How did I get here?

Sometimes I wonder how I made it this far. The miles are not getting much easier for me even though I have been at this for 4 1/2 months.  With just 260 miles to go it's a bummer my feet are still killing me but the rest of my body and mind feel so good. I wish my feet felt better as it would make this all day hiking thing be a bit more enjoyable. However, the end goal is getting closer by the minute and I wouldn't trade what I'm doing for anything right now. I love the people I have met, the fresh air, scenery and being outside every day.

Katie and I have talked about nearly everything possible, even wondering why they don't call piggy-back rides horse-back rides instead. We have solved riddles, played 20 questions numerous times and even made up our own knock-knock jokes. I think we have almost become like sisters spending this much time together. There are also hours that go by where we don't talk at all and are lost in our own thoughts. I have a clear mind and many ideas running through my head of what is next for me after this hike.

All of our good hiking buddies are in front of us anywhere from 1-5 days. It is wierd thinking I may never see them on the trail again, but I know we will remain friends for years to come. You make a special bond with people out here; much quicker than I would in my "normal" life. Anything goes for conversation and we see each other at our smelliest, strongest and sometimes weakest moments physically and emotionally.

Not much exciting happened in this stretch from White Pass to Snoqualmie Pass, so I will sum it up like this:
-beautiful steep rocky hills and sunny
-then icky clear cut logging and dense fog
-then trail magic from Not Phil's Dad and a CRAZY thunder and lightening storm overnight that briefly turned our tent into a water bed
-then rain all day and hiking in the trees
-then more fog and rain but a short 3 hour day to a warm and dry hotel room at Snoqualmie Pass!
-breakfast at the Pancake House and dinner at the Aardvark food truck, YUM!

The end is near and the weather forecast shows sunshine for the next week! Onwards to Stevens Pass we go!

Trail stats after 143 days and 2402 miles:
- Longest stretch without a shower: 14 days (Cascade Locks to Snoqualmie Pass)
- # showers: 31
- # loads laundry: 21
- # days hiking in rain: 7
- # nights indoor: 21
- # chocolate milks purchased: 16

Here are just few pics from this section:
-Katie on the pretty day
-Me on the icky clear-cut logging day
- dinner at the Aardvark food truck...best curry in WA!

An Unexpected Proposal

We started out this 8 day stretch from Cascade Locks to White Pass by walking across the Bridge of the Gods.  This bridge is a half mile long and connects Oregon and Washington by going over the Columbia River Gorge. 

For the first 5 days we had quite the group - Katie's sister, her sister's boyfriend, friend, and dog as well as Sleeping Dragon.  It was fun as always always having people join us for a bit. We picked lots of berries, they picked lots of mushrooms and Katie managed to get poison oak again. It rained each night a little while we were all tucked away in out tents, but finally our luck ran out and we had to hike in the rain for a full day.

On the fifth day the 5 of us waited at a road for Katie's Aunt Jeanie and Second Cousin Carol to pick up our section-hiking friends and resupply us with 3 more days of food.  We had our own private trail angels as they brought us fresh fruit and beer!

It was during our break here that Katie met her future husband who had been obsessing over her cursive hand writing for over 4 months (it is very nice I must admit). He had been seeing her sign-ins at various PCT registers and was hoping she wasn't 70 years old or a man. When introductions were made, he exclaimed "You are Midnight Chocolate! I love your hand writing and want to marry you!" After the brief awkward moment, she replied back that she was available and that it could be arranged.

After the gang left us and the marriage proposal was over, we were back on trail. It felt good to back in the groove of hiking with just Katie; time to finish what we started 4+ months ago. We went around Mt Adams and through the Goat Rocks area - a place many thru hikers call their favorite section on the PCT.

The last 2 days of the trail have been gorgeous and mostly above treeline as we went through Goat Rocks. It makes me realize why I love Colorado so much as we got to hike "in" the mountains instead of around them.

Now we sit at the Kracker Barrel Convenient Store at White Pass going through our resupply box, doing laundry and taking some time off our feet. We got another fun care package from friends in MT complete with a great note, chocolate and a mini-American flag to wave as we cross the border into Canada in a few weeks.

Two random notes to add...

