Next came the unprompted 10 days off trail. After Casey left, our other hiking partner Clémént also decided he was going to be leaving the trail also. So with my hiking pals leaving it took the wind out of my sails a bit, and so Clémént and I decided to explore the Pacific Northwest until his flight.
So we took off from Crater Lake with intentions of going to the water so that Clémént could also experience getting in the magical blueness that is Crater Lake. We arrived to the trail that leads down to the water, stash our packs with the parking attendant, and make our way down to the water's edge. Not even 10 minutes go by and someone comes up and asks us if we are 2 people, to which we say yes, and then we are given tickets to take a boat your out to Wizard Island! This turned out to be a 6 hour boat journey around the lake and it was incredible! An hour to get to the island, three hours on the island, where we got to climb to the top and go swimming in a beautiful cove, and then two hours getting back via the periphery of the lake. The scenery of this lake as seen from the water is equally incredible and I'll let the photos try and tell the story. Meanwhile, however, a fire had started in the park, so that's what some of the smoky photos are depicting.
The next day we woke up in Fort Klamath, where we had gotten a ride to the previous evening out of the park with a great couple from Brazil. We made ourselves a loose itinerary of trying to get to John Day National Monument, but only made it as far as Prineville, Oregon. This day was spent with multiple amazing hitches, one of which was with a cool lady who had hiked part of the PCT this year herself and she took us to the REI in Bend so we could get some supplies. When we got to Prineville we were tired of hitching, so we instead called it a day and wound up at the most interesting Mexican restaurant that turned into a salsa club at 10:00, naturally we stayed to watch this unfold.
The next day was a waste, where we literally watched the Harry Potter marathon that was so fortuitously on the television. A day of doing literally nothing but staying in bed watching tv had been long overdue and so that's all that was done.
The following morning, after scoring awesome gluten free pancakes at a diner, we decided to say screw it and rent a car, as they were super cheap in Redmond. We made our way to the Redmond airport with our new friend Brent we met at the coffee shop in Prineville, and he was cool enough to also take us on a pit stop to show us the valley. Turns out Facebook and Apple have massive sites in this area and we got to see their computers. Anywaysssss, we got our car and headed towards Hood River, because the Columbia Gorge is always a desired place to be. We hiked up to a place near Multnomah Falls and camped near a gorgeous waterfall.
The following day we went into Hood River for breakfast and then found ourselves driving up towards Mount Adams. Eventually we headed back to Hood River, however, because Clémént had booked a trip on a catamaran for two hours on the Columbia! I sadly have no photos of this, but it was so fun! I'd never been on a catamaran before, let alone got to drive one, that said I only steered it for a brief period of time because I'm a weakling when it comes to upper body strength. After this epic experience we found ourselves camping at Beacon Rock State Park in Washington.
The next day we really decided to throw caution to the wind, and we decided to go to the San Juan Islands. I've always wanted to go up to these islands, and why not now was all the logic this decision entailed, so off we went. We eventually arrived in Anacortes and after processing all of our options, we decided to leave the car behind and take the ferry to San Juan Island. The ferry ride was absolutely beautiful, and after an hour we were in the port. We eventually found ourselves catching a ride to San Juan County Park with a woman named Renae, who told us that she'd be passing through the area tomorrow morning if we wanted to catch a ride with her to another state park for whale watching. After graciously receiving the ride to the park, we told Renae we would totally take her up on the offer and we'd catch her in the morning. When we got to the ranger station to check in for our camp spot the ranger asked if we'd seen the whales, and as I said no he told me to drop my things and run up the hill to catch them as they were passing by that very moment! You guys, whales are so neat!!!! Orca fins were coming up out of the water with a backdrop of Victoria B.C. in the distance and it was perfect. We spent the evening watching the sun set over the water and playing cards.
The next morning we met Renae at 7:30 for an amazing tour of the island! Renae took us first to Lime Kiln Point State Park to watch the whales, and then from here we went past the lavender fields, the lighthouse on the southern tip of the coast, and then a gorgeous scenic drive back to San Juan County Park. We were so grateful for our tour of the island, as we were able to see far more then we envisioned we would! We then hitched back to Friday (the port) to find seafood. After wandering through the kitschy port town and having lunch, it was already time to catch our ferry back. The ferry ride back was equally as beautiful with views of what I assume was Mount Rainier.
The next day was Clémént's flight, and so I dropped him off at the airport and away he went. I was thankful, however, that Casey was still around though and so I spent the evening with her and Britter delaying heading back to the trail by one more night.
The next morning I woke up knowing it was time to finally go face my fears and get on with this trail. Something about my hiking partners leaving made me feel intimidated about being 'alone' on the trail, and I was admittedly scared. I had never backpacked solo before, let alone camped by myself, so these new experiences on the horizon made me timid and I was dreading going back. But I similarly knew that I needed to have this solo experience and that I would learn an infinite amount from it. So after delaying the inevitable by 10 days I was back at it. I'll post another entry with my last days in Oregon / first days alone post here soon! Meanwhile, I'm off to finish this hike in two days time!!!!
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