Author Archives: Jake

0 Miles

Breakfast from the Bridgeside Restaurant was okay food, but the best part was sitting with Studio 54, Bearslayer, and Captain Fantastic. Sharing stories, talking about trail life, and general plans for the next few weeks. It’s fun to commiserate with fellow hikers who have also had the “do I want to keep going?” internal struggle. Some decide to tough it out, others bail and go home. Everyone is on their own journey and needs to make the decision for themselves. We will keep moving north, but the closer we get to Canada the more we want to be done. Town luxuries are appealing and the pain from hiking everyday takes its toll, but to quit now would be disappointing. So, onward and upward; plenty more to see and experience yet. We indulged in some ice cream at the Eastwind Drive-In before heading down to the main Trail Days area. The vendors had already setup, but they hadn’t opened it to hikers yet, so we waited outside the fence for a bit. Once they did open it up, we walked around the booths checking out the various new tents and food items being marketed. One booth selling food had a pull-up bar setup to challenge hikers to hang on it for 90 seconds to win one of their meals. I could only hold on for 62. All of my upper body strength is gone. At another booth they were selling slanted blocks that were supposed to help correct your foot position while walking. They also had a 50-calf-raise challenge that Marie completed without issue, which earned her a free bandana. Ultimately we left without buying anything or taking much swag. The post office was going to close and we needed to get our bounce box mailed out before it did so we went back to the room to pack that up. The post office was busy with a line out the door, but we were able to get our boxes handed over before they closed. We heard that the fish and chips place nearby was good so we got some for a late lunch. We didn’t really have any other town chores to do so we went back to the Gorges brewery to have a couple beers and hang out. We saw Studio 54 walking by and invited him to join us. We all had a great time hanging out the rest of the evening, except for a brief time that a red-headed hiker joined us only to complain to the waitstaff that their QR menu system was insulting. He left shortly after, thankfully. The rest of the night was a lot of fun chatting with Studio before we went back to the room.

0 Miles

Before heading up to Cascade Locks, we needed to do laundry. Got that done, repacked our bags, and then checked out of the room. Our ride was arranged for 11, then 11:45, then 11:30. She showed up at 11:45 with the tailgate open on her truck, but she had a cap so her stuff didn’t fly out the back. We already had weird vibes from her on the phone so this was no surprise. There were two other hikers joining us, so it was a full truck. The 3-hour drive from Bend to Cascade Locks was scary and entertaining, but we made it. We ran over rumble strips about every 10 minutes because she couldn’t focus on driving very long. Lots of weird stories from everyone, which made us silently play the “hiker or homeless?” game. We had already been in the car for a while before she made us all wear masks. She had an idea for an invention to filter smoke from the air, but apparently had never heard of bottled oxygen. Just all around strangeness and super glad to be out of that car. We quickly walked away from the group when we arrived in Cascade Locks and got checked into our room to dump our packs. The Gorges Brewing company had some good beer and food, and then we walked over to Thunder Island Brewing to see the Unicycling Unicorn. He’s known as Big Red on the trail so this was a great time for everyone that had been hiking near the MN Hikings all summer. We saw tons of hikers we knew and tons we didn’t. Trail Days seems to be a hiker reunion, both past and present, so the town is packed with hiker trash. We sat with Coach and Tidbits, but saw Bluegrass, Spin, 700, Scenic Route, Stoked, Right On Time, The Count, B.C., Studio 54, and Bearslayer. Many beers and a great unicycling/juggling/comedy show were worth the effort and detour from the trail. The market was still open when we left so we grabbed snacks and went back to the room.

0 Miles

On our way to breakfast at the Black Bear Diner, we ran into Magnet who was staying with friends at the hotel next door. We chatted with them a bit, and then got some food. Our bounce box was waiting at the post office so we hurried up there and grabbed it, then took a Lyft back to the room. Having the perks of a bigger city, like Lyft, is a topic that comes up more often now while we hike. I think we’re both excited to get back to some sort of normal life off-trail. Just one more state to go. New shoes were waiting for us at REI, so we walked over to get those. Stopped at Immersion Brewing on the way back. Tried to arrange a bus up to Cascade Locks, but everything was full, or would cost hundreds of dollars. Marie was able to get ahold of a trail angel who agreed to take us, though she seems a bit odd. We will find out tomorrow. Still needing our resupply for after Cascade Locks, we stopped at Safeway and got the rest of our food. After some other town chores we walked up to a Vietnamese place to get dinner to bring back to the room. On the way there we saw Hermit, and saw him again on the way back. He was getting Taco Bell, which also sounded good.