Despite how tired I am and how sore my feet are at the end of the day, my favorite time to hike is between 6pm - 8pm. It cools down and seems more calm, quiet and  peaceful.  The lighting helps set the mood with the sun shining through the trees as it begins to set for the night. I know the hard day of hiking is coming to a close and I can reward myself by taking my shoes off for the night, blowing up my NeoAir mattress to lie down on as I eat one last snack before bed. I have become so comfortable sleeping in the tent breathing in the fresh air even despite the constraints of my mummy sleeping bag. I don't know what I am going to do once I have a whole queen-size bed to myself!

I completed my goal of doing 1,000 push-ups. I sure hope completing this trail is more exciting than completing my push-up goal. Now maybe I will move on to doing sit-ups...or just hike instead.

Trail stats after 138 days and 2,003 miles:
# showers: 30
# loads of laundry: 20
# pairs of shoes: 5
# of days hiking in rain: 6
# bears: 5
# snakes: 24
# nights not in a tent: 20
# pushups: 1,000

Here are some pics and descriptions from top to bottom:
-Katie with Mt Adams in back
-Me heading up to Cispus Pass in Goat Rocks
-Heading down knife ridge from Old Snowy
-The trail ahead to Elk Pass
-Hogsback Ridge and our trail (Mt Rainier in backdrop)
-Katie digging through the hiker box -me in my "laundry outfit" (have to wear my rain gear as it is the only non-smelly clothing not in the wash)

Good-Bye Oregon, Hello Washington!

We certainly took our time in Oregon compared to most other thru hikers, but we finally made it to Cascade Locks after 29 days.  Doing the math, Anish could have gone up, down and back up Oregon in less time!

Last I wrote we had left BLYC.  We then made our way around 3 Fingered Jack and the stunning Mt Jefferson.  On the west side of Jefferson, we had to ford our first glacial creek with the dogs.  We got to Russell Creek at the wrong time of day, right when the creek is running at its highest from the heat of the day melting the snow above.  The creek was loud, silty and strong.  Midnight Chocolate found a place to ford the creek after about 10 minutes of searching for a safe spot.  The dogs were not too keen to follow, but being on leashes they eventually stepped into and across at the lowest point we could find, only getting water up to their bellies.

Mt Jefferson from the South

Mt Jefferson from the North

The next day we had trail magic from the "Hiker Haus."  They were thru hikers from last year all living in Portland.  There were cardboard signs posted on trees leading us to where they were at which was a campground about a 1/4 mile off trail.  We figured this would be a great place for a break.  When we got there at 10am, we were the only hikers at that time, so they fed us blueberry pancakes, french press coffee, cinnamon rolls and beer. What a great combination for a brunch!  It was great talking to them about their experiences from last year.  One question I asked was how long it took them to adjust to life after the trail.  The answer was "we haven't yet."  Hmmm, sounds like only a part-time job may be calling my name after all :0)

Hiker Haus trail magic at a campground

It was hard to leave the Hiker Haus, but we had plans to meet our friends, Shannon and Beth, in the afternoon at Olallie Lake so we hiked on around noon.  When we got to Olallie Lake, there was just a small "store" with only some staples like chips, beer and peanut butter.  The lady running the place, Trapper Keeper, brought us a fresh pineapple, cutting board and knife and the dogs each got a foot long pepperoni stick.  Oh my, we were all happy campers!  We hung out at the picnic table outside the store for a few hours waiting for the girls and talking with other hikers as they came in and out.  Finally we saw the girls pull up and it was screams and hugs all around!!  The one thing we asked for was for them to bring 2 liters of wine.  The dillema was they could only find a 1.5 or 3 liter bag of wine.  They made the obvious decision an opted for the 3 liter bag which we had no problem all drinking over the 3 nights they were with us.

Beth, Shannon and Katie

Our PCT friends, Muppet, Stilts, Baxter, Wildcat with me and Katie

Make-shift camp spot right next to the trail...it will work!

We set off with them Sunday night.  We had such a great time with them, it was a nice change of pace and I felt like I was on a typical backpacking trip and not hiking the PCT.  We played Password, caught up on life, swam in Timothy Lake and laughed A LOT.  By the time we reached Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood, they had both easily earned their trail names.  Beth is now TLC and Shannon goes by Road Runner. 

