didn't need to be something major. Just something to remind me that people were out there pulling for me. So, on that note, I say thank you.

Fundraising Update

Hey Everyone - This will likely be one of the last real-time updates you'll see on my blog until I get to Canada.  All reports that I've heard have indicated that cell service between here (Skykomish) and Manning Provincial Park, British Columbia, is nearly nonexistent.  So I'll still be blogging, but likely won't be able to post until after I arrive in Manning Park on Saturday, October 3. 
 
Anyway, since I may likely be out of technological contact for quite some time, I'm appealing to everyone out there who has been thinking about contributing, but hasn't yet.  After 4 1/2 months (142 days) of relentless hiking with no weekends, I only have a few more days on the trail and would like to get over $10,000 before I arrive in Canada.  I'm at $8,800 now and so am almost there! 
 
So please take a minute or two and go to www.hikeforhope2009.com, click on the "his fundraising page" link, and contribute what you can.  Any support is very much appreciated!
 
Thanks and I look forward to seeing many of you in a few short weeks (or less)!
 
RJK

Day 142 - 10 Days Remaining

(Originally written on Wednesday, September 23)

I woke up freezing this morning. It was SO cold that I really hadn't slept much since about 2:30 this morning. I knew it was 2:30 because I woke up cold and checked the time. After hitting snooze about five times, I actually did go back to sleep for another 30 minutes. And is so often the case when that happens, it was good sleep. The only downside was that it kept me from getting the good early start I had hoped for. By the time 10 am had rolled around, I had only hiked three miles. Even though they were all uphill, I was still pretty disappointed in myself. That's the frustrating thing about this hike--regardless of the number of miles you went, it wasn't enough. I've made peace with the fact that there is so much on this trail that I would like to stop and savor for more than a few minutes, but it is still frustrating.

Anyway, I was surprised to get a intermittent, yet strong enough to get email, cell signal at Cathedral Pass, so I sat there and sifted through my messages. It is amazing how few a person gets when he has no way of responding! I suppose that will change when I get myself reintegrated with society. Until then, I'll enjoy the simplicity while I can.

The rest of the day was full of steep descents and climbs, but since I'm near a resupply point and don't have much food left, my pack doesn't weigh much and I really enjoyed the terrain. At one point I even got to look down on a fighter jet as it roared through a valley I was beginning to descend into. It reminded me of my very first day on the trail--May 5--when the Border Patrol helicopters were flying through Hauser Canyon and I was looking down on them then, too. It's just so weird to think that was nearly five months ago!

So now I'm officially less than 200 miles from the end. I think it is somewhere around 196, with seven of those being in Canada, so 189 miles to the border monument and 10 days to do it in. I was a little concerned about the terrain from Skykomish to Canada--I had heard nightmares about 400 "blowdowns" (trees fallen across the trail) and crazy river crossings. But today I met to thru-hikers going south and they gave me all the latest info on the situations. Basically, the river crossings were no big deal and the blowdowns were confined to about a 6-mile-long stretch. So I was encouraged by that. I'm just praying that the weather holds up. It has been absolutely gorgeous lately and I'm hoping it stays that way for 10 more days.

Tomorrow I've got a busy day. First, I'll try to hammer out the last eight miles to Highway 2 where I'll try to hitch a ride to Skykomish. There I'll shower, do laundry, and resupply as quickly as possible so that hopefully I can get a few miles in before dark. I'd love to make a dent in that roughly 100 miles to Stehekin!

Day 141

(Originally written on Tuesday, September 22)

Here I am camped at Deep Lake. I wish I had a dollar for every "Deep Lake" I've come across on this trip. In Oregon, one of my maps had two "Deep Lakes" on the same page! C'mon lake-naming-people, let's get creative! Anyway, the lake is beautiful but I elected to camp out of sight of it, by a creek. The water here is more accessible and the campsite was flatter. In short, it is just a better campsite.

In my blog entry from yesterday, I failed to mention the reroute I was yet again forced to take. It began at Snoqualmie Pass and reconnected with the Pacific Crest Trail about 26 miles later. Allegedly, the fire that was burning in the area a while ago is still burning inside some of the old-growth timber along the PCT, causing them to occasionally explode. I'm not making this up--it's what the folks at the Ranger Station said. In any case, there was a three-mile stretch closed and the only way around it was to follow a much longer Forest Service (official) reroute or take an unofficial reroute that was about 12 miles shorter. I elected the unofficial reroute, as did 99% of the other PCT hikers, from what I've been told. The problem with the unofficial reroute is that the terrain was much more difficult than the PCT or the official reroute. It was bad enough in some places that it took me two hours to go three miles! Nevertheless, I made it and happily got back on the PCT at about 3:30 this afternoon. I went another eight miles before calling it a day. My legs were so exhausted from the steep (and poorly maintained or unmaintained altogether) ascents and descents that the last couple miles just went by so slowly. My sleeping bag never looked so inviting!

Tomorrow I've got a stiff climb greeting me first thing in the morning. From what it looks like on the map, the trail continues its harsh gradients nearly all the way to Highway 2. And from what I've heard from others, it could be this way until I finish in 11 days.

Day 140

(Originally written on Monday, Sept 21)

Today is my fourth anniversary of my last day of radiation treatment. Paradoxically, it feels recent and yet distant. I can remember walking out of the hospital with my mask (that I had to wear during treatment) in my hand. They were going to throw it away but I couldn't let them do that. I never wanted to forget how awful the whole experience was and the mask was the most vivid reminder of the entire treatment process. To this day, I still have issues with confined spaces, and even with perceived confined spaces, because of that mask. When I'm not walking 20+ miles per day out in the woods, that mask sits on my wall, kind of like a set of deer antlers, as a trophy--not of an accomplishment, but as a reminder of how tough life can be and how good it is now. The worst day hiking beats radiation treatment anyday! Sometimes I lose perspective about that, but I try not to.

