July 13, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 1845.4) to Six Horse Spring Junction (mile 1869.6)

Miles: 24.2

Our total miles: 1463.3

We both slept soundly despite being 0.1 mile from highway 138. It was a cold night. Laurie woke up at 5 am but was too cold to leave the warmth of her sleeping bag. She fell back asleep and around 6:30 Andy woke up and encouraged us both to start moving.

We were walking by 7:20 am. The air was chilly and best of all there were no mosquitoes!

We walked about a mile into the Mt Thielson Wilderness.

“Oh no, not another wilderness” remarked Laurie. Given our experiences the last 2 weeks, “wilderness” means no power tools and thus no chainsaws.

Basically, we anticipate more blow downs in wilderness areas because it requires more effort and expertise to cut the downed trees.

We were pleasantly surprised by clear trail. We gradually climbed, sneaking peaks of Diamond Lake through the trees.

At the junction we met 2 women who were on a day hike to Mt Thielson. We chatted for a while and they very generously gave us snacks. Once hearing that the summit was only 1-2 miles from the junction, we were tempted to join them. Andy, once again, was the voice of reason reminding her that we still had a long day ahead of us.

About 30 minutes later we were so happy with our decision. The trail disappeared into a field of snow. We followed footsteps, some of which led us to the next clear stretch of trail and some led us astray. We used GPS to reorient when needed but it was slow going and tiresome.

Eventually we hit Thielson Creek where we got water for the next 16 miles.

Those next 16 were more of the same – forest, mosquitoes and down trees blocking the trail.

We reached the high point in Oregon and Washington around lunch time. Surprisingly the high point was an open Meadow. We sat by a tree and enjoyed a brief lunch before the mosquitoes drove us back to the trail.

It was a hard afternoon.

Laurie’s right knee has been hurting since Crater Lake. As a result of an old soccer injury she doesn’t have any cartilage in the lateral compartment of her knee.

The 24 mile days and frequent stepping down and over slippery and unstable surfaces had taken its toll. Laurie had hoped a zero would make everything better, but it hadn’t.

Being in pain and worried about the long term consequences of continuing to hike weighed heavily on her mind and heart.

“I don’t want to stop, but I want to be able to walk when I am 35.”

Andy was not without pain either. His feet were hurting, particularly his left arch. Laurie, being a physical therapist, is knowledgeable about the body which is helpful but sometimes too much knowledge can be detrimental.

Laurie worries about shin splints and plantar fasciitis on a regular basis.

The mosquitoes were out in full force. Whenever we stopped to refill our Platypus bladders 50 or so mozzies would swarm and land.

Laurie was miserable.

She was bitten through her insect repellant shirt and scratched her way down the last few miles to camp.

We got to camp at 6:50 pm and immediately put on our rainpants and rain coats as additional armor.

Laurie crawled in the tent to make home and organize food for the next day while Andy walked 0.8 miles round trip to get water.

Today was hard. We are tired and moral is low. Hopefully a good nights rest will help our aching bodies and tomorrow will be a better day.

Tonight we are grateful for reliable springs and snacks from friendly day hikers.

July 12, 2016

Rim Village to bushcamp (mile 1845.4)

Miles: 18 via Crater Lake Alternate Trail

Our total mileage: 1439.1

We thought it would be fun to see sunrise at Crater Lake. However, once we saw that sunrise was at 5:41 am, we changed our minds.

We had a nice morning which started with tea and hot chocolate in bed courtesy of Joanna. The next few hours were filled with last minute town items and packing and repacking our backpacks, and the car.

We got to Crater Lake around 9 am. We stopped first at the Mazama store and then the campground in search of hikers. Joanna had a trunk full of trail magic and we were in search of hungry souls.

Unfortunately with the inclement cold weather and the fact that we were ahead of the pack, there were not that many hikers around.

We found the PCT specific campsites and filled a bear box with crackers, soda, beer, brownies and pie. It will be a wonderful surprise for those that arrive today. Thank you Joanna and Karen for making many hikers’ day!

We drove up to the Rim Village, took a few more pictures and hugged goodbye. Saying goodbye is usually very hard for Laurie and she felt tears streaming down her face as we walked away. They were tears of love, gratitude and sadness in one salty mixture.

Laurie experiences a moment of let down after a much anticipated event. We had been looking forward to Joanna’s visit for weeks and now it was over. It was wonderful spending time with her and, like all of our Nero and zeros, it felt like a whirlwind.

On top of the emotions of goodbye, we both felt exhausted. No matter how much we feel we accomplished, there is always more on the to do list. It is like we are trying to cram a weeks worth of responsibility and tasks into 24 hours.

Zeros are supposed to be rest days but they quickly turn into “get it done” days.

It feels like we live in 2 worlds: trail and town. Switching between the 2 worlds is exhausting. It takes time to adjust on both ends, the desire to veg is contrasted with the need to do laundry, clean water filters and organize our resupply. All of which makes our time in town even shorter. Once back on the trail our minds continue to race, creating to do lists for the next time we have service or get into town.

It is a constant struggle to just be – whether on the trail, sitting in a laundramat or sorting through 5 days worth of food.