Lexi enjoying the view of Mt Hood

They took us into Goverment Camp so we could get food for our last 2.5 day stretch to Cascade Locks.  We also hit the Mt Hood Brewery for a tasty beverage and nachos! Then they drove us back up to the lodge, we said our good-byes and Midnight Chocolate, Wiggles (Lexi), Sleeping Dragon (Xena) and I set back off to get a few more miles in before the end of the day.

An easier creek crossing with the dogs on Mt Hood

We hiked around the west-side of Mt Hood, had another glacier river crossing with the dogs and made our way north towards the OR/WA border.  We had one night where it rained all night long, but thankfully we were all sleeping away in the tent before it started.  By the time we started hiking in the morning the rain had subsided, but the tent was soaked and we hiked in a cloud all morning.  Once we dropped down low enough we hit sunshine and were able to take a long break to dry out some of our gear. 

Hiking in a cloud after a night of rain

Heading down to Cascase Locks and the Columbia River

Yesterday we arrived in Cascade Locks!  My sister hiked in and met us on the trail which was fun.  It is a good feeling to see a familiar face hiking towards you.  After getting shakes in town, we drove to Portland, dropped of Katie and Xena and then my sister and I hit a brewery on our way to St Helens. First thing after I got home was to give my dirty dog a bath and then get myself clean.  Then I did my laundry...twice! I caught up with my parents, sister, bro-in-law, nieces and nephews that night and had a tasty home-cooked meal. It feels good to be back home, although a little strange knowing that we will be back on the trail in just over a day; our journey is not quite over just yet!

Don't Go Chasing Rattlesnakes

Our friends, Shannon and Beth, recently joined us for a few days from Olallie Lake to Timberline Lodge.  It was such a nice change to have them there and they promised to entertain us...boy did they ever!  They wrote this song on their road trip to and from Montana and sang (or rapped) it to us the first night.  They even did a second performance for a few of our other hiking buddies the next night.  Needless to say it was quite a success! 

With their permission of course, I got the words and they are below for your entertainment.  For those of you familiar with TLC's song, "Waterfalls," you can even get the right tune. Enjoy!


RATTLESNAKES.
(Sing to the tune of Waterfalls by TLC)

Midnight Chocolate
Crawling out of her sleeping bag
Eatin’ Hershey’s bars throughout the night.

If at anytime she’s in a jam,
Chocolate’s by her side,
But she doesn’t realize it hurts her so much.

She’s not getting all the protein she needs
Because she’s stockin’ up on sugars and fats.
So she goes out and she hikes the trail the best way she knows how,
A PCT Hiker eatin’ this and that.

CHORUS
Don’t go chasin’ rattlesnakes
Please stick to the trails and the maps that you planned on.
We know that you’re so excited Lexi and Xena are here,
But they think you’re movin’ too fast.

Cowgirl up ahead,
Clearing the trail,
Looking out for all her hiker homeys.

She’s got her best friend,
That’s important to know
But even so she still gets a bit lonely.

Every night she spends repacking her bag,
2,000 miles was a long way to go.
Another sunrise and she’s hittin’ the trail,
There could be cattle you may just never know.

{CHORUS}

Beth and Shannon
Have been waitin’ since April
For their friends to meet them on the trail.

They wake at sunrise,
Crossin’four state lines,
Pushin’ the Chevy to its’ max-mum potential.

They’re a little worried that their legs will give out,
‘cause their packing pounds of chocolate and wine.
They’ve promised that they’ll provide entertainment
In exchange for less miles/ more time.

{CHORUS}

2,000 miles down, 650 to go!

We left Elk Lake Resort with full bellies in the afternoon. The food and beer at the restaurant was fantastic! I had a wrap with a Worthy Stout from a brewery in Bend. During our time at the resort we ran back into our long lost friends, Muppet and Stilts. We first met them during our second week in Idyllwild and have met up a handful of times throughout this trip. We all hiked together out of the resort and camped that night in the same spot. It was great catching up with them and hearing the story of them getting engaged on top of Mt Whitney. They are doing some wedding planning while hiking and when Muppet's Mom asked what they wanted for their wedding food, Stilts replied with hot dogs and Muppet wanted Thanksgiving dinner...seems like they might need to think about some of their wedding plans once off the trail.

