Author: Jim

Another big milestone today, as Oregon is now complete and I am finally in Washington.  This is the first time I have set.foot in Washington, so this is really two milestones for me.  Kevin has headed on to Portland and I’m on my.own again.

We woke up at our usual time of 6:30 and had a quick breakfast and cold coffee and headed out by 7:15.  The evening was much warmer than the previous two nights and I slept like a baby all night.  We camped at the perfect spot.  It was just about a mile short of where all the waterfalls begin in the canyon.  We were facing eight miles of waterfalls then two miles on a bike path into town.  Today should be epic.

Right off the bat we come to a decent sized waterfall which we never learned the name of.  Even if it had been the only one, it still would have made the trip worthwhile.  But it was not the only one.  The very next waterfall was tunnel falls.  They have carved a path behind the waterfall so you walk behind it.  The canyon here is very tall and very steep.  I’m not sure how high this fall is, but it has to be well over a hundred feet.  Most of the canyons here are about six hundred feet deep and to think the tallest point.in Florida is just over half of that.  You could stack two Floridas in this canyon.

We kept on trucking down the canyon and the falls just never stopped.  I didn’t bother to count them but there must be about a dozen that are over fifty feet and many dozen small ones along Eagle creek.  We stopped to look at every one of them.  One pool that was not far from tunnel falls was a wide deep and rectangular pool that looked just like a swimming pool.  If it were not 8 am and cold, it would have been a great.place to take a swim.

The closer we got to the end of the trail and the trailhead, the day hikers got thicker and thicker.  The last quarter mile we would pass a group about every one or two minutes.  The parking area was huge and we stopped to look at the display at the salmon hatchery before heading out on the bike path.

Once on the path, we picked up the pace, as there was less to look at.  The path is apparently the old highway from the teens.  It was well graded and wound around the trees.  We saw a few cyclists on the path, but no other hikers.

We finally.made it  into Cascade Locks just after noon and after a quick break in a park to rest our feet, we headed straight across the railroad tracks to the local brewery.  They had an eight beer flight, which I got, and baby back ribs on special, which I also got.  The beer was decent.  I was not a big fan of their dark beers, and they had only one IPA, but it was a good one.  The food was also good.

I ran over to the grocery store while Kevin waited for his friend from Portland to come and meet us at the brewery.  The store was well stocked, and I was able to get everything that I needed.  By the time I returned and got everything packed, she pulled into the parking lot.  We chatted a bit, then the two of them accompanied me across the bridge of the gods across the Columbia river.  I was able to cross for free, but the two of them had to pay a $1 toll to walk across.

Once on the Washington soil, we said our goodbyes and they headed back over the bridge.  I headed north into the woods again.  It had been hot in town, and there were many open sections on the climb away from town that were also hot.  But in the trees the temperature was much more pleasant.  After two days of coolness, I had almost forgotten what it was like to sweat.  Almost.

I chugged along probably.only six miles or so out of town before finding a camping area with nice stumps to sit and cook on.  I found a spot for my hammock about forty yards further in the woods and set up quickly then went back to the stumps to cook.  

Taking over a week off has made me soft and slow, but it’s just now starting to feel normal again.  Yesterday afternoon I was stiff, but today alot of the muscle pains have worked themselves out.  The feet are a bit more sore today, though.  I look forward to having a full day in the woods tomorrow to get my groove back groovin.  But for now, I am hoping for another night of grade A sleeping.

We had a very chilly morning of hiking, took a sun break in the afternoon, and hiked towards three more volcanoes.  This picture is from a second break on the ridge before descending to Eagle creek.  If you look carefully, you can see Mt St Helens to my left, Mt Rainier in the middle, and Mt Adams to the right.  All while Mt Hood is beind me.  I hope none of them decides.to erupt this week.
We got up at 6:30, ate breakfast, made some cold coffee, and were off at 7:15.  The night was cold, but not windy so it was not that bad.  The morning still had a brisk chill in the air.  I started hiking with my rain jacket on for warmth.  My gloves stayed on until nearly 2 PM.  We had to stop for water about thirty.minutes into the morning hike and the water felt even colder with the chill in the air.

We could hear logging in the distance and could tell they were using helicopters in the operation but we could never actually see them.  We got many good views of Mt Hood looking backwards.  There was more.climbing in the morning but nothing ridiculous.  We snacked all morning but we were both hungry most.of the morning so we stopped shortly after 11:00 for lunch.  I ate my tuna wraps and Kevin age his sausage and cheese wraps.  We were still cold so we moved.on pretty quickly.

