Oregon!

Our first morning in Oregon we were greeted with a cold start, but once we got up and moving, and walking along a ridge with a view, it felt so comforting to be back in this part of the country. Views of volcanoes really does something for the soul, I'm convinced. This first day here we also had trail magic after lunch! Someone left a couple of coolers with sodas and lawn chairs on a ridge, and we were so excited for the cool soda during the afternoon heat! Needless to say, we were feeling pretty great about Oregon. 

Wednesday morning we actually managed to wake up early, because we were motivated to get to town! We got to Callahan's Lodge (just south of Ashland) by about 10:30, where we got our free hiker drink! From here we got a ride in to Ashland where we spent the afternoon eating and relaxing. We had to resupply on food here, and it was such a cool town to check out! 

We were back on the trail the next morning, motivated that in 6 days time we would be at Crater Lake. We had a somber day this afternoon, as first days back on trail are always hard. The highlight, however, of this day was a fellow hiker asking me if my hitching was taking so long because of my dorky hiking shirt 😑 It's hard to keep cool and look cool out here 😖

Friday we got a late start because it was raining when our alarms went off, and who wants to pack up in the rain?! This day was highlighted by a trip to Hyatt Lake Campground, where we were able to shower and charge our phones, all while enjoying lunch. Then, to add to the treats, we got to camp this evening at Klum Landing Camp, where we were spoiled by picnic benches and bathrooms again! We sat on the dock this evening and watched the water, which was lovely. Also, the epiphany this day was that it is okay to be happy for no reason ☺️

The next morning we got to shower again, and were still on trail by 8:00 (small feats)! We knocked out quite a few miles before lunch, aiming to do 23 total this day. We had lunch this day at South Brown Mountain Shelter, where we could hear someone target shooting in the distance. This afternoon, the landscape turned to lava fields, and it was quite an interesting landscape to enter. We finished the day near Highway 140, and camped near the river.  

Sunday morning I woke up thinking it would be a normal day, but as it were it ties for my worst day on trail. We got going and entered in to what became a tree jungle/maze/hell, laden with mosquitos. Literally all day we were going over, under, or around trees and it was brutal. Not to mention, the mosquitos truly came back with a raging vengeance allowing you no time to stop for fear of being swarmed. Early on this day, I fell going over a tree and smashed my knee quite badly and was in a lot of pain. Then was a mosquito laden lunch by a shitty water source. After the cranky lunch we left in foul moods. We eventually found a spot to camp with intermittent cell service and said screw it and set up camp early, due to the bad moods induced from the day. This was one of those day where I question what I'm doing out here, but I promised myself that Crater Lake would recharge my soul in a few days. 

After not sleeping well the previous night due to the sounds of mountain lions roaring all night (a nice finish to that otherwise great day..) we needless to say had a slow start because we were quite tired. We had a climb this morning, which greeted us with some much needed snow, as Casey had run out of water. This day, however, was much more pleasant and tolerable compared to the one prior. I also started listening to the Hunger Games on audiobook this day, and coincidentally we walked through some burned forest this afternoon, which really added to the effect the book was having. We cruised through 20 miles this day to get us set up to get in to Crater Lake the following morning. 

Tuesday morning Casey and me had our final trail moments together, and I had a heavy heart realizing out time together out here was coming to a close. But, we were so excited and focused on Crater Lake that I let those emotions take over and carry us in to the park. We got to the park just in time to be hungry for lunch, and so we indulged in a great salad bar! We then hung around the Mazama Village while we awaited Britter and Madison. Britter and Madison live in Portland and said that when we were going to be passing through Crater Lake that they would love to come out and join! They showed up in the early evening and we posted up at our campsite and had awesome veggie kabobs and had a great time hanging out. We later that night even drove to the lake to get the most incredible views of the stars over the water. So many shooting stars, and such a perfect way to end a perfect night. 

The following morning, Britter and Madison also made us a great breakfast of potatoes and eggs over the fire! After we eventually got packed up and motivated it was back to the lake to get in to the water! We hiked the mile downhill to the water and hopped in! It was SO blue and SO clear that I was speechless! The hype of this lake was legitimized, and I was very impressed. The water was a great temperature and we had fun playing in the water for a little bit, and watching the cliff jumpers. But before I knew it, we were back at the campground and they were all three headed off. I was so sad saying goodbye to Casey, but I was equally as happy for her to get to go back home. 

After being sad and blue about Casey's departure, I'm sitting on the phone with Katherine and in walks Dave out of nowhere! I got so overwhelmed seeing his smiling face that I just stopped and held on to him for so long. What a surprise to get to see this legend of a thru hiker back to Crater Lake just to see me. We shared stories and passed the afternoon as such, with a little ginnie as well though. 

