PCT Day 85

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PCT Day 85, 05 August 2022 (Friday)

“Go Take A Hike…Again”

Start Location:	Cascade Locks, OR	Destination:	North of Rock Creek, WA
PCT Miles Day 85:	19.9	Cum PCT Miles:	1,521.1
Non-PCT Miles Day 85:	0.4	Cum All Miles:	1623.2
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,131.5
Elevation Gain Day 85:	4,789	Cum Elevation Gain:	261,408

After getting a good nights sleep in Portland, I got up and took the earliest bus available to Cascade Locks, OR, which is a small town on the Columbia River that the PCT goes right through. I got a huge, medium size, soft serve ice cream cone and breakfast burrito at Eastwind Drive-In, and was ready to go.

It was a fairly short walk up the street to the Bridge Of The Gods, which connects Oregon and Washington across the Columbia River, and is part of the PCT.

Since it’s been basically five days since I have hiked, and I have a sore back, I just wanted to hike at a relaxed and comfortable pace today.  I wasn’t looking to do anything overly ambitious.  I also have new shoes which are a different make than the ones I’ve been wearing the entire hike (long explanation, but it’s a ripple effect from having to skip around the fires).

Today, however, was not a gentle re-introduction to the PCT, but then again, I wasn’t really expecting it to be.  Washington has a reputation for being hard, and today’s trail definitely lived up to that reputation.  All the more reason to not overdo it today.

Given that I didn’t start until 10 AM, and how difficult the trail was, and that I was hiking with a sore back, and I have a heavy pack (carrying six days of food), I was pretty happy with the number of miles I did today.  I also set up, and am using, my new Big Agnes tent for the first time tonight.  It seems pretty good so far.

This is only the medium size at the classic Eastwind Drive-In in Cascade Locks, part of a good hiker breakfast

Bridge Of The Gods from the Oregon side

Cascade Locks and Columbia River from Bridge Of The Gods

Just about entering Washington via Bridge Of The Gods

The green tunnel of Washington, but the shade is nice today

Log bridge with railings over seasonal stream

Pacific Poison Oak

The mighty Columbia River from the trail

Mt. Adams

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PCT Day 84

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PCT Day 84, 04 August 2022 (Thursday)

“A First Time For Everything Or Moving Day Part 2”

Start Location:	Ashland	Destination:	Portland
PCT Miles Day 84:	0	Cum PCT Miles:	1,501.2
Non-PCT Miles Day 84:	0	Cum All Miles:	1602.9
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,151.4
Elevation Gain Day 84:	0	Cum Elevation Gain:	256,619

 

On this hike/trip I’ve done several things for the first time.  The latest is riding on a Greyhound bus, and frankly, I hope it’s the last time.  The bus was an hour late, but at least it did show up.  I guess it’s not unusual for the bus to just not show up at all.  Also, there were three other PCT hikers on board, so we could talk about our plans and strategy going forward.

Although smoking isn’t allowed on the bus, it still smelled of cigarettes as the majority of passengers were smoking at every stop.  But at least I got to Portland, and I can start hiking again tomorrow.

After so much hiking, I can’t believe I’ve had four zero days in a row.  It’s going to feel a bit strange getting back out on trail again, but I’m looking forward to it, it’s why I’m out here.  I just hope hiking helps my still achy back and not hurt it.  We’ll just have to see.  I’m hopeful, though, as after walking close to one mile from the bus station to my hotel, my back actually feels considerably better.

 

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PCT Day 83

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PCT Day 83, 03 August 2022 (Wednesday)

“Not Moving Day”

Start Location:	Ashland	Destination:	Ashland
PCT Miles Day 83:	0	Cum PCT Miles:	1,501.2
Non-PCT Miles Day 83:	0	Cum All Miles:	1602.9
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,151.4
Elevation Gain Day 83:	0	Cum Elevation Gain:	256,619

I was hoping to get to Portland today.  My first choice to get there was to rent a car, however, there are no rental cars available in this area for at least the next couple of days.  Without a car, the only other reasonable option is to take a county bus from Ashland to Medford, and then a Greyhound bus from Medford to Portland.  However, the two Greyhound buses for today were sold out.

So, the soonest I could get out of Ashland on the bus is tomorrow--I realized too late that there is a small airport in Medford where I possibly could have caught a flight to Portland.  Some hikers are trying to hitch from Ashland all the way to Portland, but that is a very long hitch, and didn’t seem like a great way to get there.

Given that my plans have changed, I did do some resupply shopping today, and am all ready to go once I get to Cascade Locks.  Only one minor hitch.  Somewhere on the drive between Shasta and Ashland my back started getting sore.  It was actually very painful for most of yesterday, and I could barely even bend over without putting a hand on my knee for support.  This is not a good thing if you want to backpack 20+ miles a day.  However, today the back was feeling much better, but still far from perfect.  I’m hoping tomorrow it will feel even better.

After being on my feet 12 to 14 hours a day for almost 2 1/2 months, I think my body is not reacting well to all this sitting and laying around.  I am a little bit worried that sitting on a bus tomorrow for over six hours is not going to be great for my back.  So, we’ll just have to see how things feel when I get to Portland.

