Day 147 : The worst day

24th September 2013
Mile 2356 to mile 2372 : Urich Cabin to Tacoma Pass
Mileage : 16
What should have been a night of deep restorative sleep was not, due to a female hiker who shall remain nameless who arrived after us and then snored more loudly than anyone i have ever encountered in my life, ever. There are few things in life which affect my morale as acutely as someone depriving me of sleep when i too am trying to sleep. I did not sleep well. Thanks to the presence of the fire though, all my things were dry in the morning when i finally got up and about, but that was about the only positive thing about the day. I didn't get hiking until just after 9am, and pretty much straight away the pain in my left ankle and right knee was severe. After about a mile i had to stop on a forest road and decide what to do. The pain was so much i could not manage more than about 1 mile per hour, and i had no idea if that could be sustained. Snoqualamie Pass was 45 miles along the trail, and that is along way at 1 mile per hour. I decided first to tape up my ankle, as that was giving the most pain. Not having a razor i had to snip the hairs of my leg off so that the tape would stick properly and i wouldn't have to do it a second time. The tape helped massively, but there wasn't enough to do my knee, so the only thing to do was to carry on and hope it was managable. It was not. Another couple of miles farther up the trail i had to stop again and sort out my knee. It hurt mostly on descents when swinging the knee forward before placing my foot with the pain mostly concentrating on the lower, inner face of the kneecap. Luckily i was carrying a fair amount of duct-tape with me, so decided to use that in lieu of proper medical tape. So again i sat a carefully snipped all the hairs off my knee before applying the tape. As i have not experienced this pain before, i don't know if any of what i was doing actually had any effect at all, but i had to hope that it did. After mummifying my knee as best i could, i hobbled on. I was fortunate that day thahat there was no rain, well not torential rain at least. Late in the afternoon i had come about 12 miles when i just had to stop, and just as i did i met two south boundrs who told me there was some magic at the bottom of the next hill. I resolved to make it to the magic, stop there for the night and re-evaluate my situation in the morning. Unfortuantely for me, the hiking gods weren't finished me and had more injuries to throw my way. This time though it was my upper bodies time to sufffer, specifically my right wrist. My hiking poles today were invaluable in helping me avoid putting weight on my ankle and knee, and clearly the gods were not happy with me escaping pain that easily, and so they contrived to make life even more difficult. My right wrist began to hurt and swell massively as i gripped the hiking pole, and before long i was unable to grip it at all. This meant i had to hobble down the last descent with only my left pole, and un able to give my knee the extra support it needed. It took a long time to get down. About halfway down, i saw a note from Peter Pan and HoopDreams to say they were stopping at an abandoned weather station that night just over 10 miles farther up the trail. There was absolutely no chance i'd be joining them. Eventually the descent was over and I rested at the base of the climb looking for somewhere to string up my tarp. I did so and started my evening routine, grateful for the lack of rain. About half an hour after stopping, Fireball turned up. He was sad to hear of my woes, but there was little he could do about it save give me some extra strapping tape as mine was running out. I was feeling pretty defeated at this stage and was glad of someone to talk to. His advice was 'kiss the monument'. He said in his view we had all come so far up the trail that skipping up to the monument section would not be the end of the world. I seem to be one of the few hikers bent on a continuous hike, which he well knew, and he said i would have to accept that this was no longer possible. He said i should take some time off, wait for my knee to heal up enough to make it to the border and get there any way i could. It was sage advice, but i wasn't ready to hear it. At the same time though i was tempted to put a sign by the road in the hope it would be seen by a passing car, of which there were few, and jump in it regardless of where it was going. Fireball had a couple more miles to do before stopping, so left me to my thoughts as he disappeared up the trail. All I could do was hope that everything would be feeling up to another long day on the PCT tomorrow.

