Tag: PCT

Day 133: August 14th

Mile 1939.7 (Brahma Lake) to Mile 1967 (Wickiup Plain)

The day started with more rain but fortunately that lasted only a couple of hours. The sun was onlyout briefly, it was mostly cloudy today.

Lots of lakes today. I hiked past Stormy Lake, Desane Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Dumbell Lake, Sisters Mirror Lake and countless smaller unnamed lakes.

The weather is getting cooler too. This evening is the first time I have worn my down jacket in weeks.

Mileage: 27.3

Day 132: August 12th

Mile 1914 (Willamette Pass) to Mile 1939.7 (Brahma Lake)

Deb dropped me off at the Pacific Crest Trailhead at Willamette Pass after spending last night in an RV park in Crescent, OR. The RV park was pretty nice except for the road noise from the nearby highway. We have become accustomed to quiet after so much time on the trail.

Many other hikers are on the trail today. Most of them stayed at Shelter Cove (just a few miles from Willamette Pass) so we all started hiking at more or less the same place this morning.

It rained most of the afternoon, turning the trail into a river.

Mileage: 25.7

Day 131: August 11th

Mile 1902.7 to Mile 1914 (Willamette Pass)

Today was a just short 11 mile hike to Willamette Pass where I was met by Deb. We went to the small town of Crescent to clean up and resupply and relax. We are staying in a RV park here tonight.

I will return to the Pacific Crest Trail early tomorrow morning and continue walking north.

Mileage: 11.3

Day 130: August 10th

Mile 1879.8 to Mile 1902.7

This morning I met southbound thru-hikers Dormouse and Dirt Stew at Forest Road 60 near Windigo Pass. They are carrying one of the new super accurate GPS loggers for the Halfmile Project. It was great to meet them and discuss ideas about trail logging, waypoints, and southbound hiker issues.

A bit less smoky today but the mosquitos were pretty bad, especially around Summit Lake. I pitched the tent a little early as it was starting to rain. Lots of thunder and lightning, but not really all that much rain. Hopefully it didn’t start more fires. Passed the 1,900 mile mark today.

Photo: Thunderstorms near the Pacific Crest Trail.

Mileage: 22.9

Day 129: August 9th

Mile 1853.1 to Mile 1879.8

Smoke from the wildfires is pretty thick this morning, especially around Mount Thielsen. It cleared up some after the Pacific Crest Trail Oregon/Washington high point marker.

I felt like I had the PCT almost all to myself today. Only saw two other thru-hikers and two section hikers. I imagine most of the thru-hikers camped at Thielsen Creek last night, and are probably 8-10 miles ahead of me. Funny how hikers tend to bunch up around certain spots.

Mileage: 26.8

Day 128: August 8th
Zero day in Medford

Today was a zero day in Medford as we found a doctor to look at the cut on Deb’s heel. She’s going to be OK, although she has an impressive calf-high green bandage. No stitches, just butterfly tape.

As a side note: We were pleased with how our Covered California Kaiser state exchange health plans and Valley Immediate Care worked. Since Kaiser has no offices in this area we were not sure what would happen. Turns out Valley Immediate Care will file a claim with Kaiser and Deb only had to make a $3 copayment. She was happy with the medical care she received too.

Another side note: The Valley Immediate Care doctor commented to Deb about the high number of Pacific Crest Trail hikers their Ashland office was treating for Giardia.

We drove back to the PCT where we are camped tonight. I will hike onward in the morning.