My Friend on the Trail

Here is a photo of my nephew Jakob on the trail this morning shortly before my radio interview with KGAL. Not pictured are Mark and Andrea. They all joined me on the trail this morning.

Day 118

I woke up on the shore of Charlton Lake this morning feeling pretty good. I was a little tired from the fireworks and other noises the neighbors made last night, but not too bad. The terrain for the day was very mild--lots of little ups and downs but nothing sustained. In fact I pretty much stayed between 5000' - 6000' the entire day. So I was very disappointed that my feet felt as if they had lead weights attached to them. My hips were sore too from the weight of my pack. I had wanted to do 30 miles today, but ended up at 28, but for good reason.

While having lunch I had just turned my phone on to see if I had a signal. Turns out I did because it rang just after I turned it on. My sister, Andrea, and her husband Mark wanted to meet me at Elk Lake and take me back to Bend for the evening. The Elk Lake junction was still 13 miles away, plus another mile to the resort, so I really had to book it to get there by 7. Ends up I didn't make it there until 7:30 or so, but we were still able to get into Bend in time to pick up my cousin Amanda and go to Red Robin. (Haven't been there in ages!) We ended up staying at Amanda's and visiting with her for a while. I'm just now getting to bed and it is after midnight! But the good news is that I'll be able to travel very light tomorrow and the next day. Mark and Andrea (and Jakob) are joining me in the morning for a bit before heading back to the car. I'll continue on to McKenzie Pass where Mark will meet me in the evening with most of my gear. The next morning Mark and I and my other sister Kristin will all hike the last 15 miles to Highway 20 together. This will be so good for my feet to get a bit of a break from a heavy pack before the final, long push to Canada, still about 750 miles away.

Three Sisters Wilderness

I was hiking in the Three Sisters Wilderness for most of today, August 30. It's weird to be so close to home. On a clear day you can see the Three Sisters (a group of three mountains in a North-to-South row) from the house I grew up in.

Day 117

After the late and disorganized night last night, I decided to sleep in a bit. So I did until about 7 and it felt great. I finally did get up and headed to the resort store, which was pretty thin on options for breakfast. So I settled for a muffin and microwaveable breakfast burrito. They did have an espresso machine, however, so that helped!

As I ate I went over the maps for the next section and came to the conclusion that trying to do 94 miles in three days was just not in my best interest. So I had to pick up a couple extra items from the store.

After making a few phone calls and arranging a pick-up time with my parents for noon on September 1, I headed off to the trail at about 1:30. (I'm still not sure where the morning went.) I had a tall order in front of me because I really wanted to get about 20 miles in today so that I could do 30 each tomorrow and the next day and then follow that up with 15 the day I'm getting off the trail for a bit. So I headed off at a quick pace and found the trail to be a very popular place! I ran into more people going the opposite way today in about one hour than I did in one day on the John Muir Trail section of the PCT in the Sierras! Nevertheless, I was able to get to Charlton Lake, about 18 miles in. It's a great little lake and is pretty popular from what I can tell! The moon is about at half strength tonight and the reflection is nearly perfect due to the lack of wind.
So now it is nearly 10 pm and I'm going to try to get some rest in spite of the near-party going on a hundred yards away. Tomorrow I'd like to be on the trail by 7 so that I'm not hiking after sunset like tonight.

Thanks to Loren, Patty, and Mabel for the contributions today!

Odell Lake Overlook

As I left Odell Lake this afternoon, August 29, I passed an overlook of the lake that was quite impressive. This photo only shows about half the lake.

Day 116

I woke up determined to make up for yesterday's debacle. My original plan out of Medford had me arriving at Crescent Lake (actually Odell Lake) today. And even though it would take some serious hiking to get there, I still had a chance. I ended up putting in my longest day yet--35 miles--and even got to the resort to pick up my package before they closed at 8! I wish the rest of the night would have gone as well. Because the terrain was so dusty, I was the dirtiest I think I've ever been tonight. Very fine dust clung to me everywhere. Since I had a shower and laundry available to me, I thought I should probably take advantage of it. As far as laundry goes, all I really care about anymore are my socks. Gotta take care of the feet! Well the ladies in the resort office failed to mention that six quarters would only get me three minutes of shower time (thanks for that, ladies) and of course the shower that I use doesn't tell me that either. So my legs are only moderately clean and I still have soap in my hair when the water shuts off. I don't have any more quarters. So basically I just dried off with a shirt that wasn't in the wash and I still feel kinda gross. To add insult to injury when I grabbed my raincoat (not wearing it because it is raining...only because it is chilly this evening), there was a bunch of what I think is white soap scum from just outside the shower on it...totally gross. I can handle nature's dirt, but it's other people's nastiness that grosses me out. It's nights like this that I can't wait to be done with this hike!

It's already pretty late so I'm not sure how quickly I'll be able to get going tomorrow, especially since I still need to go through my resupply box and make sure I'm good to go. But I'm also trying to figure out if I can make it to Highway 20 (94 miles away) in three days. I'd really like to, but I think it'll largely depend on how I'm feeling tomorrow after today's big day.

One cool...actually two cool things for today to end on. The first was that I startled a herd of elk this afternoon. If you've never seen an elk, just picture something the size of a horse that looks sort of like a deer. They don't go around things like deer, however. They go through them, so they make a lot of noise. Second, I crossed the 1900-Mile mark today and am now at 1912.2 (or something close to that).

Anyway, that's all I've got to report. Hopefully my laundry is dry by now so that I can go to bed!

Day 115

Today was pathetic in terms of miles. I don't think I even did 20. I can't afford any more days like this if I want to make it to Canada without a dogsled!

I got up early enough but things just didn't seem to click for me. I went to Diamond Lake Lodge for breakfast and to charge my phone and that's when I think I just lost track of time. Being in civilization has a funny way of doing that. The good news was that the little store there had the batteries I needed. I thought I had spares but they turned out to be dead.
I finally got on my way around noon and was so annoyed with myself for taking so long to leave that I really didn't enjoy the first section of hiking. Today was honestly the first day on the trail that I felt pressure to get moving because of upcoming winter weather up north and I didn't like it one bit. But the upshot is that the lower miles probably helped my ankle and knee that have been acting up a bit lately. Both felt better today, so that was very good!

Tomorrow I was hoping to get to Shelter Cove Resort, but that would now require a 35-mile day, roughly. I'm not sure if I'm in a position to be able to pull it off, but if I can get myself out of bed at an early hour, then just maybe.

As of about 7 miles ago, I now have fewer than 800 miles to go to get to Canada!