I am currently sharing journal entries from my section hiking of the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon. For this section, you can start here: Snuffy’s 2015 Pacific Crest Trail Journal : Bring on The Bugs.
Snuffy’s 2015 Pacific Crest Trail Journal : Up And Out
June 28, 2015
As the sun rose this morning, Elizabeth and I slowly moved our aching bodies and assessed what the day ahead would bring. I surprisingly felt good, not anymore sore than another day of hiking. I guess my continuous stretching was paying off. She, on the other hand, was not doing as well. Her feet were very sore, both on the top and bottom. We knew we had about 6 miles to go to my car. I talked with her about whether she wanted to wait here and I would go get the car but she decided to see how far she could get.
We left camp at 6:15am, headed back up to the Rim Trail and made our way around the lake as the sun came up. I just can’t get enough and because we were not moving at a very fast pace, I snapped a lot of pictures. Again there were deer along the trail, not worried about us at all. As I was turning a bend, I could see one on the trail up ahead. As we got closer, she slowly moved away. Suddenly to my right, what looked like the largest jack rabbit I had ever seen came bounding straight at me. It turned quickly with fear upon seeing me and I realized it was the tiniest fawn, its back end all speckled with white spots. Okay, so at least one of them still has a fear of humans.
After about a mile of the Rim Trail, it turned into the Discovery Point Trail, stating that the Rim Village is one mile ahead. This deflated Elizabeth’s sails and she told me to hike ahead to the car and then come back and get her at the visitor’s center. Leaving her to climb the trail at her own pace, I took off to finish the last 5 miles to HWY 62.
Mostly downhill on the Dutton Creek Trail and littered with small creek crossings, I made it to my car at the trailhead by 9:45am. Tossing my pack in the car, washing my feet and changing into a clean shirt, I drove up to the village and handed Elizabeth the reward bag of Fritos she had left in my car for the end of this section.
We decided to drive back down to Annie’s Restaurant for breakfast before heading back up to Willamette Pass and her car. Unfortunately, we arrived in the closed hour between breakfast and lunch, so we waited again in the rocking chairs out front and watched the long line of cars making their way into the park on this busy Sunday as Elizabeth cleaned her feet and legs with water I had in the car.
When walking back into the restaurant, I recognized another PCT hiker in the lobby by his resupply box and phone plugged into the outlet next to the waiting bench and asked him if he was heading north. He shared that he was but he was thinking about getting off trail to visit a doctor first because he was having a hard time breathing. Elizabeth and I were seated and after ordering, I told Elizabeth I was going to ask the hiker if he needed a ride into town because we were heading out anyway. I figured Bend was not that far from Willamette Pass and I could take him before I headed back down to finish the section south of Crater Lake. I went over to tell him, Shawn (Shaun, Sean), that we could give him a ride if he decided to visit a clinic. Turns out that he is a vet and the VA clinic is in Salem. Hmmm. This is the part of the story where I tell him that Elizabeth can take him because she is headed that way towards Portland and hope we will still be friends.
Elizabeth and I eat lunch while Shawn went to tell his hiking partner down at the hiker camp in the Mazama Campground that he has a ride to town. We had finished before he had returned, so we went out to wait by the car. It wasn’t long before he came up the trail and he was a sight to behold. Curly, poofy hair wrapped with a patriotic bandanna, a homemade backpack reminiscent of tan military issue, including a section on the front of his chest, along with a tan tasseled blanket that looked like a deer skin draped over his shoulders (but under the pack) to top it all off. It was Grizzly Adams meets GI Joe meets PCT hiker. I told him it was no wonder he couldn’t breathe. Elizabeth glanced at me just to make sure it was still a go. I told her if he turned out to be too weird, we could leave him at HWY 58 to hitch a ride with someone else so she wouldn’t have to do the car ride to Salem with him by herself.
Shawn turned out to be an entertaining passenger in the 1.5 hours to Shelter Cove, if not just to hear some of his stories. He had actually just started his hike close to the Oregon/California border and was hiking with another veteran. Like many PCT hikers, he doesn’t have steady employment but has lots of great ideas, including the designing of backpacks. He had started out the hike smoking his last few cigarettes, and was thinking he should have quit in preparation long before that. He has traveled around, has a 13 year old son (never would have guessed) and was not carrying a gun (hey, good to know). We shared some helpful hiking hints he could try to make his a little smoother. By the time we got to Elizabeth’s car, she let me know she felt comfortable taking him to Salem. Elizabeth and I said our goodbyes, I wished Shawn good luck on the rest of his PCT journey and I made my way back to the Willamette Pass Inn.
But, I didn’t check in right away because I was still deciding what my next move would be. I had about 107 more miles south of Crater Lake to go to finish my goal for this year. There were going to be more long stretches without water, the same flat, not so exciting scenery and the forecast called for temperatures about 100 in the next week. Looking at the map, I could see lots of forest road crossings and lava beds to walk over. All just so I could say I had finished Oregon. Something in my heart said it wasn’t worth it and I could find more fun things to do in the second week of my PCT journey. HYOH, right?
With my mind about 85% made up, I checked into the hotel and started my post hike ritual of laundry, shower and cold drinks from the convenience store across the street. I watched Save the Last Dance and Dirty Dancing on VHS and then took a second shower. I thought about the World Famous “Broasted Chicken” at the bar next door but thought better of it after looking it up on Wikipedia. I was “glamping” I admit it, I had left extra clothes and toiletries in my car for just this occasion. I want to mention here that Elizabeth and I did try to stay at the Shelter Cove Resort our first night (a Tuesday) to see what it was like but they were full. Neither one of us had wanted to camp that night, and for me tonight I wanted a real bed. I reanalyzed my maps, cleaned out my pack and cooler, and formulated a Plan B.
Before beginning this adventure, I had told myself that if when I got to Crater Lake I was not feeling good physically, I would end my hike there. I have a week long hike circumventing Mt. Rainier in July that I had to have a permit for and I was not going to hurt myself and ruin that trip. Especially now that someone is joining me and that would mean he couldn’t go either. So, I already had some ideas of what I would do in that case and now I would do those in addition to finding cooler temperatures to hike in. Turns out, the Oregon Coast was running about 30 degrees cooler, so that would be my eventual destination. First, I will head to visit Bend and Sisters, since I have never been there. Then, I would drive up to the Ollalie Lake Resort I passed by because it was too late on my trek south last year. And finally, I would go ford the (SWOYC) Sandy River (reference last year’s journal regarding My Nemesis).
Sounds fun, right?
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That tiny fawn moment, the Fritos reward, and the unexpected road trip with “Grizzly Adams meets GI Joe”, such a fun mix of trail life and spontaneity. Excited to see what Plan B brings!