Day 90.5: mile 1904.1 - 1908.3 (plus 2.2 unregistered miles)
Shelter Cove was quite the resort, but I decided against paying to camp amongst tens of RVs and the dozen or so section hikers that showed up after me. So I spent the afternoon eating two hot dogs (fully loaded with ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, and sauerkraut), two ice cream bars, a bag of dried fruit, and half a box of Triscuits. I don't even want to know what my digestive system is thinking right now, but it doesn't seem to complain too much anymore. I think it says something like "Calories? Watch what I can do with those!"
After a nap on the lawn, and some socializing with the other hikers (Shelter Cove has an awesome outdoor, shaded area for PCT hikers) it was time to get a few evening miles in. The miles were easy (despite the resupplied pack) and I made it to a beautiful lakeside campsite with plenty of daylight to spare, and the body feeling alright.
Odell Lake (home to Shelter Cove and other resorts)
Back at Shelter Cove, pretty much every hiker I talked to had hit rock bottom emotionally or physically at some point in the last few hundred miles. After my shittiest day on the trail yesterday, the food, rest, and conversation was just the boost I needed. I don't think the Ibuprofen hurt either. After asking hikers at Shelter Cove how much Vitamin I they were taking per day (and the answers varying from 2-3 on the low end to 8 on the high end) I feel a bit better about adding one Ibuprofen tablet to my evening diet. That way my pack gets a little lighter as well!
Lower Rosary Lake - home for tonight
Day 91: mile 1908.3 - 1944.0
- Dieting for thru-hikers
As I lay in bed last night a gentle breeze was moving the tree tops, and I noticed that one of the tops was moving A LOT more than the others. And that I could make out a creaking sound with each big sway. I briefly thought about moving my tent, but decided if I was going to get crushed by a tree, so be it. That would be really shitty luck. Fortunately I woke up in one uncrushed piece this morning - a good start to the day!
Happy to be alive, it was time for breakfast. Have you ever wondered what a thru-hiker eats every day while doing something like this? I have been hesitant to broach this topic, because any reputation that I have as a health-conscious person will go straight out the window. But then again, I haven't shaved or cut my hair in three months, I shower once a week, and have worn the same pair of underwear every day for almost one hundred days. I don't think a little processed/packaged food is going to hurt whatever "reputation" remains.
So here, in pictorial format, is the daily diet that, when coupled with carrying a 25-pound pack 23-ish miles per day over challenging terrain for three months, has helped me lose almost twenty pounds:
Breakfast: powdered coconut milk, granola, chocolate whey protein, chocolate chips (thank my mom for that last ingredient 😋)
Morning Snack: fig bar
Second morning snack: scoop of peanut/almond butter, half bar of dark chocolate, flat bread/tortilla
Second morning snack: fold and eat!
Lunch: instant mashed potatoes topped with bacon bits, ~30mL olive oil, and some sort of spice (tapatio, taco sauce, etc.)
Afternoon snack: homemade trail mix (chocolate chips, roasted almonds, raw cashews)
Second afternoon snack: granola bar (homemade - note that the homemade bars don't travel very well, and they end up more like loose granola. They still taste just dandy)
Dinner: dehydrated meal (typically some type of rice or pasta with healthy portions of beans and/or meat, and enough veggies to help you rationalize the choice)
And then my day finishes with a pre-bedtime snack, consisting of whatever is leftover from my daily rations
So there you have it, thru-hiker dieting 101. And of course, when you get to town, eat as many calories as possible. Like those hot dogs I had yesterday. Which are on my mind right now because oh my god my sleeping bag smells terrrrrrible. TMI? Okay, I'll stick to explain what goes into the digestive system, not what comes out...
Day 92: mile 1944.0 - 1973.7
- Three Sisters Wilderness
- Diverse Landscapes
Yesterday ended up being my second-biggest day on the trail. With about a mile to go I actually felt a bit of an adrenaline kick, and felt like I could have just kept right on going. It took a little bit of self control to slow my pace down and stop at my planned campsite. Whatever energy I had wore off, and I slept like a rock.
Casual morning meadows
It was a casual morning, as I had about seven miles until Elk Lake Resort, a resort one mile off-trail with a restaurant that opened at 9am. A hot breakfast sounded really good. Definitely worth the extra miles. When I got there at 9:05 I found a few angry hikers, and a paper sign on the restaurant door announcing that the hours had changed: they now opened at 11am. So I turned around and headed back to the trail. I had been thinking about taking an unplanned day here and renting one of their "rustic cabins", but screw them if they can't update their website to include the proper restaurant hours. I was/am slightly irritated...