8 Miles

It started to rain during the night and we also woke up to the strong smell of smoke. Enough to where Marie got out of the tent to check if the fire sending smoke over The Husband had jumped the ridge. It hadn’t, but sure smelled a lot closer. By morning the rain had settled to more of a mist since we were now in the cloud, making for a soggy tear down. We got moving with full rain gear on to try to stay dry and warm on our way down to the highway. Hiking over the lava rocks was fascinating because it seemed like another planet. We made our way down to Matthieu Lake where we got water that was surprisingly warm. Expecting to carry enough to Big Lake Youth Camp, we packed enough for 16 miles. The rain stopped and the wind picked up the rest of the 4 miles to McKenzie Pass. We got a short section of lava rock right before the road and the footing was rough as expected. The trail is just a route through fields of rocks, which makes for slow and painful walking. The Dee Wright Observatory is right next to where the PCT crosses the highway at McKenzie Pass so we walked over to check it out. The views of Little Belknap and the surrounding mountains were great, especially since the observatory had a viewing platform and port holes with them all labeled. Rambler, an older hiker we had met just before taking the alternate to Whitefish Horse Camp, was hanging out inside out of the wind. He was waiting on a trail angel to pick him up and take him into Bend. We were still planning to keep hiking, but when we got down from the platform and went to put on extra layers we decided to try hitching into town as well. The allure of getting into town a day early and not hiking in the cold wind over miles of lava rock was too much. I walked back up to Rambler to see if there was room in the car for his ride to town and while talking to him a tourist had overheard us and asked where I was trying to get to. I explained what we were doing and he said they’d be going to Sisters eventually and we could ride in the back of their truck. So I went back down to tell Marie and we went and talked to the guy a bit before hopping in the back of his truck. He and his friends were out sight-seeing and didn’t mind taking us after they drove “about 12 more miles” up the road. That turned into a 2-hour ride all the way around the McKenzie-Santiam Pass loop. A nice drive, for sure, but a lot longer than we were expecting and a long time to be in the back of a truck flying down the highway. We got to Sisters though. We hit up their gear shop because we heard they had free beer for PCT hikers and I needed more stove fuel. We caught the bus from there down to Bend and got checked into our hotel. Our room didn’t have a shower curtain so we requested one before heading to grab late lunch and a beer at Silver Moon Brewing. When we got back we still didn’t have a curtain so we went back to the desk to ask about it. On the way down, we ran into Brook who we haven’t seen since the Ostrich Farm. Using trail registers, he and Kira knew they were getting close to catching us and were only a day or two behind. They had hitched into Bend from Elk Lake, which we passed two days before. We swapped dealing-with-fires stories and then got our shower curtain. It felt great to finally get cleaned up. Although late, around 10pm, Lucy’s Taco Shop across the street was still open so we got some dinner and ate it back in the room.

25 Miles

We had some neighbors last night, but they were far enough away to not recognize them. In the morning, after tearing down, we went to fill up at the creek and saw that Flavortown was in the group. We decided today that we are going to skip from Bend up to Cascade Locks to catch Big Red’s show. It will also afford us a zero to do town chores and chill. And, finally, we can take a more relaxed pace into Trout Lake and White Pass. Due to the Lionshead Fire closure and the decision to skip up to Cascade Locks, we will be done with Oregon in 2 days. Today was full of views on the trail. Mt Bachelor, Broken Top, the Three Sisters, The Wife, The Husband, and Little Brother. We passed through the obsidian section and camped next to the lava rocks. The sky was crazy too with all of the smoke building over The Husband to the west. Having to climb to where our campsite was, we were sweaty when we got there so the wind chilled us pretty quickly. Might have to wear extra layers tonight.