Day 146 : Injury

23rd September 2013
Mile 2333 to mile 2356 : Chinook Pass to Urich Shelter
Mileage : 23
I was annoyed this morning that my sleeping bag hadn't dried out overnight from my body heat. I was too tired to be annoyed when i discovered it was wet in the first place as i got ready for bed last night, but now i was annoyed. My sleeping bag was wet because a) my rucksack cover is useless , and b) my rucksack liner is also useless. I bought these two items with the express purpose that they keep my stuff dry, but the are patently failing miserably. My warm kit, including my.sleeping bag has a goose down fill as the insulating material, which is superb when dry, and dangerous when wet as it loses all its heat retention properties. Survival in the mountains during bad weather is therefore dependant on keeping this warm kit dry, and last night my sleeping bag, the key lifesaving bit of kit in an emergency, was more than a little damp. As is often the case in mountaineering/hiking equipment, low tech, low cost solutions often out-perform the latest and greatest offering from the big brand names. For my sleeping bag i triple wrapped it in standard shopping bags, and then lined my rurucksack with 2 thick bin bags. It certainly isn't chic, but it works. On a similar note, Shotput and Pepperflake, whom i would see in a couple days for the first time since the Californian border bad solved the wet glove problem. Again it appears that waterproof gloves are rarely so with prolonged exposure to the elements, with my perhaps frostnipped fingers proving the qualities of my own gloves. Shotput and Pepperflake therefore decided an outer layer of household cleaning gloves would help keep their hands dry and therefore warm. Another example of low tech beating high tech. Although i would adopt this in the future, for the coming section i would have to put up with perenially cold and wet hands. Dishcloth dropped Peter Pan, HoopDreams and myself off at the pass and after a small amount of procrastinating, wet set off up the trail. Thankfully it didn't rain too hard today, but even so the constant drizzle, mist, cold an.occasional wind made for unpleasant hiking. For my part, the unpleasantness descended into misery rapidly from the get go. The ankle issue i had felt the night before had not gone away, infact.it.had gotten much, much worse. I must have turned/strained/sprained/twisted it pretty badly yesterday, and for whatever reason was taking its time to surface. But surface it did during the hike today getting worse and worse with each passing mile. I tried to console myself by remembering my.previous ankle issues in the desert 2000 miles ago that as long as i treated it gently, and didn't subject it to too much stress, it would get better in a few days. These thoughts did little to comfort me in the short term however. One thing i have learned about my body when it comes to pain is that it is unable to multi-task, and so my ankle pain actually went away for a lot of the day as it was replaced by something much, much worse : knee pain. About 15 miles in to the hike all was sort of going well, when suddenly my right knee started to hurt. To be specific it was the outward face.if the kneecap that hurt whenever i would bend the knee. For the first few miles after i noticed the pain there was mere discomfort, no great problem as discomfort is all to often the name of the game when it comes to thru-hiking. Soon though, the pain became really noticeable and i became seriously worried. Had the weather been better i would have slowed the pace down, but had i gone any slower i would not have been able to stat warm. Also, the finishline for the day was an actual shelter with a rumoured wood burning stove, i would just have to put up with the pain til i got there. Get i did just after sundown, and it was worth all the fast hiking with my two injuries. The fire was roaring when i arrived, and before long Pan, Hoopdreams and I were thawing out in front of the fire chatting about the day while watching the.steam rising from all our wet hiking clothes strewn all around the fire. We were pretty unaltered andbhit the hay early for some well deserved rest prior to doing it all again the next day, only this time without the cosy cabin at the end of it.

