PCT Days 120 to 129 - Epic Oregon Side Quests

Day 120

Despite the lava rocks chewing up our feet yesterday, all three of us were up in time to catch an amazing sunrise over the Oregon high desert to our west. The sky was generally pretty clear, but there was enough smoke off in the distance to diffract the early morning light into an incredible array of colors. We were all excited for the section today, since this was familiar territory for Anna and I, and because we figured that the lava fields and various buttes would be really cool to check out. We were also stoked to get into Bend, collectively one of our favorite places! The first 4 miles to State Highway 242 were all downhill and pretty cruisy. We walked along the side of a tall wall of pumice before entering fields of the stuff that went on as far as we could see. The highway itself was poured overtop of the vast fields. At the road crossing, we found somewhere to sit and had breakfast with the hope that a car might swing by and offer trail magic. No such luck. Afterwards, we knocked out a 900ft climb over loose round pumice where our little group of 3 spread out from each other since Bush was hauling uphill as usual, I was chugging my normal slow climb pace, and Anna was trying not to roll an ankle on the tricky rocks. The lava fields went on for a few miles before transitioning into the heavily burned out remnants of a forest. By this time, the sun had climbed fairly high into the sky, so we were getting cooked in the exposed rocky area. Anna and I regrouped after the lava rock, did the last climb together, and then took the detour over to check out Big Lake Youth Camp for lunch. We met a few other hikers there who were resupplying and knocking out laundry since they weren’t going into Bend or Sisters. Funny enough, someone had left a bunch of Rainier in the fridge as trail magic, so Anna and some of the others broke into those. While we were there, a cyclist riding the Oregon Timberline Trail popped in, and I picked his brain about route conditions, as it was a trail I had been considering riding for some time. Once we had cooled off, had lunch, and recovered from the heat, we headed back out to knock out the last few miles to Santiam Pass. Apparently, Bush had already gotten there and was having a tough time getting a hitch. The next 5ish miles honestly stunk and were pretty disappointing to me. It was pancake flat through a burned area, and the trail seemed to crisscross ORV and ATV trails, so we kept getting dusted. I was further disappointed because just to our west was Hoodoo Butte, one of my favorite ski hills, which is incredibly beautiful in winter, so I was devastated to see how bad the burn was just a ways to the east. I had only been there in the winter, and the burned forest has always been buried by snow or too far from the road and ski trails to see. 

Eventually, we made it to Santiam Pass (mile 2002.4) a bit after 2:30pm and found that Bush had already been able to get a hitch out. There was a considerable amount of traffic on the road, but it was all moving quickly, and there were no good berms or pullouts to hitch from. Anna and I made the decision to carefully walk against traffic towards the driveway for Hoodoo in an attempt to hitch more safely. Right as we threw our thumbs out and started walking up the road, a campervan pulled over and offered us a ride into town! The couple driving the van were former PCT hikers who had retired in Bend and were happy to drive us wherever. They even offered to stop in to Costco to grab hot dogs for us (although we passed because the heat had killed our appetites). As we drove in with them, we were stunned to see how busy the town was in the summer. Every time I had been there in the winter, it had always been fairly tame, so it was a bit of a shock. After sitting in traffic for a bit, they pulled up to Emma’s house, the trail angel we were staying with in town, and then hung around until we were able to get into the house. We said our goodbyes and then went inside and got acquainted with Emma, her three labradoodles, and her gorgeous house. We chatted for a bit and traded life stories before Anna and I excused ourselves to get cleaned up. Funny enough, Emma’s shower had a normal showerhead on one side and then a second detachable head on the other side for cleaning dogs! Once we were cleaned up, Bush, Anna, and I went out for burgers, beer, and shakes, and passed a massive mule deer buck just hanging out in the neighborhood! I stunned the other two by reading off Zillow listings for the surrounding houses to highlight just how expensive Bend had become in recent years on the way there and back. Once we got back to Emma’s, Anna went upstairs to watch a movie with Emma and the other hikers while Bush and I quietly decompressed downstairs. Eventually, a few of the others started to tuck in, so we turned off the lights and called it an early night.