When I started this hike, today was supposed to be my last day on the trail. Obviously, that is not the case because I still have 250 miles to go in 12 days of hiking. The symmetry would have been nice to have, but I think this more accurately reflects how my ordeal with cancer really was. There was no end date when I magically was finished with it. I still deal with side effects, in fact. Things just kind of dragged on...kind of like the way the trail is going now.

Anyway, that is my reflective, philosophical moment for the day.

On a lighter note, I superglued my fingers together today. Yep, seriously. What happened was I used some superglue to fix a little piece of my shoe. Apparently, the glue was exactly the same temperature as my skin, because I didn't feel it at all. Then I went to move my fingers and I couldn't and then slightly panicked. It was my ring and middle fingers. Fortunately, Magic Man (remember him from California?) had come up all the way from Seattle just to say hello and take me out to lunch. It was trail magic at its finest! (Thanks, Magic Man!) Little did he know that I had been craving Krispy Kreme donuts recently and he had two dozen in the car with him! Ah, life is so good sometimes. Anyway, Magic Man went over to the local market and picked up a bottle of acetone-based nail polish remover so that I could soak my dilemma in it for awhile, which fixed the problem. I've still got some glue remnants on the nail of my ring finger, though. So the next time you get down on yourself for doing something dumb, just remind yourself that at least you didn't glue your fingers together!

Drying Process

My hotel room here at Snoqualmie Pass looks like this in all directions. That's a couple of chairs sitting on top of my bed with my tent draped over it.

Day 139 - Snoqualmie Pass

I wish I had an hour worth of free time and Blackberry battery every day to post on my hike, because I'd have plenty of thoughts to share. After all, besides walking, what else is there to do hour after hour in the wilderness? I usually have about five moments a day when I think about something I want to include in my nightly blog update, only to promptly forget what it was while actually writing the blog update. I really wish I could have a voice recorder convenient. Then you could catch all my wit and wisdom...ha!

Anyway, today was a long and sometimes frustrating day, especially towards the end. The weather was again very cold when I woke up, and after a night of hard-blowing wind, I was tired. Everything in my tent was damp, if not outright wet, despite my tent holding up in the crazy wind. The downside of packing up a wet tent is that it usually gets the rest of your stuff wet the following night. But I knew that I was going to be in a dry hotel room at day's end, so I manned up and got going. At about 10:30 am, the clouds burned off (mostly) and I had to downsize my wardrobe that I was wearing. Even though, it wasn't raining, I still wore my raingear to keep me from getting too drenched by the water still hanging to the trees and bushes. It definitely got warm. I've decided that raingear is really only useful when you aren't moving. Otherwise you are just as soaked inside as out due to sweat.

One thing that made the miles go by slowly was all the wild blueberries and huckleberries I passed along the way. I've seen them for days now and these were the best by far! Blueberries and huckleberries living in perfect harmony...might as well be nirvana!

As pleasant as the berries were, the last 10 miles of the trail were not. I really hate it when the trail takes a route that is totally pointless and requires a lot more work. I'm already hiking 2,664 miles, why not give me some extra work while I'm out here? It seemed like there were a lot of those sections today. Yuck. And one of my favorite (note sarcasm) points on the trail was the section where it looked like they just backed up a dumptruck full of rock--the smallest of which were about 6" in diameter, and dumped where the trail should have been and said, "There's the trail!" It was awful and slowed me WAY down. I left this morning on a schedule to get to the pass by 5 pm tonight and I didn't get there until 6:30 at least.

But the day ended on a very good note because my college buddy Peter met me up there and helped me get my gear started drying, started my laundry, and took me out for dinner. It was awesome. Thanks Pejo!

So now my room looks like a house if a hobo owned it with everything I own strewn about, trying to get dry. It's rather comical. Tomorrow I'll get started in the afternoon and hopefully get 15 miles in before the end of the day. That would be a good start to a 75-mile section. But after doing 100 miles in 3.5 days, my legs don't feel like doing much walking.

Thanks to Larry and Karla (and Jack) for the recent donation!

Day 138

(Originally written on Saturday, Sept 19)

It is still raining outside of my tent. The wind is blowing rather fiercely too. I'm hoping that camping on top of a ridge wasn't an error in judgment. I really wanted to get up and over the ridge so that I wouldn't need to worry about it in the morning. Now I'm just hoping my tent doesn't get ripped apart!

After yesterday's 31 miles, I wanted to build on it so that I wouldn't be forced to have a big day into Snoqualmie Pass. But when I woke up this morning to more than just a heavy drizzle, I knew it was going to be tough to get going. I hate getting up in the morning, and when it is cold and rainy it's even harder. So by the time I actually got hiking, it was already 9. Everything takes longer in the rain. The upside of cold, wet weather is that it makes me hike faster just to stay warm! So I actually made decent time and by sunset (didn't see it due to the clouds) I had hiked about 26 or 27 miles. I think I've got right at 25 to go tomorrow and a hot shower has never sounded so good!

The weather looked like it was going to clear up as I was quickly forcing down lunch (I wanted to get moving again to stay warm!) but then right after I got my tent up I started feeling a few drops of rain. Hopefully the system will blow out of the area overnight. That would make it a LOT easier to get up in the morning!

Day 137 - 15 Days Remaining

(Originally written on Friday, Sept 18)

It was the perfect plan. I was going to hike 30 miles today so that I could stay in the Arch Rock Shelter which was right on the trail. That way, if it rained like I had been told, none of my gear would get wet. So I hurried and hiked all day and about an hour after the sun had gone down...only to discover that the shelter is no longer in existence. I gambled and lost. Oh well. The good news is that now I'm back on pace to get to Snoqualmie Pass by Sunday night! I can also say that I've done 30-mile-days in California, Oregon, AND Washington. Not bad. I'm also only about 14 miles shy of being under 300 miles! So there is some good that came from it, despite the sore feet and the late bedtime. Hopefully I can keep the momentum up and get another 25 miles done.