The trail from the Rim Village took us up and down along the spectacular Crater Lake Rim trail. With every glimpse we were amazed and in awe of the deep blue color.

After a few miles we turned north and ran into snow. Some sections were easy to navigate but others were steeply graded and if one were to slip it would be a long way down to the road.

After about 6 miles we turned away from the lake and headed down into the valley. We stopped for a late lunch and found that we had service. We ordered new shoes for Laurie before continuing down a long and flat descent complicated by down trees.

We walked under the shields of our headnets into the evening light. We got into camp at 7:15, ate dinner and quickly fell asleep.

Tonight we are grateful for our tent providing protection from the mosquitos and natural wonders.

July 11, 2016

Miles: 0

We all slept well in our room, Laurie and her godmother Joanna cozy in the bed and Andy on his sleeping pad.

We left the window open and enjoyed the cool breeze and sound of the rushing creek across the street all night.

Laurie was the first to wake up around 6:20am. Full of excitement for what the day would bring, she sat up, smiled and looked around for others already awake.

The plan was for us to pack up our stuff (we were moving to another room for tonight), have breakfast and spend the day exploring Crater Lake.

But Andy had other thoughts. He stayed up late last night concerned about his achy feet and wanted to drive an hour to Medford to buy different shoes.

He expressed his concerns to Laurie and Joanna, who agreed to go to REI then drive straight to Crater Lake.

We ate curry for breakfast (so good!), packed and piled into the car.

It was a long time spent in the car but hopefully worth it. Andy bought new trail runners and more durable socks.

It was 1pm when we finally reached the Crater Lake entrance station. The line was long.

Summer is here and tourism is in full effect. Bad weather the last 3 days probably made people stick around an extra day.

We drove to the Rim Village excited to see Crater Lake. None of us have been here before and we were antsy to get out of the car and explore.

We drove around for 20 minutes looking for a parking spot. Frustration and feelings of hanger grew in all of us.

We haven’t been in cities much in the past 3 months and have not dealt with traffic and crowds. Old feelings of anger and impatience were surfacing. We held our emotions in check fairly well.

After 20 minutes we gave up and started to drive down the Rim road.

We stopped at a turnout for lunch and finally got a glimpse of the mighty lake.

It’s incredible to think that we’ve walked over 1,400 miles from the Mexican border to Crater Lake. Talk about a reward!

Andy sat on the gound, cut veggies and added them to salad greens. Salad and salami for lunch. Delicious!

Joanna wanted to do trail magic while here so we positioned ourselves next to the trail while we enjoyed lunch. We eagerly awaited the arrival of hikers but only two passed by.

We have seen this pair on and off since Saeid Valley. Andy said hi. The guy ignored him. The woman smiled but said nothing and kept walking.

It’s a shame there aren’t that many hikers around because Joanna brought a cooler full of sodas and beer, two pies, homemade brownies, watermelon, crackers and salami for hikers to enjoy. Something for everyone! Thank you Karen for your contribution as well!

After a filling lunch but uncussessfull trail magic’ing we drove to another turnout.

From here we decided to hike to a high point. And we were so glad we did.

We enjoyed a spectacular view of the entire lake without the crowds.

Is this for real? Are we really seeing this?

Crater Lake really is as blue as pictures suggest. The snow on the surrounding peaks and the clouds added to the drama and beauty.

We stayed at our personal viewpoint for about an hour and left to cache water for the next day.

From Crater Lake there’s a 25 mile waterless stretch and we didn’t want to carry 5 or 6 liters each if we didn’t have to.

We first stopped at a bear box off Highway 209 and it already had water in there. Wow. Thanks to those who maintain it!

We then drove on a dirt road six tenths of a mile north of Highway 138 that also had a big cache. Thank you!

We haven’t relied on water caches our entire hike but since we saw these with our own eyes, there aren’t many hikers around, and we’d be there the next day we decided to carry less water to start with from the Rim.

We had attempted to eat watermelon at the previous two stops but the mosquitoes ate us alive. We pulled off at a turnout overlooking Mt Theilsen and cut into the juicy watermelon.

Another motorist pulled in to check his maps and Joanna offered him watermelon. He joined us, standing around a cooler telling us about his JMT hike in the 90’s. Small world.

The drive back to the little town of Prospect was beautiful. The straight highway was lined with tall, green trees.

We arrived back at the motel around six, got cleaned up and were in the dinner hall at 7pm.

Andy still feels self conscious when going out to dinner because he doesn’t have ‘nice’ clothes to wear. He has clean clothes and smells fine, but doesn’t have jeans and a button down shirt – the minimum he feels is acceptable.

We ordered 3 entrees and shared them – prime rib, stuffed pork chop and salmon.

Good food and good company. What more can a hiker ask for?

Actually there is one thing, and we had that too.

Pie for dessert! We both finished our pies (with Andy stealing a few bites of Laurie’s pie) and began packing our packs.

Today was another whirlwind of a day but we enjoyed each others company while getting a lot done. Maybe after hiking 2,000 miles we will figure out how to actually relax on a zero day.

Tonight we are grateful for moments of peace away from crowds and Joanna’s car.