PCT Trail Days!

After a great zero in Portland, Chris dropped us off at PCT Days, a hiker gathering in Cascade Locks where hikers at any point on the trail could come back or skip ahead to meet up with friends they haven't seen in a while. We reunited with Drop Bizkit, who left us in the dust near Tehachapi. We caught back up with Rustic, who completed Oregon in 12 hiking days, doing a 61 mile day in the process. We got to first admonish, then squeeze the life out of Baby Face and Dixie Cup, who both flipped up to Canada to Southbound. We got to hang out with Kelso, who we hadn't seen since we went to his BBQ at his house in Cajon Pass. The gathering came complete with love from the rest of those we adopted into our clan including Solstice, Rainmaker, Steamer, Rub-a-dub, Cookie Monster, New Orleans, Sierra Bum, Apache, Shady Acres, and many more!
Sunday afternoon, we thumbed our way back to Timberline Lodge to compete the section from Mt Hood to Cascade Locks. Our benefactor became the strangest hitch we've encountered. A man who will remain unnamed but will henceforth be referred to as BD, the meaning of which will become apparent later, pulled over in an older civic. After the traditional trail questions, he told us he had a pressing question for the ladies. He asked them if they knew what a Tesla is. After negative answers, he proceeded to describe to us that a Tesla is an innovative electric sports car. As to why this was a question for the ladies had not become apparent. Then he said that he was trying to see if owning such a car would better enable him to "pick up chicks." He informed us that he had a load of money that he was ready to drop on this Eco friendly road beast. Furthermore, a civic, he said, screamed of a small penis. He was clearly overcompensating, although he insisted a Tesla would tell the single ladies that he had a "Big Dick." He continued to talk about his car and his future conquests for the rest of the hour long hitch. We left his car in a fit of laughs.
When we arrived back at Mt Hood for the second time, we were relieved to see that the skies were free of rain. The hitch had taken longer than expected so we were only able to hike about 7 miles before making camp. During our 29 mile walk to put ourselves in reach in of Tunnel Falls, we had a spectacular view of Mt Rainier, Mt Adams, Mt Saint Helens, and Mt Hood all at once.
We woke the next morning before dawn in order to make it to Tunnel Falls for first light. After hiking a mile and a half, we turned the corner to the breath-taking falls. We spent an hour admiring and taking pictures. From there, we finished the last ten miles back into Cascade Locks.

Portland!

Our Cousin, Jessica, and her husband Chris, saved us from having to camp sopping wet. After first trying to claim another bearded hiker as her cousin, Jess found us awaiting her arrival in the warmth of the lobby. Being that we stunk of sweat, BO, and wet dog, and looked the part too, we felt inclined to have dinner at a fine establishment. Chris and Jess treated us to the "endless pasta bowl" at the Olive Garden. Conversation came easy as we had loads to share with them about our adventures and they had plenty to catch us up on about their first year of marriage. They took us back to their apartment where we showered and quickly fell asleep.
Chris, Jess, and Danielle all had to work the following day, so we took the opportunity to explore Portland on our own. We took the Public Street Car through the city. Portland is such a community oriented city. The streets were packed with people. Businesses and stores were all within walking distance. We walked by a lot entirely filled with food trucks. We didn't stop, however. We had a destination in mind and a long-enduring craving to subdue. Chipotle called out for us. We had this need to acquire and consume a burrito as big as our heads. It happened!
We bought new cold-weather outfits from Patagonia before making our way back to the apartment. Danielle told us she would soon pick us up to take us out for a night on the town. Jessica, Chris, and Danielle had invited us out to go bar hopping for their friend's 30th birthday. It was fun to experience Portland as the locals do, especially with our cousins that we seldom get to see.
The next morning, Chris took us out to breakfast, then to Voodoo Donuts. We waited in line outside the donut shop for about a half hour. This seemed utterly ridiculous, but was fun nonetheless. We watched as a huge man in pig tails flew a dollar-sized kite. The donuts were worth the wait. Although they might seem like a novelty meal, they were absolutely delicious! We ate a bacon covered maple bar, an apple fritter, a dirt donut, and an old dirty bastard. Before taking us back to the trail, we were granted the chance to support the team for which we bleed Scarlet and Grey, God's team, our Alma Mater, The Ohio State Buckeyes. O-H!