I saw a few more elk today. One young bull even posed on the trail for me. As I slowly went to grab my camera, though, he bolted. I guess I'm not destined to be a wildlife photographer. But maybe I'll get another chance...the forest is crawling with elk! In fact, last night I didn't sleep well partly because of the bugling. When I was sleeping, however, I was dreaming...about elk. They are everywhere! Even in my subconscious!

So tomorrow I'm hoping to knock out another 25 miles. From what I hear, there may be some rain here overnight which could slow me down tomorrow. In any case, I don't want to do any more 30-milers!

Mt. Rainier Again

This is the view of Mt. Rainier that I had this morning, Sept 18, during my first break of the day. The weather has been unbelievably nice, but that might change.

Day 136

I can hear elk bugling tonight and probably not very far from where I'm camped. I saw a bull earlier today--about two miles after leaving White Pass. Then later in the evening, around 6 pm, I saw a cow with a calf about half her size. It was probably the best look at an elk in the wild that I've ever had because she just stood there. Usually they bolt as soon as you see them. I even had time to get my camera out but the setting was for no flash (to save battery) and all I got was a blurry, brown blob. Then, right before I stopped hiking for the night, I looked down from the ridge I was hiking up to a large pond below and at least eight elk were in the vicinity. It was very cool to see.

So tonight I'm camped at the top of the ridge, literally on the Mt. Rainier National Park border. My legs are in the park and my torso is not. I didn't plan it that way--it just kind of worked out. I'm just glad to be back on the trail after the stop at White Pass. Everyone (except for one person) was really nice but the area was just totally lacking. I'm trying to get to Snoqualmie Pass--100 miles away--in four days to give myself some wiggle room as I get closer to the end. Considering how quickly the days are getting shorter, I'm going to need to be very deliberate on how long I hike each day.

I'm really hoping the weather continues to cooperate tomorrow because then I'll have some really great views of Rainier! Tonight I can kind of see it but it is mostly obscured by trees.

Day 135 - White Pass

I hit the trail early this morning, hiking by 7 am. (With sunrise now happening around 6:45 am, 7 now counts as "early".) I wasn't hiking for more than five minutes before I saw something I hadn't seen in a long time--a bear. He was sauntering along on the trail just ahead of me and going the same direction. I stopped long enough to grab my camera and then went around the corner to snap a quick photo and he was already gone. Too bad because I'd love to get a picture of one. He wasn't very big though, maybe 150 lbs. Before I had even put my camera away, I saw a deer up the hill scurry into the brush. Later I saw two more mountain goats. The Goat Rocks Wilderness certainly didn't disappoint!

My progress was slow for the first several hours of the day. It was mostly steep uphill for the first few miles and then it was hiking along things called The Knife's Edge. Essentially, you get to hike on the top of a ridgeline with steep slopes on either side of you. Add to that additional steep ups and downs on loose shale, and you've got yourself some rugged, if not treacherous hiking! I was very happy that the weather was about as ideal as one could hope for, with clear skies in all directions yet again. The views were breathtaking and the terrain reminded me of the Sierras. I was glad to get down from the tough stuff, however, because I was really tired. I had gotten to bed early the night before, but a big windstorm kicked up overnight and woke me at about 2 am. From that point until my alarm went off at 6 I didn't get much sleep. When I got up in the morning, the tent stakes on either side of my tent had been pulled out by the wind. Really it was only because I was in it that it hadn't gone anywhere.

Perhaps it was because I was so tired, or perhaps because I was just careless, but I took a wrong turn in the afternoon. I came to a junction that, according to the map was supposed to have four trails, but I could only find three. So I eliminated the one I had just arrived on and saw the best labeled one as another trail I didn't want to follow, so I took the third, which was headed in roughly the right direction when compared to the map. When I saw the man-made markings on the trees along the trail (a common practice to mark the PCT) I was very confident I was on the right path. About a mile later I was less confident because I was still descending when I should have been ascending by then. About 1.5 miles after that, I ran into a guy on horseback and it was confirmed: I was on the wrong trail. I was so frustrated. I didn't want to turn around and go back up the 1500' I had just descended, so I consulted the map and saw that the trail I was on went to U.S. Highway 12 just as the PCT did. The only problem is that I'd need to hitch a ride 9 miles west to White Pass. Turns out I had no problem getting a ride and made it to White Pass in good time, but I still feel dumb for missing my wrong turn.

So tomorrow I'm off to Snoqualmie Pass, about 100 miles away. I'm going to try to do it in four days so that I'll have an extra day to navigate the northern half of the state.

Mt. Rainier

I took this photo from the highest point of my hike today--one of only two points in Washington that the trail exceeds 7000'. It isn't the first time I was able to see Mt. Rainier on my hike, but this is the first good view that would show up in a photo. Rainier rivals California's Mt. Whitney in elevation, falling short by less than 100 feet if I'm not mistaken.

Day 134

(Originally written on Tuesday, September 15)

One of the things I love about being on the Pacific Crest Trail is the fact that every night you get to sleep somewhere new. Setting up and breaking down camp gets a bit taxing at times, but the experience of walking from one beautiful area to the next is something I'll always remember.

Tonight I'm camped in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. It is rugged country and I've not even gotten to the most rugged part yet--that comes tomorrow. The views remind me of the Sierras. Large mountains and peaks with equally large valleys sporadically sliced by melting glacier water. Less than a half-mile away from where I'm camped is a 20'+ waterfall where I filled up my water bottles. Seriously, how cool is that?!

