Day 83 (July 31st)
~mile 1827.4 – mile 1867.0
Today: ~34.2 miles (55.0 km)
*the alternate we took this morning was a little shorter than the PCT route–just in case you are wondering why the math doesnt add up. 🙃
Total PCT: 1401.8 miles (2256.0 km)
Today started bright and early at 3:30am. In the darkness, I packed up my stuff and hiked 3 miles to the Watchman which is an 8000ft peak overlooking Crater Lake. In fact, it is the highest on trail peak that we will encounter between here and Canada! We got there in time to eat our breakfast while watching the light change over the lake and then watching the sun rise above the caldera. It was beautiful!
By 6am, we started our day of hiking.
I mailed myself new shoes to Crater Lake, so this is my first full day of hiking in these shoes. They are the same as my old ones but definitely in need of some breaking in. My feet were very sore today, but I made it through. We had lunch at the most lovely little creek.
After my very early morning this morning, I am exhausted! Sleep well!
Day 84 (Aug 1st)
Mile 1867.0 – 1890.3
Today: 23.3 miles (37.5 km)
Total PCT: 1425.1 miles (2294.5 km)
Today was a pretty standard day of hiking, but I was so happy to be hiking with Corpse and Salty again! I started off a little ahead of them, but they caught me by lunch time and we sat and enjoyed each other’s company. Its been quite a while since we had lunch on trail together and I loved it! Corpse and Salty are both planning to do a 24-hour hiking challenge in the next few days. I will likely do one too, but I know I wont go quite as far as them.
Corpse is hoping to do his the day after tomorrow, so he hiked on today so that tomorrow he could have a short, restful day in preparation. Salty and I hiked and chatted together in the afternoon. Soon we became overrun by an army of bloodthirsty mosquitoes. Salty (who is anti-bug spray and extremely principled) suffered with impressive stoicism, while I (also anti-bug spray but much less principled) liberally applied the bug spray I purchased in Crater Lake. Eventually it became too miserable for chatting and we both suffered in silence.
We had heard that there was a lake with a little peninsula that miraculously had no mosquitoes, so we hurried on to there and then decided to stop and enjoy the afternoon. What a great choice! The campsite is beautiful. The water is warm. The mosquitoes are absent! A miracle indeed. I washed my bugspray off with wet wipes and we jumped in for a swim. We then spent the afternoon languidly relaxing in our tents and chatting about anything and everything.
We arrived at camp just before 4pm, meaning that this was one of my earliest arrivals at camp on the whole trail. It was super pleasant and I am so happy to have spent such quality time with both Corpsi and Salty today. Hopefully the whole crew will be reunited (if briefly) tomorrow.
Day 85 (August 2nd)
Mile 1890.3 – mile 1912.5
Today: 22.2 miles (35.7 km)
Total PCT: 1447.3 miles (2329.2 km)
Today was a magical two-swim day. Salty and I awoke to a beautiful sunrise over our peninsula camp spot– and the return of the bloodthirsty mosquitoes. We packed quickly and started our hike into Shelter Cove RV resort where we would resupply, eat real food and relax for an afternoon. After a big uphill and a snack break at the mountain top creek, we began our descent.
We decided to take an equidistant alternate route which wound its way through several beautiful lakes. After walking past one lovely lake, and with only 4 miles or so to Shelter Cove, we decided to stop for a swim. It was an amazing spot! Cool, but not cold, clear water surrounded by snowy mountain peaks. There was even a little island in the middle of the lake. The swim also came at exactly the right time: just when we were feeling sweaty and late enough that the cool, clean feeling didn’t wear off until we arrived at the resort.
As we continued hiking, the most surreal moment happened. Salty and I — while on a side trail in the middle of Oregon — encountered a man that I had last seen right before Kennedy Meadows 1500 miles ago. He wasn’t a thru hiker. The last time I saw him, he had completely freaked me out, so it was incredibly unsettling to see him again today. Not sure quite what to make of it. We are calling him the White Walker.
Shelter Cove was a cute little RV park next to a lake with a restaurant and small store at its centre. They provide showers, laundry, charging stations and package delivery to hikers– though being a dirtbag hiker, I skipped the shower and laundry… I’ll get them in a few days! Salty and I arrived around 1pm and Thunder arrived shortly after. Reunited and it feels so good!