Our second night of this two night stretch we camped by Tumbleweed. He was an interesting guy to talk to...only 18, graduated high school early, was on his way to go pro in cycling but decided he was burnt out on the sport. He has a backpacking guitar and played for us while we hung out in the tent and wrote in our journals. It was a nice relaxing evening.

This stretch was very beautiful through Central Oregon. We went by the 3 Sisters, Obsidian Falls, Mt Washington and about 5 miles of lava fields. The lava was a pain to walk on and really wore on our feet. The doggies had vibram sole dog booties to help protect their pads.

The weather has been great the past few days, sunny with a light breeze. The dogs have been doing really well and are starting to get the routine down. Although their favorite time of day still seems to be bed time.

Today we crossed the 2,000 mile mark! With only 650 miles to go, it feels like we just started this trek yesterday. It is crazy to think this entire hike will be just memories and photos before we know it. Tonight we left Big Lake Youth Camp where we picked up our resupply and received another amazing care package! You guys have all been so creative, we love it. We got socks, Twinkies and "sex on the beach" shooters (see pic below). Awesome!

Two more things to note: My new favorite peanut butter is pictured below and another thing I miss are Q-Tips!

Pics from top to bottom: -Midnight Chocolate, Stilts and Muppet with South Sister in background -Obsidian Falls -Lava! -More lava fields -Tired Lexi -Organizing boxes at BLYC -My new fav peanut butter -Sex on the beach shooters!

Cowgirl, party of four

After three glorious days off, we hit the trail again. The cabin was so wonderful. To sum up the time there, it was a lot of eating, drinking, foot baths, showers, Boggle games and rest. I was able to spend some time with my parents, the 8 hikers that came throughout our time there as well as Midnight Chocolate's parents. Thank you so much Kathryn and Al for being such great trail angels!

I thought having three days off would make it hard to get back on the trail. I quickly got back in the groove of it again and have adjusted to being dirty and smelly. Now with each of us having a dog in tow for a few weeks, that means even more dirt and dog hair everywhere.

Oregon doesn't disappoint with weather as the first 4 days of our hike out of Diamond Lake were marked by thunderstorms. Most produced just a little bit of rain and we were done for the day and in our tent. However, one was a five hour event with rain and hail. Thankfully we were able to get in a drainage for the hail storm. The dogs were a little confused on what the big white balls were hitting their heads, but we managed to put a garbage bag over them and eventually all got under our Tyvek ground sheet. We attempted to keep going after the hail subsided, but when the rain didn't stop, we said screw it, and pitched the tent. We waited it out for three hours and then made our way a few more miles to where we were planning on camping for the night.

For those of you that don't know my dog, Lexi, she is terrified of thunder. Needless to say she has not just been physically exhausted, but mentally taxed as well during those storms. She really gets worked up, shaking uncontrollably and panting like crazy. When we arrived at out camp each of those stormy nights, she immediately wanted inside the tent and to be wrapped up in my puffy jacket or sleeping bag. Once inside and wrapped up, she proceeded to pass out for the night and did not come out of her "cave" until the morning. Hard to believe she likes this hiking stuff. Thank goodness dogs know how to truly live in the moment; the next morning she is excited as ever to hike again!

The stretch we just completed from Hwy 138 to Elk Lake Resort is 105 miles and took us 6.5 days. With the dogs both going from couch to trail, we figured averaging 16 miles a day would be nice to get them in hiking shape. I am not going to lie, I have enjoyed the extra time off my feet. The trail has been really nice with lots of lakes to camp or break at, although mosquitos are a problem.
Now onward to Big Lake Youth Camp for our next resupply. Then a few days later our friends Shannon and Beth meet us for a few days of backpacking from Ollalie Lake to Timberline Lodge! Oregon is flying by fast!