Of course, not everything strikes me as beautiful or pleasant to walk through. Earlier today, in fact, was pretty boring. Boring and slow, because I was eating huckleberries along the way, which are beautiful in a different way. The terrain was definitely lacking, however.

But then, this afternoon I had another one of those smack-you-in-the-face moments where you get to see some fantastic scenery. It usually happens when you see something from a distance and then not again until you are right underneath it. My last moment like that was seeing Mt. Hood in Oregon. Anyway, I came to the top of a saddle and all of a sudden I could see just a huge set of pinnacles. They nearly took me by surprise even though I knew they were going to be there! I continued my climb for about another mile to Cispus Pass and then began a slow descent. Soon after, I came across a distant heard of mountain goats--probably numbering about 50. They were just white specks for a while and then when I got close enough to see that they were indeed goats, they saw me as well and were gone soon after. But it was a cool experience to see them because not many people get to see them from what I hear.

So now I'm camped across a valley from where I saw the goats and the wind is blowing and the skies are mercifully clear. Tomorrow I've got about 20 miles to go to get to White Pass. I'll pick up my bounce box and a resupply box there and then keep motoring along on Thursday. I chatted with some folks on horseback today and they said it's supposed to cloud up on Thursday and showers are in store for Friday. I'm really hoping that doesn't happen.

Goat Rocks

These are part of the Goat Rocks that I saw on Tuesday, Sept 15. The herd of goats I saw was just below the shadow line on the mountain.

Goat Rocks Wilderness

This is the sign that greeted me upon my arrival to Goat Rocks Wilderness on Tuesday, September 15. It is supposed to be a beautiful area. And as I found out later, it has both goats and rocks.

Day 133

(Originally written on Monday, September 14)

I can't hear anything over the sound of rushing water all around me. This is one of the best campsites I've had on the entire trip. It is wedged between the "V" formed by two creeks coming together. One of them has silty gray water from Mt. Adams' lava fields and the other is crystal clear. This has obviously been a popular spot for other backpackers for quite some time. The ground is nearly perfectly level and free of rocks. A spot like this is more rare than you'd think!

I'm happy to be in my sleeping bag and getting ready to go to sleep. I'm so tired from not sleeping well last night. I should have slept great since I was in a real bed but it just didn't work out that way. I was probably thinking too much about what I needed to do. So I kept waking up and seeing that only an hour had passed. I think another reason I didn't sleep well is because the pressure of keeping up the forward progress is neverending and will remain so until I'm done, with or without snow.

To complicate matters, I forgot to take my two Advil that I usually take at the end of each day. I take them to keep any inflammation from getting too crazy, but apparently they help with pain, too, because I woke up several times experiencing pain in my left foot that usually doesn't bother me at night. Lesson learned...I didn't forget tonight!

So here it is 9 pm on a Monday night and I'm not watching Monday Night Football (what's the world coming to?). Instead, I'm horizontal in a sleeping bag really looking forward to sleeping. Exciting stuff, huh?

Day 132 - 20 Days Remaining

(Originally written on Sunday, September 13)

I woke up to howling wind this morning as I was camped next to Blue Lake. Thankfully, the skies were still clear so it turned out to be another day of no weather issues. I am SO thankful for that!

I needed to go 24 miles to get to Trout Lake--my first resupply point in Washington. Trout Lake is a small town about 13 miles away from the trail so even after I got to the road at 5 pm, I still was dependent on the generosity of a passerby. About 25 minutes after I arrived, a gentleman who reminded me of my grandfather stopped and gave me a ride into town.

There is a small grocery store in Trout Lake that rents out a few bedrooms in the back of the store. So for $25 I got a queen-sized bed, TV (with ESPN so I could catch up on the really important football news I've been missing...more motivation for me to finish up this trail!), laundry, and a hot shower. It was probably the best deal on the trail so far.

After getting separated from Billy for the better part of two days, he caught up to me in Trout Lake. We headed down to the local cafe for dinner. A double bacon cheeseburger (huge) and a huckleberry milkshake later and I was set!

Tomorrow I've got to resupply and figure out my plan for Snoqualmie Pass, which can be challenging without the Internet and cell service. I'm hoping to get out at a decent hour and log 25 miles while I have the nice weather. More realistically, however, I'll likely do about only 20 miles. We shall see.

Day 131

(Originally written on Saturday, September 12)

I woke up this morning looking forward to the biscuits and gravy that I knew awaited me. But first, I packed up all my gear and found that the condensation that was missing from the morning before had reappeared with a vengeance. I literally have never seen so much condensation in my life. When I opened the door of my tent, part of it laid flat on the ground. Where it was laying on the ground, the water actually pooled! There was no way I was going to get it dry before I needed to leave so I planned to spread it out while I ate lunch later. I did exactly that later and it worked great on not just my tent, but also my sleeping bag. Hopefully tomorrow morning won't be so wet.

I shouldn't have stayed for the biscuits and gravy, however. Not because they were bad, but because I knew it would take me a while to pull myself away! Sure enough, I didn't get out on the trail until 9. With the steep climbs ahead of me, I knew it was going to be a late night...or at least a long, rushed day.

The entire 25 miles I did today were--or seemed to be--uphill. There actually was a flat stretch about five miles long during the middle of the day and it made me feel like I was back in Oregon! I started out at about 1000' and finished just under 5000', so I definitely earned my dinner tonight!

I thought of something pretty cool today. If I am able to stick to my schedule, then I'll finish up on October 3. That means that as of this afternoon I have less than three weeks left on the trail! That really helped me mentally today because I was feeling like the miles have been dragging by. On several occasions I had to remind myself that this was only my second full day in Washington. Despite being in the last state on my journey, I still have a long way to go. So I can't allow myself to think I'm close to the end or else I just get frustrated.

