July 9, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 1786.9) to bushcamp (mile 1809.6)

Miles: 23.7 (22.7 PCT miles + 1 mile after taking wrong turn)

Total miles walked: 1403.3

The rain continued throughout the night. When our alarm clock went off at 5am we did not want to move. We had all agreed to be hiking by 6 unless it was raining.

It was raining.

We talked to one another through our tents and pushed our departure back to 6:30am. It’s really hard to motivate and get out of a cozy sleeping bag when you have to put on wet clothes, wet socks, wet shoes and wet rain gear…. and then carry a wet tent.

The sky was gray and gloomy when we started walking. From the get go we were climbing over logs. Our already wet feet were now cold from the wet plants.

It wasn’t fun. We were cold and wet and we had a long day of hiking ahead of us. This is where thru hiking becomes a mental game. It is a challenge to find the beauty despite the discomfort. We both had to dig deep within ourselves to find a smile.

“The wetness is only temporary” Laurie kept reminding herself.

The hardest part was dreading walking in the rain for another day and getting into a wet tent with damp sleeping bags. We didn’t know what the day would bring- more rain, sun? Only time would tell and in the meantime we continued to slosh down the trail.

At one point Laurie stopped to pee. It was pouring and as soon as she dropped her pants the mosquitoes swarmed. Dirty water ran down her legs from her raincoat soaking her underwear. This was her low point of the day.

“If it continues to rain day after day, I am going home” stated Laurie.

“I totally understand.” Replied Andy. “I will have my dad ship me my solo tent.”

Andy later shared that he has enjoyed the challenges of the last few days. This is what Mother Nature gave us and we deal. It feels satisfying to know that we are able to cover the miles with smiles on our faces despite the wet weather and blow downs.

The herd may not have to deal with these conditions. Andy takes satisfaction in knowing that he is working hard and is able to continue north, despite the challenges.

The rain was a constant drizzle for the first few hours. Around 10:30 the sky lightened and a little bit of sun peaked through.

“Come on sun” we chanted looking up at the sky pleadingly.

Around 11 am we reached the high point of the day, near Devils Peak. The clouds were starting to lift and we had a view of a lake across the valley.

“Look, we can actually see things again!” Exclaimed Andy enthusiastically.

The sun popped in and out of the clouds as we descended. We encountered some snow but nothing compared to the Sierras. We took our time and got down with only 1 slip. It was actually fun to be back on the white stuff.

Once back on dirt trail we saw a nice campsite and stopped with the intention of drying out the rain fly. As soon as we stretched it out, the sky clouded over. We packed up the sopping wet fly and continued down the trail.

Around 12:30 at one of the last creeks before Crater Lake, still 20 miles away, we heard voices. Speed and another couple were sitting on a log eating lunch while they dried out their tents. We joined the lunch party after stretching out our tent, fly and Tyvek groundsheet.

We hung out for about 30 minutes, attempting to dry ourselves and our gear in the occasional bouts of sunshine.

Laurie sat on a rock with her palms facing towards the sky, letting the warmth of the sun rays penetrate her hands and gloves. It felt magical.

Around 1 pm we packed everything up and continued down the hill. Thankfully the sun continued to peer through the clouds.

We continued to climb over, under and around trees all day. The only real break was when we were close to Devils Peak walking on shale. In the morning especially, it was hard to find a groove when we had to stop every 10 yards to get over a hurdle.

We walked through a large burn area with thousands of small fir trees. It felt like we were walking through a Christmas tree farm.

By late afternoon Andy was so used to walking over logs that he nonchalantly led us over a pile of logs across the trail. Laurie was staring at the ground, listening to a podcast and blindly followed.

It wasn’t until we came to a junction that we realized we were not on the right trail. A sign for the PCT pointed back in the direction we had come. Rats.

Andy was beating himself up because the detour cost us 1 mile, more time and more effort. This is the first time we have taken a wrong turn this whole hike. Andy wanted to get to camp before the rain and walking too quickly and not paying attention led to his mistake. We turned around and retraced our steps.

By the time we got to camp our clothes were dry. Our socks and shoes were still damp and quite stinky but SO much better than the night before.

We ate dinner sitting outside with Speed. Such a treat and something we didn’t think was possible given the mozzies yesterday. It quickly got cold but thankfully because of the drop in temperature, there were very few mosquitoes.