Around 1 PM we hit a rock field in the sun, so we stopped and layed out on the rocks like snakes to soak up some sun and warm up.  We rested there close to an hour and both of us probably dozed off at one point or another.  We both got nice and toasty.  Just thirty.minutes later we hit another clearing with rocks and juniper ground cover.  Kevin was able to get an AT&T signal so we stayed there about a half an hour while he checked email and such.  

We had a fantastic view of the three mountains to the north of us.  All of these volcanoes look alike except for Mt St Helens, which is missing the top thousand feet or so.  I was not sure if the one in the middle was Ranier or not, but the maps cleared up any doubt.  But Adams is the closest.one and the one I will visit next.

After leaving that.clearing, the trail started descending, so this is the last brand view for a few days.  We decided to go ahead and take the Eagle creek alternate trail into Cascade Locks.  It is supposed to be alot more scenic than the official PCT.  But the first two miles are supposed to be a doozie of a descent.  And the rumors are true.  The first two miles are quite steep but not as rocky as the rumors had indicated.

We got down to the creek level in under an hour and the trail got much easier then.  There are lots of creeks to see, and some sort of waterfall about every thirty minutes.  The forest is pretty thick but the mosquitoes are not. 

We picked our campsite and made camp.quickly.and immediately cooked dinner.  We both ate quite a bit today and dinner was no exception.  Even though we did not do big miles today, we are both getting a little stiff from the ramp up.  We both turned in before dark and plan to get up at 6:30 again to try to make the last 10 miles into Cascade Lock’s for lunch.  Kevin will be meeting a friend to.or foe for more day hiking and I will probably resupply and head out before dark.  I doubt I will be able to complete the climb out of the Columbia gorge tomorrow, but I should be able to put a decent size dent in it.  I just hope I am not too sore tomorrow.  I need to make tracks as best I can to about snowfall in Washington.

It was quite cold and windy all night and it was hard to sleep, but the wait for breakfast was worth it.  And most of the days hiking was quite exceptional with lots of good views of Mt Hood as we circled around it.  It may not have been a big mile day, but it was a full day.  And Kevin says you knuckleheads at Tipples better not be running the course backwards tonight.

We had planned on getting up at 6:30 so we could be packed and ready to roll before the breakfast opened at 7:30.  So I start rolling around exactly at 6:30 and I find Kevin is already packed up and ready to go.  He got up at 6:00 and was ready to roll.  I got ready as quickly as I could and we wandered down to the lodge to charge phones and get some coffee.

We got to the dining room line just as they opened and got seated near a window.  The valleys all around us were rolling with clouds in an undercast day.  The buffet once again did not disappoint.  I did not have any pastries last time, but did on this visit and they were quite exceptional.  We had our fill and got back to the campsite to get our packs and get rolling.  We set off at about 8:45 waddling down the trail with full stomachs.

The trail circled the mid base of Mt Hood to the west.  We weaved in and out of gullies and canyons sometimes with bare rock and sometimes in thick pines.  It seemed like every twenty minutes there was another spectacular view of something.  Every time we thought we had left.Mt Hood we would somehow get another view of it.  It will probably take a week to get away from this thing.

We took the alternate trail to Ramona falls since it was close by and were not disappointed.  It was a very tall waterfall and cascaded all over the place.  We took an extended break there to eat and take in the view.  It was quite crowded with lots of day hikers from a nearby trailhead.

We found a campsite at a road crossing that actually had a picnic table so that was a good enough reason to stop.  We talked with two other hikers also camping there and cooked dinner on the picnic table.  This area had rain last night so everything is wet.  Having a nice picnic tabke is a nice convenience.  Taking a week off has gotten me hooked on furniture again.  I need to kick the habit.

After another long day of travel, I’m back at the Timberline Lodge after they had several days of rain but the forecast for the next few days is sunny and cool.  It can live with that.  Just a few days after I left last week and up until this morning, they have had bad weather here with lots of rain and general unpleasantness.

I hopped on an early.flight from Gainesville and made it to Portland before lunch.  But I have company this time.  Kevin decided to try his hand at this hiking thing, so he flew out with me and will hike fifty miles to cascade locks.  We spent the afternoon grabbing lunch, getting fuel for the stove, and getting food for him for the next four days.  We missed the 3:25 bus and then got on the wrong connecting bus from Gresham to Sandy and ended up going back towards the airport.  We got off quickly and ended up taking an Uber to the Sandy transit center instead of waiting for two more busses to get us there.