This was my face as well after my hopes of a hot breakfast were dashed
Fortunately the trail finally started getting more interesting. After another tree tunnel of a morning, the trail opened up for the afternoon and gave us incredible views of the Three Sisters as we traversed their western sides. The Sisters are three mountains, all above 10,000', whose summits are within just a few miles of one another. What makes them so spectacular is their prominence - there aren't any other peaks in the area that rival their size. South and Middle Sister were definitely volcanic-looking, but North Sister looks more like a glaciated peak that you would find in the Sierras. Regardless of shape, they were all spectacular.
North Sister
Middle Sister
South Sister
Little Sister! (and apparently stoned cat...)
After we passed North Sister, and just before camp, the trail took us through a lava field. I hadn't really been looking forward to this stretch, because lava rock is generally rough on the feet, especially at the end of the day. But I absolutely loved those last few miles. Maybe it was the sharp contrast with the trees we have been in for the last few hundred miles. Maybe it was the moderately steep trail and challenging switchbacks. Maybe it was the cool evening temperatures, as opposed to the blistering mid-day heat. Or maybe it was the barren, Martian-like landscape. Whatever it was, I wish it would have lasted longer.
Mars? (with a few green plants)
Another view of North Sister
After giving a brief smoke-filled view of the peaks to the north, the trail left the lava as quickly as it entered it, and it was time to set up camp. Some of my camp-mates were a few backpackers out for a three-day trip who were super friendly, and very interested in thru-hiking. I stayed up later that I should have around their campfire, but the conversation was welcome after a few days of solitude. Now, hopefully they don't snore...
Day 93: mile 1973.3 - 1998.6
- More lava fields
- Mt. Washington
- Big Lake Youth Camp
- Bend
It was an easy get-up this morning and I was on the trail by 6am. The cool morning air (no bugs!!), deer (sometimes sharing the trail with you) and occasional views of North and Middle Sister in the rearview mirror made that first handful of miles fly.
My morning trail buddy
North Sister
Then things got a lot more exposed, and the trail much rockier. It was another lava field, this one being closer to five miles long. It's a good thing I have a new pair of shoes in my next resupply box, because that lava rock was making mince meat of my soles. I passed a few other people, and we enjoyed commiserating over the status of the trail. As much as I like bitching about it, I do enjoy the diversity. One hundred miles of this would suck. Five is doable.
Mt. Washington poking its head over the horizon...
...but first we get to walk across this!
Then it was time to skirt the slopes of Mt. Washington, which reminded me a bit of Mt. Thielsen because of its jagged, rocky peak. As we were circling its base, we hit mile 1987.5: three-quarters of the way done! Just gotta keep walkin'...
The slopes of Mt. Washington
After a little climb up the slopes of Mt. Washington, it was time to descend towards Big Lake Youth Camp, which is my next resupply point. The camp is a Seventh-Day Adventist youth camp that accepts hiker resupply packages, and has a hiker hut (construction currently in progress) where we can relax during the day. They also have a mess hall, and I got there just as they were serving lunch. You can't turn down a hot lunch on the trail, even when you have more-than-enough-food in your resupply package. And even when the hundred or so screaming kids in the mess hall are a total sensory overload for someone who has grown used to the quieter life on the trail...
Out with the old, in with the new!
Sufficiently fed and resupplied, it was back on the trail for another five miles to Santiam Pass/Highway 20. I wasn't initially planning on going to Bend (a 42-mile hitch), but after a physical therapist on-trail poked and prodded at my Achilles yesterday and diagnosed me with moderate tendinitis, I figure I should heed her suggestion of a rest day. Not walking for 24 hours also just sounds appealing right now. So it was out with the sign, and up with the thumb.
It took about ten minutes, but I was picked up by Scarecrow, a PCT hiker from the classes of 2011 and 2012 who happened to be going climbing this weekend. So we chatted it up, and the miles to Bend went by quickly. He deposited me in an area near some cheaper hotels, and I found a place for the evening. After a shower, a burger and fries for dinner, and another shower, I was down for the count.
Day 94
- A bundle of energy
I always tell myself that when I get in to town I'll be social and I'll get out and explore. And then I actually get into town and I am so damn exhausted that I sit on my ass and either spend the whole time eating or sleeping. Bend was no exception.
With the exception of field trips to the laundromat, grocery store, and hotel jacuzzi, today consisted of a whole lot of nothing. I slept for a good sixteen hours, and the time that wasn't spent sleeping or eating (or doing laundry) was spent researching the Te Araroa (pronounced "tee are-a-rho-a") which is a long distance trail that traverses the North and South islands of New Zealand. Maybe I should focus on finishing the PCT before I start thinking too much about what is next 😏