Day 121

We were all dead from the past few days, so we ended up sleeping in a bit in our various cozy spots around Emma’s house. Once others started to stir, though, we got up and took full advantage of all of the cereal our amazing host had provided us. I scarfed down a few bowls of Fruit Loops, happy to have something different and sugary for breakfast. We played with the dogs for a bit, and then while we were cleaning up dishes, I ended up fixing the disposal since it just needed to be manually turned, and the breaker reset. While we were hanging out after and waiting for my friend Steven to text me, Emma walked in from the yard with Steven! Apparently, I hadn’t received his text because I was hanging out in the basement, so he was just standing around in her yard, and she thought he was a hiker! We said goodbye to Emma, thanked her for being an amazing host, and headed towards the Deschutes River to go tubing with Steven. On the drive over, I introduced him to Bush, we stopped off to grab drinks, and caught up a bit on life. Despite how warm it had been the past few days, it was remarkably cool and overcast, but we still decided to hit the river. Tubes inflated and drinks in hand, I hopped in and immediately froze my ass off in the snowmelt-fed river. Everyone else carefully climbed on top of their tubes, careful to only get as little of their bodies in the water as possible, and then the current carried us slowly downstream. Despite the cooler weather, most of the float was quite pleasant, and we had a good time hanging out, relaxing, and people watching. I hadn’t really spent much time with Steven in over a year, so it was great to spend time together. We passed dogs, ducks, geese, and overall just enjoyed the beautiful day. That is, until the current picked up and we started approaching the rapids. I handed my drink off to Anna and started swimming to drag our little group back into the main flow. Then, once we were lined up for the rapids, we untied and floated into them one at a time. Bush made it through easily enough, but the other 3 of us ended up drenched and with a substantial amount of water in our drinks. There was an access point after the rapids, and we were all shivering, so we decided to hop out there to warm up. When we got back to Steven’s car, we were devastated to find that someone had sideswiped the side mirror clean off the side of his new car. Thankfully, someone who lived across the street noticed it and made the car stop to leave their information. A bit bummed, Steven dropped us off at our Airbnb and then headed home to deal with insurance. Bush ended up staying in and ordering delivery for some dinner while Anna and I went back out to Wonderland Chicken for some spicy deliciousness. Stuffed and satiated, we headed back, got cleaned up, and Anna hit the hay. I watched an old episode of Top Gear and stayed up going over my Washington resupply list before crashing as well.

Day 122

Eager to knock our chores out early, we hit the ground running and grabbed breakfast at the Looney Bean around 8am. Afterwards, I hoofed it up to the main branch of the Bend Post Office and picked up a box containing my summer quilt and our repaired Durston tent. I also grabbed a bunch of flat-rate boxes for our resupplies. While I was out, Bush and Anna had ventured over to Bend Gear Fix and REI for a few of their own chores. Unfortunately, everyone was out of insect repellent, which meant I’d have to make a few extra stops. Once we were all back at the B&B and everyone had finished their shopping lists, we Ubered up to Costco and indulged in the food court before diving into the crowd there. I made out like a bandit getting all of my smoked sausages and most of my snacks there for dirt cheap. We grabbed 750 calorie chocolate chip cookies on our way out and continued on. 

I walked over to Sportsman’s Warehouse, where I grabbed a few more mats for the Thermacell to mail ahead. I then met the others at Dick’s Sporting Goods, where I finally replaced my disintegrating underwear and where Anna picked up a new, more breathable and comfortable outfit that was much cheaper than the exorbitant prices REI was charging. After Dick’s, I quickly popped into the health food place next door to see if they carried instant refried beans, and struck out. I then met the others at Trader Joe’s, where I stocked up on a month’s supply of instant chai latte. As we were checking out, Steven arrived and laughed at all of our bags of food. Still not done, he took us to Winco, where we grabbed the majority of what we were still lacking. Hilariously, Winco only takes debit or cash, and since Bush, Steven, and I could not remember our PINs, Anna had to cover us all. By this time, everyone was pretty burned out, so Steven and I dropped them off at the BnB and then continued to Walmart. I finally found my dehydrated beans there, but we still couldn’t find 2 items, so we made one last stop at Fred Meyer. All in all, we were able to locate everything except for picaridin lotion and chafe balm. 

Back at the B&B, Steven and I said our goodbyes, and then Bush, Anna, and I started on our food boxes. After a few hours, I took a break and cooked some steak frites, which I had picked up the ingredients for as a reward for going to two more stores. Anna and I had dinner on the back porch, and then finished up with our boxes. Finally done with the food, we watched Michael Clayton, which Anna promptly fell asleep to. I was pretty wired from how much I still needed to do, so I stayed up until around midnight going over my notes and fixing gear in preparation for tomorrow morning.

