Crater Lake National Park

Day 96

22ish miles around the rim of Crater Lake

Camped at the water cache at fire road

The campground we stayed at last night had free showers so I went and showered early this morning. The water was even warm and it felt so good to start the day out clean! The wifi at the camp store was annoying and slow so we couldn’t download maps or the books we wanted to. We have around 22 miles to hike today to get to the beginning of the trail closure. There is an alternate trail that goes along the rim of Crater Lake and we definitely want to take that trail as the actual PCT doesn’t have any view of the lake. We figured it would be an easier day so we were taking our time.

The camp store opened at 9am and we got some hot coffee there. While we were waiting for it to open, Shuffles made friends with a guy visiting the park who is running an ultra race tomorrow. (Ultra race=longer than a marathon). He said he could take us up to the trailhead about two miles away and we were super grateful. He was super curious about our packs and how many miles a day we do. Ultra runners and trail runners seem to have similar values and vibes as thruhikers and it is fun when our communities overlap.

From the trailhead to the lake, we had a bunch of elevation to go up, basically climbing the outside of the massive volcano that is the outside of crater lake. But the views were totally worth it. We walked along some of the paved walkway with info signs near the visitor center. There was a drawing of what the volcano mountain may have looked like before it blew up many many years ago. We also learned the island in the lake is another volcano that came up in the lake.

Crater lake is over 1000 feet deep and is the deepest lake in North America.

We stopped at the shop on the rim road to get some soda and use their wifi which was much faster than the other store. I could FaceTime mom and Allison to show them the lake.

Then by 12:45 we started out to finish our 22 mile day…of which we had only hiked four miles. It was a push to finish our day by 8pm but super lovely to hike along the rim of the lake for about 12 miles. The water was a deep blue and the mountains around it impressive. What a beautiful place!

Fire closure plans

Day 95

24 miles

Camped at free hiker campground in Crater Lake National Park

Today the goal was to get to Crater Lake National Park. We have been really excited to get here and see the lake. Neither of us have been here before. Since leaving Ashland, we have done 100 miles in four days. This has left us very hungry and my hips quite sore, but also very proud of our progress. Kevin was singing as we hiked along the trail today. He has a happy songs play list and this helps him hike faster. Sometimes I have to rush to keep up with him when he has this playlist on!

We made it to the diner at the National park for dinner, which was fantastic since I didn’t have another dinner packed in my bag. The diner even had some gluten free options and I was super impressed. After some food and a ton of soda, we got our resupply box that Kevin’s dad had mailed and also got some extra snacks. At this point, we are eating more than what is in our boxes and always need to buy a bit extra.

Then we saw Ash, Blue, and Spidey, friends we started with from Scout and Frodo’s (trail angel legends) house the very first day of the trail. We are all in the monument picture together. They began telling us about how they are hiking around the fire closure. Apparently there are some comments on Far Out (our maps app) with instructions from hikers who had done it. After talking with them and reading the comments, we decided to try it out. Our whole group spent some time talking about what everyone wanted to do. Semi and Shuffles will join us in walking around the fire closure with the others. Pebbles and Tadpole will hitch around the closure and we will meet up later. It will be a different type of experience hiking all together with a group of people and having to actually navigate a map. But we are ready for it even though just yesterday we said we wouldn’t walk around the closure!

Day 94

29 miles

Almost thirty miles today! It was definitely a long day but felt good to be at the end and think about the ground we covered. We could look back on Mount McCloughlin at the end of the day and remember the morning and being on the other side of it!

I was super annoyed when I scraped my foot on a log today. It really hurt but since I wear two pairs of socks it didn’t break the skin. Just gave me a big bruise. I was probably most annoyed about missing a couple of minutes of my audio book of Harry Potter when I was distracted by trying to get up and over this log. The logs have broken off branches that poke out like sabers just waiting for you to misstep while crossing the log.

Ah well, not a bad day.

I was craving lots of foods today. Literally anything that isn’t in my pack. Perhaps some vegetables, a dinner other than refried beans, fresh watermelon! Perhaps Crater Lake NP will have some good food. I am very excited to see the lake and get food at the diner that is near the campground we will stay.

Today we decided we won’t do the walk around the Windigo fire closure. We had talked about what to do for a few days. Kevin got sick of looking at the maps and I don’t have that map app so I wasn’t much help for this one. We will have to be content not walking continuously through Oregon anyway since the Lionshead closure is still closed too.

A fun part of the day was when Kevin and I discussed our favorite and least favorite parts of the California section. It was fun to discussed and recall parts of the trail even while we are still on the trail. Both of our favorite parts are in the Sierras where the beautiful views, lakes, and surprise trail magic was lovely.

