Day: August 17, 2016

Today was a very taxing day. It started out in mosquito hell, progressed to blow down hell, then went to rock hell, then finished off in a combo of mosquito and rock hell.  It was a 6:15 to 8:15 day with lots of small rest stops.  Twice today I wanted to stop and take a nap.  But I hit my target, I’m less than twenty miles from Crater Lake so I am hoping to have a good day tomorrow.

The other folks in camp were still asleep when I rolled out in the morning.  I could hear the mosquitoes buzzing outside the tent before I even got out.  But the long clothes and the head net were doing a good job, but hearing them buzz around your head still drives you nuts.  I tried some of the off spray I bought in Medford and it did seem to help a little bit.

I got to the spring about 9 am and the water was ice cold.  I had run out about fifteen minutes earlier, so I downed almost a full liter.  It was about ten miles to next water, so the two and a half liters I had left should do.  Onward ho.

After a few miles, the trail started getting cluttered with blown down trees scattered over the trail.  Some you could go around, some you could go under, some you could step over and some you had to climb over.  The picture shows a typical section.  It went on for somewhere between six and eight miles of this nightmare.  You could not go 100 yards before another blowdown.  50 yards was a more common interval between the obstacles.  I don’t know what my speed slowed to, but I’m sure it was under two miles per hour when it should have been three.  Not to mention the extra foot abuse and leg exertion.  I had to stop several times to rest.

It did finally end, only to turn into a rock scree nightmare.  My feet were already sore, so the rocks only added more abuse.  The trail climbed several peaks and some of them were totally burned out and would have been hot had their not been a good breeze blowing.  The view was quite nice, though.

On the back side of the peaks was the next water, and I ran out ten minutes before getting there.  This water was not as cold, but I drank a liter anyhow.  It was already past six by now and two miles ahead was last water for twenty miles all the way to Crater Lake.  I made it there and loaded up with five liters of water and headed out for three more miles to the next campground.

By now the mosquitoes were out in full force and the trail turned to typical park service gully full of rocks and tall steps.  Not what you want to walk on at the end of a trying day.  I did find other tentsites on the way to the one I was heading for, but there were always mosquitoes buzzing.  I was hoping where I was going would be drier and maybe have less of the flying Devils.  Nope, they were just as bad, but the campsite had good tent sites and lots of logs to sit on, so it was worth the extra effort to get there.  And it was vacant, too, so no having to worry about waking other people either at night or in the morning.  And passing the 1800 mile milestone at the end of the day did perk me up a little bit.

Today was a fun day.  I woke up fairly early and made good time in the morning on moderate terrain, went to a cabin for lunch where trail magic had just run out, endured six miles of rocks, then ran across fantastic trail magic, and finally headed up the mountain for a little night hiking under the power of a full belly.

Despite a lazy wake up, I was out at 6:15 after listening to much music.  The days are definitely getting shorter, and morning seems to be the end really getting the short end of the stick.  It seemed in the desert, that it got light quickly, and now the morning seems to drag on slowly getting light.  Once I get to Washington, I will probably have to start hiking in the dark for at least thirty minutes just to be able to make the miles I need to do to finish before the snows hit.  Joy.

I had camped just a few miles from a state park campground, so I headed there on the side road parallel to the trail so I could use their facilities.  Sometimes, even using a pit toilet is a joy compared to using a cat hole.  The campground looked deserted, I guess not many people like to camp on Sunday night.  I also got rid of my trash which included a beer bottle that I was eager to get rid of.  I also topped off my water.

I didn’t see very many people in the morning, but I did see a few people that I leapfrogged with a little bit.  Water was about ten miles apart most of the day, so I filled up at every good water source.  The one in the morning was a very cold and high flowing pipe spring.

There was a cabin that could be used as a shelter at a distance that I would hit at about 1 PM.  I was sure it had a picnic table, and I had heard there was trail magic in it.  I stopped at 11:30 to rehydrate my refried beans and eat a snack, then tried to pick up the pace to get there by 1 PM.  It was not to rugged, so I was able to make it on time.  When I got there, the picnic table was in full sun, and the trail magic was all gone.  Too bad, because it was Coca Cola and Gatorade – the two best trail magics to find.  Oh well, I made lemonade and two burritos and filled up on water again.  By the time I left, eight hikers or so had congregated there.  I went ahead and left shortly after 2 so I could knock out as many miles to Crater Lake as I could.

There was a road about two tenths of a mile from the cabin, and as I crossed the road, a car pulled up and stopped right at the trail.  I was sure it was the trail angel coming to restock the trail magic, but I could not afford an hour delay hanging around to get a coke.  But boy would a coke have tasted fantastic right then.

Shortly after that, the trail got very rocky.  It was the sea of lava rocks you see in the picture paved with smaller lava rocks.  It came in seas of 200 yards with short 100 yard dirt intervals.  The small rocks had a way of finding the sorest spot on your foot and pressing right on it with all your weight.  It was quite painful at times.