Tomorrow I've got about 23 miles to get to the road where I'll hitch into Trout Lake. There I'll overnight, resupply for the three days to White Pass, then get back on the trail as soon as possible.

St. Helens Silhouette

In this photo taken just after sunset on Saturday, September 12, the flat top of Mt. St. Helens is easily visible. A full-size active volcano, Mt. St. Helens erupted in May 1980 when I was two years old.

Day 130

(Originally written on Friday, September 11)

The weather was so warm last night that I was actually too warm in my sleeping bag, so I slept fitfully. It was good though, because it meant I didn't need to deal with condensation in the morning.

I got up and on the trail by 7:20 this morning, which was about when I had planned to. With the nice weather, my main concern was getting up and over the first major climb before it got hot. I was able to do that, but with the humidity and temperature both unseasonably high, I was sweating soon after I started moving.

After about 3 hours of hiking, I got to the top of a ridge where there was a tent set up. No one was outside so I just cruised by. About an hour later, while I was taking a break, a hiker caught up to me and I couldn't believe my eyes--it was Billy! I had hiked with Billy for several days back around Big Bear in Southern California, about 2000 miles earlier. We had gotten separated due to schedules and then he had suffered an injury that I thought ended his trip. Turns out he had finished Southern and Central California, Oregon, and now was working on Washington. Because of all the time off the trail, he had to skip Northern California but he's planning to do it after he gets to Canada.

Regardless, it was great to see him and there is a reasonable chance that we'll be hiking together for most of the rest of the trip, which is good news.

After putting in 28 miles (for me), we got to Wind River. As the crow flies, it is only 10.2 miles away from where I camped last night. Tomorrow we've got our work cut out for us as the first 9 miles are pretty much all uphill. If all goes well, we'll start at about 1000' and end around 5000'.

When we got to Wind River Road, there was a mom-and-pop store just a hundred yards away. We got there after they closed but they let us in anyway. They even fired up the grill again to make burgers for us but then ran out of propane. Bummer for everyone. However, all is not lost because they serve biscuits and gravy on weekend mornings. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we're staying in the yard of the convenience store so that we can get biscuits and gravy in the morning! Gotta love hot breakfasts!

One final thought: It hardly seems possible that it has been eight years since 9/11. I still can remember it as if it were yesterday. My prayers are still with the families of those who lost a loved one. As for the terrorists, surviving and dead...well...I'll keep those thoughts to myself!

Mt. Adams

Here was the first unobstructed view of Mt. Adams that I had. This was on Friday, Sept 11.

Day 129

(Originally written on Thursday, September 10)

Tonight I'm camped right at 500 miles away from the Canadian border. I think back to when I was 1000 miles away--at the beginning of the climb out of Seiad Valley in California--and I think, "All I've got to do is that much again." It alternately feels very recent yet very distant. I try to focus on the recent. Regardless, 500 miles still feels like a lot...maybe because it is.

The terrain in Washington just across the Columbia River was disappointing. Of course, living up to the spectacular views of Eagle Creek was impossible, so I can't be too harsh. It's kind of like driving a Pinto after having a brand-new Porsche--there just isn't any comparison. Nevertheless, the miles need to be hiked, so off I went across the Bridge of the Gods--the connection point for Oregon and Washington at Cascade Locks on the mighty Columbia River and the lowest point on the entire trail. Surprisingly, the bridge has no pedestrian walkway so I just had to stay as close to the side as possible. On the other side, it briefly followed a well-used (and therefore loud) road for a bit before finally heading into the hills. Once removed from the highway, the trail just followed a rather generic path through dried grasses and across a few roads. From what I can gather, it'll be this way for a few miles yet tomorrow.

As boring as the terrain was, however, the weather was beautiful! It was actually hot this afternoon and it felt like I was back in mid-August. I'm definitely not complaining, though. I'll take all the hot or warm days I can get in Washington!

Before getting on the trail this afternoon, Matt and I went into the REI in downtown Portland. I picked up some rain pants and other miscellaneous items before putting them in my bounce bucket and sending them up to White Pass. Hopefully the weather forecast for dry conditions for the next week turns out to be accurate. Otherwise, I'll be really counting down the next 150 miles.

The next three days I'm planning to try for about 25 miles per day. I'd like to get to Trout Lake on Sunday night before the grocery store closes at 8 pm. That way I'll be able to resupply quickly and try to get out the door early and on my way to White Pass. I'm hoping to avoid any unnecessary big mileage days for the remainder of the hike and focusing more on consistent mileage. We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, after a quick scramble in Portland to resupply, I'm definitely wiped out. Huge kudos to Matt and Kristen for their hospitality and shuttle service while I was in town. You guys were awesome and I really appreciate it!

Mileage Sign

This is the first mileage sign I encountered in Washington as I crossed over the border from Oregon on Thursday, September 10.

Technology Update

Hey Everyone - I'm in Trout Lake, Washington, but without cell service.  So all my blog updates on my BlackBerry are stuck there for the time being.  I'll get my blog up-to-date as soon as I can.  For now, my progress is going pretty well.  I'm 2,238 miles into my hike and I have 426 miles to go.
 
RJK

Welcome to Washington

I'm now officially in the last state on the Pacific Crest Trail. It is very hard to believe! I'm making a wish for clear skies and moderate temperatures for the final 508 miles. The weather now is amazingly beautiful.

Another Waterfall Photo

Here's another photo from yesterday's hike along the Eagle Creek Trail. Here Matt and I are in front of Tunnel Falls. I wish I had a photo of the entire waterfall, but it was too big to capture in one shot.

Day 128

The weather that I woke up to this morning was overcast and gray--slight cause for concern after the recent bout I had with poor weather. Luckily, it never developed into anything more than ideal hiking weather--shade and moderate temperatures.