22 Miles

Had some mosquitos today while hiking and in camp. I think we even got early sightings of South Sister through the smoke in the morning. Lunch beside Desane Lake and another LNT campsite near a creek. Having the creek so close was nice for rinsing off and cleaning socks. The dust from the trail gets into everything, but it sounds like the lava rocks we’re headed towards are pretty rough, so I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. We’ll find out tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully the smoke clears off a bit so we can see South and Middle Sister tomorrow.

21 Miles

Up around 6:30 to be there for the restaurant at the resort to open at 7. Got breakfast burritos with Magnet and Flavortown. Sisyphus and Hermit also sat by us, and Hermit learned about OSU fans and O-H- ing. The trail out of Shelter Cove winds along near a paved road and a set of train tracks. There are 3 options for getting back to trail: (1) cross the tracks and take the side trail up to the PCT, (2) take the paved road and rejoin the PCT where it crosses the road a couple miles ahead, or (3) take the tracks all the way through the train tunnel and catch the PCT on the other side. Some people actually take the tunnel, and its 0.7 miles long with “safety alcoves” every few hundred feet. They’re active tracks and there are reports of hikers having to run to get out before the train caught them. We took the road because it was smooth grade, not dusty, and no trains to dodge. The hiking was typical Oregon, so gradual ups and downs. Cruiser miles. Hot and dusty and smokey. We ate lunch at Bobby Lake where we caught up to Sisyphus and Hermit (who O-H-ed us, to my chagrin). The next step was Charlton Lake to fill up for camp. We stopped for the night at a site that the PCTA wants people to use since it’s not right next to the trail. They’re LNT sites apparently, but it’s only a matter of time until they get used enough to be just as ugly as the ones next to the trail and less convenient to get to. Oh well, we’ll give them a go.

10 Miles

A rough morning starting at 4am due to other hikers taking an hour and a half to pack up and leave. After they left, the younger group started packing up and were on trail in a half hour. We left after that, but didn’t have to worry about noise since everyone near us was gone. The trail to Shelter Cove Resort is easy enough, but particularly nice in the last 5 miles as it runs along a river. The resort was full of hikers in the designated PCT tent and out front of the general store in the picnic area. The rules for hikers were many, but for having an okay resupply in the middle of the woods (including free camping and coin-op showers & laundry) the resort was great. We started off checking the hiker boxes, then got resupply food, then burgers for lunch, showers, got in line for laundry, played cornhole with Steer against Sisyphus and Hermit, ate pizza for dinner, then went to hang out in the tent. Magnet showed up so we chatted with her. She is doing 30’s through Oregon and was saying Sam and Jim (now called Sure Foot and Day Hiker) are doing 40’s. Crazy mileage. Our feet and legs are feeling the 20’s we’ve been doing, I can only imagine the pain they’re in.

23 Miles

We were the last ones to leave camp, which meant we had the whole place to ourselves as we packed up in the morning. The side trail back up to the PCT was gradual, which was true of almost all the trail today. Also, dusty. It gets caked on your skin throughout the day and you can feel the grit on your teeth. Between the dust and smoke, I will need to apologize to my lungs after this. Water today came from the lake in the morning, and then from another Devilfish cache at lunch. We’ve been leapfrogging with a younger group since Crater Lake and they also took the alternate route to Whitefish Horse Camp. The camp hosts are Jim and Jerry (though Jerry wasn’t there while we were) and they love hikers. Today was Jim’s birthday and he felt bad that he wasn’t cooking us all dinner, there were 12 of us. He was a great guy and loved to talk with us all. He gave us an introduction to where to go around the campground, then passed out ice cream sandwiches to everyone. We sang him happy birthday and then we all gathered at the big picnic table to cook our dinners. Each hiker was boiling water, rehydrating their meal, then eating with unending hunger. Afterward, we all turned in. I’m excited for tomorrow because it’ll be a short, 10- mile day to Shelter Cove where showers, laundry, and resupply await.