Trail magic in Oregon

Day 93

27.2 miles – passed Brown shelter

Camped at mile 1767.2 at campsite near the lava fields

I started out today so sleepy. I felt as though I could fall asleep hiking. We are getting a solid eight hours of sleep a night but it doesn’t always feel like enough when we are doing these miles.

As I trodded along in this stupor, I spotted a van at one of the road crossings. I had to quickly tell myself that there was little chance this would actually be trail magic way out here. But low and behold it was!!!!! A past hiker had come out in a van to a random back road and set up a sun shelter with snacks and drinks! It was delicious and we met a couple other hikers there and had fun discussions.

Another exciting note about today is we realized we have less than 1000 miles left to hike on the trail. Since we missed about two hundred miles from the fire closure, the end is closer than we thought. I felt a bit sad as it seemed we will be done so fast, but we also have a lot of miles to cover still. It is a strange dichotomy where I know time will go fast but also some days seem 30 miles long…because they are.

After about 6 miles of a gradual climb at the end of the day, we ate dinner at an actual shelter on the trail. We didn’t stay there since it is mice infested but it was reminiscent of the many AT shelters we stayed near. We finally made it to campsite around 8:30 after passing over the beginnings of the lava fields in this area. The rocks are super neat and are leftover lava runs from the multitude of volcanos in the area. The trail has had some serious trail work to make it an even smooth surface to hike across.

First day in Oregon

Day 92

Camped at mile 1740

Hiked 20.7 miles

This morning I had a Granita coffee drink from a coffee shop in Ashland. It was delicious! Ashland has so many coffee shops and the town food co-op is magical! We had to run to the post office this morning to get our box which included new shoes for both of us and a new sun hoodie for Kevin. It looks great on him. It also contained some Darn Tough socks for me which I’m excited about since they have their trade in program when the socks get holes. Cnoc also had a great circular consumption cycle too since they provided a new water bag but also sent me a shipping label to send the broken one back so “it doesn’t end up in the landfill”.

We arrived to the trail head by 11:30am. A man named Darryl brought us out to the trail from town and that was very nice of him. We met him our first day in town at the pizza shop and he offered a ride out so we got his number then and it worked out for today getting back to trail.

The climbs today were very gradual and surprisingly we did 20 miles fairly quickly for coming out of town late in the day. It was also nice going up in elevation 2,000 feet to the trail since it was hot in town but much nicer up on trail. It felt odd beginning to hike in Oregon without the monument of hiking to a border sign or something like that. Going from mile 1501 to mile 1719 in one day definitely messes with the head because of all the things we know we missed. We are doing our best to stay positive about the miles we still can hike and taking advantage of the good weather now. We hope to come back to the Dunsmuir to Ashland section of the trail at some point but are not sure what that will look like yet.

Zero day in Ashland

Day 91

ZERO miles!

Ashland, OR

Beds are nice. Last night was a rush to get as many chores done as possible so we could sit around today. I had waffles and fruit for breakfast, veggies for lunch, and Thai curry for dinner. I had been craving fresh food and veggies for quite a few days. I will have to pack out some veggies for this next ration. Having an air bnb is really nice to be able to do a lot of laundry without paying for every load. We could also have a freezer for our ice cream!

Another goal we had for our zero day was to watch all the Lord of the Rings movies. They are quite fitting for a long hike and journey like we are on!

It was also great to catch up with family and some friends while having internet and service as well.

Our hiking group also did our best to make a plan for this next section. We are pushing miles a bit for a few days then probably hitching or hiking around the first fire closure. The closure is for around 60 miles of trail and there are some forest service roads we could walk around the closure area but we aren’t sure about that yet. We are excited to see Crater Lake in a few days though!

Castle Crags

Day 90

11 miles

Ended at mile 1501.1, I-5 outside of Dunsmuir and Mount Shasta

Stayed in an air bnb in Ashland, OR

At 4:15am our alarm went off. Our plan was to hike the Giard ridge to watch the sunrise over Mount Shasta and Castle Crags. It was our last morning hiking in California for now! We quickly packed up and then hiked to the ridge and got there for breakfast! It was a lovely view of the clouds in front of Mount Shasta and the sun soon reflected on the rocks of Castle Crags. The clouds were dark and the air smelled like rain but it never rained on us. After breakfast, we walked down to get to town and our ride to Ashland. When we arrived at the highway, another group of hikers were there, some of whom we hadn’t seen in awhile. We all discussed our various plans to get around the fire closures and desire to respect the closed areas of the trail.