I enjoyed my first ‘real’ food since visiting Etna on July 21st– a bean burger and fries. I then sorted through my food shipment and ended up discarding about a third of it in a hiker box. I am moving so much faster than I could have guessed back in Etna when we mailed these packages, so I have a lot of extra food! In late afternoon, Corpse came to say goodbye as he headed off to prepare for his 24-hour hiking challenge that he is starting tomorrow morning at 2am. Shortly after, Salty, Thunder and I managed to hitch the short road walk back to trail and hike another 3.5 miles up to the beautiful Rosary Alpine Lakes. We are camped between two lakes (no more than 50m from either one), with beautiful rocky shores and clear blue water. We all hopped in for a quick swim before crawling into our tents for a cozy sleep.
Day 86 (August 3rd)
Mile 1912.5 – 1942.6
Today: 30.1 miles (48.4 km)
Total PCT: 1477.4 miles (2377.7 km)
Today was a pretty uneventful day, mostly spent hiking in the green tunnel– apart from a shocking burn area. I have seen many burn areas since beginning this trek, but none quite as devastating as this one. Apparently this site burned last year and it was so hot that only a few charred, spindly trees are left. The ground is just inches of ash. The only life was some grass and a few odd fireweed plants.
I had lunch with Salty and Thunder before we separated for the afternoon. Salty was taking a short day to prepare for his 24-hour hiking challenge. I was taking a slightly longer day, but still stopping early to prep for my challenge. Thunder is not doing the challenge but rather completing several long days in a row to ensure we all arrive in Bend on the same day! Early night for me, as I have a 2am alarm. 🙂 I will be hiking tomorrow at this time! Wish me luck!
Day 87 (August 4th)
Mile 1942.6 – mile 1992.6
Today: 50.0 miles (80.5 km)!!
Total PCT: 1527.4 miles (2458.1 km)
Whelp! That was hard.
24 hours; over 7000ft of ascent; dodging toads on trail, blowdowns; breakfast bars for dinner; a thunderstorm; a beautiful sunset over Mt Washington; loose, ankle-breaking lava rocks for miles in the dark. 50 miles (80km) hiked in one day!
I am sore and so proud.
PSA: I strongly recommend against hiking the lava rock gauntlet in the dark. It was possibly the most hellish thing I have ever experienced.`
Day 88 (August 5th)
Mile 1992.6 – 2001.9
Today: 9.3 miles
Total PCT: 1536.7 miles
After my late night of hiking last night, I slept in until 8:30am this morning! Such relaxation!
Knowing that our AirBnB wouldnt be ready until 4pm, I took my time getting ready– stretching, bandaging all my new blisters, and rebraiding my hair. It was so nice to have a relaxing morning in my tent. It was a quick downhill jaunt to the highway and I arrived around noon. To my dismay, there wasn’t really a safe place to hitch from. Traffic was moving very fast and there was only a gravel shoulder. I decided to hike a little ways along the highway to find a safer spot, but after nearly a mile, I was starting to think I wouldnt find anything. Suddenly a car pulled over onto the shoulder and a woman jumped out to ask if I needed a ride. She couldn’t take me the full 40 minute drive into Bend, but she dropped me off at a wide paved shoulder for safer hitching. Within moments another car pulled over. The driver, Quentin, had his two-year-old son in the back seat and told me it was his first time picking up hitchhikers. He was kind enough to drive me all the way to Bend, even though it was out of his way! I met up with Salty and Corpse in a park where I ran into another kind angel who offered me some free magic mushroom chocolate! She sells it usually, but wanted to do something kind for us hikers.
While Corpse, Salty and I were out to lunch we ran into our friend from the desert: Charm Pony! He was looking for a place to stay, so we offered him a spot at our AirBnB. By 4pm we met up with Thunder and headed to our beautiful AirBnB for showers, laundry and relaxation. In the evening we were joined by our new friend Joana, who trail angeled for Corpse last night. It was her birthday, so we decided to get together for dinner and a hot tub.
It was a lovely night! I am so happy that we are all together and relaxing in town after 16 days straight on trail!
Here is a sample photo of my war wounds from by 50 mile day!
