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.

July 10, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 1809.6) to hwy 62 (mile 1818)

Miles: 8.4

Total miles walked: 1411.7

It started raining around 10 pm and didn’t stop. It was like a crescendo, moments of hard rain transitioning to softer rain, then pausing before a gust of wind brought another bought of heavy rain. This repeated all night.

We were cozy in our tent. No puddles this time. Just cold air.

When our alarm went off at 5 we bargained with Speed to leave at 6:30 rather than 6. It was only 8.8 miles to the highway and Nana (Laurie’s godmother whose name is Joanna). We had asked her to meet us around 10 am. It was more appealing to walk fast to make up time rather than wait around in the cold.

We left camp at 6:30 exactly. As we walked it started to rain, then sleeted then snowed. Our hands and toes were aching from the cold.

Laurie led the charge, walking fast in an attempt to get warm.

We didn’t talk much, all of us uncomfortable and wishing the sun would come out.

As we walked up a hill Andy mentioned “I need to slow down, I am starting to sweat.”

That opened the door for Speed, “Tell Dribbles to slow down. We will be an hour early.”

“I am just so excited” chimed in Laurie as she slowed down.

We walked at a comfortable 2 miles per hour embracing the rain and sleet and smell of wet earth.

The ground was soft and the walking easy. Although, everything feels easy when you know you have a shower and homemade pie in your near future.

From 100 meters away from the trailhead Laurie spotted Joanna. She waved and Joanna waved back.

“Nana!” Exclaimed Laurie as she attempted to run down the trail, as much as anyone can run after walking 540 miles without a day off.

We all hugged and Joanna went into trail angel mode – offering watermelon, soda, beer, chips and brownies.

Unfortunately with the cold, all we wanted was a heated car.

We ate potato chips as we reconfigured the car to fit 3 wet hikers plus Joanna and all the food.

We made it work and drove to Mazama Village (the campground at Crater Lake) where we picked up our resupply boxes, said goodbye the Speed and left him with a bag of brownies.

Given the rain and snow, we opted to postpone the sightseeing and drove to our motel in Prospect hoping they would have a room ready. Within 30 minutes we were in our room unpacking wet and stinky backpacks and clothes.

We showered and enjoyed a gourmet picnic on the bed – hummus, veggies, tomato and mozzarella with olive oil and PIE!

Joanna had made a gluten free strawberry rhubarb pie for Laurie and blackberry, blueberry and peach pie for Andy. We were in heaven!

We hung our tent in the bathroom to dry while we made a field trip to the laundromat.

Laundromats provide a lot of entertainment and allow passer through-ers (like us) the opportunity to get a sense of a town.

The people who came and left the laundromat were friendly. They offered their opinion on the quality of the laundromat and gave advice on which washers and dryers to avoid.

Unfortunately, each time the advice came too late. But it didn’t matter, we were happy to have some sembelence of clean clothes.

The sun came out as we waited at the laundromat. Joanna took a nap in Laurie’s lap as we worked on our blog posts.

We attempted to upload them but the wifi was too slow. We returned to our motel and tried again. Again, it wouldn’t work. We were both frustrated.

This keeps happening. After the most recent WordPress update the uploads fails unless we have strong wifi; not even 4G will suffice.

While attempting to upload we chatted with other people staying at the motel and B&B. One woman asked what has been the best unexpected aspect of the trip.

We both paused.

Our answers were similar; the Northern California sunrises, wildflowers and the joy of meeting other hikers and people in town.

Around 7 pm we returned to our room and had dinner in bed. Andy has been talking about Thai curry for over 1000 miles and Joanna surprised him with red and green curry. It was delicious!

Thanks Joanna!!

Then we had pie for dessert. It was another feast. Laurie felt so full she thought her stomach would explode. So much fresh and delicious food – neither of us wanted to stop eating!

We feel so deeply grateful for the support of our families. Thank you Joanna for all the yummy food!

By 8 pm the rain had stopped. Laurie and Joanna took a short walk to a waterfall. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were out in full force so they didn’t stay out very long. Even towns can’t escape the July mosquito frenzy!

It’s been a great day and we’re hoping the weather clears for tomorrow when we go to Crater Lake!

Tonight we are grateful for visits from family and Joanna’s homemade pies.