Day Twenty-Two: Eagle Creek

During Breakfast, two baby deer wandered into our campsite. It was incredibly magical (aka super maj, a trail term). This set the tone for the day. The day was filled with nature's most awe inspiring wonders. Eagle Creek is an amazing trail, and I highly recommend it to anyone in search of a hike in Oregon.

Merit Badges:

- tolerating rude day hikers

- full body hugging a downed tree in attempts to go over it

- getting a delicious free peach from a fruit stand

- being featured on multiple Go-pros

- seeing the most amazing waterfall, ever

- getting a stinging nettle sting moments from exiting the trail :(

- reading, reviewing, and editing interpretative signs on a bike trail, such teachers

Hike Highlights:

- Eagle Creek Tail

- Rosie got her first blister

- meeting the Belgian again

- Thunder Island Brewery

Day Twenty-One: Gifted Coffee

In the morning, I dug a hole for a latrine, an outdoor bathroom. As I struggled to dig a hole in the rocky dirt, a pleasant voice sang a cheery "good morning" from the trail. All I could do was act cool and thank my lucky stars for the rocky hard dirt that slowed my digging. I could have been caught in a worse circumstance which would have earned me a merit badge. The cheery voice was a PCTA trail worker, who was doing maintenance on the trail. She was in a group of three workers.

In addition to the trail workers, we met two fantastic thru-hikers, beershake and monsoon, at Indian Springs. They gifted us their extra instant coffee, because they planned on hiking an additional 15 miles after dinner. Thus, they wouldn't need instant coffee; they would have really coffee in Cascade Locks. They visited us for an hour. We swapped stories, which was comforting and entertaining.

Merit Badges

- saving more day hikers

- waking Leann due to groaning because of back pain

- having crazy wilderness dreams about cats

Day Twenty: Falling Apart

BRosie and I noticed things have begun to fall apart: shoes, sporks, tent poles, hips, and feet. We're clearly seasoned hikers. Hopefully, duct tape and ibuprofen will hold us together for the next three weeks.

There is some good news; my giant blisters have (overall) vanished. Yay! My dad bought me anti-blister socks made for marathon runners, and they are definitely working.

Hike Highlights:

- crossing paths with a bachelor party

- meeting young ladies hiking for the first time

Merit Badges:

- eating a salmon berry

- meeting Christoph's family (see image below)

Day Nineteen: Goodbye, Timberline

Instead of thunder and lighting, Rosie and I woke up to an old section-hiker talking to his lady friend very loudly at four in the morning. To give him grace, he is a very nice man, just so incredibly loud. We met lots of nice people today. Including a lady who thought we were super tough, which flattered Rosie and I. We tied our shoes and buckled up our packs shortly after noon, and we hit the trail again. Today, we've crossed paths with many hikers, and we set up camp in wilderness cul-de-sac of three camping parties.

Merit Badges:

- fording two rivers

- hiking in wet shoes

- bushwhacking

Day Eighteen: Raining Cats & Dogs

Oh boy! Rosie and I woke up in the middle of the night to thunder and lightning. The booms were loud and long, and we began to worry about the day ahead of us. We had taken multiple easy days, which caused us to pick up more miles on our final day of this leg. Unfortunately, we had to pay our milage debt in the pouring down rain. Boo! We sucked it up and began our wet trudge to Timberline Lodge. After Ramona Falls, we began to notice day hikers, lots of day hikers. Where there is day hikers, there is civilization! We began our harebrained scheme to get off the trail and out of the rain. We followed the day hikers' trail to a parking lot, and from there we hitchhiked. Donna, lovely Donna, gave us a ride to the highway. She dropped us off near a ranger station and the Zigzag Cafe. We ate lunch at the cafe, where we met an enthusiastic and helpful park ranger. He offered us a ride, showers, and access to a washer & dryer. However, we would have to wait till the end of his work day. We decided to try our luck again at hitching a ride. Two minutes of noncommittally trying to hitch a ride in the rain, Austin picked us up. Hooray!!! We were saved again. He took us all the way to Timberline Lodge. At the lodge, we are enjoying all the luxuries of the 21st century, including showers, grownup beverages, towels, chairs, electricity, internet access, soap, and shampoo. Hip, hip, hooray. We escaped the rain today.

Merit Badges:

- hitchhiking, and not getting murdered

- crossing a river using a very scary rope and slippery log (it got the adrenaline going)

- going to the bathroom with our packs on

- realizing that "water proof" is really just water resistant when hiking looks more like swimming on a trail

Day Seventeen: Rain, Rain, Go Away

It was another rainy morning for Rosie and I. So, we hid in the tent for as long as we could. We met lots of north bound hikers on the trail today. In fact, we bumped into Mammoth and Half-Dome. It was exciting to see them again and catch up.