18 Miles

Everyone had moved on before we left camp, which was nice and quiet. We cruised through 8 miles to an ice cold creek before taking our lunch break. About a mile before it I finally spotted one of the old PCT markers. I knew they existed, but not where to find the remaining ones since people likely steal them. But, sure enough, Marie was hopping over a down tree and I was looking back to make sure she made it safely and I caught the diamond shape on the tree behind her. If I hadn’t turned, I would have missed it since it was a south-bound marker. I’ve been watching for these since about the start of NorCal. Lunch was relaxed and we saw Pepe roll through. The afternoon hiking was a little climbing to Oregon’s highest point on the PCT, which was not nearly as impressive as California’s (Forester Pass). Then we dropped down to Maidu Lake where we could get water, rinse out some clothes, and wash the caked-on-dust from our legs. The lake itself was very nice. Mild temperature, much larger than the map indicated, and full of wildlife. Ducks, frogs, birds galore. The ever-present smoke was the only drawback, but that was going to be true of any campsite around here.

11 (+11) Miles (Rim Trail Alternate)

The hikers that got to camp late also turned out to be the ones who talk loudly in the morning. There were a surprising amount of people still at camp when we left around 8. We climbed up to the PCT and then up the alternate trail to the Rim Village where we could get food, coffee, and spotty wifi. The information signs at these parks are always fun to read and learn about the things we’re seeing. We filled water for the whole day, but assumed we could get water at camp, which was a cache alongside a dirt road. It made for heavy packs, but we’ve carried this much before. Being a filthy, stinky hiker among the many tourists always feels weird, they smell so nice. We ate second breakfast from the cafe: chicken fingers, fries, and coffee. The rim trail is not the official PCT, but you’d have to be crazy to skip it since it just walks you along the west side of the lake. It’s simple a trail that connects all of the lookouts and parking lots along the drive through the park, but you almost never lose sight of the lake down below. The actual PCT is longer, goes through miles of more burn area, and never views the lake. A strange route, but when considering all the camping restrictions in the park, it’s likely to keep the hiker trash away from the tourists. Fair enough, but everyone takes the alternate anyway. We had a great day viewing the lake from many vantage points and cruising through the last miles to camp. We got water at the cache (run by the same guy that maintains two crucial caches in the desert near Bird Spring Pass, a trail angel for sure), saw Scout, Bear, Bucket, and Sage camping there too. Finally in camp we got to devour the leftover pizza. So good.

11 Miles

Every mile on a nearo day feels like it takes an hour because you just want to be there already. It seems like I can’t move fast enough to get in so I can drop my pack somewhere and walk around freely. We made it to Mazama Village at Crater Lake around lunchtime and first stopped at the cafe. My burger was lame, but the beer was worth it. Three tables of hikers all grouped together around the available power outlet. Most on their phones, taking advantage of the slow wifi. It happens at every stop in civilization. One of the staff came around to move a table of hikers into our area, fine. Later he came by to ask us all to leave so the tables could be used by other guests. Kinda felt like homeless people being pushed around. Hiker trash, for real. Not sure what to expect, we went to the general store to get our resupply. They actually had some decent options, so we loaded up a basket and made it work for the next 4-day stretch to Shelter Cove. We also got a 6-pack and some snacks since we had all afternoon open. The park has a free hiker/biker area so we found a spot and set up the tent. After buying resupply food you normally take it out of any unnecessary packaging, or transfer it to other containers, so you don’t have to carry around as much trash later on. So we found shade and repacked our food bags. Then we did hobo laundry in the sinks before heading back up to the cafe for dinner. We got two big pizzas and a salad. The leftovers came back with us, which I put in an empty tortilla bag I still had and that would be an excellent meal for tomorrow. The hiker area was packed with tents and more hikers kept rolling in right up to dusk. Thankfully, the hikers and RV campers were quiet at hiker midnight.

20 Miles

The consistent 20’s are taking their toll on us so we had a slow morning. Bucket and Sage had left about 6:30, but we didn’t get rolling until 8:30. The first ridge we got to had cell reception so we took a break, despite only getting about 4 miles so far. While we were sitting there, we were passed by a few hikers, but only recognized Huevos. We leapfrogged with him until lunch. An Asian lady also walked by, but did the fart-with-each-step thing right as she passed us. It was hilarious. Later on when we caught up to her, she farted again right as I approached her. Two crop-dustings in a row?! She said “Sorry” a couple times, but I’m not sure if she was sorry for blocking the trail or for farting. It was hilarious again once we got further up the trail and I could tell Marie what had happened. We ate lunch near our last water source before Crater Lake, which is where we planned to nearo tomorrow. The remainder of the day’s hiking was downhill and passed through a lot of old burn area. Our campsite is in one of the few patches in the area that was somewhat spared (and least likely to drop a tree on us). We ran into Hot Spring who was hiking with her mom from Fish Lake to Crater Lake. The burn is starting to regrow in some spots, which is nice to see it start to revive.

