PCT adventures

I had been in touch with Jean about my schedule and she offered to come pick me up after work the next day. I spent the morning walking around town and watching the river, but there isn’t much to do in cascade locks except hike the trails so I was ready to go my mid … Continue reading »

The following day I started with a big uphill and Rocky trail. I still had nice views of Mt. Hood and I could see Mt. Adams in the distance. About 15 miles from Cascade locks, I took the Eagle Creek alternate which bypasses 16.5 miles of PCT and deposits you just outside of town. I … Continue reading »

When we broke camp on day 101, Rocky Point joked about hiking the 42 miles to Timberline lodge that day. I wasn’t in a hurry since I was so far ahead of schedule and didn’t think he was serious until he never stopped for a break and I didn’t see him all morning. At lunch … Continue reading »

In my resupply box at Big Lake, I got my rain jacket, gloves, and fleece top back and not a moment too soon! As we approached Mt. Jefferson, a cold front came through with biting cold wind and heavy fog. I put on my puffy, gloves, and rain jacket and wore them for most of … Continue reading »

Fox, Rocky, and I stayed at Big Lake for breakfast the next morning then headed out. The day was filled with forest then more forest. For variety, nature provided us with dead forest to hike through for a bit. The burned areas were due to different fires because in some parts there was nothing on … Continue reading »

Fox got his resupply box at Elk Lake, but Rocky Point and I were getting ours at Big Lake Youth Camp, just 36.3 miles away: another worthy goal for the day. The scenery was also very pretty; instead of just hiking through the forest, we passed through several meadows and had some views of mountains. … Continue reading »

There are a lot of mellow hills along the PCT in Oregon. None of them are very long or steep, which makes the hiking pleasant and pretty easy for the most part. It’s a lot of hiking through the woods, but today we went past several beautiful lakes. Rocky and I hiked together for most … Continue reading »

Our path continued through forest and along ridges, but would occasionally come out to an open area like the ones below. There’s still a bit of snow on the tops of the mountains but nothing where we were. After several fairly long stretches without water, we finally came to miles of trail filled with lakes. … Continue reading »

Fox and Rocky Point have the goal of finishing the PCT by the end of July so they have been hiking 32+ miles per day  to get through Oregon in under two weeks. They have been good company and consequently I have been going faster than I thought. The day after Crater Lake, we mostly … Continue reading »

From Mazama Village, the official PCT skirts around Crater Lake and continues north. However, why come all that way without actually looking into the crater? Instead, nearly all hikers take an alternate route that climbs up to the Rim Village then follows the crater Rim trail for about 7 miles before reuniting with the official … Continue reading »

I awoke the next morning to the sound of buzzing. The noise reminded me of the high voltage power lines the trail has sometimes gone under. It took me a few moments to realize what the sound actually was: hundreds of mosquitoes swarming around my tent! I did not want to get up and face … Continue reading »

On July 3rd, I passed the 2/3 mark on the trail. I was exactly three months in and 66% done. Plus I was hiking over 30 miles per day so the miles were starting to fly by. So far the trail in Oregon has been marked extremely well. At every road and intersection, there are … Continue reading »

I left Callahan’s around 6:30 am to get some miles in before it got too hot. For once there was no huge hill to climb to get out of town! I just had some small rolling hills to enjoy, which was nice. I went past a peregrine falcon nesting area but didn’t see any of … Continue reading »

On July 1 I spent my first full day in Oregon. I got an early start because I wanted to get to Callahan’s lodge by a reasonable time so I could rest a bit after my two big days. Midmorning I caught up with Seven who had passed me while I was still sleeping. I … Continue reading »

I was awoken at 5 am by Ice Cream’s alarm going off. I thought that I wouldn’t have to hear that sound for these four months, but alas. It was actually good to get up and out of camp early since we had a big hill to climb and it was going to be hot … Continue reading »