Merit Badges:

- going to the bathroom in the rain

- hanging a bear bag the PCT style

- being mistaken for serious thru-hikers

- finding a four leaf clover

- bumping into Cedric Diggory's doppelganger, who was accompanied by a muggle

Day Fifteen & Sixteen: Up Hill, Both Ways

Yesterday morning, Rosie and I woke up in a cloud. It was complete fog, and it misted till noon. So, naturally, we read books in our tent till noon, then we started hiking. We ran into a dad with three little boys, who was a tad bit lost. Rosie pointed him in the right direction. Apparently, his mother-in-law had ditched him on the trail. The tough little boys were on a long hike back to the car. We found an awesome campsite near a lake. It had a fireplace and handcrafted stone chairs.

Today, Rosie and I found a long-cut (aka we took a wrong turn). It was a painful 2,000 foot elevation gain to correct the situation. Now, we're camped on a ridge enjoying our cozy sleeping bags. It's been chilly!

Merit Badges:

- actually sleeping in our sleeping bags

- helping a dad with three children

- taking a long-cut

Day Fourteen: Two Weeks, Still Friends

Today, we once again said goodbye to civilization, and headed back to the woods. We had a 4000 foot elevation gain, which tired us out. And, we're still friends, yay!

Merit Badges:

- getting a hornet/wasp/bee sting

- hiking all up hill

Day Twelve and Thirteen: Papa Norton Saves Our Bacon

Oh boy! A lot has transpired in the last two days. Yesterday, Rosie and I hurriedly hiked nine miles to meet my dad, Papa Norton, and the observatory fifteen miles outside of Sisters, Oregon. While waiting at the observatory, a stranger chatted us up about our hike. He asked us about our plans to avoid the forest fires in the north. Forest fires?!?! Rosie and I had no idea there were forest fires. Initially, we didn't take him or the fires too seriously. We were waiting for my amazing dad and the luxuries of civilization. Papa Norton showed up with fresh fruit, chicken, lotion, blister care, batteries, and more! He whisked us away to a delicious BBQ rib dinner and a night in a hotel. We were spoiled!

The following morning, we went to the ranger station to check about the forest fires. The ranger showed us an alternate route, and told us Ollalie Lake was a safe entry point. Great, we were good to go... or so we thought. As we traveled north, Rosie discovered multiple forest fires. One fire caused Ollalie Lake to evacuate, yesterday. The forest ranger hadn't been provided current information regarding the fires, which could have put Rosie and I in extreme danger. Arg! We changed our plans, again and again, to avoid the fires. Eventually, my dad drove us to Cascade Locks, Oregon to escape the fires. He is our absolute hero, and we are extremely thankful to have him as a trail angel.

Tomorrow we will head south on a Timberline-Cascade Locks loop that will take us about 10 days. We are looking forward to another full zero day in Cascade Locks with some friends and family. After that, we will continue our northward trek on the PCT.

Merit Badges:

- To the ranger station lady who pushed her grumpy coworker into printing maps for us. Yay!!!

- To Papa Norton who saved our bacon. Hip, hip, hooray!

Day Eleven: The Three Sisters

This morning, we started our day amongst the mosquitoes, once again. We quickly are breakfast and zoomed back onto the trail. A mile into our hike, we bumped into the Belgian who helped us find an alternate route that helped us avoid the snow on the South Sister. We continued to cross paths with the Belgian throughout the day, which was helpful and entertaining. We camped nine miles from the highway, and we're looking forward to showers tomorrow.

Way better than hiking...

- not using dirty underwear to use as pillow stuffing

Merit Badges:

- frolicking in a meadow

- singing spice girls while dancing on a bridge

- yelling poop 200 times (an estimation)

- fighting a scary monster bug

- ignoring bad advice from day hikers

Hike Highlights:

- hiking through two beautiful alpine meadows

- seeing Obsidian Falls

- walking across obsidian rocks, so cool

- showing Rosie an oxbow lake, super nerdy

- meeting lots of one night hikers

Day Ten: Breakfast of Champions

This morning, Rosie and I woke up in a cute rustic cabin with light filtering through the red curtains. I made a red light district joke to Rosie about our curtains, and it made me laugh. Then, we scooted out to breakfast. On our way into the restaurant, we met Half-Dome, another thru-hiker. He joined us for breakfast. After eating, we packed up and bought rainbow sherbet. We ate our sherbet on a picnic bench overlooking the lake, then scooted off towards the trail.

We saw great views on our hike today. On the trail we saw a huge geological structure called a mesa. I will be googling their origin, once I have internet service. While setting up our campsite, the Belgian walked by on the trail. He sat down with us and had a snack of nutella on an everything bagel (yum.... trail food) and told us about his trip to Bend. Now, Rosie and I are sitting by our little fire in a swarm of relentless mosquitoes.