16 (+2) Miles (Fish Lake Resort)

Yesterday’s big miles allowed us to take it easy today. We knew the resort didn’t serve breakfast until 9, so we had plenty of time in the morning to pack up. Since we now had two unplanned meals we dumped our food bags to see what that left us. We’d have plenty to get to Crater Lake and would likely have extra. Not a bad thing since it seems like our resupply at Mazama Village is going to be more convenience store than grocery store. Not a big deal, we can do 4 days of snacks. We could also find that it’s stocked well and it’ll be normal selections. We will find out when we get there. Bucket and Sage, who also camped in the designated PCT area, were already at the lodge when we got there. The breakfast burritos were good enough to get seconds. Did some more hobo laundry in the bathroom sinks. Hiked back up the side trail to the PCT then started on some actual trail miles. We got about 6 miles in, Scout and Bear told us there was cell reception. We did stop and catch up on some emails and check on this second Oregon fire closure. It extends the existing Lionshead closure another 20 miles, so not a huge amount of miles. Oregon will be over pretty quickly with such a big jump and we’ll miss the 2000 mile marker. If you’re keeping track, that’s right, we will have missed 3 major milestones in a row: halfway, CA/OR border, and 2000-mile marker. I am crossing my fingers for the OR/WA border at Bridge of the Gods. After our break we cruised to the water source where we caught up to Bucket, Sage, Scout, and Bear. Filled up and hiked on. We passed a southbounder named Max Heap who was on his way to his triple crown, which I thought was very impressive, especially for a guy his age. When we got to camp, Bucket and Sage were already there. We decided to skip cooking and just eat quick foods that we typically eat for lunch.

23 (+2) Miles (Fish Lake Resort)

Finally, a chilly morning. We’ve had a lot of nights recently that were pretty toasty in the tent. It was a relief to have to get my puffy jacket out to stay warm while making dinner, and I almost got it out again for breakfast. The fine luxury of running (and hot!) water was enjoyed while washing socks in the sink. The terrain today was rough for how many miles we did. Starting out with lots of blown down trees that we had to climb over. Then, we got to bushwhack up to an open view of Mt. Shasta, our first smoke-free view of it. It was great! We got even better views of Mt. McLoughlin later in the day. We broke for lunch next to the trail and in doing so made it so everyone behind us would likely stop-and-chat. We saw a handful of people we didn’t know, but then Coach and Tidbits showed up. They mentioned there was yet another fire ahead, and this one was near the long-standing Lionshead fire closure. Fires just keep popping up. Es no bueno. We caught back up with most of those that passed us when we got to the next water source: a hand-pumped faucet at a backcountry shelter. Not many of those on this trail so they’re neat to see. We grabbed water and then got moving. At first it was great because we were cruising along and eating the occasional huckleberry ripe off the stem. Then it got rough as we crossed boulder field after boulder field of volcanic rock. Oddly enough, there was even a patch of raspberry bushes that we sampled as well. Late in the day with about 7 miles to go, we decided to change plans and head into Fish Lake Resort. Treating ourselves to a burger and fries and then taking one of their free tent spots seemed perfect. It did require a 2-mile side trail after 23 miles for the day, but we went for it. We knew Coach and Tidbits were going in too, but they had pre-arranged a ride with someone. We figured they would be there well before us because they passed us before the junction and would have been far ahead. We had beers in-hand before they arrived. We flew down that side trail; it was perfectly maintained and all downhill. Tomorrow will be 2 extra miles climbing back up to the PCT, but tonight we had beers, burgers, and more snacks from the general store. The campsites are quiet and right by the lake with a great sunset.

22 Miles

The morning hiking was quick, we knocked out 14 before lunch. Oregon is known to be a quick state and so far it seems to be true. Similar to NorCal, we don’t have huge climbs and can move pretty easily. The water carries are a bit longer than we’ve been dealing with though. Today we had a 13-mile carry, which wasn’t too bad. We leapfrogged with Nightranger a few times in the morning, but didn’t see him after lunch. We met Good Vibes who was also heading to the campground that we were heading to for the night. There was promise of a nice bathroom and running water, so a lot of hikers were making the slight detour. The picnic table we found away from the bathrooms was much less windy than the spots near them so we camped a bit away from the others. Before setting up the tent we cooked our dinner at the picnic table. That was nice not having to eat on the ground. Little luxuries.