Once in Sandy, we grabbed.dinner at a local pizza joint then nearly missed the last bus while hunting out for wet wipes.  But we made it in time, with a few minutes to spare.  We made our bus and got to the Timberline before dark.  We immediately set up camp then headed for the lodge for a beer.  The temperature here feels like thirty even though it’s only in the high forties.  I discovered I left my air mattress at.home, so I’ll have to sleep in my fleece to stay warm tonight.

What a sad and happy day today.  Sad because this phase of the journey is over when my momentum is high, and happy because I made breakfast on time and I got to spend some time brewery hopping with a former coworker, Steve.

I had set an alarm for 5 am just to make sure I didn’t oversleep and good thing I did, because when it went off, I was dead asleep.  It was still pitch black, so I listened to music for twenty.minutes before rousting.  It was 6:20 by the time I had finished breakfast and set out on the trail, so it was pretty much usual time.  But this morning it seemed darker than normal.  Maybe it’s the shortening days, maybe it’s thicker woods, maybe it’s both.

The morning was cool, and the hiker hobble had me going pretty slowly downhill to the road about a mile away.  it was a pretty busy highway and I had to boogie across it quickly.  Traffic was coming from both directions even before 7 am.

After the road, the trail was officially on Mt Hood now.  It was a five mile uphill climb all the way to the Timberline Lodge.  By my best guess, I should be there by 9 am.  The trail was steeper than normal but not a bad climb, but I did generate alot of sweat.  There were two water sources on the way up, but I had enough water to get there without any more.  I did get hungry on the way up, and had to stop for a Clif bar.

About a mile and a half from the lodge, the trail popped out of the woods and went straight up an arm between two canyons.  The trail here was very soft sand and it was like climbing a giant hill on the beach.  It was a very tough climb and so demoralizing being so close to the lodge.

When I got to the top of the hill, the trail was actually above the Lodge.  It went right around back into a small section of trees that were a designated campsite for the trail, just 300 yards from the lodge.  I am sure none of the guests had any idea they were so close to a small village of homeless hiker trash.

I made my way down to the lodge and set my pack outside one of the back doors and cooled off for a few minutes.  I changed into my town shirt and went inside.  I had to wait about ten minutes to be seated in the dining room.  They like to keep all the hikers together and I sat with two other hikers.

The buffet was everything I had hoped and dreamed for.  Eggs, sausage, ham, potatoes, fruit, granola, yoghurt, waffles, and pancakes.  The coffee was good, but the food was better.  I only had two plates since this is a meal after a hike and not loading up for more hiking.  I was quite hungry by the time I was seated.

Next up was to check on the bus schedule.  I had just missed the last.morning bus and would have to hit the first afternoon bus at 2:45.  I had called Steve about a week back, and he invited me to stay with him, so after figuring out all the connecting busses, I texted him with my estimated arrival time.  It worked out almost perfectly because he works near the airport and would get off work about an hour before the last bus made it to the transit center.

I made all my connections and all the busses were on time, so Steve was right there when I arrived.  It’s been at least five years or so since I had seen Steve when he came to Florida and we went tubing down the Itchitucknee river.  I’ve gotten gray and he looks.exactly the same.

We hit two breweries downtown and had appetizers at both of them.  We got flights and all the beers were good.  One was a raspberry radler and it was quite tasty.  I still can’t believe there are 84 breweries in this town.

We went back to his house and chatted a while, before showering and starting a load of laundry.  Getting clean never gets old.  Tomorrow I will do my chores in town and fly out of Portland before dawn the day after.  So this is the last blog entry for the next nine days.  You’ll have to go back to reading about the Trump/Clinton election for your entertainment for a while.  Enjoy that.

Another long day today trying to get within striking distance of the Timberline Lodge for the breakfast buffet.  I should have stopped early and rested up, but the thought of having to eat lunch instead of a buffet breakfast just wasn’t sitting well with me, so I hiked close to an hour in the dark to be within 6 miles for a quick morning jaunt to Nirvana.

I had a really good camping spot last night.  All of the other spots that were right after where I stopped were not nearly as good.  I was out at 6:20 and inspected each tentsite I encountered and was glad I stopped where I did.