A college buddy of mine who lives in Portland was coming up to Wahtum Lake where I was camped and joining Bob Rob and I for the descent to the Columbia River and the Oregon-Washington border. Matt arrived around 8:30 and by the time I got my new shoes ready to go and had taken all my overnight gear out of my pack and into the car it was 9:00 am.

The hike down to Eagle Creek was quite gradual. In fact, it only dropped about 3500' over the course of about 12 miles or so. When we finally got to Eagle Creek, the canyon we were in was one of the steepest I've been in on the entire trip. There was even a stretch dubbed the Vertigo Mile. The trail here was literally carved out of a sheer rock wall and had a handrail for those who needed it. Before long we approached and passed Tunnel Falls (see previous entry and photo). It was one of the coolest images I've ever seen: A sheer rock wall with a path carved out of it, entering the side of the wall just before the waterfall and exiting the other side. It was definitely the highlight of the day and one of the highlights of the trip!

We arrived at the end of the trail at 3:30 pm. With the end of the day came the end of Oregon as well. Now I've got about 508 miles to go before I get to Canada. It left us plenty of time to make a stop at Burgerville on the way to Matt's house in Portland. The perfect way to end Oregon!

Tonight I ate, and ate, and ate. It was fantastic. I also cleaned myself up, did laundry, and finished my resupply shopping. Tomorrow morning Matt and I are headed to REI in Portland--the site where I bought most of my gear for this trip. I'm hoping to bump into the guys who got me outfitted for the trip. Then in the afternoon I want to head back out to the trail so that I can get about 10 miles in before the end of the day. That would leave me about 500 miles to complete in 23 days. Now THAT is weird to think about!

Tunnel Falls

Here I am approaching Tunnel Falls on the Eagle Creek Trail on Wednesday, Sept 9--an alternate route to the Pacific Crest Trail on my last day of hiking in Oregon. The trail actually went behind the waterfall. My buddy Matt joined me for the day and took the picture.

Day 127

(Originally written on Tuesday, Sept 8)

Hopefully, today was my last 30-mile-day on the journey. The days are getting too short and my feet are getting too sore to do them very often. We started out at Timberline Lodge this morning at about 7:30 and it was cold. The ground was frozen and Mt. Hood had a new layer of snow on it from the storm we just got finished walking through. In the distance to the south you could also see new snow on Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters. With a layer of fog far below us nestled in the valleys in between the mountains, it was a sight to behold!

If you know me, then you know that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. So now you'll know that since I left the lodge before breakfast was available, I was committed to getting my mileage in today. So Bob Rob and I left at 7:30 and Trail Chef stayed back. Both Bob Rob and I have shoes that are too small--mine because I'm an idiot and let them sit too close to the fire and his because he's just been doing lots of mileage. Regardless, just know that our feet were really sore and we were both motivated to get as far down the trail as possible so that we wouldn't need to do more miles tomorrow.

We made our goal of getting to Wahtum Lake (32.5 miles away from Timberline Lodge) this evening at about 9 pm. We had to walk the last hour with headlamps. We're about 16 miles away from Cascade Locks (Columbia River and Oregon/Washington border) and are planning to take an alternate route--the Eagle Creek Trail--tomorrow. My buddy Matt is coming up to join us on the trail and then give me a ride back to Portland for the night. Despite having one last night, a real bed is going to be so wonderful.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. It's past 10 already and I'm exhausted!

Day 126

If I'm able to finish this trail, it will be in spite of me. Yesterday I managed to melt part of my shoes while attempting to dry them by campfire. Today I realized that, because of a miscalculation of mileage, I would need to do 32 miles tomorrow instead of 22. Off by 10?!? Who does that?

So, learning that I had to hike 10 additional miles in a pair of crappy shoes while being rained on for a third day in a row...well, you can imagine what kind of mood I was in! I felt bad for the guys I was hiking with because no matter how much I wanted to see the bright side, I just couldn't. All I wanted was sunlight that lasted more than a fleeting moment and I couldn't even get that! Until my lunch break that is. I put in 15 miles by 1 pm to get to Highway 26 and miracle of miracles...the sun was shining! Not just for a flash but real sunlight. It was fantastic. I quickly pulled nearly everything out of my pack and spread it out along the shoulder of the road, drawing confused looks from those passing by in the process.

After about an hour and with a (finally) dry tent, I packed up and began to head away from the road so that I could make some phone calls regarding my fundraising. Apparently there was some potential media interest in my story. Unfortunately nothing has panned out yet, but fingers crossed! As I headed away from the road I also noticed my trail name of "OSG" written in the dirt. ("OSG" is short for Orange-Shirted Guy...I know...real original.) But with all the rain, a small river had run through the "S", so it looked more like "O$G" and I started thinking maybe I should sign my name with a dollar sign in it. A dollar sign makes everything look cooler! Anyway, it turns out that my sister and brother-in-law and their kids had driven around the area where they thought I would be the previous night. They had a load of firewood that they were going to give me to help me dry off. It's just too bad that I had quit hiking 15 miles earlier the previous day. If only cell service had worked at Clackamas Lake! Oh well.

After another 10 miles this afternoon (and more rain), I arrived at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. We decided to get a hot meal (we deserved it!) and by the time we were done eating, it was nearly dark outside. So the three of us are splitting a bunk room tonight. We got to do some laundry and take advantage of the hot tub, too. It was great.

Tomorrow, however, I've got my work cut out for me. 32 miles of hiking to Wahtum Lake. At least I'll be able to start out with warm clothes!

Mt. Hood

Because of three consecutive days of low-lying clouds and rain, this was the first decent view I had of Mt. Hood, Oregon's tallest peak. At this point I was only a mile away from Timberline Lodge.