At the road, a trail angel was refilling a box of trail magic! We met him and heard his story. He offered to shuttle hikers to Shasta (the town) and take several trips so we could all get there. This was very kind of him as there were probably 15 of us. This road is notorious for being difficult to hitch and the bus doesn’t run on the weekends so he makes sure to come out on the weekends to shuttle hikers. As he gave us a ride, he told his story. How when he was younger he went backpacking through South America and that experience changed his life. It changed his perspective on human connection and showed him how everyone needs each other. We don’t really exist separately but are helped and supported by those around us and vice versa. As hikers we really see this when we come into town. We rely on trail angels to get farther distances and hitches for groceries. We rely on trail organizations for information and trail updates. We rely on families to send us boxes and encouragement. We rely on each other between towns for check ins, emotional support, and cheerful laughs. No one is ever really out here alone or self sufficient. And it is a reminder to me that there is still good in humanity and I can be a part of that too. This is something I want to remember and hold on to for my whole life, like our shuttle driver, into late life and be part of the good in this world.

After a big breakfast in Mount Shasta, our group met up with a trail angel who brought us up to Ashland, OR. Driving (rather than walking) across the border wasn’t exactly what we had planned but here we are. I had been reading reviews of Ashland and it seemed reminiscent of when we lived in northern Cali so I was very excited to get here! Can’t wait to hit up the coffee shops and market tomorrow on our zero day!

Last full day in California

Day 89

22.4 miles

The first six miles of the trail this morning were a high stakes plant identification game. The high stakes were whether or not you ran into poison oak. Once we get down into the valleys, around 3500 feet, the poison oak has been rampant along the trail. I washed off at multiple streams along the way just to try and hopefully prevent any rashes.

We had two major climbs of about 2,000 feet today. The first one was over at mile twelve where our group sat for about three hours and tried to schedule a ride up to Ashland since we have to go around the fires. We had given up trying to find a ride and started packing up when a trail angel responded to Tadpoles’ call and said she could come pick us up! Hurray! Then we quickly booked an air bnb since the hostel was full and got back to hiking. The second climb of the day was a bit steeper but still passed by fairly well. I was happy to be at the top and finally eat dinner.

Tonight is our last night on trail in Northern California. This section has been full of varied terrain and different types of towns. It was a long section after the hype of the Sierras and sometimes felt like work to find something to look forward to each day. But I have come to really love the ridges, sidelining, tree covered hills that we have been in after the burn sections. Even those burnt parts were interesting to see how the trees and plants were resilient. It was also very sad to see the devastation of the burn and the impact that had on the communities. Every section of the trail has its challenges, surprises, and treats. I have loved all those parts of Northern California too. It is sad to be leaving it too early and prematurely because of the fires but most of all my heart hurts for the communities that have had to deal with the growing numbers of fire threats in this area. We made our choice with the information we had and a desire to not enter an area where we might take away from any relief effort for those who live there. Every hiker has to make their own decision of what their journey and priority will be .

Fire plans

Day 88

26.6 miles

Camping by Butcher Knife Creek

The moon is back to its half position which tells me it has been almost three months since we started the trail. In two days we will pass the 1500 mile mark. Also in two days we will have to take a shuttle north about two hundred trail miles because of trail closures near a wildfire. I am very grateful for the three months of continuous trail which we have been able to hike. It is sad to see how thruhiking is changing and having to miss miles but it is even more sad to see entire communities evacuated and lose homes, livelihoods, and lives. I remember the feeling of being in an evacuation warning area from a wildfire and trying to figure out what to pack, where to go, and what to do. So while we are left trying to figure out rides and where to go, it definitely doesn’t feel as disorienting and terrifying as if we lived in this area and had all my earthly possessions threatened by fire. My heart goes out to the residents here and others affected by wildfires.

Today by lunch time, I felt the full weight of all of these thoughts. My legs felt heavy and as if they did not want to continue. It was hot and humid today which always challenges my good mood. I felt as though skipping miles around a fire closure took away something from the journey even though we came into this hike knowing we would probably have to skip around a fire. We took a nice break for lunch and talked through some plans, our thoughts, feelings, and goals for our hike. We reminded ourselves it is more about the journey and being out here together than anything else. It seems easier to tackle the extra plans and mental load of hiking when Kevin and I know we are in it together.

Into the trees

Day 87

Camped at mile 1440, just outside of Burney Falls SP

21.2 miles

We started out the day hiking around 6:45am. Tadpole and her mom had walked past while we were eating breakfast and it was neat to meet her mom who was here visiting.

Usually our mornings consist of waking up, packing up the tent contents into our packs, the pads, sleeping bags, clothes etc. then we get out of the tent and take it down and get our food bags out of the trees. I repack my food into my pack and eat breakfast. Then sometimes I have to go dig a hole or Kevin does so this extends our mornings. We aren’t super fast getting out of camp in the AM but our routine works for us.

At the first water of the day, our group who had stopped in town all caught up to us and we had a lot of fun seeing how our past few days had all been and we got the chance to discuss how we are going to get around the fire closures.

Today we got to cross a giant dam that they are doing construction on. Then we started up our big climb of the day. It was graded so very well and almost all of it was shaded. I was so grateful for the shade as it feels about twenty degrees hotter in the sun.