Day 145 : The beginning of the end

22nd September 2013
Mile 2304 to mile 2333 : White Pass to Chinook Pass
Mileage : 29
Although i am already 150 miles into the state, it feels like i am.starting Washington today. I wanted to get an early start and finish the day's hike in the light but it was not to be. It took a while pack up as the rain was still coming down hard, and just as i was ready to go i thought I'd check i had my brand new head torch close to hand, so i wouldn't have to explode my pack later to get it. I was very glad that i did this check, as i couldn't find it anywhere. I checked inside of everything i owned and turned everything inside-out and upside-down looking for it in vain until finally i retraced my steps that morning and found it by the lake where i had gotten water that morning. At 9:30 i eventually hit the trail and hiked as fast as i could until i got to Chinook Pass 29 miles later. I think that day i stopped for a total of 20 minutes, but although i didn't take many breaks, my hiking speed was slow and i didn't get to the pass until well after dark and by that time i was cold, wet and miserable. At Chinook Pass i stook my thumb out and started waving at every passing car in the hope they were going back to Packwood and the motel room that PRT had there. Every car that passed stopped, which was good, but none were going to Packwood, so i was there a while standing by the side of the road seeing lights coming up the pass in the cold, wet, dark and hoping they were cars going my way. I was 2 cars away from giving up when Jenny stopped. Jenny was on her way to Enumclaw, but when she saw what a state i was in she took pity on me and decided to take me to Packwood and for that kindness I am extremely grateful. Upon arrival into Packwood it took a while to find the motel at PRT was staying, the whole place was badly lit and the owner badly tempered. I couldn't get hold of anyone by phone but recognised the array of hiker equipment outside one of the doors, and knocked on the door the stuff was closest to, and luckily Dishcloth answered the door. The first thing i did was get.straight in the shower and get clean and warm. I didn't actually have much dirt on me having only been out hiking for 1 day, but it did take almost 20 minutes to feel properly warm again. Some time later i was ensconced in my sleeping bag drifting of to sleep when i noticed two things. The first was.a pain in my left ankle, and the second was that my fingers were numb. I'd actually noticed this before I'd gotten in the shower, but assumed.it would go away when i warmed up, it didn't, and so i added it to my list of body parts that have gone numb. This list now includes : the balls of my feet, my left hip/waist area, which is due to my pulling the hip strap of my rucksack in really tight and it pressing hard on my hips now that i have so little fat on me, and now my finger tips. All four on my right hand are numb, and the middle two of my left hand. I understand why my feet and hips are numb, but can't explain the fingers. Starfox, who has mountaineering experience, later suspected that i could have been frost-nip, the first stage of frostbite, this seems unlikely, but not impossible, given how cold, wet and windy it was today.

Day 144 : The calm before the storm

21st September 2013
No miles
I woke up again in a bed for what i would guess as the last time in aanother month as up the trail in one final push up the trail to the Canadian border. As Bob and Kelley hadn't done enough for me already, Kelley said she would drive me back up to White Pass to save me a difficult set of hitches. The morning as spent resupplying and send boxes, but by mid afternoon we were on our way and speeding back through Mt Rainier National Park. Kelley dropped me right at the little.petrol station at the top of the pass where i had gotten off trail over ten days ago now, and so i was exactly where i needed to be to carry on hiking. I thanked Kelley for she and Bob had done for me, and she headed back home to Seattle, and i headed inside to see if there were any hikers about. Inside i found a couple hikers i didn't know, but also a couple i did : Fireball and Busted with whom i had crossed the halfway mark almost exactly 1000 miles ago. We swapped stories for a few minutes before they told me that all of PRT, and also Starfox and Chick-Chack, were at the pass. I couldn't believe it, i had done it. I had spent almost 2 months clawing myself a ten day lead.on them all so that i could catch them.all.when i got back trail after my holiday, and i had done it uncannyily well. All the assembled hikers in the petrol station were due to head out that evening, and as i thought my lot might all do the same i headed half a mile down the road to the campsite to find them. I needn't have worried, i found Starfox, Chick-Chack and Mr Green doing what PRT does best : resting. As much as i was surprised to get back on trail just as they were passing through, they were more surprised. After a heartfelt reunion they gave me the skinny on the rest of PRT  and the hiking coming up over the next few days.Peter Pan was the only one hiking that day, and was on her way southbound from Chinook Pass back to White Pass,.and Dishcloth and Hoop Dreams were driving up to the campground to pick her up and take her back to Packwood, a little town they were staying in a few miles down from the pass. It turned out that Dishcloth was no longer on trail. His feet were hurting too much for him to continue so he had gotten of trail halfway through Oregon at Shelter Cove. Once getting off trail he had flown back to his native Texas, gotten in his car, and then drove back to the trail to act as a mobile trail angel for PRT. Incredible! A little while later Dishcloth and Kate arrived by car, and Peter Pan appeared from.out of the forest. It was a good moment, the last time we had all seen each other at the same time was at Sierra City, some 1100 miles ago when we were all enduring the intense heat of Northern California, well no longer. The weather forecast said to expect rain, wind and cold for the foreseeable future. The forecast was so bad that Mr Green, Starfox and Chick-Chack were not going to hike on tomorrow, but instead were going to skip up 2 sections and wait out the weather at the Dinsmore's hiker Haven near Steven's Pass, some 170 miles up the trail. Skipping is never on my agenda, so i knew i would be facing the weather. Thankfully Pan and HoopDreams were of a similar mindset to me. They were going to zero tomorrow, and then hike north from Chinook Pass, a day's hike away. I then, would hike up to Chinook Pass tomorrow on my own and hike with them after that. With plans laid Dishcloth, Hoopdreams and Peter Pan headed back to Packwood leaving the rest of us to endure the weather that night. I did so under my new shelter, a massive sheet of Tyvek tarpaulin which i spread over a picnic table. I was glad of the opportunity to test it out before hitting the trail for real the next day.