 

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PCT Day 82

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PCT Day 82, 02 August 2022 (Tuesday)

“Moving Day Part 1”

Start Location:	Mt. Shasta City	Destination:	Ashland, OR
PCT Miles Day 82:	0	Cum PCT Miles:	1,501.2
Non-PCT Miles Day 82:	0	Cum All Miles:	1602.9
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,151.4
Elevation Gain Day 82:	0	Cum Elevation Gain:	256,619

After getting more information on the various fires, the plan has changed.  Because of the fires near Crater Lake, it no longer makes sense to hike north to there from Ashland.  It seems there would be a high probability of getting stuck there, or having to hike back to Ashland.  There are limited transportation options from Crater Lake, and I would only have limited food left to hike back to Ashland.

I could try to get to somewhere further north of Crater Lake and start hiking from there, but it’s very difficult to get to the trail in central Oregon.  And there is already another pre-existing closure in central Oregon that is very hard to get around.  So, hiking north almost anywhere in Oregon at this time is a bit futile.

In my assessment, it seems like the best thing to do right now is to skip up to Washington, hike to the Canadian border, then reassess where to hike next based on current conditions and closures.  I was really hoping to finish the hike at the Canadian border, and it will be a bit anti-climactic to not do that, but it’s just not in the cards for that to happen.

Regardless of plans, the first step is leaving Mount Shasta, and going to Ashland Oregon still seems like a logical first step. I shared a ride to Ashland with a couple other hikers that I met on trail in the last week or so.  But from here, our plans are a little divergent for various reasons.

There are a lot of other PCT hikers here in Ashland, all trying to figure out where to go from here and how to get there.  My guess is that many will do what I am doing, go to Portland Oregon, and then to Cascade Locks Oregon, which is right on the border of Oregon and Washington.  Then hike north from there.  The negative to this plan is that it seems there will be another over-sized bubble of hikers heading into Washington.  But there are really no other good options right now.

 

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PCT Day 81

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PCT Day 81, 01 August 2022 (Monday)

“The Casino Always Wins”

Start Location:	Mt. Shasta City	Destination:	Mt. Shasta City
PCT Miles Day 81:	0	Cum PCT Miles:	1,501.2
Non-PCT Miles Day 81:	0	Cum All Miles:	1602.9
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,151.4
Elevation Gain Day 81:	0	Cum Elevation Gain:	256,619

For 80 days and 1,500 miles, and as I have noted multiple times throughout this blog, I have been almost exactly on the plan that I made for the hike.  There have only been minor deviations.  But luck doesn’t last forever, in the end, the casino always wins.  In this new age of mega fires, it’s getting harder and harder to do a continuous thru-hike of the PCT.

The McKinney Fire has forced the closure of over 100 miles of the PCT.  But realistically, there’s about 200 miles that are not hikeable at this time.  Trying to figure out what to do is not easy, as there are also a couple smaller fires near Crater Lake in Oregon.  There is also about a 50 mile closure on the PCT north of Crater Lake.

For now, the plan is to skip up to Ashland, OR tomorrow, then start hiking north the next day, and just go as far as I can.  Then, I’ll just have to reassess based on current conditions and closures.  It’s very unpredictable right now.  The hike is going to get considerably more complicated for at least the next couple weeks.

On the good side, with a nero and a double zero, I should be well rested when I start hiking again.

I only needed the laundromat, not the car wash.

 

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PCT Day 80

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PCT Day 80, 31 July 2022 (Sunday)

“Call The MD”

Start Location:	Wilderness Campsite	Destination:	Mt. Shasta City
PCT Miles Day 80:	11.8	Cum PCT Miles:	1,501.2
Non-PCT Miles Day 80:	0.2	Cum All Miles:	1602.9
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,151.4
Elevation Gain Day 80:	344	Cum Elevation Gain:	256,619

The last 10 days we’re not the physically hardest of the hike, but they were probably mentally the hardest.  Six plus straight days of walking through devastating burn areas, whacking through dozens of miles of absolutely, irresponsibly unmaintained trail, very hot temps, difficult water situations, dealing with the worst mosquitoes of the hike, and then being hit with the sudden realization that, after hiking this far, completing a continuous foot path along the entire length of California may very well not be possible.

Several hikers I’ve spoken to have, at least, a mild case of trail depression.  And now having a large fire closing a big section of trail just north of here makes matters worse.  Trying to deal with that is not part of the therapy plan.

As for me, I don’t really have a personality type that makes it easy to allow for admitting any feelings of depression, so let’s just say that coming down the trail into Shasta City I’m not feeling an overwhelming sense of joy.  But maybe that’s not such a bad thing, as the parts of the trail that aren’t so great make you appreciate even more the parts that are.

By the way, I passed the 1,500 mile marker today, which will be the last significant mile marker that shows the actual number of miles I’ve hiked. Since I will have to skip somewhere up the trail, probably Ashland Oregon, any future mile markers will be off by more than 200 miles, at least for my hike.  Oh well.

Shasta looms large in the morning

 

Castle Crags

A nice little pour spout at Fall Creek

1,500 Mile Mark

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