Tunnel falls

Day 111

15 miles along the Eagle Creek alternate

Camped at Marina campground in Cascade Locks, OR

Day four of rain on the trail

The beginning and end of today were both quite fun (mostly) and enchanting but the middle was a bit annoying. We woke up last night to drizzles of rain. Packing up a wet tent and damp sleeping bags wasn’t great. Clouds had moved in overnight and brought an overall dampness to the air and also rain. As soon as we had gone a couple miles down the trail, the evidence of rain spattered trail vanished. We were still mostly in a cloud but it was clearing up. The Eagle Creek alternate trail is known for its many waterfall views including Tunnel falls. We had been excited to see tunnel falls since learning of it. About five miles into our morning, I looked up to see a corner in the trail and behind the corner I could hear the loud misty sound of falling water. Tunnel falls is a very tall waterfall where the trail has been chiseled out of the rock to walk around the waterfall basin and behind the falls. The path is narrow and full of slippery rocks and over is edge is about a 50 foot drop into water. I was a bit nervous but also astounded by this neat trail. It was like a tropical rainforest with ferns and so lovely!

Once we got past the falls there were several more along the way. There were also about one hundred tourists along the trail as we got nearer to the trailhead. It was a really narrow trail with some poison oak along the side so it was rough to get over to the side of the trail to let people pass without getting a rash.

Once we got into town, we got some diner food which was needed and tried to figure out what to do in town. There was no laundry in town so I did sink laundry which was annoying but we ended the day with some French fries at the brewery. All is well that ends well, I reckon.

Food!!

Day 109

15 miles

Lunch buffet at Timberline lodge

Camped at mile 2103.4

Today we ate at the legendary Timberline Lodge buffet! Before we began the trail I had heard about this buffet. It was talked about on blogs and in YouTube videos. The food was delicious. I ate five plates of food and drank three glasses of soda! Then a few hours later, still ate dinner. The buffet did not disappoint and watching Mount Hood rise up in front of us this morning and peak around corners of the trail was astounding. From our campsite we could see the setting sun’s glow on the mountain and it was beautiful!

I was happy to get to talk to mom and Allison today as well. There was surprisingly great service at the lodge and for a couple miles after so I could hike out and talk with mom. We are getting to close to Washington and to so many other neat parts of the trail that are iconic! I am excited for every step ahead of us. Except for maybe the 60 miles south after getting to the border! Since Canada isn’t open to walking traffic yet and the nearest road has had a mudslide, we have to backtrack 60 miles on the PCT to get off of it. Hopefully the mudslide will be cleaned up by the time we get there so we can just back track 30 miles instead.

Back to trail!

Day 105

Camped at Wasco lake

Hiked 10.7 miles

Today was filled with the process of returning to trail. We had to drop off the rental car at the Redmond airport since they were open on Sundays. It was great to hang out in the airport for awhile to charge our devices. I never realized how perfect airports are for hikers! Bathrooms, outlets, drinking fountains, and restaurants, all while indoors and air conditioned! Then we took an Uber to the town of Sisters, OR. The farmers market was going on in the town square and there was a booth with gluten free dairy free pastries and it was heaven. So far Oregon has had fantastic food in all the towns! There we met Mick who gave us a ride to trailhead. Thanks Mick!

The trail was exposed and warm for the first couple of miles but soon cooled off in evening. It felt great to be back to the trail with 653 miles remaining, but also the body felt sore and not wanting to move. After a good dinner, we headed to bed.

Three Sisters Wilderness

Day 101

26.7 miles

Camped in lava field at mile 1978.6

Day three of rain on trail

What a day! Today by 10am we had hiked five miles. Yesterday by that time we had hiked ten. Just goes to show how each day out hiking is so different from another. Today we started a bit later and also stopped at the top of the first climb to use the cell service and try to figure out someway to get to trail days. We have been working on this for awhile and are still without a solution. It seemed today as if none of the details are coming together so we need to pivot and instead just stay in Bend. I have been curious and wanted to check out both Bend and Portland which we may not be able to do if we go to trail days. Just based in timing and wanting to get through Washington before the rain and snow.

