Day Eighty Six

Today's miles: 10
Total miles: 1829

Since we had covered so much ground yesterday, we only had ten miles left to get to our next destination: Crater Lake. Eager to be there, Katie and I got up at 6 and booked it. We made it to the lake by 10:30 and immediately went into the restaurant, where we finally caught up with Sneaks, Mudd, Dingo, and Coincidence. We ate at the salad buffet and then went to the store nearby to pick up our resupply boxes and repack our bags. In addition to my food box, my mom had sent me a care package, completely full to the brim with mini chocolates, plus a 3.5 pound bag of Skittles and my favorite dried mangos. I laughed as I dug through the chocolates, saying that it looked like she had raided a kid's Halloween candy stash. There was a note saying to share the chocolates with my friends, so as hikers arrived at Crater Lake I gave them handfuls of candy to enjoy.

Katie and I did laundry at the store, took showers, and sat at the benches outside with our friends, enjoying the feeling of being off our feet. For me, being at Crater Lake was strangely nostalgic. I had been here almost exactly a year ago with my mom and Tanner, eating at the same restaurant and visiting the same store. And here I was again, having walked here. It was a surreal moment and also a humbling one. It truly felt, for the first time, like I had walked home.

Sneaks, Mudd, Dingo and Coincidence hiked out that afternoon, since we learned you have to go at least twelve miles to camp outside Crater Lake. Katie and I stayed to wait for Sunshine and Treekiller, and they finally arrived around 3:00. We gave them hugs and Sunshine cried, "we've been chasing you girls all week!" Apparently they had pulled a couple late nights in a row trying to catch us and Treekiller pronounced them as being "level five headlamp walkers" now.

While the boys got their packages, repacked food, took showers and did laundry, we tried to decide if we wanted to hike out tonight or tomorrow. We didn't want to hike the 12 miles it would take to get out of the park, but we also didn't want to pay the $25 to camp at the Mazama Campground. While we tried to decide, a tourist by the name of MK came up to Treekiller and she offered to buy him a beer. She sat with us thru-hikers for a while, talking about our journey, and ultimately offered her campsite as a free place to stay for the night. It was an easy decision after that. Treekiller, Sunshine, Katie and I walked to her campsite and enjoyed a bottle of whiskey and told stories until 1:00 am about the trail.

Day Eighty Five

Today's miles: 27
Total miles: 1819

Katie and I had breakfast this morning with Sagi and Lullaby before breaking camp. I walked on my own for most of the day, letting Katie get ahead of me. The trail traversed through trees for most of the day but occasionally went through burned sections or over mountain ridges with good views over the valley. It was very hot, even in the shade, and the mosquitoes were lazily annoying all morning.

We stopped at mile six with Sagi for a break, and then again at mile eleven with Sagi, Lullaby, Burrito Grande and a few new faces: Butters and Frank (Frank was actually his trail name - his real name was Gary). I find it fascinating how this late in the trail we can still be running into people we have never met. Even talking with Treekiller last week I realized he started the same day we did and has been hiking in the same circles as us the whole time, but we had never met him until recently. (We even discovered he was in the background of one of Sunshine's pictures from back in the desert near Ziggy and the Bear's!)

Water was very scarce through this section of trail. We were once again going through 15-20 mile sections between water sources. We were all lamenting about having to carry more water than usual, and in some ways it felt as though we were back in the desert. Southern Oregon is apparently notorious for being dry, so I can't wait to get to wetter sections again.

We stopped several times in the next few miles to take breaks and gather water at our last source for a while. Katie and I had an early dinner by a small creek with Lullaby, Butters, Burrito Grande and Sagi and then "tanked up" for the next stretch. It was already 5pm by then and we still had ten miles to go to make our goal for the day. I turned on Pride and Prejudice and cranked out the miles like a machine, losing myself in the book. By the end of the day I was feeling good but my feet were very tired. We made it to camp by 8:00 having done 27 miles for the day.

Day Eighty Four

Today's miles: 26
Total miles: 1792

It was very chilly this morning, a change from the norm, but it warmed up very quickly. The bees drove us out of camp pretty fast today. The PCT has been an interesting study in insect life, I've noticed. Throughout southern California the ants were the biggest pests, then mosquitoes in central California, then bees in northern California and southern Oregon. Mosquitoes still take the top award for being the most annoying, but I've discovered that bees are pretty bad, too, since they don't fly away when you swat at them.

The terrain was nice today, though quite rocky. We stopped after three miles at a wooden shelter with a well water pump and had a snack with Lullaby before moving on. I was feeling tired and weary today, so my steps dragged through the first fourteen miles. Katie and I missed our big group of seven and found it was lonely again with just the two of us. I hoped that Sunshine and Treekiller would catch up quickly, or that we would catch up to Sneaks, Mudd and Dingo.

We stopped for lunch at 1:00 near a river, the biggest water source we had seen in days. We stripped off shoes and had fun wading in the water with Lullaby and Sagi. After eating and feeling refreshed from our mini-swim, the afternoon went by much more quickly. My energy carried me through five more miles and then slacked again for the final seven. By the time we had gone 26 miles it was only 6:00 but I was tired enough to want to stay. I've noticed that when the terrain is flat it feels good to crank out more miles, but it also makes for very long days. We get on trail at 7:00 each morning and hike until 7:30 or 8:00 each night, exhausted.

There was a creek here with water and campsites, but Katie contemplated hiking a few more miles before it got dark. I contemplated staying, since I didn't feel like pushing on. Soon, though, Lullaby and Sagi joined us and we ultimately decided to stay. We cooked dinner and made lemon pudding to share, telling jokes as we ate and listening to Lullaby's beautiful flute before going to bed.

Day Eighty Three

Today's miles: 28
Total miles: 1766

Katie and I left camp at 7:00 and had a very enjoyable hike today over very rolling terrain. It was hot and humid today but I was feeling good and enjoyed a new treat on my iPhone: audio books. I downloaded one of my favorites, Pride and Prejudice, and thoroughly enjoyed engrossing myself in the story again.

We stopped for lunch with the group of kids: Leaky, Moonshine, Sagi, Horny Toad and Lullaby. We joked about pooping and pee rags all lunch, which proved once again that thru-hikers get the most enjoyment out of the most ridiculous topics. I texted Sunshine and found out that he and Treekiller had tried to catch up to us last night but had stopped a few miles before our campsite. The two of them were dragging today and were five miles behind at lunch. I gave them an estimate of where we'd be tonight and said I hoped they'd catch up. He said they'd try.

Katie and I were feeling good all afternoon and cruised through the landscape at a good clip. So far all the thru-hikers were really enjoying Oregon; it was visually pretty and mostly flat, so big miles were easy to accomplish. We had decided on a campsite with water around 24 miles in, but we arrived at the early hour of 5pm, so instead of staying we cooked dinner, loaded up our water bladders, and continued on another four miles. We left behind a note for Sunshine and Treekiller to let them know we had decided to hike further. We ended up doing 28 miles for the day and learned later that poor Sunshine and Treekiller had hiked until 9:30 that night trying to catch us.