Merit Badges:

- making a campfire

- hiking through Mordor and the Shire

- helping day hikers

Day Nine: Elk Lake

So full!!! Rosie and I drank adult beverages and ate ourselves silly. We arrived at Elk Lake Resort this afternoon, and we enjoyed the simple luxuries - shower, fresh food, and chairs. Yes, chairs are a luxury. We've had our fair share of pokey, splintery logs to sit on in the woods. At the resort, we met back up with the Belgian. He joined us for the tail end of our dinner. He gave Rosie and I an assortment of trail names - heavy pack & heavier pack, kid A & kid B, gentile & kind. None of the names stuck. Also, he told us how to lighten our packs. Many valid ideas. Some were more questionable than others, such as not packing any underwear. Hmmmm.

My family sent me the most amazing care package. It contained deet, jerky, and fruit flavored bubblegum!!! I gave my extra deet to a thru-hiker we met today. She was super thankful, and asked me to thank my parents for her.

Merit Badges:

- eating all the food

Day Eight: Thunder, Take Two

Thunderstorms, again. At least the storms scare the mosquitoes. Ah, silver linings. It was an overall successful day! We hiked 16.5 miles, and we were able to keep up with a thru-hiker for a while. also, we met Thirsty-Boots a hiker working on his triple crown.

Merit Badges:

- Four miles with a thru-hiker, Benko

- Longest Day: 16.5 miles

- Finding dead mosquitoes in your bra

Day Seven: Thunder Storm

Rosie and I had to leave our lovely little cabin to hike a minimum of 13 miles. It was a mentally and physically tough day. Truth be told, I may have said "I'm not so sure I like hiking" at lunch today. We both cracked up after I said that, because here we are in the middle of the woods on a grand hiking adventure. This comment did spark a game called "way better than hiking." Here are our favorites:

- Floating Greenlake with an adult beverage... Way better than hiking.

- Not pooping in a hole... Way better than hiking.

- Storing food in your kitchen, rather than a tree... Way better than hiking.

- Not cooking and cleaning your socks in the same container... Way better than hiking.

Merit Badges:

- Hiking in a thunderstorm.

- Killing multiple mosquitoes with one swat.

- Overuse of deet and ibuprofen.

Hike Highlights:

- Thinking a day hiker's dog was a wolf, and realizing my natural reaction to an immanent animal tack is frozen surrendered.

- Getting passed by Rolf from Switzerland for the second time... after he took a three day vacation.

- Eating dinner on a large rock in a lake

Day Six: Rustic Cabin in the Woods

We stayed the night at Shelter Cove with the thru-hikers. We had a relaxed morning. Rosie and I drank lattes, from the little convenience store, and chatted with the hikers. Also, we did laundry and organized our packs for our next leg of the journey. In Rosie's trail guide, it mentioned a cabin eight miles from Shelter Cove, called Maiden Peak Shelter.  We decided to hike there for the night. Compared to our tent, the cabin in a spacious dream. It even has a wood burning stove. Score!!!

Day Five: Shelter Cove

At breakfast, Rosie (thinking about the Magic Tree series) decided we should call day five "Morning of the Mosquitoes." We packed and left our campsite first thing in the morning. We decided we would stop for breakfast once the mosquitoes went away. Our hunger and caffeine needs broke us before we could shake off the little jerks. So, we ate our breakfast in a cloud of mosquitoes. In the afternoon, we trudged through snowfields on diamond peak. We decided to push hard to make it to shelter cove. We made it shortly after five-thirty. At the resort, a handful of thru-hikers were drinking beer and soaking up the sun. We joined them for the evening after jumping into the lake in our dirty hiking clothes.

Merit Badges:

- Fighting a giant spider

- Glissading into a tree

- Hiking a mile before breakfast

- Jumping into a lake fully clothed

- Losing a pair of underwear

- Taking a shower for 6 glorious minutes

Day Four: Big Beautiful Lake & Death By Mosquitoes

Our earlier blog posts don't really explain how bad the mosquitoes are. There are millions of them!!! Luckily, we ate dinner by a lake where there was a constant breeze. It was a short reprieve. Currently, Rosie and I are hiding in the tent listening to those blood sucking devils as they buzz around.

Hiking Highlights:

- We woke up at 6:30! We got an early start.

- We heard women hikers while in our tent. Otherwise, we didn't see anyone on the trail.

- Despite the size of my blisters, they don't hurt too bad.

- Longest hike yet, 15 miles.

- We may get sweet tea tomorrow evening, if we can make it to the shelter cove convince store.

