July 30, 2016

Bridge of the Gods (mile 2144.4) to Rock Creek (mile 2163.6)

Miles: 19.2

Our total miles: 1757.3

It was hot in Portland. We both slept poorly, waking up periodically to pry ourselves from the sticky and sweaty sheets.

Diana dropped us off on the Washington side of the Bridge of the Gods, the same spot she had picked us up 2 days prior. 

Already it was cooler, actually almost cold. We called family before turning our phones into airplane mode and walking across the highway.

But we didn’t make it very far.

We walked past blackberry bushes teeming with ripe and super sweet blackberries.

“These are the best blackberries I have ever had” remarked Andy through purple lips and a full mouth.

We picked initially with our backpacks on, gingerly stepping to avoid getting pricked by the thorny bushes. 

The berries were so good we quickly abandoned our packs to go all in. We picked with both hands and filled our 3 Talentis and our stomachs.

Around 8 am, a full hour after getting dropped off, we finally headed up the trail. 

Our smiles quickly turned to frowns as we encountered poison oak alongside the trail. We had heard differing accounts about poison oak in this section and had considered a road walk to avoid it. In the end we figured we would try our luck and unfortunately we struck out. 

The poison oak accompanied us for the first 5-6 miles. In some places it was thick but mostly avoidable with attentive foot placement.

The trail meandered through the forest, up and down many small bumps. After we passed Gillete Lake we continued to climb up towards the cut off for Table Mountain.

We ate lunch at the junction and watched as day hikers approached, took one look at the steep trail, took a deep breath, put their heads down and started the stair stepping climb up Heartbreak Ridge.

We were thankful the PCT was less steep.

We hiked on through miles and miles of forest. Occasionally the trail would emerge from the green tunnel and we would walk across fields of scree or under power lines, but for most of the day, we walked without hats or sunglasses as we climbed in the shade of the old growth trees.

We stopped for a break around 4 o’clock. Both of us were exhausted. The lack of sleep was compounded by the usual town day stress and now a 5000 foot climb accompanied by poison oak. 

Or maybe it was all the ice cream and pie we ingested in 24 hours. It couldn’t be, right? 

Our introduction to Washington wasn’t wonderful.

We sat in a small area of shade and psyched each other up for the last 4.3 miles to camp. We dropped down 2000 feet to the beautifully clear Rock Creek.

We were ready to be done.

We set up our home then went down to the river to wash our faces and hands. 

We ate dinner and then took an accidental nap. Andy enjoyed blackberries with Nuttzo for dessert. Yum!

It was only 8:30pm and we were ready for bed. We admired the bats as we brushed our teeth. No blogging tonight. We’ll do that another day. 

Tonight we are grateful for single tent sites near water and mosquito eating bats.

July 29, 2016

Miles: 0

The title pretty much sums up our day. Except for sleeping in until 7:30am, we were either glued to our phones or running errands. 

It was hot in Portland too – in the 90s – and this didn’t help. We felt sluggish and unmotivated. Laurie”s feet and ankles got so swollen she had cankles.

Of course it wasn’t all bad though. 

There were some great moments. Like breakfast – which consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches and huckleberry pie leftovers.

Diana drove us to REI (thanks Diana!!) to replace some gear and buy small plastic bottles. Andy has been craving hot sauce and oil/butter with his dinners and Waldo (whom we hiked with weeks prior) used bottles that he got at REI.

When we returned to Diana’s home we baked another pie. This time an apple pie using apples from Diana’s mom’s tree. So great! 

After planning visits with friends, talking with family and friends and blogging it was 5:30pm and time for dinner. 

We had heard great things about Pok Pok – a Thai restaurant near Diana’s home – from Fixie and other locals and wanted to try it.

Karen, whom we hiked with a few weeks ago, was meeting us there. Unfortunately the restaurant had a 45 – 60 minute wait and we don’t stand around a wait very well. We removed our names from the list and went a few doors down to Bollywood Theater.

We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and short lines of this Indian restaurant. Friendly staff and good food..it’s all we need really. 

After dinner we went back to the house and put our packs together. We are leaving at 6am tomorrow morning to get an early start and don’t want to sleep too late tonight. 

Once done packing we sat outside on the porch and inhaled our apple pie and Tillamook vanilla ice cream.