The entire day was in heavily wooded forest that was very shady and cool.  Even in the few open areas I encountered where the sun was very hot, a breeze was around most of the day to cool things off.  Even though there were several big climbs throughout the day, they seemed to just whisp by quickly.  Perhaps the coffee I made at 8 am to ensure that I did not drag my feet had something to do with it.

A very large lake was the prominent feature for the day.  The trail went half way around it for several miles with a nicely shared and nicely flag trail.  The far end had ice cold springs pouring into it so I filled up and made another batch of coffee to see how close I could get to the Timberline.  That batch helped, too.

The other prominent feature was a horse camp near the lake and I saw three couples riding horses on the trail.  On the entire previous 2000 miles, I only saw one other couple riding horses (with a mule in tow).  The trail was covered in road apples all the way around the lake and many trails leading into or away from it.  Popular place.

At about 6 PM the trail popped out on a ridge and Mt Hood came into view for the first time all day.  We were close enough now that I could actually make out the lodge.  I was twelve miles away via trail, and probably less than eight as the crow flies.  I also got good cell signal for the first time since leaving Bend.

There was flat terrain three to four miles ahead, which would put me eight to nine miles from the lodge.  That would have me at the lodge at about 11 am if I left at 6 am.  When I got to the flat area, it was pretty heavily forested with lots of dead trees.  The camping was not good, and I was feeling good, so despite it being 8 PM and almost dark, I decided to go to the next pass and trailhead which was only six miles from the lodge.  I was well fueled and hiking quickly.  There was a bit of climbing, but it whisped by quickly.  As I was getting near to the road crossing and pass, the number of tents in the woods increased.  I was not the only one trying to get there for breakfast.  I found a level spot on the ridge and cleared the twigs and set up camp just after 9 PM.  I am now seven miles away.  The next mile is a descent, but the last six are all climbing, so it will still take at least three to three and a half hours in the morning.  I’m pretty sure coffee will be required.  An alarm might be required, too.  Breakfast is served from 7:30 to 10:30 so I should have enough time to make it.

The whole reason for all this fuss about breakfast is that the lodge is very fancy and very expensive.  But their breakfast is a buffet and only $15, which might sound like alot, but it’s cheaper than lunch and their breakfast is supposed to be the best on the entire trail.  I wouldn’t want to miss out on that, would I?

A long day today that started out much tougher than I was expecting.  I usually have twelve to fourteen miles in by noon, but I only had barely over ten today.  The morning was spent climbing over a pass to enter into the Mt Hood wilderness.  And right at the boundary was the first real view of Hood.

I got up about the normal time and listened to music a little longer than normal and the bagels this morning were everything bagels and not presliced so I had to get up and out of the tent to eat breakfast.  I think I was on the trail about 6:30.

The morning was very cool and breezy.  And since the trail was on the west side of Mt Jefferson, it was also very shady with no direct sun.  Jefferson is a pretty big mountain with lots of snow still on it, so the two streams we had to cross were not trivial, since they were full of raging snowmelt.  Pat had said to try to cross them in the morning when there was less snowmelt, but I don’t think it helped.  I didn’t get wet on either one, but I did have to go upstream sixty yards or so to find rocks I was comfortable crossing on.

Later in the morning, the trail split off of Mt Jefferson and kept climbing to the next butte to get over a pass to get to the Mt Hood wilderness area.  It was probably 10 am when I hit the pass and the view was incredible.  You could see Mt Hood immediately to the north, Adams to the left of it, and St Helens further left.  These volcano mountains stick out like a sore thumb among the others.

The trail down the pass was steep and rocky and passed a large snow field.  There were multiple trails down and it was easy to avoid the snow, but it was hard figuring out which was the real trail.  The trail finally got back down to the woods and got a bit easier again.  It also started passing many lakes, large and small.

I stopped for lunch a little early the side of a lake because I needed to stop for water.  There were several other hikers there eating as well.  More hikers came as some left so there was always a small number of hikers there the whole time I was there. 

It was six miles to Lake Ollalie Resort where I planned to stop and have a coke.  I didn’t need any food, but coke is like crack cocaine to a hiker.  Those six miles took forever.  I have no idea why, but I was slow as molasses all morning and afternoon.

I finally made it to the resort store, which was a quick five minute walk off the trail.  They had no power in the store, but had a refrigerator and freezer that I am guessing ran off of propane.  They had a small solar panel to run credit cards.  I got two cokes and a snickers.  Those went down quickly, so I had to add a Pepsi and a whole tube of Pringles.  And why not get a Klondike bar as I leave?  My coke stop got quite substantial, but it did the job because I was hiking much faster all afternoon and into the early evening.