Later in the day yesterday we entered the Three Sisters Wilderness. Today I believe we saw many fine gems of the wilderness! We passed through high meadows, burn areas, giant lava flows of huge boulders and also tiny pebbles. We also went through an obsidian field and what is called Obsidian Falls. A lovely waterfall where we stopped for water and a break. Obsidian is one of my favorite rocks. It is so shiny because it has cooled so fast from being molten lava into rock on the earths surface. On the east coast, they have found obsidian from many far away places that was used for currency or sharp arrow heads and knives. Walking through fields of that being the primary rock was a neat experience.

Near the end of the day it started to rain on us as we started up an exposed twisty switchbacked section of trail. The path was so sandy and slippery it felt like a losing battle trying to get to the top. It looked like Mordor. But it was also very neat and we watched the sunset from the ridge. After a long day, I was so happy to get into camp and discuss our trail day ride fiasco with Shuffles and Semi. Either way, I am happy to go into town tomorrow and hopefully eat fresh food. Nothing in my food bag is appetizing anymore.

Elk Lake

Day 100

25 miles – 2.4 off trail miles to collect our box from Elk Lake- 27.4 total

Camped at junction to Elk Lake

We began our morning pretty early so we would have enough time to get to the Elk Lake resort. Their post on Far Out didn’t have any hours listed so we were just hoping they would be open when we arrived. The miles passed pretty quickly as I finished up the third Harry Potter book. The terrain was also mostly flat, tree covered, and well graded. There wasn’t any smoke like the day before which was pretty thick for maybe five miles. The mosquitoes definitely came out to play though.

We made it to the shop at the resort at 5:20 and they were open until 6pm. We got some snacks, cold soda, and our box!

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!

Burney Falls

Day 86

25.6 miles

Cache 22 to Burney State Park

Bought some snacks at the state park and hung out by the falls

Today we knew we had to make it to the state park store before 6pm. So we set out at 7am and got to the store at 4:30ish in time for snacks, cold drinks, and a popsicle! The morning was still cool from the previous nights’ rain which was a relief. It gradually warmed up and became super hot in the afternoon. I used my umbrella and we took breaks to cool down. One of our stops for water was at a hydroelectric plant and one of the workers gave us some cold water bottles. I stuck the water bottles down my shirt to cool off and it worked wonders. Then as we were getting water from the lake we saw an osprey flying around and it dove into the water to catch a fish. It was super neat to see. We also saw some kingfishers and acorn woodpeckers there.

I dunked my entire shirt in the water at that lake since it was the last water of the day. It cooled me right down but was completely dry in about thirty minutes.

Once we got to the state park we went right to the store and enjoyed the air conditioning while shopping. We saw Blender there and talked with her while eating our popsicles and charging our phones. Then we headed down to the beautiful waterfall and ate dinner there.

I had been looking forward to seeing this waterfall for quite a few miles. It is about 129 feet tall and the pool of water at the bottom is 29 feet deep and such a lovely color blue. I thought of Allison, my twin, here and how much she loves waterfalls. She would love to visit this place too.

Then we headed back to the trail and found a campsite on the opposite ridge of the main park area for the waterfall so we can still hear the falls as we go to sleep!

Hat Creek Rim

Day 85

Hat Creek Motel to Cache 22

16.2 miles

Third day of rain on the trail

The morning was slow as the post office didn’t open until 11am. So I slept in, drank some coffee and packed up. I had scrubbed my backpack in the bathtub yesterday and it had dried by this morning so I could pack everything up just fine. My hip belt had gotten stiff from sweat and had a hard time tightening so I had to scrub it out. It felt so relaxing to have a slow morning. I had been dreading waiting around for our box but it was really nice to stay here.

Once we resupplied, we got a quick and easy hitch down the road to the trailhead. We took a quick side trip over to “the subway”. It is a lava tube cave where lava exited the earth. A few days ago we entered the Cascade range of mountains and left the Sierra Nevada. The Sierras were metamorphic rock and the Cascades are volcanic. Many of the mountains we are hiking past are old volcanoes. The rocks here are more like pumice or volcanic rocks that have cooled from exposed lava. The last time Lassen erupted was early 1900s and Shasta was in the 1700s. So it was neat to see evidence of those volcanic eruptions today.

