August 14, 2006 Started hiking about 7:00. Stopped for lunch at a Bed and Breakfast located on a road that the trail crossed. They had a picnic table set up back of the hotel for hikers. Guess we were not the best advertisement for their business. There was a water faucet and food. Good enough. Their dog liked us. He was a beautiful golden retriever. He followed us for almost a mile when we left. Finally got him to go back. Needed to go into Ashland for supplies. Reached Hwy 5 and found Knees trying to get a ride on the off ramp. Told him that in Oregon it was ok to hitch on the Hwy. A lady picked up all 4 of us with our gear. We were crammed in every which way but we made it to town. Will rest and celebrate the end of California and the beginning of Oregon. Plan to hike Oregon in 20 days.
August 15, 2006 Ashland is a beautiful little town. They have 8 live theaters. They have a Shakespeare Festival that last for several months of the year. I really want to stay and see Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is playing tomorrow at 1:30. I guess I will have to hike on.
There are at least a dozen other hikers at the motel. Someone saw Bams in Sierra City. He is about three days behind. Herman, the guy from Belgium, is about two days ahead. We meet hikers and hike together for awhile, then someone goes ahead and others get behind but we try and get news of them.
August 16, 2006 Woke up to rain this morning. Talked to Red & Gary. No one wanted to start the day wet and end the day with wet tent etc. They had spent yesterday buying supplies, packing and shipping their supply boxes across Oregon. They don't have family that does it for them. We decided to stay until tomorrow and hope the rain has stopped. I went to see Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was very good. Also saw Al Gores movie. Had to do something to keep out of the rain. It was interesting and well done. Saw Abandon and Pauley. They came in yesterday and plan to stay 2 days.
August 17, 2006 Got up early, had breakfast and walked to Hyw 5 and started to hitch a ride back to the trail. Only took about 5 min and someone stopped. Reached the trail about 9:00 The hills are not as high and the walking is easier. Saw Tarn today. Had not seen him since the beginning of the trail. Hiked about 23 miles today. Found a nice area to camp with a spring. Problem, the water coming out of the pipe from the spring was filled with dirt. Went up to the spring box and dipped from the top and the water was clear. Appeared the bottom where the pipe was had settlement.
August 18, 2006 We camped on a lake last night and woke up to a really beautiful morning. There was fog on one end of the lake and the rest of the lake, sky and surrounding area was crystal clear. There were ducks swimming on the lake. Started hiking about 7:00. After lunch we reached an area that had blueberries everywhere. We could pick them by the handful. We walked until we ate our handful and then stopped to pick another one. Hard to make any miles this way. We had found some blackberries and some wild raspberries but nothing like these blueberries. Knees left us the day before so is a day ahead now. Saw Tarne sitting beside the trail reading a book. Hiked 24 miles today. Would have made 25 if not for the berries.
August 19, 2006 My foot has been hurting most of the day. It feels like a bone splint. I can only hope it is just stress. Many blueberries again today. It always taste good to have something that is not dehydrated. At least 10 hikers I know have had to leave the trail. Money is the main reason. Most of them had hiked the AT and based their money on what that had cost. California was a whole different story. Very few all you can eat places. Dinner most evenings in town was about $20 and there was also lunch and breakfast. Motel rooms are about 3 times what I paid on the AT. On the AT people often fed and sheltered free or for a small fee. Only a few places do on the PCT. We are all feeling the money crunch.
August 20, 2006 Foot feels better today. May have been my shoe was laced to tight. Will see if that works. A bee stung me in the blueberry patch today. Did 22 miles today.
August 21, 2006 Temperatures are getting cooler. There were patches of snow today. I saw two pine martins. They are weasel looking animals. They were unafraid just playing and chasing each other all around me. Reached Crater Lake, one of the most spectacular sights on the hike. It is 6.5 miles across and is located in a volcanic crater. In the center of the lake there is an island that is the top of the volcano with the hole in the middle. The walls of the lake are very steep, hundreds of feet to the lake. The lake is about 2,000 ft deep.
The restaurant was not open for meals until later but was able to get some mushroom pate. My food and map shipment was waiting at the lodge. I packed everything and moved on. There was a fire on the trail and we had to take the alternate route. We could see and smell the smoke Much nicer than the regular route as it followed the rim of the lake. We did 22 miles today. Camping with Red, Gary, and Turne.
August 22, 2006 Really unusual terrain today. We are walking on what appears to be volcanic pumice. There are pine trees growing out of the pumice but no other plants. No weeds, no grass. Nothing. The land is flat with long distances between water. We are carrying 5 leaders now. Sure makes the pack heavy. We caught up with Knees at Crater Lake. Tarne is ahead. He hikes very fast with long days and then takes days off to rest and we catch up to him again. Hiked 22 miles today. Stopped at 4:30. Camping with Knees, Red and Gary.
August 23, 2006 Thunder in the distance woke me at about 5:30. Scrambled to find and put up my door flap. Rained a few min later with hail. Always seems to hail when it rains. It turned really cold after the rain. By 9:00 the rain was gone with a beautiful day in the mid 50's. I can feel the fall weather in the air. I am getting further north and know the cold weather is coming soon. I have really enjoyed the company of Red and Gary but the time is coming soon when I will need to move on. 4:30 stopping is too early for me. I need to do another 5 miles. Just putting off the time when I will have to move ahead, make new hiking friends or hike alone. The comfort of old hiking companions is hard to give up but if I am to finish before snow, I must move on. A few more days.
