Day 139

26 Miles

Most people had cleared out of camp before we got up, but not all. There was even a line to use the privy. A trekking pole stuck in the ground indicating it was in-use seemed to be the unspoken, but obvious sign. As we packed up, we saw Flavortown was camped here too. She must have hiked further than the rest of her group since she had gotten an earlier bus. The first push was up to the highway at Rainy Pass. Narrator passed us, but we caught up to her just before the road. The morning had been cold and damp from yesterday’s rain, but the sun was shining at the road. We sat in front of the trailhead sign, eating a snack, and warming up. Magnet, Sunshine, and Flavortown eventually showed up. We wished Magnet a happy birthday and then she started thumbing for rides. With 4 female hikers, it didn’t take long for a guy in a Prius to stop for them. Piled in and seemingly excited to get to town, they took off for Mazama. We continued across the road and up to the next trailhead. Before we got there though, we were greeted with trail magic from Germanator (’18) and his mom. Another hiker said there were hot drinks so we were quickly sold on stopping for a cup of coffee and to chat. The trail angels were great hosts with a huge spread of food and drinks. Being this close to the finish, none of us expected there to be anymore magic, but here it was. It really can turn your day around. After round 2 of snacks, we actually started hiking again. We needed to finish the climb and eat lunch yet. So up we went to the top of Cutthroat Pass. Incredible views and a nice spot to eat lunch, it was worth the effort. It was windy and cold, however, so we didn’t stay long. We started the descent to camp, but didn’t reach the river until about 7:30. It was getting dark and we had to make do with the worst site we’ve used all trail. The group that was already here helped us find it though, and not wanting to look anymore, we made it work. Let’s hope the weather is in our favor tonight because this pitch is awful. About 3 miles before camp, we came up on another bear. It seemed smaller, but then we saw a cub nearby and realized it was a mama bear. We yelled, it dropped down off the trail into some brush, but the two walked parallel to the trail for a while before we could pass safely. Gotta be extra cautious with mother bears. That makes 7 bears for us so far.