Day 123

Anna and I both woke up early in order to have enough time to finish packing and labeling boxes. Once I was satisfied with the status of my boxes, I ran over to REI right as they opened to see if I could pick up a new sun hoodie (since mine was shredded) and a few other incidentals that I wanted to mail ahead. Thankfully, they had everything in stock, so I was able to quickly be in and out. On my way back, it was already approaching 9am, and we still had quite a lot to do, not to mention that we had spent all of yesterday knocking out chores, so I floated staying an extra day by Anna and Bush. Unsurprisingly, they were both on board. I called up the owner and got a discounted extra night! Back at the BnB, I tracked down some breakfast and then finished up the boxes with Anna. Once Bush was ready, we grabbed an Uber and headed to the post office with our collective 15 boxes. While waiting in line, we ran into Chip and Trip whom we had not seen since Kennedy Meadows South, and chatted a bit while we waited in line. Once at the front, I happily shipped off our Washington resupply boxes, our Big Agnes tent (now that our Durston was back), and a whole slew of gear home that we no longer needed. Between swapping tents, swapping quilts, and sending excess gear home, I dropped nearly 3.5 pounds out of my pack and freed up a considerable amount of space!

Finally done with all of our chores, the three of us headed to Bend Brewing Company for a few celebratory drinks. We were just beginning to discuss dinner when Anna noticed that the Pine Tavern next door had happy hour for another 20 minutes! We rushed over and quickly made the most of their discounted food and drinks. Notably, Bush was excited that they had bottles of Cooper’s, a brand of Aussie beer.  Afterwards, Anna and I grabbed a pint of ice cream to bring back, I did a partial packup of my bag, and then we hung out and watched Inglourious Basterds. While we watched the movie, Anna traded texts with a few trail angels on Facebook and found us a ride tomorrow! After the movie, we were all quite relaxed and promptly went to sleep.

Day 124

We started the day by sleeping in, having McDonald's breakfast delivered, and watching Nathan For You. Since Anna had arranged a ride for us with a trail angel at 9am, we took advantage of the extra time to have a leisurely morning. At 9am on the dot, Granny Jan and her very young granddaughter, Austin, arrived and whisked us away from Bend. We had an awesome couple of days there, and I would be tempted to spend more time hanging out, but I also want to be done with the trail in a timely manner. On the drive up, Anna and Austin became quick friends and chatted the whole way back up to Santiam Pass. Meanwhile, Bush and I talked to Jan about the trail and what we do in everyday life outside of thru-hiking. A bit after 10am, we arrived back at the trailhead, said our goodbye, and started hiking. A little way in, we said bye to Bush since he is going to try and speedrun the section. 

The first few miles were smooth and sandy despite the burn scar around us and the 1600ft of climbing. The mosquitoes were mostly nonexistent, and the first 7 miles passed by pretty quickly. We passed our first sobo just after our first water source of the day, a pond that looks like it used to be picturesque before the whole forest burned to the ground. After we stocked up on water, we plugged in and listened to our audiobooks while we made our way up the next 1000ft climb. Due to the burn, there really wasn’t much in the way of wildlife to observe, but we did have amazing views of Mt. Jefferson. At Rockpile Lake, we stopped to grab water for the night, and we ran into Magellan and Pace Car, whom we had not seen since Crater Lake. We swapped a few tales and then headed on, eager to get out of the sun and find any shade to tent under. Around mile 2019, we found a good flat tent site with an amazing view after searching for a bit. Happy with the spot, we called it quits a bit after 5pm and quickly popped up our just returned Durston to escape the onslaught of mosquitoes. After having not been an issue all day, they came out of nowhere and swarmed us mid-pitch. Hopefully, they are not harbingers of what is to come… We’ve also just realized that we might have messed up the timing on our first resupply box. Woops!

