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!