9 Miles

With our last day in town we got some croissants from the bakery where we saw Shorts and Pepper jack. We took our food back to the hotel and talked a bit with Banana Legs who was also trying to figure out a ride past the smoke. Night ranger texted me to ask if we wanted to join his ride up to Seiad Valley, which we did. Banana Legs wanted to go too, but wanted to go all the way up Ashland since she had heard the smoke was bad until Crater Lake. Our ride agreed to go to Seiad Valley first so we could see for ourselves if we should hike from there. We got our bounce box packed up and dropped off at the post office then went to the park to meet our ride. Bev showed up right on time and we all loaded into her car. She took us up the winding road to Seiad Valley Cafe. The cafe had hikers all around and most were trying to decide what to do about the smoke. The Count was there and planned to hike out in the morning because he expected the winds to change. The smoke was just as thick as it was in Etna so we made the tough call to continue up to Ashland. This meant that we’d miss another big mile marker. We missed the halfway point due to the Dixie Fire detour, and now the CA/OR border crossing. Oh well. Bev took us to the trailhead where Nightranger and the two of us got out. We thanked Bev and then she and Banana Legs continued on to Ashland. We hiked in to a spot near the last water for the next 13 miles.

0 Miles

Breakfast from Bob’s Ranch House was decent, and we finally got to see Shade. He was there with Slayer who seems to be part of their hiking group now. Afterward, we stopped by the outfitter where we ran into Ana (now known as Echo) who we haven’t seen since Kernville. The MN Hikings were hanging out by the library waiting to get a ride back to trail, so they’d be a day ahead of us going forward. Shade and Studio would be about a half day ahead since they had a ride lined up for the afternoon. Everyone is jumping up to Seiad Valley after we saw pictures of the smoke at the Etna Summit trailhead sent by some hikers who decided to just go check it out and then turned around. For lunch we made the leftovers of our meatball subs. Our bounce box was nice to have because I got to cut my hair and go through some of the stuff we had stored in there. Still wanting to try the other brewery in town, we went back to Paystreak, but they had already run out of their own beer and only had guest taps. The owner said they wouldn’t have any more for another 3 weeks, the hikers had cleaned them out. Bearslayer, Shorts, Pepper jack, and Piñata were there with some other hikers, but they were all eating. We left to get food from Ray’s and then head back to the hotel. All day the smoke filled the air and ash slowly rained down.

0 Miles

Most of the day was spent looking at the sky watching the smoke roll over the ridge. Not wanting to get hit by the sprinklers that turn on at 7:30am, we quickly packed up and walked over to the coffee shop. There were already a bunch of hikers milling about and a hotshot crew arrived too. I half-jokingly told Marie I wanted to be a hotshot or smokejumper when we finished the trail, she wasn’t too keen on that idea. Much appreciation for the work those teams do for us all. We didn’t want to resupply until we could check in at the Collier Hotel (an awesome, old boarding house) so we went back to the park and hung out. Various conversations with Night Ranger, Happy Hour, Stoked, Right On Time, and The Count, all about when and where to get back on trail. The developing fires and smoke has everyone worked up and the uncertainty of where it’s safe to start again is unknown. We watched the plumes of smoke start as small puffs over the ridge and eventually in the evening it blanketed the entire valley, Etna included. We got checked into our room around noon, figured out how many days of food we’d need to buy, and then got more snacks from Ray’s across the street. Dollar General is pretty great for cheap resupply so we went there for the bulk of our food, and knew we’d supplement the remainder from the outfitter tomorrow when they opened again. We went to Paystreak Brewing hoping for a beer and some dinner, but there was a band playing and we weren’t in the mood to yell at each other in order to have a conversation, so we went back to Etna Brewing. Hikers had the place packed to the gills, and we recognized about half of them. It almost felt like a high school reunion with so many people in one place that haven’t seen each other in awhile. James (now known as Books), the dude who we camped with in the desert that had an ice axe, was there. There were two seats open at the bar so we took them and ordered beers. The bartender gave us a food menu, mentioned that they were out of a lot of things, but could do tots or wings. We considered our options, but before she came back to take our food order, they announced the kitchen was closed. We downed our beers and left, chatting with the MN Hikings on our way out. Around the corner is Ray’s, and we still hadn’t eaten, so we got buns, meatballs, provolone, and pasta sauce so we could make subs ourselves. On the way across the street to our hotel, we ran into another group of hikers headed to the brewery, but this one included Studio 54. Finally, we found Shade and Studio (though Shade, we learned, was back at the park). Studio was in rare form and gave us big hugs. It was a blast running into him.