After checking the map and coming to the realization that I had about six miles of this wonderful terrain all the way around a dead volcano, I decided to stop and make coffee.  I was beat and it was only 4 PM, but the coffee did its magic and I was able to pick up the pace.  The lava paving rock also got easier as it was overlaid with dirt on the final three miles.

When the rocks finally ended, the trail popped out on highway 140.  There was a resort two miles to the west.  The thought of a real dinner and some rest crossed my mind.  I vetoed the idea and crossed the road to get water at the stream across the highway. 

As I approached the stream, my eyes got wide.  There was another hiker and two angels parked there and they had quite a spread.  They offered me a coke and a cup of ice.  Score!  I sat in a chair to drink the coke, and she kept bringing me food.  Corn on the cob, a hot dog, chili and cheese on Fritos, beef and rice stroganoff, buttered bread, cookies, candy bars.  They also had wine, beer, other sodas, and watermelon.  For some reason, no one opted for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I’m not the only one sick of peanut butter.

I sat there for an hour eating until I was truly full.  It was a fantastic feeling.  The angels were a couple that worked at the resort down the road who had the day off and liked to come to this spot and cook for hikers.  They planned to come back for breakfast, but I wanted to get in more miles before dark to make getting to Crater Lake easier the day after tomorrow.

I thanked the angels and headed up the next climb.  By the time I left, there were at least eight hikers there.  There was a campsite three miles ahead that I could get to before dark, and another one a mile and a half further that I would not get to until after dark.  I went to the first one and it was occupied and the ground all around covered with dead trees.  Time to move on to the second one. 

I pulled out the headlamp and hiked for maybe twenty five minutes in the dark before coming to the second one, which was also occupied.  This one was larger and had more flat spots so I was able to find a great spot about eighty yards from the other hikers.  Perfect.  I set up camp and only ate a light snack since I had eaten so much four miles ago.  I was in bed by 9:35, not too bad for a busy day.  And I was able to complete over 30 miles for the day, which helps chisel away at Crater Lake.  Now to repeat the performance tomorrow.  Sleepy sleep time.

Don’t freak out at the title, I don’t know that this little guy was Rabid, but he wasn’t right in the head, I can tell you that.  I don’t know if this is the West coast version of the fox squirrel that we have on the east coast, but he didn’t seem very bright.  He ran on the trail for hundreds of yards just five feet in front of me and kept stopping and looking back.  He looked like he was having a hard time breathing.  I was finally able to get around him and motor on down the trail.

The cowboy camping session last night went well.  It didn’t rain on me, I didn’t roll into the grass, and no little creatures tried to snuggle with me.  I woke up, ate breakfast in bed, then rolled out about 6:15.  The hiker hobble was bad, and it was all uphill, so it took while to get up to full speed.

There were some moderate climbs as the trail wound around pilot rock.  This part of Oregon looks alot like northern California but with more grasses instead of just dead earth and rocks.  There are hot open stretches, and pine groves, and stands of oaks as well.  There was a decent breeze, and the all gray clothing was not hot at all.  There were a few times where the sun was beating full down on me that I could tell the gray was a little hotter than the white, but it was barely noticeable.  The hot stretches were only a few minutes and I never felt the urge to pull out the umbrella.

There were lots of hikers out on the trail today.  I passed or was passed by about eight thru hikers and passed one southbounder who gave some good Intel on everything in Oregon.  I also saw at least a dozen day hikers, which is about par for a Sunday.

I stopped for lunch a little early to try out the dehydrated refried beans.  I added water straight to the bag without heating it.  It took about fifteen minutes to fully rehydrate, but they finally did and they were pretty decent.  I might try to rehydrate early tomorrow and let them sit in a zip lock for an hour while I am hiking.  The burritos were good, but I’ll put more cheese in them tomorrow.

The terrain today did seem a little more level than the previous few hundred miles.  Maybe there is something to the myth that Oregon is flat, but there are still plenty of climbs.  It’s too early to tell at this point, since I have only been in Oregon for a few days.  The mosquitoes are not bad yet, but I understand that North of Crater Lake they will kick in.  I bought fresh bug spray in Medford, so I am ready for them.

I hiked until about 7:30, stopping at a saddle that I found some flat ground on.  The next tentsite is three miles further, but since I didn’t really get rest in Bedford, I could use a little more rest tonight.  I made dinner and had the beer I got from a trail magic cache last night.  It was Caldera Lawnmower Lager.  It was pretty decent, even warm.

With two long days, I should be able to make a short day to Crater Lake so I can resupply, get some food, and make the rim trail before dark.  Camping is not allowed on the rim trail, so I need to be sure I can start it early enough to be clear of it before dark.  I could have hit a resort today at about 5 PM, but it seemed weird thinking of taking a day off just one day out of town.  It didn’t sound cheap, either.  Better to just keep going and rest in Bend or Portland if I need to.  Crossing my fingers that I’ll have some extra time to spend in Bend.