When I finally stopped for water, it was seven and several other hikers had also stopped.  I was planning to go until about eight, but the terrain afforded no campsites so I had to go until about 8:45 before I found a good campsite.  Walking thirty minutes in the dark is not that big deal, and did put me close to 28 for the day despite a slow start.

The Timberline is now 39 miles away, which probably puts it a tiny bit too far to get to for breakfast on Monday.  I’ll see if I can do more than 30 tomorrow to put me less than eight for Monday morning.  The next two mornings I need to get early starts to be able to have a chance.  I might need to start cutting music time a little shorter.  These are the sacrifices I have to make to make the miles.

I was able to make some good miles after an early start and moderate terrain.  The morning was mostly burn area, but the scenery was entertaining and kept getting better as the day wore on.  Most of the late afternoon and early evening was heavily forested.

Pat got up before 5 am so he could get me out on the trail before he had to go to work.  Molly was ready to play as usual, but we got ready and got rolling before 5:30 and I was out on the trail at my usual time at 6:20.  I saw several people within the first mile which surprised me.  In fact I saw probably two dozen people throughout the day.  It is the beginning of the weekend, after all.

The morning was all burn area.  Pat said that it burned the day George Bush showed up to town, so everyone blames the fire on George Bush.  Hilarious.  Three Fingered Jack was the first mountain to climb.  The top is very rocky and crumbly, but the PCT only went about half way up.  There were a few spots with trees and I found a good one with excellent rocks for sitting, so I stopped for first lunch there.

The next several hours were also burn area, but the scenery kept getting better as Mt Jefferson came into view and we also went around the side of it about half way up it.  The ponds in this area began to get bigger and a few snowmelt streams began to show up, too.

On my break for lunch number two, I ran across three brothers and their brother-in-law out for a weekend jaunt.  They were very nice and one of them I told him that he looked like Tim Tebow.  They laughed and then the conversation turned to football.  I saw them again at the next lake where they were all swimming and one of them invited me to camp with them.  I enjoyed talking to them so much that I would have, but I needed to do ten more miles since I’m on a time table now to get to Portland in time to fly back for the wedding in Pennsylvania.  They looked like they had fun when they got together.

I kept hiking until nearly 8 PM and found a decent campsite near a stream that had lots of blowdowns to sit on for cooking.  There are a few mosquitoes but not enough to make it annoying.  I cooked a black bean and corn dish, ate my usual tuna packet, had a few nuts, then mango cookies for dessert.  The feet were getting sore the last hour, but my left ankle was bugging me since about noon.  Taking time off always brings new pains.  I hope tomorrow goes as smoothly as today.

I had a nice easy day today going into town to buy food for the last four days of this part of the trip.  Relaxing and resting was the name of the game today.

I’m not sure what time I got up today, but it was well after six.  I watched news with Pat for a short bit and he made us coffee.  I have really enjoyed not hearing what is going on in the election circus.  Pat headed off to work and I went to work on the gear.  I got my laundry going and then watched some news with Kelly.  More news than I’ve watched in three months.  After getting the laundry into the dryer, Kelly let me borrow her truck to go into Bend for grocery shopping.

Bend has grown since the last time I was here, but everything is still recognizable.  First stop was a bakery to grab a cinnamon roll.  I got an apple walnut raisin one and it was excellent.  Next was Trader Joe’s.  They have so much interesting stuff there that it’s hard to get out of there without buying too much.  I got most of what I needed there, but still needed lunches and tuna.  Food For Less was next door and I was able to get everything else right there.  I still had some time, so I decided to look up a brewery that a hiker had told me to visit in Bend, the Goodlife brewery.

I found the brewery after a little searching and had to search more for the tasting room.  I ordered a flight and they were all pretty good.  They had food, but I didn’t feel like eating there, so I left.  But right outside was a food truck with BBQ.  I got a pulled pork sammich and it was pretty decent.

I headed back and Pat was already home.  We chatted as I packed the food bags and we had to sample all the interesting dried fruits I had gotten at Trader Joes.  We tried the coconut cashews, dried mandarins, and freeze dried mangoes.  The fruits were good, but the nuts were just OK.  Everything was packed and ready to go.

One of Pat’s neighbors came over to chat about the PCT.  He had lots of questions and it was fun answering them.  With all the visitations done, it was time to get down to business.  One of Pat’s climbing buddies had opened a brewery and Pat had done the heating and chilling work for them, and they named one of their beers after him – Pat Kat Porter.