Day Three: Longest Day

Today, we woke up with a goal. We wanted to complete 12 plus miles on our hike today. Our average pace throughout the trip will be 13.5 miles per day. Each leg of the trip will increase in average mpd, which will overall average to 13.5 mpd. The first leg, Crater Lake to Shelter Cove, we need to hike at a pace 11 mpd. Today, we hiked 13 miles. Boy, do we feel it!

We set up camp just in time; it's started to rain. We are a little nervous about our gear possibly getting wet. Fingers crossed!

Hike Highlights:

- We met Offkilter from Scotland. He is a thru-hiker doing 30 to 40 miles per day. He made our adventure look like glamping.

- We didn't lose the trail today.

- No snowfields!!!! Yay!!!

- The weather cooled down.

- The water filter is a miracle worker! Dirt scum pond water turned into delicious drinkable water. Yay!

Day Two: More Mosquitoes

Today, we woke up to the most beautiful view of Mt. Thielsen! We rolled out of the tent around 7:40. We had a lovely breakfast of oatmeal, coffee, and peanut M&M's; it was a well balanced breakfast. We hit the trail around 9:30. Once again, there was no sources of water for over ten miles from our camp site, excluding the snowfields. We hiked to Maidu Lake for dinner. It was absolutely picturesque! It looked like a Monet. We tried to swim in the lake, but it had a super muddy bottom. Rosie was brave enough to venture in the water, and quickly turned around because of the mud. In our attempts to swim the lake, we noticed our mosquito bitten legs and butts. We look like we have the chickenpox! Tomorrow, I will apply deet underneath my clothing.

Hiking Highlights:

- Met new hikers! One from Australia.

- Maidu Lake. Absolutely stunning.

- Hanging the bear-bag with more ease

Day One: Crater Lake

It's the end of day one, yay! Rosie and I decided to start at the north end of Crater Lake. This cut out about twenty miles from our trip, but it insured that we would be able to access water that evening. I think we made a great choice. While hiking around Mt. Theilsen, we crossed multiple snowfields. This made for difficult hiking. Also, we acquired a possy of mosquitoes. You can imagine the two of us sliding on the snow and swatting mosquitoes; we were quite the sight. I plan on investing in a gallon of deet at our next stop. At dinner, met a Swiss hiker. He is three months into his hike, starting at the Mexican boarder. What a day! Just 42 more.

Exciting Events:

- losing my water bottle on a snow drift that covered a creek. I got it back, although a bit risky.

- thirty plus minutes of hanging a bear bag.

Roseburg - the final stop!

Today we drove from Seattle to Roseburg, Oregon. (Stopping for lunch in Portland!)

Tomorrow we head east to Crater Lake where the adventure begins! We've already met some great characters, including the owner of the restaurant where we are dinner tonight. Dino gave us tips on fighting bears with our Swiss Army knives, and told us all about the town of Roseburg. 

Now it's off to bed; we are setting out bright and early tomorrow morning!

Last Minute Check!

After celebrating Independence Day with our families on Camano Island, Leann and I are back home, double- and triple-checking our pack contents. 

Above is the contents of my pack for the first leg of our hike - 8 days! See that black bag? That's all my food. For 8 days. Holy. Cow.

Tomorrow, my parents will drive with us to Roseburg, Oregon, where we will spend the night. Bright and early on Sunday morning we will head East into Crater Lake National Park where we begin the adventure!

We have had several people ask us if they can send us packages along the trail. The answer is YES! (but only if you send food) (ok, we would love letters too.)

Getting mail to us can be pretty tricky, so here are some instructions:

Letters can be mailed First Class (normal mail). Most boxes must be mailed via Priority Mail through the US Post Office. Everything we've read advises against sending packages First Class or Parcel Post. 

Some of the maildrop locations can only take UPS. We've made a note of that in our resupply list. DO NOT USE FEDEX.

However you send us mail or packages, please make sure that we do not have to sign for them. It just won't happen.

If you want to send us care packages, please remember that we will have to eat, carry, or throw out anything that you send. Food is great. Gluten Free Cookies. Non Gluten Free Cookies. Gum. Fun letters and jokes. Games we could play in camp (that don't weigh a lot).

Our ETA's are just that: Estimated Times of Arrival. It's a good idea to try to get your letter or package to us a little late - and please let us know if you are sending us something.

It's very important that each letter/box is addressed exactly as we've written in the resupply list. And don't forget to write "Hold for PCT Hiker, ETA: (date)" on the bottom left corner of all boxes and letters. It's also helpful to write our last names in bug letters on all sides of any box.

I know that's a lot of instructions, but if you send us anything we want to make sure we get it!

Ok, time to check again that I have everything we need!

--Rosie