3 Miles

The ground hadn’t dried out overnight, and the few pieces of clothes that were wet didn’t dry either. However, the morning sun worked great. We didn’t get rolling until about 9, so most of the hikers we had seen yesterday and the day before passed by. Syn and Poppins stopped for a second to chat about the fire rumors and we’re fairly set on processing after the highway crossing ahead. We were still unsure, wanting to play it cautiously. The overall mentality for some hikers is to maintain a “continuous footpath” from border to border. They don’t like skipping miles and want the “purest” hike. We’ve taken a more flexible approach and just want to have an adventure and hike as much as reasonable without being reckless or lazy. No need to march towards a fire when we can skip ahead around the whole mess. The missed miles can be done some time in the future when conditions are better. We got up to the trailhead at the highway crossing and found a guy named Rick who was doing some trail magic. He had oranges, jerky, beer, pop, and bag chairs. Night ranger, Oh Man, Syn, and Poppins were there with us and we all chatted for awhile. Syn and Poppins eventually took off and headed up toward the normal highway crossing where hikers hitch into Etna. Had we gone ahead, we would have hitched from there tomorrow morning. The longer we hung out, the more times we saw a helicopter fly by the ridge nearby, clearly being used for fire suppression. Rick was there for more than just trail magic, he had done a long section hike this year with his wife (Feral) but had gotten off trail and she kept going. They were supposed to meet at that trailhead and then enjoy a few days together for their anniversary. She was supposed to arrive around 11 or 12, but it was now 2 and she hadn’t shown. Rick was getting a little worried and wasn’t able to contact her because there was no cell service and his Garmin was out of battery. He started to ask if we would watch his stuff while he went up trail a bit to look for her, but I offered to go instead. I told him I’d turn around in 20 minutes if I didn’t see her. So, off I went, passing a handful of hikers on the way letting them know trail magic was ahead. Every single one of them got excited as soon as I said it. I reached the same water source we had just used earlier and found Shorts and Pepper jack there. They said they hadn’t seen her and we’re on trail at 7, so she was either very far behind, or had passed everyone at some point last night (highly unlikely). The three of us agreed that there must be confusion around which highway crossing they were supposed to meet. She was probably at Highway 3, which we passed through yesterday, and Highway 93, which is where Rick was. I turned around, hiked back up, and as soon as I got there Rick was saying the same thing, that he got the wrong trailhead. He agreed to take us into Etna, since we had decided by that point to avoid the potential fire. We piled into his truck and drove to the Highway 3 crossing, but she had already left. He would have to wait to hear about his mistake tomorrow. He drove us into Etna and dropped us at the Etna Brewing Company. The place was already half-full with hikers. We got a few beers and some excellent BBQ for a late lunch. The Count showed up later and got some food and beer with us. We all left and headed to Ray’s Market for beer and snacks to take to the city park. The park has an area for hikers to camp that’s only $5. We paid, set up, and then found a picnic table. Tailgater and some other hiker joined us later on, but they were a bit of a mess. The younger hikers tend to be the ones with all the drama. Well past hiker midnight, Marie and I turned in. The sprinklers kicked on shortly after, surprising a few unlucky hikers nearby. Around 1:30 I woke up and felt the early signs of knowing I had drank too much. I scrambled to get shoes on, a headlamp, and out of the tent. I started hurriedly making my way to the bathrooms, but didn’t make it. Up came my stomach in the grass. Knowing it wasn’t over I practically ran to the bathrooms and continued the process there. I cleaned up, went back to the tent, and found I hadn’t woken Marie, whew.