August 24, 2006 Started hiking about 7:00. Reached a resort for campers at 1:30. Had been told that down the road was a great pizza place. Reached it to find it was only open on the week end. Went back to the little store at the resort and had hot dogs. Took a shower and put my dirty cloths back on. Still felt good. Rested until about 5:00. Hiked to a lake and camped for the night.
August 25, 2006 Woke up with an ear ache and not able to hear too well in one ear. Mosquitoes are back in full force. Very little spray left. Will be able to resupply in Sisters, Or. Hiked through large burned area today. Red and Gary saw two bears. They were gone when I come by. Camped with Red, Gary and Knees.
August 26, 2006 Ear feels a little better today. Caught up with Go Big. He had been off the trail for a week with torn muscle. He said there was a big fire ahead and we would have to go around. This is three fires in less than three weeks. Reached Elk Lake this afternoon. They have a small restaurant with a limited menu. Hamburgers, chili and fries. It was a mile hike down to the restaurant and a mile hike back up to the trail. Not a problem if they have food. 20 miles today. Camping in the woods with Red, Gary, Knees and the mosquitoes.
August 27, 2006 Oregon seems to be one volcano after the other. Starting a Crater Lake to the Washington border. I have hiked through lava from smooth to mountain high piles. The hardened lava in places looks like glass. Saw a waterfall today with water falling over the lava. Looked like glass shining in the sun. Other areas are just piles of melted rock that is rough and mountain high. There is no way to describe it. You would need to see it. We are in the three sister area. There are three mountains (volcanoes) called the three sisters, Faith, Hope and Charity. There is a fine powder of dust covering the trail. You need to walk well behind any other hikers to avoid their dust. It covers everything, shoes, cloths, backpack etc. Found a spring flowing from a bed of lava. The water was clear and cold
August 28, 2006 Started walking about 6:45 today. Reached McKenzie Pass about 10:00. Was to meet my parents there. They were to meet us at the trail crossing of the pass. At about 10:30 they drove up. They had been at the parking area ,posted as the trail ,since 9:30. Had given up and decided to drive a little further to the viewing area and see if they could see anyone. They picked up Red, Gary and Knees as well as me. Really had a full van. We went into Bend since we need some equipment as some of ours was wearing out. The first place we stopped was at a China Buffet. Parents had negotiated a good price on rooms for all of us at the Red Lion Inn.
August 29, 2006 The beds were pillow top mattresses and Gary had to sleep on the floor. Too soft after sleeping on the ground for days. I managed without too much trouble. Had a big breakfast at the Black Bear next to the inn. Went to two stores to find what we needed. My sleeping pad had a hole and I needed to find a patch. I decided I needed and extra pair of pants to wear after a shower, when coming into town. We learned that fires still had the trail closed. Will need to go around to Lake Oilalie and hike a short distance to the trail. Visited with the parents and decided the best way to get to Lake Oilalie. Looks as if about 8 miles is dirt or gravel. Don't think Dad will want to put his new car down that road.
August 30, 2006 Time to head back to the trail. The fire is about 40 miles wide but the round about way we have to go to get back to the trail is over a 100 miles. We won't skip but the 40 miles but not many roads up here. It was not yet time for lunch but we had to stop in the last town before the trail to eat anyway. There was only one cook and the restaurant was full. Took almost 2 hrs to eat lunch. The road just kept getting narrower and narrower and then the hard surface ended. Dad went a few miles and decided we were hikers and we would just have to walk the rest of the way. It took about an hour to reach the trail. Met two other hikers, Twisted Sister and her hiking companion. They had been able to get a lady from Sisters, Or to give them a ride. It is so far and the road is so bad I don't know what happened to the other hikers. It would take days to hike around the fire. Hiked until 6:30 and camped beside a creek.
August 31, 2006 A cold front come through last evening. Woke up to temps in the 20's. We seem to be out of the volcanoes and back into beautiful forest. It is really good not to be walking on the uneven hard surface. Another plus is the mosquitoes seem to have disappeared. Maybe they froze last night. Really nice walking today. Camped by Timothy Lake. Really camped up under the pine trees with a ground cover of pine needles. Better sleeping than on the rocks that are often our bed. A couple of non hikers come in with pillows and blankets. Not sure if they plan to spend the night or just some time together.
September 1, 2006 Not so cold this morning. We are walking through heavy tree cover. We should be able to see Mt Hood but the tree cover is too heavy. We stopped on Hwy 35 to meet a friend that now lives in Portland. Sean grew up in Sebring. He stopped and picked up pizza for all of us. We sat on the side of the road on our packs, rocks and a fallen tree, ate pizza and talked for about 3 hours. It was great pizza and even greater to see an old friend. We continued to hike to a spring about 2 miles from Timberline Lodge. We plan to make the breakfast buffet in the morning. I have heard that it is great. Should reach Washington in 2 days.
September 2, 2006 It was a beautiful walk today. We took the scenic walk. There were three waterfalls. The trail went behind one of the falls. High cliffs with the valley below. It is said to be one of the most beautiful section of the trail. It is .8 miles further on the trail but well worth it. All along the trail there were the largest blackberries I have ever seen. I picked some an put them into my water bottle for later. By the time I got into town the walking had destroyed them and all I had was juice and seeds. Oregon is completed. I said goodbye to Red, Gary and Knees at Cascade Locks. I will miss them but It is time to move on. I enjoy company but I also enjoy time alone. Spent the night in town. Washington tomorrow.
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