Mt. Hood

Because of three consecutive days of low-lying clouds and rain, this was the first decent view I had of Mt. Hood, Oregon's tallest peak. At this point I was only a mile away from Timberline Lodge.

Mt. Hood

Because of three consecutive days of low-lying clouds and rain, this was the first decent view I had of Mt. Hood, Oregon's tallest peak. At this point I was only a mile away from Timberline Lodge.

Day 125

(Originally written on Sunday, Sept 6)

Much like yesterday, today was a damp, muddy mess. Except that it was worse. All of our wet gear from yesterday continued to be wet today because it rained nearly all day. We'd get to the point that we were nearly dry and then the rain would start up again, only harder it seemed. It was quite demoralizing because I just wanted to be dry and while I could see my shadow in many instances, I'd continue to be rained on. Eventually after 12.5 miles we came to Clackamas Lake. It had a campground and we were hoping for some kind of covered area where we could get some respite from the rain. No luck. It wasn't long, however, before Bob Rob struck up a conversation with a woman camping with her family. Trail Magic! She invited us over for hamburgers, corn on the cob, and hot chocolate! And they even had a fire so we were able to get a bit warm, if not dry. The rain continued to fall all afternoon despite forecasts that called for clearing. So after getting moderately dry, we elected to call it a day, build a fire of our own, and finish the process of drying out our gear and ourselves. (I failed to mention at the beginning of this entry that the rain was falling and the wind blowing this morning when we'd usually hit the trail, so we ended up sleeping in and weren't on the trail until 9:40. This meant a late lunch and we didn't decide to make camp until about 5 pm.)

Our friends who fed us gave us the rest of their firewood on their way out of the campground. Unfortunately, I think the crummy weather kept most of the Labor Day camping crowd at home. So we made a fire and spent several hours drying each garment and piece of equipment. It was a slow process. One of the dumber moments I've had on the trip--right up there with trying to cross the ice patch just before Donner Pass--was when I started drying my shoes and forgot to check on them after the fire got bigger. Let's just say that I'm glad I only have three days of hiking left in this pair, if they make it even that long! All the rubber pieces have melted slightly and pulled away from the fabric. The tongue of one shoe had a hole the size of a quarter nearly melted through. A shoelace was burned completely through on the same shoe. All of this has resulted in a smaller shoe because of shrinking. I'm really hoping that this doesn't cause any blisters because that would be a HUGE bummer and a setback I don't need. I'll keep you posted.

The good news is that the sky seems to have cleared. So tomorrow we are hoping to close out the 25 miles to Timberline Lodge where we'll grab dinner. That will leave me about 22 miles the next day to Wahtum Lake where I'll meet Matt. Then it is the last 15 miles of Oregon.

Day 124

Ugh. Today was a sloppy mess. We knew a weather system was coming our way but it still stinks to be in the middle of it. The wind started kicking up early this morning and it started sprinkling shortly after 7. Luckily we had all our stuff packed up already so it didn't get any wetter than it would during the day. As the hours passed, the rain increased. A couple of times it stopped but it was pretty steady most of the time. We were fortunate that the worst of it came while we were sitting on the front porch of closed Olallie Lake Resort having lunch. After waiting for the rain to die down we headed out. We were only going to go another 10 miles, but we made good time and the thought of a hot breakfast at Timberline the day after tomorrow was motivation to keep moving. So now we are about 40 miles away from there. (I now have less than 600 miles to go in the trip.) We met up with a guy who I hiked with for a few days at the end of Central Cal. He's headed southbound after doing Washington. He really cruised through there averaging about 30 miles a day! That was actually very encouraging to me because everyone says Washington is tough stuff.

So now we (I'm traveling with Bob Rob and Trail Chef) are camped about 4 miles south of Warm Springs River, hunkered down in our tents hoping that this weather clears up soon. To add insult to injury, I spilled my soup in my tent tonight. It's just been one of those days where the wet get wetter.

Day 123

(Originally written on Friday, September 4)

Today was my first full day back on the trail after my big resupply and brief time with the family. My goal for the next five days, including today, is about 125 miles--or 25 miles per day. I need to do this so that I can stay on track with my finish date of Oct 3. I'm also meeting a buddy at the end of the 125 miles and he's going to hike the last 15 or so into Cascade Locks. Anyway, the terrain today wasn't bad, but it was kind of steep by Oregon standards! (Oregon's easier terrain has been a welcome change from California.) Of course all terrain is about twice as hard when you are loaded down with food for six days, which I am.

The weather held up all day today, thankfully, but you can definitely feel a chill in the air. I'm glad I included my cold weather hat and gloves for this section! In fact, they'll likely be with me for the rest of the trip. The clouds didn't really dissipate until the afternoon and until then I wasn't sure if it was actually going to clear up or cloud up even more. The word we got from a trail maintenance crew earlier today is the bad weather is supposed to show up sometime tonight with winds of up to 20-25 mph. Another guy said that the rain isn't supposed to get here until tomorrow night. Fingers crossed!

PS - Thanks to Jessica, Alexis (again!), and Jocelyn for the contributions!

Mt. Jefferson

This photo from Sept 4 shows the south side of Mt. Jefferson as I'm making my (sort of) final approach. I spent the entire day circumnavigating the mountain. Tonight I'm camped just north of it. The view is beautiful with a full moon out.

Days 121, 122

Tonight, September 3, I'm back on the trail after an all-too-short trip down to my parents' house two hours west of the PCT. I arrived there on Sept 1 and took a zero yesterday. I would have loved to have stayed longer and enjoyed the comforts of home a little more if I could have, but the pressure of finishing this hike as soon as I can and hopefully before the snow starts is growing by the day.