As I have lots of time to think and reflect, here are some of the things that I miss out here or take for granted...
-A picnic table to sit at instead of the ground
-A chair with a back
-A toilet you can/want to sit on
-Something carbonated to drink
-A garbage can to dump your trash
-Shade on a hot day
-Fresh fruits and veggies
-A plate to eat off of instead of out of a bag
-The smell and feel of fresh laundered clothes
-Wearing cotton clothing
-Shampoo AND conditioner

Trail stats after 118 days and 1959 miles:
# showers: 26
# loads of laundry: 17
# snakes: 24
# bears: 5
# days hiking in rain: 4
# pushups: 850
# nights not in a tent: 18
# chocolate milks: 14

Pics from top to bottom: -breakfast with hikers at the cabin -Mt Thielson -Lexi hiking away -tired doggies -Midnight Chocolate and Stilts at Elk Lake Resort

One tree, two tree, red tree, blue tree

We left Callahan's Lodge last Tuesday morning with our next goal being to get to Katie's parents cabin at Diamond Lake by Saturday at 5pm. We had 5 days and 125 miles to get there.

My new insoles felt better for my feet but still didn't do the trick. Thankfully since we are in volcano country, I found a pumice rock and have been using that on my calluses to help smooth them out and shave them down. That has helped a little, but is still not the magical fix I have been looking for. For now I am hoping rest and lower mileage days coming up will allow my feet to heal.

The first two days on this 5 day stretch were very smokey from the numerous fires in Southern Oregon. Even though the sun was out, the smoke was so thick you couldn't see the sun and the visibility was only about 100-200 feet at times. It was quite eerie to hike in. Thankfully it cleared up some over a few days to where we actually had views when we did get above the trees. The terrain has been more gentle than in California and we are in the trees a lot of the time. The temperatures have also cooled down considerably and it is much more comfortable to hike in this weather.

We once again caught back up with Gumby and Double-It!  Crazy to think we have known them now for over 100 days now. It is always fun hiking with them as it makes the miles go by faster. We got to catch up with stories we each have had over the weeks we have hiked apart. Of course this includes any good trail gossip out there like who has left or finished the trail, injuries, hook-ups, engagements, scary encounters, etc.. It is sort of pathetic how gossipy the trail gets and how fast news travels by foot (thanks in part to social media), but when it is all you have day after day you start to understand why.

The 3rd day we met Goose Burrito who hiked the trail back in 1977 and  again in 2003! He was car camping in the area and was at a road crossing helping out a few other hikers by giving them a ride to a resort nearby. It was fun hearing some of his stories and he gave all of us at the road each a cold frappuccino which hit the spot.

Our 4th day was fueled by thoughts of the rumored all-you-can-eat pizza at Mazama Village in Crater Lake NP. It was a mile off the PCT, but that was well worth it for "real" food in my mind.  The 4 of us got there in time for dinner only to hear from the waitress they have not had the pizza buffet in years and now only offer an all-you-can-eat soup and salad bar.  Although we were bummed about this news, we took advantage of fresh veggies, chili and cornbread and had no problems stuffing ourselves uncomfortably. We managed to waddle a couple miles back up the trail before calling it a night.

Our 5th day we got to Crater Lake and boy was it beautiful. The 2,000ft deep lake was as smooth as glass and ever so blue when we were there Saturday morning. The trail took us along the rim of the lake for a few miles, so we had great views of it all morning long. We hiked off and on with the group of people that were planning on joining us for the night at the cabin. The plan was to be at the highway by 5pm to get picked up to go to Diamond Lake, so all 7 of us ended up hiking within an hour of each other.

As we got closer to the highway, our cabin meeting place, thoughts of seeing my dog and parents as well as knowing I had 3 days of rest ahead of me helped make those last few miles fly by. The trail was flat but there were probably upwards of 100 down trees on the trail to negotiate. This made for a much slower go.

I was hoping my parents might be on the trail with my dog hiking in if they arrived early. Sure enough I spotted my Dad on the trail about a 1/2 mile from the road. My Mom and Lexi were heading back to the car, but we managed to catch up with them. I was super excited to see my dog and the reunion with her was better than I could have hoped. She remembered exactly who I was and sprinted right up to me wiggling her butt, licking my face and doing laps around me. It was quite cute...if only she knew she is about to be working her butt off hiking with me for the next couple weeks, then maybe she wouldn't have been as happy to see me!

Pics from top to bottom:
-Oregon trees and lots of them
-lava fields
-me by Devils Peak
-Crater Lake
-Lexi relaxing on the dock at Diamond Lake