Hello Everyone, I am sorry that this post will be so short, but I only have a couple of minutes. We have 2 more days left in Oregon and then we will be on our way to Washington and the Cascades!! OR was a beautiful state and we had a great time. Here are some of the highlights:
3 Sisters- these 3 mountains were spectacular and possibly our favorite part of OR. There was volcanic rock, beautiful views of Jefferson, and gorgeous lakes. We camped as Sister's Mirror Lake one night and seeing the mist skate along the surface of the water was amazing.
Pop Up Angels- Along the trail, we ran into Trail Angels Jerry Can and Chef, who fed us cappacinos and gourmet pancakes. They were divine and we loved them. They travel up and down the trail supporting PCT hikers, and feeding us delicious food. True Angels.
Timberline Lodge- we arrived at Timberline Lodge on Tuesday to meet my Dad and Grandmother. They drove us down to Portland after a wonderful buffet and we spent 4 days in the city, eating, drinking, and delivering presentations about the PCT. It was so much fun to share this experience with others. We spoke to a female hiking group and some of my Dad's coworkers at Danner. Everyone was so incredibly nice and I wanted to thank them for spending the time listening to us. This Lodge is a great meeting place for all hikers, so we have been reuniting with old friends and meeting new.
We are about to set off for our final 2 days or OR and then we will cross the Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks and walk into Washington.
Mount Hood is so gorgeous and it is wild to see people walking around in ski boots and jackets, while we are in our shorts and hiking boots.
We hiked with some great friends throughout OR and I look forward to sharing some of our fun stories with you later.
Love to all and I will try to write again soon. xoxo, Lobster
Hello Friends, The last few weeks have been very eventful. Northern California has been filled with goodbyes, news of fires, and long mileage days. Today we are in Quincey, CA trying to construct a plan for the next few sections of trail.
Firstly, I have to say a huge farewell to Pounce. She decided to leave the trail a few days ago and head home to Germany. The real world was beckoning and Pounce was responsible enough to heed it's call. She is going home to study for school and learn the piano- no small task in 2 short months. Saying goodbye to her was very sad, not just for me, but for the whole group. Pounce was an extremely bright light on the trail and I know we will all miss her singing, laugh, and cursing on the up-hills. I am sure she will be back on the blog to share some of her stories and photos with everyone. Love you Pounce, and we all miss you already!
The current dilemma that we are dealing with is all of the wildfires in Northern California. We arrived in town yesterday to resupply and a nice woman running a convenient store told us that parts of the trail are closed because of the fires. We didn't have any cell phone service or internet access where we were, so we hitched into Quincey and are now at the library doing some research and a quick blog update. At this point we do not know what our future plans will be. Some hikers have been skipping Northern California and driving up to Ashland, OR. Others are hiking on the open sections of the trail and road-walking where the trail is closed. To see the trail closures and conditions, visit the Pacific Crest Trail Association's webside: http://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/trail-conditions-and-closures/
We will keep you posted on our plans, but don't worry Grammy and Grampa, we will be safe and smart!
The last few days on the trail have been satisfying and tough. We have decided to crank-up the miles because we need to start pushing if we want to make it to Canada before the snow falls. We did a 19, 22, and 24 mile day, and it feels good! We are all tired, but a few weeks ago, the idea of 20+ miles was daunting and sounded impossible. In the Sierra's, that mileage was too hard for us. Here, in Northern, CA, we are able to use our "turbo speed" because the terrain is flatter and the elevation is lower. I am relieved to finally be setting a quicker pace that will help us reach our goal...and I am really glad that it hasn't killed me. We are hoping to work our way up to 30 miles a day in Oregon, so we will see!
I know we have been going back and forth on trail names, but we have FINALLY settled on the perfect name for Sue. She is now officially, Trinket!! It is awesome and the whole group has taken to it. Cognac and Mountain Crusher just weren't sticking. I will let Trinket tell you the story of how she acquired her name at another time. She says hi and sends her love to everyone.
Hope everyone is doing well! We will write another update when we can.