Day 125

We got up just before an incredible Oregon sunrise through the smoky haze off to the east. Mt. Jefferson looked stunning in the warm hues highlighting its eastern flank. Pack up went incredibly quickly due to the simplicity of our trekking pole tent and because the mosquitoes were once again relentless. The first 10 or so miles of the trail flew by as we were rewarded with smooth trail and amazing views. We stopped a few miles in near Coyote Lake to have a few snacks and then pushed on. We made it to Milk Creek, our low point of the day, around 9:30am, and sure enough, the creek looked like it was full of milk from all of the glacial silt high up above. This was also the first water crossing since the Sierra, where we had to spend a few minutes looking for a dry crossing. Around this point, Anna and I discussed our Timberline Lodge stop and hammered out a plan for our poorly timed resupply box and for what we wanted to do while there. We then continued on, grinding up the 2600ft climb of the day. Pretty early on, the lush forest was once again replaced by a burn scar, which lasted most of the climb. When we got a brief respite in a stand of living trees near Whitewater Creek, we stopped to have some lunch and cool off. We discussed how surprising and sad it has been to see so much of the trail burned to ashes with nothing remaining. We’ve both been missing the green tunnel of the AT. Near a creek at mile 2036, we stopped to dump sand out of our shoes, and Anna pointed out a large mountain goat scampering off! From there, we finished our climb, already very tired from the sun exposure and the 20 miles we had already hiked. Unfortunately, the downhill still had a few annoying patches of snow combined with round pumice, so we were unable to speed up as we had anticipated. We were rewarded with a grand view of Mt. Hood off in the distance, though, which was inspiring. We continued to slip and slide our way downhill for a bit until the trail once again entered a massive burn area. Uninspired and with tender feet from the pumice, we hopped on the Horseshoe Saddle Trail at mile 2044 and road walked along Horseshoe Lake, Mono Lake, and Olallie Lake until we arrived at our destination, Olallie Lake Resort at mile 2048.7. By this time, it was around 6:50pm, and we were both pretty tired. Anna and I grabbed some drinks and snacks from the camp store, had dinner, and got the tent set up before the bugs started up. I took advantage of the lake and rinsed the ash off my legs before getting tucked in for the night. Surprisingly, there are a bunch of hikers here, but we do not recognize any of them. Maybe they’re a southbound bubble?

Day 126

Due to our long day yesterday, we slept in a little and enjoyed our nice, quiet spot. Around 6am, the others around us began to stir, so we packed up. I went and waited for the vault toilet as someone was in it, and at one point, I peeked around the corner to see if another bathroom was available. It was, in fact, the only one, so I came back and waited, and while I did, a line began to form. At one point, I went and knocked and got no response. Curious, I tried the door and it was unlocked. The previous user must have given me the slip while I looked for another! AC and Anna gave me crap for it, but it was still pretty funny. That all sorted, Anna and I hit the trail and quickly began to crank out miles. Unlike the previous days, most of today kept us in lush, shaded forests! Truthfully, other than seeing a large rabbit, nothing much of interest occurred. I had a brief moment of reception and found out to our disappointment that Timberline Lodge was booked out. The only other notable thing was that, while we were stopped to filter water at Warm Springs River, a massive tree fell right next to us! We stopped at what appeared to be an old, long-abandoned forest road at mile 2072.5, having done just over 24 miles for the day. We were both pretty tired from the heat and already comfortably close to Timberline Lodge, so we called it a day.

Day 127

We ended up getting two “neighbors” in the night, so we were careful to pack up quietly when we left around 5:20am. The air was actually blissfully chilly for once, giving me hope for a nice, cool day. Only a few miles in, we hopped on a forest road since it was more direct than the trail and because it took us by a vault toilet and a potable tap next to Clackamas Lake. At the campground, we saw a ton of horses and took our pictures next to the large PCT arch made of old trees. From there, we hiked some of the smoothest trails we’ve ever hiked around Timothy Lake. This area was also teeming with day hikers, trail runners, and weekenders, but surprisingly, everyone had good manners. After the quick 11ish miles of pancake flat hiking, we had a quick little 700ft climb up a ridge, where we were rewarded with an incredible view of Mt. Hood. I stopped briefly to take some pictures and have a snack before we pushed on. At the Highway 26 trailhead, we stopped to dump our trash and have a quick bite before we were offered a hitch into Government Camp by Ashwan. On the drive over, I came into service and learned that Timberline Lodge was booked out for the night and that the post office was closed on Saturdays, so we definitely could not get our resupply box. To make up for it, we had lunch at Charlie’s Mountainview bar, I had a large chocolate shake, we did laundry, and then grabbed a room at the Huckleberry Inn. The inn was a bit steep for one night, but we both badly wanted showers to wash the Oregon ash and sand off. Since we couldn’t get our box, we grabbed a few snacks to get us to Cascade Locks, and then called it a night early since I’m planning to ski tomorrow.