Around 8 pm we crawled into our tent and sleeping bags. Tonight may be one of the coldest nights on trail, at least in a long time. We hope it doesn’t rain!

Tomorrow we will meet Joanna, Laurie’s Godmother, where hwy 62 intersects the PCT. We are excited to see her and explore Crater Lake. None of us have been there before.

Our bodies are excited for a break. In less than a month we have walked over 500 miles with no rest days.

Now, it is time for bed. Tomorrow has another 5 am wake up call. Sigh.

Tonight we are grateful for sunshine to dry our tent and a stove with which we make warm meals.

July 8, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 1764.6) to bushcamp (mile 1786.9)

Miles: 22.3

Total miles walked: 1380.6

The forecast predicted rain during the night. We didn’t have rain but there were many small rodents scurrying around outside our tent. Laurie kept waking up thinking mice were chewing through the tent. Luckily in the morning there were no holes, just tired humans.

We had agreed on a 6am departure time unless it was pouring. At 5:30 am the rain started. Man! We were so close to being able to put away a dry tent.

Thankfully it was only sprinkling.

We headed out of camp dressed in our rain pants and rain coats. It was a wet morning.

The first 2 miles we walked through multiple lava fields. The trail was a distinct red color in comparison to the dark volcanic rocks. It felt like we were following the yellow brick road – although in our case it was the red lava rock trail.

The rocks were sharp but our feet were fresh.

Our first major obstacle was a large down tree across the rocky trail. The diameter of the trunk was at least 4 feet wide. Luckily a branch had broken off so we used that to push off and vault over the trunk. This was a little foreshadowing of what was to come.

Within 30 minutes of leaving camp our feet were soaked. The rain came down steadily and plants donated their wetness as we brushed past. Despite all of our raingear, after a few hours we were soggy and wet throughout. Not even our bellybutton were dry.

Even though we were wet and uncomfortable, we made an effort to appreciate the beauty around us. The air smelled like damp earth, rich and full of life. The wolf lichen glowed through the low hanging gray clouds.

Just as we got to hwy 140, it started to pour. It was decision time. Speed suggested we hitch 2 miles, get a cabin at Fish Lake and wait out the storm. While enticing, Laurie’s godmother was coming to meet us in Crater Lake and we wanted to maximize our time with her.

So we pushed on, into the rain and wet forest. Reluctantly Speed pushed on with us. He really doesn’t like hiking in all day rain but it is easier to endure the rain with company. Thankfully it wasn’t cold so as long as we were moving we were okay.

About a half a mile after crossing a bridge over a fast flowing creek we encountered our first few blowdowns. Our progress was slowed dramatically as we went over, under or around the logs.

Andy started to count how many logs we stepped over or ducked under.

We picked our way through the downed logs. The low lunges, hops and careful stepping was exhausting.

“If I weren’t wearing a backpack and knew I could take a hot shower tonight, this would be fun!” Remarked Laurie as she climbed over a tree trunk.

Unfortunately neither was possible. We were wet and at least 40 miles from Crater Lake. So we kept going.

“At least this isn’t boring” added Speed.

It was like Parkour in the backcountry, although we were not as fast or as graceful as those athletes.

Around 11:30am the rain let up so we stopped for an early lunch. Even with all the log crossings we knew we’d make it to camp early.

Almost instantly the mosquitoes swarmed us. There were at least 50 of the buzzing buggers around each of us.

Oregon is infamous for its mosquitoes, especially in July. We knew that but it is so much worse to experience it first hand. We hope it isn’t like this the entire state!

After 15 minutes we were sick of the mosquitoes and the rain started up again. With headnets under our raincoat hoods and hats we continued walking through the maze of downed logs.

The mosquitoes never let up, not even during stronger periods of rain. They didn’t hassle us too much as we walked, but if we stopped even a moment, they were all over us like Laurie near a pie!

Andy recalls reading another hiker’s journal entry from a few years ago about how he almost had a meltdown in Oregon because of the mosquitoes. He now understands why.

At one point Andy stopped to take a pee and had to use his other hand to create enough wind to keep the mozzies from biting his manhood.

Around 4:20 pm we reached camp. Even here we had to climb over a few logs to get to the flat spots of ground. This was much earlier than when we usually stop but we were all tired and wet. It had been a long day.

