Fire and Ice

To finish California is a huge milestone on the PCT. It goes on for ages and in the end feels like it never end.s But it does and after walking for months, one does eventually cross the invisible border into Oregon.

Waking up in a new state was exciting. A state that everybody talks about being flat and easy to go through. Many also talk about how mosquitoes are insane in Oregon, and that they just might drive you crazy. Well, Oregon in my opinion isn’t flat, but it doesn’t really have any crazy uphills either. Easy to got through, well probably compared to California. But wildfires gave us grief once again. Mosquitoes, yeah there are some, but on the whole stretch of the state, there were only a few evenings and mornings that caused me to put my net on and walk faster than usual.

I found myself excited about the new state on our first morning when we headed towards Ashland in the darkness of an early morning. We met a large group of trail runners almost instantly as their headlamps met ours. We gave them way as they passed by, and in my mind, I thanked them. The trail had been probably maintained by the event they were taking part of and not a single blowdown was seen on our first day in Oregon.

Monochrome, Spring and I had decided that Oregon was going to be a straightforward push. Send resupply boxes from Ashland and not go off-trail until Cascade Locks. Who needs town days, or soap anyways? In hindsight, not having soap from Mt. Shasta to Portland leaves one really dirty and I won’t lie, I have never smelled worse.

Familiar faces filled up the Walmart and UPS in Medford. Faces we hadn’t seen since the Sierras. We were caught in a bit of a bubble. It is fun to see people you have met, catch up and share stories. But it isn’t fun to find good camp spots when you know there are a huge amount of people rushing towards the same spot you planned to camp at. Also met @bubblehead_hikes in Ashland, hadn’t seen him since day three, and was happy to catch up properly. He has been so helpful with his videos of the trail the past months and it was great seeing him.

Ashland to Crater Lake had it all. Established camp grounds, views for days, a few blowdowns, easy miles and snow. Wait what, there is still snow in Oregon? Yes, we hit a few snow patches and were amazed that how can it still be here after the heat wave? I took handfuls of it as we passed by and placed it under my hat to cool off.

A few days later we arrived at Crater Lake, it was time to shower with my clothes on and try to get most of the dirt off. Walking through burn scars really leave a mark on your clothing and shoes, so every opportunity to wash the dirt off has to be taken.

As we walked into the restaurant, I spotted a familiar face. Shasta was downing some grub after just rolling into “town”. From all the people I’ve met on trail, Shasta is one of the nicest ones, and most interesting. For the last few years he has only been doing thru hikes one after the other. He is full of good stories and miles come easy as he chats away about his adventures.

We also learned that a new fire had started again. The trail fire had begun and there was no need to actually resupply at Crater Lake as we would need to skip ahead to Shelter Cove. The next morning Spring, Chrome, Shasta and I hopped onto a trail angel’s truck and started our journey towards Shelter Cove. First we thought it was going to be a ride with loads of leg space. But David, our driver had different plans and in the end there was 11 of us in his car. Happy that he could fit so many hikers in his truck, as many were without a ride.

The realisation of being in a bubble really kicked in at Shelter Cove. Where I counted 33 tents around ours. The shop seemed to been robbed as the shelves were empty of snacks, happy that we had sent a box there.

The walk out of Shelter Cove was stunning. Forest full of green trees (it is a luxury after burn scars), very little elevation gain and beautiful lunch spots by lakes. We camped at Stormy Lake, and got destroyed by mosquitoes. I’m usually keen to get out from the tent in the mornings and enjoy making coffee for Chrome and myself, but the morning we woke up at Stormy Lakes. Well, I was afraid to get out. The buzzing was insane and our vestibule was swarmed by the little blood sucking monsters. It was a very quick, pack and move kinda morning. No coffee, no cat-holes, and no “good morning Spring”. It was about moving fast and out running the suckers.

The day was spent enjoying the view of the Sisters, cursing on some lava rock and enjoying the changing scenery. That is one thing that I love about Oregon. The scenery can change so many times a day. From a green tunnel, to lava formations, from flat valleys to climbs with amazing views and from burn scars to snow in a matter of hours.

Between Shelter Cove and Timberline lodge, we stopped at the Youth camp at Big Lake. They are doing an amazing job for the PCT hikers. Laundry, showers, camp sites and breakfast, lunch, and dinner. True angels.

The 2000 mile marker was passed on our way to Timberline, and even if we have had to skip some because of fires. It still feels amazing to pass milestones like that. We smashed Timberline lodge’s lunch buffet, and saw many familiar faces buried into their plates.

With full bellies we left Timberline and headed towards Cascade Locks. There were a crazy amount of hikers, many who were doing the Timberline trail that goes around Mt. Hood. I ran down the hill to find a campsite, passed a large trail maintenance crew and thanked them for the amazing work they are doing.

I did find a nice campsite but we decided to take a pass on it. There was another group of hikers there with a campfire. I have to say: I cannot believe that people are building campfires. Seriously, look around, everything is dry, there are probably 50+ fires in Oregon alone. Yet, some people still start them to get that camp vibe going on. Smokey Bear would not approve.

Talking about bears. I saw one again. For the readers who haven’t read my other posts. The way I got the name Paws, is that I look for animals. Seeing another bear in its natural habitat made me smile for the rest of the day and miles came easy all the way to Wahtum Lake where we camped for the night.

As the Whisky Creek fire had been getting bigger and bigger we opted on the blue blaze to Cascade Locks. Not only because of the fire though, this particular blue blaze is full of waterfalls. The most famous one being tunnel falls. It did not disappoint, and we lingered there for a while before continuing. I guess our timing was perfect. We met so many day hikers climbing towards us as we made our way down. We had the falls to ourselves where others would have to share it with a bunch of people.

Spring’s mom was waiting for us somewhere on trail, and as I turned a corner I saw someone who looked like it could be Spring’s mom. “Hi, are you Spring’s mom”, I said. “Yes, I am”, she replied. “I’m Paws”, and instantly I got a hug. We walked the rest of the way to her car and drove towards Portland.

As I sit and finish writing this post. I look back at Oregon being my second best section of the trail. The Sierra Nevada still takes the first place but Oregon is a good and beautiful second. We have mailed our resupply boxes for Washington, cleaned ourselves up, bought new shoes and Ursack bags for the bears. Enjoyed Indian food and now I am off to war with a buffet sushi train.