We really like pie and ice cream! And apparently have bottomless stomaches.

And we are really happy we found a locally made gluten free pie crust that tasted good.

After another wonderful shower we went to bed, hoping to get some good sleep despite the heat.

Tonight we are grateful for Brad and Diana for opening their home to us and delicious pies. 

July 28, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 3.3 on Eagle Creek Alternate) to Bridge of the Gods (mile 2144.6)

Miles: 12.6

Our total miles: 1738.3

We woke up sticky. It was warm and our clothes were still damp. It didn’t matter though, soon enough we would be damp too.

We were hiking by 6:15am. It was a gentle downhill the entire time. We walked in a lush green tunnel, passing streams and pools of clear water.

We followed a river downstream watching it widen and then funnel through narrow rocks creating small waterfalls. 

About 2 miles in we stopped to admire a number of cascading pools of water that culminated in a waterfall. If only we had more time Laurie may have gone for an early morning dip.

We carried on, walking on ledges with moss and hanging ferns. Whoever designed this trail did an amazing job.

As we approached Tunnel Falls Andy was giddy with excitement. He has been reading blogs and has seen pictures of these major PCT landmarks for over 8 years. And now we have walked here!

The falls were spectacular. Gallons upon gallons of water falling at least 150 feet down into a clear and rocky pool.  The trail led us through a tunnel behind the waterfall. 

We were thankful to have this magical place to ourselves. 

We admired from afar, laughed out loud trying to set the timer on the camera and take a picture and passed through the tunnel multiple times. 

It was surprisingly quiet in the tunnel. The rock blunted all noise. 

As we walked on we ran into 2 trail runners. They asked if we were out for the night. This keeps happening – apparently we don’t look like thru hikers.  It can’t be our lack of smell, because that is quite present. 

And Andy’s beard is legit. Must be that we are still healthy looking rather than gaunt individuals in short running shorts.

As we got closer to the trailhead we saw more and more people. We inhaled their sweet scents of perfume and deodorant. Laurie enjoys the smells but Andy is repulsed. 

We took a side trip down to a punchbowl. We were not sure what was at the end of the long path but it looked clearly used and we were ahead of schedule.

We walked down to a rocky beach. At one end was a narrow canyon and a waterfall. Moss lined the rocks. We were surrounded by beauty. 

Laurie took off her clothes to jump in the water. It was chilly but not cold. As she slowly edged deeper and deeper Andy informed her people were coming. 

Rats! 

She grabbed her underwear and put them on. After all, we were getting closer to civilization and it may not be acceptable to skinny dip with young people around. 

Laurie swam around and was tempted but did not swim up to the base of the waterfall. 

By the time we left, there were at least 50 people on the rocky beach. 

At the trailhead parking lot we met Lois, Paul, Golden Horse and Ben. They were eating an early lunch on a picnic table.

We chatted and hiked together 3 miles along a bike path into Cascade Locks. We picked ripe and sweet blackberries along the way. So good! 

Andy picked up our resupply packages at the post office while Laurie joined the others in getting ice cream.

We walked together across the Bridge of the Gods to awaiting family and friends. It was both exciting and sad. This marked the end of Oregon. We walked across the entire state of Oregon!

The end of California didn’t feel as real since we had skipped a portion. This felt like an accomplishment. This hike was finally feeling real, we may actually complete the whole thing!

Golden Horse and Ben’s families were cheering as we got closer and waiving signs. Laurie had tears well up in her eyes. 

It was impressive watching these 17 year old men hike day after day, embracing the literal and figurative ups and downs of the trail and loving it.

We took pictures and said our goodbyes. Diana picked us up and drove us back to her house in Portland.

Here we sorted through laundry, played with her two 7 month old golden retriever puppies and went grocery shopping.

We had picked a lot of huckleberries and had our hearts set on making a pie. PIE! 

Unfortunately it was hot out so using the oven wasn’t ideal but we did it anyway.

Neither of us are good bakers, we tend to stray from recipes, adding or subtracting from them as we see fit.

With the guidance of Diana locally and Joanna (Laurie’s godmother) from afar we made a delicious huckleberry pie with a crumble top.

We went to bed with happy stomaches and hearts. It feels wonderful to visit friends along the way and we look forward to a zero tomorrow.

Tonight we are grateful for ripe huckleberries and beautiful waterfalls.