In 16 miles we had navigated over or under 309 downed trees!

We quickly put up our tents and stripped out of our wet clothes.

Andy stayed out to boil water for dinner and to drink. Cold days usually amount to us drinking less water and we hoped the warm water would entice us to drink more. Unfortunately Andy wasn’t very thirsty and Laurie didn’t want to drink much in fear of having to go into the mosquito war zone to pee.

After dinner, as we were cozy in our tents, the skies let loose. It rained hard for almost an hour.

“If this continues I’ll have to move my tent” Speed remarked as the rain pooled around his tent. 

Unfortunately we had similar issues. Water was pooling under the bottom half of our tent. When we put our hands down on the floor we created ripples.

The floor under both of our air mattresses was sopping wet.

Rats!

Andy got out see if there were other spots we could move to, but no luck. Speed’s former spot was now a huge puddle of water and so were the other spots around ours.

Andy dug a few channels to allow the water to escape from the bottom of the tent. Hopefully this works and it doesn’t rain too hard during the night.

It could get ugly. We will find out in the morning. Now it is time to sleep.

Goodnight.

Tonight we are grateful for sections of clear trail and dry sleeping bags.

July 7, 2016

Bushcamp (mile 1738.6) to bushcamp (mile 1764.6)

Miles: 26.6 (26 PCT miles + .6 miles to Klum Campground and back to the trail)

Total miles walked: 1358.3

We were up and walking by 6 am – Speed time. We walked together for the first 1.7 miles to a water fountain. There was a small hill initially but mostly the trail was flat and the ground soft.

“I’m glad we didn’t do this last night” Speed commented as we huffed and puffed up the trail. We agreed!

We got water, made a few phone calls and continued on. Speed was ahead of us and with our usual start and stop routine, we didn’t see one another until after lunch.

We continued to walk through dry grassy fields and forests. Butterflies danced around us and birds sang. Ah the trail life. It’s quite magical most of the time.

Around 9:45 am we took a 0.3 mile detour to Klum campground. Speed had mentioned several times this morning that he wanted a shower.

When we got to the campground there was one person in the shower, but no sign of Speed.

We had a nice 30 minute shoes off break on a picnic table. Laurie ate her summer sausage (never too early for salty sausage and crackers!) and washed out her socks and underwear. Hot water and soap in the bathroom was a pleasant surprise.

With full bellies and full water bottles we hiked on another 6 miles up a long but gradual hill. We played the alphabet game with categories of countries, companies and sports. Laurie eventually started listening to podcasts as well.

The scenery was pretty but not captivating. The greenery got a little montonous and today was one of the days we needed additional entertainment outside of our own thoughts.

Around 12:30 we found Speed. He was just finishing lunch and we hiked on together. Well initially. No matter how hard we try something always comes up that slows us down and Speed gets away, just as his name suggests.

At the top of the hill we checked for service to check the weather. The sky has more clouds in it today than we have seen in the past week. The forecast predicts rain tomorrow and the following 2 days as well. We have been so lucky with the weather since leaving Belden, hopefully the storm isn’t too bad.

We hiked down the trail, enjoying the soft ground and clear trail. We could tell a trail crew had been through here lately because the wood chips looked fresh and we could smell the freshly cut trunks.

We navigated our way around the 10 or so remaining down trees and made it to the South Brown Mountain Shelter. This is one of the few shelters along the trail. We had toyed with the idea of staying here but it was too early to stop for the day. We took a nice long break, chatted with 2 hikers from Colorado who had just begun their thru hiking adventure.

Around 5 pm we laced up our shoes and walked the remaining 4 miles to camp. We walked together, Speed sharing stories from the AT and keeping us all entertained and distracted from the pain in our feet.

The last 2 miles were on small volcanic rocks. Not the most ideal way to end a 26 mile hiking day.

We got to our campsite location and unsuccessfully spent 10 minutes looking for a different spot that would allow us to be further from the trail.

We ate dinner together and we shared some of our many pre and post dinner snacks. The mosquitoes started to swarm as we were wrapping up so we hurriedly erected the tent and rain fly.

Tomorrow we face the dreaded area with lots of blow downs. We have heard differing reports from southbound hikers and it will be good to see and experience it for ourselves. At least the elevation profile should be gentle.

Tonight we are grateful for cheerful birds and picnic tables.