This ends the beginning of Oregon for me/us. I wound up taking an unplanned 9 days off trail from here, but I'll capture those in another post. What a great experience sharing in this trail has been with Case. I couldn't have imagined all the things we would have seen or done, but I am so grateful we got to share in what we did. And I feel comfortable knowing this isn't the end of our adventures together either, despite what Casey may say 😉 I feel so lucky to have an adventure partner in Casey, the Yoncé to my Bey. So thank you for sharing in this trip with me, Mama Cass, I am so thankful to have you as a pal 💚💙

Au Revoir, California

We got back on the trail after our hiatus on July 11, but I would be lying if I said it was easy to go back. Your head gets out of the game for too long, and it's no small feat to go back on trail knowing how hard it will be, how dirty you'll get, and how tired you'll feel, but we did it. That said, we had arranged before leaving Tahoe that my mom would come meet us in Truckee, so we only had 4 days of hiking before our next trail visitor!

The first day back on trail left me with a huge sense of dread, but when we got to Echo Lake I was comforted by it's beauty and it's familiarity, having hiked around there just two years ago. The subsequent lakes we saw this day were equally impressive and definitely calmed any heavy hearts. We slept this night at Susie Lake, a beautiful spot to have called home for a night. 

The next morning we were on trail by 8:00, and were headed towards Dick's Pass. We were greeted by snow up here, but it was actually a gorgeous pass and it had been a while since we had been in snow, so it was all fine and dandy. We cruised through the afternoon this day, and called it quits at the beautiful Richardson Lake. This particular evening we met another hiker who was taking karaoke requests, so that was entertaining. 

Wednesday morning we were up early and headed towards McKinney Bay, which provided spectacular views of Lake Tahoe from up high! This day was actually one of the most beautiful on trail because of the continual views of Lake Tahoe that we kept getting. This day was also rounded out with a campfire and knowing we would be in town the following day!

Waking up on Thursday knowing we would be in town was very motivating! We climbed up to Tinker Knob this day, which was brutal in the sun and heat, but worth the still views of Tahoe that we got to have for lunch. We then followed the ridge line all the way down to Donner Pass, where we popped over to the ski ranch to get our free drink. Then was into Truckee to meet up with my mom! It's always so comforting to see family after this long, and this was no exception ☺️

So after making some hard decisions, we realized that we weren't going to be on track to finish the trail on time due to the time we had taken off and not getting up to bigger miles as quickly as we would have liked. After mulling over our move, we decided to skip ahead in California so as to get to Oregon sooner, as the logic was that we wanted to do all of the miles in Oregon and Washington. The timing worked out that mom could drive us up some of the way, so that's how we spent this next day, was making our way to Redding. We spent the evening hanging out in Redding and indulging in a bizarre Olive Garden craving and seeing Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates. 

The next day, mom drove us up to Dunsmuir, a very cute town as it were, where we had a good lunch. Then it was already time to say goodbye to mom, and goodbyes are the worst 😕 But off she went, and from here Casey and I made our way to Seiad Valley, where we reconnected with the PCT. We went just over a mile and a half on to the trail this night and pitched our tents. Thanks mama for being our trail angel, and I'm sorry I didn't snap any photos with you while you were here 💚

A day and a half was all that separated us from Oregon, so we were excited on Sunday to get those miles done and be in Oregon on Monday. But first, we had a hellish climb out of Seiad Valley, 8 steep miles in the heat to be exact. The only relief in these miles were beautiful views of Mount Shasta. The highlight of this afternoon was hearing a rattlesnake again, it'd been too long. I also started hiking and listening to an audiobook this day, which if you haven't read Modern Romance I highly encourage you to do so! 

We woke up Monday with the motivation that we would be in Oregon by the day's end! We cruised through the morning and had a nice lunch break by a river this day. After lunch was only 4.5 miles to the border, and on the way we passed cows in the field, which made for a tranquil sound of cowbells in the distance. As I approached the border I got very emotional. It was so surreal to finally be at this junction, one that we had been day dreaming about for literally 3 months. I was grateful to arrive alone and have a few moments to let what I had just accomplished sink in, and simultaneously think about what lies ahead. We snapped some pictures, signed the trail log, and walked not even a mile before we got trail magic. Another hiker's dad had come out to do trail magic for his son, and invited us for food, so naturally we said yes. What a great start to Oregon!

And so was the final hurrah in California. I don't even know how to begin to even try and recap three months of memories into a concise paragraph of thought, but I'll try. Basically, it was a roller coaster of emotions and scenery. From desert, to snow capped mountains, to lakes, forests, and everything in between, we sure saw a lot of ecological gems. Then you couple that scenery with learning how to thru-hike, relearning the definition of exhausted and smelly, how to eat enough calories to stay healthy, and meeting so many interesting people from all over the world, and that just begins to scrape the tip of the iceberg of these first months. These first months set the tone for the final part of the trail, the Pacific Northwest. I'd been day dreaming of the day we would arrive in Oregon, and it was crazy when it finally arrived. It's always hard to close chapters, but sometimes opening a new one is exactly what needs to happen. Au revoir, California, thank you for everything that you had to share, and Oregon we sure were glad to see you.