A Race Through Oregon

Ashland was a day's hike from the border. We got an easy hitch into town around 7:30pm and immediately made our way to a local pizza shop where we each got a personal size pizza, split a large pan, an appetizer, and two pitchers of beer. Taking the advice of our hitch, we found an empty plot of land and cowboy camped. Little did we know, we had disturbed a deer's bedding. Their flees woke us first, but two deer also came up to us in the night thoroughly confused by our presence. In the morning, we all decided we need to make better decisions when it comes to our sleeping arrangements! We enjoyed a real cup of coffee at The Beanery and then Pat, Lisa, and Joan, three women who had backpacked in Europe in the 70s, graciously bought us breakfast at Morning Glory. By far our best breakfast on trail to date! Our zero was spent exploring local shops and the Caldera and Standing Stone Breweries with Rainmaker, Bad Seed,  New Orleans, Chops, Rub-a-Dub,  Steamer, and Cookie Monster. Our exploration ended up taking us two days and we revisted Shasta's DVD plans. John, a Trail Angel, squeezed us all in his SUV to get us back to trail in the morning. We moved through Oregon quickly, taking advantage of the relatively flat and soft terrain that enabled us to consistently push 30 mile days.
One morning on the way to Crater Lake, we awoke to the clouds rolling in. As we broke down camp, a roaring boom sent us falling to the ground in fear, crouched with hands overhead. Lightning had struck and blown up a tree only feet from where we had stood rolling up our tents. Shards of wood landed all around us and even flew a couple hundred feet to where Ex had been filling her water. We were lucky none hit us. The bolt sent up a cloud of smoke. Thankfully, a fire did not catch. As we looked around, we discovered chunks of tree taller than our bodies. A little uneasy about further lightning strikes, we decided to get off the mountain as quickly as possible.
When we made it to Mazama Village 5 days later, we enjoyed a hot meal at the resort's restaurant and stealth camped in the section of the park that is being repaved. We woke on the morning of the 26th to celebrate our 4 month trail anniversary with the beers that we were too exhausted to consume the night before. The clouds were ominous, so we hurried to get our laundry and resupply done. It turned out that our rush was pointless, as the sky opened up and showered us with a cold, windy rain. The resort's power even went out! We managed to make it to Crater Lake, 6 miles from Mazama Village, to huddle by the warm fireplace and, oh so reluctantly of course, further our celebration with an unexpected zero. We ended up splitting the resort's overflow room with 16 other hikers! Three of the group even went back downstairs to the classy fireplace to make smores for all of us! The next morning greeted us with a clear, bright blue sky that reflected in the lake. Crater Lake has a reputation for being one of the wonders of the world,  but neither one of us could grasp and appreciate it's beauty until gazing into it's crystal clear water. It truly is a site to behold! Crater Lake rekindled Golden's excitement that he had felt in the High Sierras. Having little motivation to leave this magical place, we spent hours taking artistic and silly pictures and climbing out on rock ledges that overlooked the massive caldera lake with its volcanic Wizard Island emerging from the pristine blue-green water. Eventually, we reluctantly hiked out and camped with Badseed on the side of a hill.
The following morning, we awoke early with plans to pull a massive 35 mile day. We made plans to get water 4 miles from camp. In typical Ex fashion, however, she not only hiked off trail but climbed Mt Theilson thinking it was the PCT. The trail ended and she was terrified on all fours, rock crawling and screaming for Ryan to show her the trail. When nobody answered and nobody caught her, she was forced to accept the embarrassing fact that she was lost yet again. Phone dead and mapless, she hiked down the mountain and took a different side trail once more. When she finally found the PCT and fellow hikers, New Orleans burst into tears and held her in a hug that seemed to last hours. She and Chops had southbounded twice in search of her, refusing to believe that she had somehow slipped by everyone unnoticed. Meanwhile, during her five hour detour, Golden had sprinted four miles up trail and back looking for Ex. Upon reuniting, we decided to call it an early night and set up camp at the Oregon/Washington high point, only 7 miles from our previous night's campsite.
Because of that mishap, we were forced to make a mad dash to Elk Lake, where we had made plans to meet Ex's friend Jimmy Turner for the night. Our hitch into Elk Lake generously bought our first round of beers after declining our offer of compensation for the ride. Jimmy and his friend Boko were driving across the country from Ohio to Washington to take his brother his car. They drove hours out of the way to meet us with pizza, hang out, and drink with us around a makeshift campsite. Things may have gotten a little out of hand; after a fun night of thinking she was 19 again, Ex fell into our tent, collapsing it with Golden inside. She then managed to climb in and curl up in the fetal position in the corner of the tent. Saying that she didn't know how to get in her sleeping bag even though she had gotten in it every night for the last 4 months, Golden had to help her in. Needless to say, she had no recollection of any of this the following morning. We decided to zero.
It was only 30 miles from Elk Lake to Bend/Sisters. We decided to tackle the stretch in one day to meet some hiker friends at the breweries in Bend. Along the way, we caught Badseed and convinced her to do her first 30 mile day. Three Sisters Wilderness was incredible! The trail managed to capture the three volcanic siblings in all their beauty without even having to summit their peaks. The trail skirted their bases and snaked through the surrounding forests and stream-filled meadows. It climbed along Obsidian Creek where the glassy black stones, remnants from the Sister's volcanic past, peppered the terrain. Ex thought of her 'Bou crew all day long. We took a break at a glorious waterfall to cool off from the heat. Next, we made our way through several long lava fields. Although the sharp and rocky terrain hurt our feet, it was a cool experience to walk through such destructive history of the earth. We finally made it to the first highway into Bend, but it was too late to catch a hitch. We decided to camp at the trailhead beneath the open sky. The clarity of the stars was beyond compare. It made us miss the accessibility of cowboy camping the desert offered.
Instead of heading into Bend the following morning, we hiked on to the next highway to put in some miles before heading into town. Along the way, we hit our 2000th mile! It was amazing. We made a stop at Big Lake Youth Camp to pick up our resupply and make lunch, then pushed on. Rainmaker's parents gave us a ride into town, hosted us in their hotel room, then took us out on the town. Despite it being Labor Day weekend, the breweries did not stay open late. Lame. We did get to drink some local brews, listen to bad karaoke, play giant Jenga, and eat delicious fried food and Mac and Cheese. Our stomachs paid the price the next day, unable to process all the grease. Exagrance also managed to convince Bad Seed to wash her hair for the first time in three and a half months...success!
From Bend, we hiked to Timberline Lodge, the lodge featured in The Shining. On the way, we walked through our first cloud, checked out Little Crater Lake, and began the ascent up Mt Hood. The rain came unwelcomed; luckily, however, our Cousin's came to take us into Portland for an exciting zero!
While we had only planned on taking two zero days, we ended up leaving Oregon with 6 hiking-free days under our belt.