Day 128

I was dead tired when I finally went to sleep last night, so I didn’t set an alarm to get up early. Instead, the local high school track team, on their summer practice, decided to stretch loudly outside of our window around 4:45am… Once they finally left, I fell back asleep and stayed there until 7ish, when we roused ourselves and went out for breakfast. The line at the coffee shop was huge, and the inside looked chaotic, so we grabbed some breakfast sandwiches from the convenience store and brought them back to the room. I packed up quickly, scarfed down my breakfast, and barely caught the 8:40am bus up to Timberline Lodge. Safely on the bus, I chatted with Fish Hook, another hiker who was filling in missing sections from his thru-hike a few years back. We discussed how much friendlier hiking in the PNW has been and what our plans were after the trail. He even offered to host us if we were ever in Vancouver! An employee of the lodge also gave me a breakdown of where all of the skiing stuff was on the ride up, which ended up saving me from having to search around. Once we were dropped off, I threw my things in a locker, rented skis, and hopped on the chair. It was a little wonky loading in ski boots with my skis off, but not a problem. The first chair took me up to the loading area of the second chair, and for this one, there was ample snow, so I could load with the skis on. Finally, at the top of the Palmer chair, I skied my first run since March! I continued to ski for the next several hours, doing around 17,000ft of vertical and chatting up others on the lift. I met two older guys who had each skied well over 200 days this year! I also met some pros who were doing summer team practice. Around 1pm, my legs were starting to feel it, and the snow was getting crummy, so I called it a day. After I returned my gear, Anna and I hung out in the lodge for most of the afternoon and then set off and hiked a little way away to a quiet tent site at mile 2101.6, meaning this was technically a nero! I’m still stoked that I got to ski, and now I’m excited to wrap up Oregon!

Day 129

We were rudely awoken around 4:30am by some inconsiderate trail runners who ran by, blasting music on a Bluetooth speaker and yelling over said speaker. If I had been more awake, I would have given them a piece of my mind, but I was too tired, and they clearly weren’t worth it if they were already that clueless. I had largely slept like crap most of the night, so when Anna got up to make coffee, I kept my eyes shut for another 30 minutes. Despite that nonsense, we hit the trail around 5:30am and retraced our steps from our hike of the Timberline Trail last year. The Zigzag River in the sandy/ashy valley was spectacular and easy to rock hop compared to our wet crossing last year. We also had incredible views of the early morning light on Mt. Jefferson in the distance and the surrounding sky. The Sandy River was a bit trickier, but we still managed to find a nice log to cross the river dry. As the morning wore on, we began to pass more and more people out for day hikes or Timberline Trail hikes. Unfortunately, this also meant that we found loads of litter along the trail (which Anna always picks up unless it’s a biohazard). We arrived at Muddy Fork around 10am and realized that we had completely missed the side trail for Ramona Falls. Damn! We had enjoyed it last year, and we were looking forward to having a break next to it. Instead, we had a quick snack and rested on a mossy patch of ground in a gorgeous forest, before we crossed Muddy Fork via a downed tree and began the 1600ft climb afterwards.

On the climb, I quickly lost Anna ahead of me as I was dragging from my previous day of skiing. Needing an extra boost of motivation, I put in my headphones and listened to more of The Fellowship of the Ring while I ground my way up the steep climb. The forest around me remained beautiful with tall lodgepole pines and a thick carpet of moss on the ground. Now and then, the trees broke just enough to catch a dramatic view of Mt. Hood. As with all climbs, I eventually made it to the top and found Anna waiting there for me. I also saw Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and the tip of Mt. Rainier in the distance, symbolizing how close we were to familiar territory and home! Not wanting to lose momentum, we motored on until we hit Lolo Pass at mile 2117. There, we took advantage of a shaded picnic table to enjoy lunch. Unfortunately, it was partially spoiled by a new challenge: biting flies… Refueled, we hopped back on the trail and slowly made our way up the next 1000ft climb, stopping only briefly to filter water. At our last water stop, a very small but ice-cold trickle of a spring, we loaded up for the night and picked out a spot ahead. We then trudged on the remaining distance until we hit our target. We set up camp on an abandoned forest road near mile 2128.9, which was the only suitable spot along the ridgeline. We both still feel pretty good, but the next marked tentsite is 6.5 miles away and we’ve already done nearly 30 for the day. We’ve also set ourselves up nicely for a short day into Cascade Locks!