So we headed down to the Juniper Brewery to have some Pat Kat Porter.  They had flights of 4, 7, or 12 beers, so I got the 7 and made sure to get some Pat Kat.  It was pretty dark and closer to a stout than a porter, but it was good.  The others were good as well.  We went back into the brewery area and saw all of Pat’s handiwork.  They were a 2 barrel operation, which is quite small, but better to start out too small than too big.  Brewery equipment is not cheap.

We headed to a burger joint for a quick bite then back home.  We had an early wake up to get to the trail by dawn, so it was just brief chit chat before heading to bed.  In the picture, Pat is holding his boot from his Appalachian Trail hike that his mother had bronzed.  He and I both have nearly all the equipment we hiked with in the eighties, but I don’t have any footwear from that period other than one pair of boots identical to the ones I used back then, but will probably never use again.

I’m glad I was able to get Pat’s number and was able to get ahold of him.  It was a really great visit and it was nice catching up on what each of us has been doing for the half of out lives that we have missed.  He has been out here doing all the skiing and rock climbing that I expected that he would be doing out here.  All things that I would have loved to do as well.

Had a nice cool morning walk without too much moon rock, but it was through a very large burn area.  My friend, Pat, from Jacksonville, took off work early to come all the way out to Santiam pass to pick me up and we had a nice lunch at a brewery in Sisters, then he took me back to his place and we had dinner with his girlfriend.  It’s been a very good day.

This morning was not as cold as yesterday, despite being at a higher elevation.  I slept in a little, but still managed to get out at 6:30.  There was some more lava rock to walk, but my spirits were higher and my feet a little more refreshed.  I saw only four hikers all morning, and about eighty percent of the forest was burn area.  The few areas that were not burned just pointed out how fantastic the forest used to be here.  Fire ruins an area for decades.

I was eager to get a cell signal to be able to text Pat and let him know my ETA at Santiam pass.  I had told him yesterday that I thought it would be around 2 PM.  But the morning was going so smoothly that it looked like it would be closer to noon.  All of the cell towers were to the east, but the trail was on the west side of the mountains so all morning I had bupkiss for signal.  Finally, about three or four miles from the pass,  I was able to get a signal and text him that I thought it would be closer to 1 PM.  I knew it would be a while before I could get something to eat, so I wanted to have an extra hour to cook lunch.

Lunch took about 45 minutes and allowed my feet some time to recover from the lava.  Ramen noodles and dried fruit taste pretty good when you are hungry.  I was running low on water and it was starting to get warm, but I still had enough to last the rest of the day so I skipped loading up at the lake just before the highway.

I got to the highway just before 1 PM and it was a very busy highway.  There was no shoulder for cars to stop to pick you up.  Another hiker arrived just after I did and found a sign someone had left for hitchhiking.  That’s Boy Scout you see in the picture hitching into Sisters.  It took him close to an hour to get a ride, but he did get one.

I noticed there was a trailhead turnoff just down the road and the trail intersected with he trailhead just 0.2 miles ahead.  I texted Pat to let him know that was a good place to park and that’s where I would be.  Pat showed up just after two and he had not changed a bit.  I recognized him immediately.

He took me to Sisters and we stopped at the local brewery for a bite to eat.  I had a calzone and a flight of beer and it was great.  Sisters itself was a bit touristy, so I’m glad I didn’t end up staying there.

Pat took me back to his place and showed me around.  It was amazing to see the trees change from ponderosa to juniper in just a very short distance.  I got to meet his girlfriend,.Kelly,.and their dog, Mable.  Mable is just nine months old and full of energy.  She’s a really cool dog and incredibly smart for such a young puppy.

Kelly had made dinner of chicken pot pie which was fantastic.  We had a couple of beers and talked about the old days around the neighborhood and of the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail.  Pat had completed the AT in 1984 and gave me alot of pointers back in 1989 when I first hiked the trail.  He had hiked the PCT a few years later, but when he got to Bend, he bought a mountain bike and rode to San Francisco.  I had always thought that he was going south to north, but he was going north to south.  So collectively, the two of us together had hiked the PCT already.  Too bad I can’t just stop now.  Nah, I’m ready to finish this thing.  I’m just a mile and a half from 2000 miles, and then it’s just another 650 to Canada.  Yep, I’m ready to finish this thing.