The trail after Old Station is a section called Hat Creek Rim. It follows a ridge cliff along a green valley. We are out of the main burn area now so the trees were still standing in the couple of small stands of trees. Hat Creek Rim is known for being hot and exposed parts of the trail. Friends who were here a couple days ago waited out the heat in the Subway cave since it is a balmy 46ish degrees year around. However, we seemed to have luck on our side as it was about 70 degrees all day and cloudy. So we could hike out early afternoon and not overheat in the hot summer sun. It even decided to rain on us about three miles from camp. It was a light rain but still cooled everything down. I am so so so grateful for the clouds today through this section. It could have been so much more exhausting from the heat.

We also got our first glimpse of Mount Shasta! We could barely make out the outline through the smoky horizon but it was definitely there!

1300 miles

Day 80

Belden tree house to top of the climb, 1300.6ish

13.3 miles plus 1.6 off trail road walk

5,000ish feet of gain

A group of about eight of us slept in the “treehouse” structure last night. I heard their alarms go off early to get a good start up the hill before the heat. I wished we could leave with them but alas we had to go and get our boxes. Yesterday after the post office people told us we couldn’t get our box, they opened for another hiker and she got her packages and could start the climb earlier in the day. That felt frustrating that the business did that but what can ya do?

After a breakfast of oatmeal and sweet tea, we walked down the road 1.6 miles to Caribou Crossings. It was a tiny campground and even smaller store. There wasn’t really enough food in the store to even resupply with so I was glad we had boxes. After getting our boxes and packing our bags, the store owner offered to drive us back to the trail. This was super kind of them. On the drive, the campground owner told us about how the valley of Belden was settled because of its gold. The “treehouse” we had slept in was a renovated stamp mill. They would bring rocks, usually quartz, to the mill to be smashed so they could get the gold out. People still pan the river for gold.

We began the climb up the hill at 10:30. Right about when it was starting to get so hot. The whole climb was about 13 miles and 5,000 feet of gain. So long and uphill the whole way. It was also very exposed for most of the climb because of the fire damage. Thankfully, there were a lot of streams to dunk our hats and shirts in and try to stay hydrated. I was pouring sweat the whole afternoon as we were in the sun and it felt a bit humid too. There was a surviving tree about three miles up that we could sit under for a siesta. We stayed there from about 12:15 to 3:30 then continued on. I was super grateful for more forest farther up the hill too. I also started listening to a new book. “Beartown” by Fredrick Backman. This town is set in Scandinavia and they talk about winter a lot so I think that helped me stay cool too! Thinking about snow, ice, and hockey! Camp arrived at 9pm. We had to push to a certain spot to camp that didn’t have a bunch of dead trees and the sunset there was amazing!

Beldentown

Day 79

16.7 miles into Belden

Camped in Belden at the “tree house”

When I woke up this morning, there was a deer romping around our tent. It was timidly walking around, sniffing the ground, then looking up at us if we moved at all. It was neat that we almost seemed to be a part of the deers day and it was unbothered by us…until we decided to get up.

Today the air smelled different. It wasn’t smoke or the trees but almost a humid smell. Today seemed like the first day there have been clouds in the sky except for when it rained or the smoke. There were a couple of days in the desert that weren’t full sun but it has been awhile so the clouds were a huge relief.

The first few miles this morning were uphill and in some unscathed forest. The rest of the miles were through a burnt forest from the Dixie fire which I believe is the largest or most destructive fire in California history. We will be hiking through the fire damage for the next few days. It is dusty and ashy so we have been getting filthy.

The end goal of today was getting to Belden and hopefully getting our resupply boxes. When we arrived, the shop was not open and not willing to open their post office to give us our boxes even though they said yesterday they would. So we will be staying near Belden tonight and getting our stuff tomorrow then heading out.

Belden is an interesting establishment. It calls itself a resort probably because they rent out rooms and cabins and it probably had a hay day about 50 years ago. The people who live in that area have been resilient through fires, a flood scare from a dam, and the trials of living in a not easily accessible town. Which is probably precisely why many of them live there.

We haven’t been seeing as many hikers along the trail in the last few days because quite a few people have skipped this section because of the burned area. It hasn’t been as bad as the general hype made it sound. Our goal is to walk every mile we can but we understand if someone was concerned about the ash or chemicals used in firefighting and their health.