So yesterday was pretty much all business. I tried to put together resupply boxes for the remainder of the trip and was only moderately successful. I've got the boxes together with some of the food I need in each, but they aren't complete and I'll definitely be relying on Mom to help me finish them while I'm trudging along.

Today the plan was to get up to the trailhead at Highway 20 by noon for a send-off picnic/bbq. Then I would head off to continue my journey at 3 so that I could get 10 miles in before it got dark. It worked but everything was moved back about 30 minutes. However, after several consecutive nights of setting up camp in the dark, I was happily in my sleeping bag before it got too dark. Now I can just hear the moderate wind blowing as well as a few deer wandering around. (The weather tomorrow may turn a bit sour--the forecast is for a 70% chance of rain. So we'll see how that goes.)

I'd like to wrap up this post by thanking my family. They clearly went out of their way to help me move along on this hike over the past few days (they've been very supportive all along, by the way) and it was a huge morale boost! A Red Robin pitstop in Bend, joining me on the trail, meeting me at the trailhead at Highway 20, feeding me and helping me with laundry, and having a send-off was all just such a great way to celebrate 2000 miles and I loved it, so thank you all.

As for tomorrow, I've got a manageable 24-mile day in front of me. Onward to Canada!

Three-Fingered Jack

Here is the view just south of Three-Fingered Jack, between Mts. Washington and Jefferson. I'm here about two hours after my family had a send-off for me at the trailhead on Sept 3.

Three-Fingered Jack

Here is the view just south of Three-Fingered Jack, between Mts. Washington and Jefferson. I'm here about two hours after my family had a send-off for me at the trailhead on Sept 3.

Day 120 - 2000 Miles!

Today was a big day. Not only did I pass the 75% mark at Mile 1997, surpass Mile 2000, and hike with more family members (Mark and Kristin), but I also was greeted at the trailhead at Highway 20 by my parents and the rest of the family! It was a good day.

The terrain started out pretty rough because we were walking through lava fields that were the product of a former Belknap Mountain which blew its top and is now Belknap Crater. It was nothing near the size of former Mt. Mazama (Crater Lake), but still left a pretty sizeable impression on the landscape! Following the lava field, the trail curled around and below Mt. Washington and on to Highway 20. It was near Mt. Washington that I passed the 2000-Mile mark.

We stopped briefly to enjoy the milepost before heading onward. I had a weak cell signal but was able to check messages and discovered that a TV news station out of Bend wanted to meet me at the trailhead. It was nearly 1 pm by the time I left the 2000 mark and I still had seven miles to go before 3, so I was really booking it as much as I could.

I ended up arriving around 2:50 pm and being given a fantastic greeting by my family. Aside from just being able to see them, they also brought me a bunch of my favorite foods--everything from cold Coke to a Burgerville burger to homemade potato salad. It was awesome.

After the interview and the snacking, we hit the road for the two-hour drive back to my parents house in the Willamette Valley for some rest and to resupply. The plan is to be back out on the trail on Thursday. (I can already tell you that it's gonna be tough!) On the way down we stopped at Dairy Queen...yay for calories!

I made a brief yet productive trip to the grocery store tonight and tomorrow I'll have a few more items that I need to pick up so that I can have resupply boxes at the ready for my last month on the trail. (It feels so weird to write that!)

I'm hoping to get all my resupply chores done quickly tomorrow so that I can spend a relaxing time with the family tomorrow night. We'll see how it works out though.

I'll try to get a link up tomorrow for the interview from today.

Thanks for reading!

2000 Miles!

Here I am at the 2000-Mile mark on the trail today, Sept 1. I was so excited to be there that I really didn't care that the "Happy 2000 Miles" sign was scaled down to mouse size. In addition to being over 2000 miles, I'm also more than 75% complete with the PCT.

Day 119

(Originally written on Monday, August 31)

Another atypical day on the trail today, which was fine with me! We started out in Bend which was unexpected a mere 18 hours earlier. (I see "we" because Mark, Andrea, and Jakob were with me.) After getting our morning coffee we headed off to the trailhead, about 30 minutes away. I was looking forward to hiking with a lighter pack, because most of my overnight gear was getting jumped up to Lava Camp Lake where I was planning to camp for the night.

We adopted a relaxed pace going up the mountain while Jakob did his best thru-hiker impression and got moderately dirty and dusty in a short amount of time. It was fun to watch, but I was happy that I didn't have to wash him!

They hiked with me until about 11:15 am when I had my interview with KGAL. After that they headed down the way we came up and I continued on my way north. The plan was that I would move quickly with a light pack and meet Mark at Lava Camp Lake, 30 miles away. I moved faster than I otherwise would have, but not as fast as I would have liked. I'm not sure why, but recently my energy level just has not been what it should be--quite frustrating to say the least! As it turned out, I didn't get to the campsite until about 10 pm, which meant I had hiked by headlamp for about 1.5 hours.

So now I'm going to bed because I am totally beat. Another early day tomorrow is in store as Mark, Kristin (my other sister), and I go from Hwy 242 where Mark and I are tonight to US Highway 20, about 18 miles away. From there I get a ride from my parents down to the Willamette Valley for some home-cookin' and a hot shower. Can't wait.

Obsidian Falls

This was the first of many waterfalls I hope to see between here and Canada. This one lies just west of the North Sister. And yes, there is a LOT of obsidian to be found around here! Taken August 31.

The View North

This view from somewhere above 6000' in the Three Sisters Wilderness was absolutely beautiful, especially as the sun got lower. In the foreground is Mt. Washington, Three-Fingered Jack behind that, and Mt. Jefferson behind that. Later in the evening I could also barely see Mt. Hood but it wouldn't show up in the photo.

South Sister

As I approached the South Sister from the south on Monday, August 31, I also passed through the wide open space of Wickiup Plain.