The holiday

This morning i woke up firmly off trail for the first time since he Mexican border all those months ago. For the next 10 days i will be a tourist with Sophie while we do our best to explore a small be of the American Northwest. I have decided that as this is not part of the trail, i will not be sharing it on the blog. The next blog post will be after Sophie has left and i am on my way back to the trail.

Day 143 : The Goat Rocks

9th September 2013
Mile 2285 to mile 2304 : The Goat Rocks to White Pass
Mileage : 19

Today there were two objectives, reach White.Pass.via the Goat Rocks, and hitch off trail to Seattle. Sophie, my better half, is coming out to the US for ten days to see me, and together we're going to be tourists and lots of things unrelated to the trail. Most people i know have had friends and family visit at least once on the trail, and i have been jealous everytime someone tells me of some real RnR away from the trail. Tomorrow it will be my turn with me meeting Sophie at the airport after a long flight from the UK. Between now and then however is the Goat Rocks wilderness. The Goal Rocks is the first real wilderness on Washington, and i have been looking forward to them for some time as their beauty is well known among the hiker community and so i was itching to get started when i awoke this morning. As i was breaking my trailside camp Cartwheel showed up, and it was with hikers that i shared the Goat Rocks that day. I think it is fair to say that Cartwheel is a bit of an oddball, with some hikers liking him and others finding him a bit, well, odd. I am definitely of the 'like' camp and remember his hospitality at Timberline Lodge well. Together we hiked up.a.steep climb towards the summit of Old Snowy, a prominent summit from.which we sat and admired the staggering views of Washington. The views of Mt Rainier in particular were simply jaw dropping. Unfortunately as i needed to getto White Pass with enough time to hitch into Seattle i couldn't dawdle, but that just meant i was playing with fire, or more correctly vertical drops of several hundred feet, as i descended along a knife edge ridge back down towards White Pass. It was by far my favourite few miles of trail since the Sierras over 1000 miles ago. The Goat Rocks wilderness was alas too short, and by the middle White Pass with my thumb out Seattle bound. I am a little ashamed to sat i have neither photos nor names of any of the occupants of the three cars that took me into Seattle but for some reason it just didn't cross.my.mind. My.first ride was from a group of 3 girls and a guy about my age just coming back from doing the Wonderland Trail, which goes all the way around the circumference of Mt Rainier much like the Timberline Trail does Mt Hood. I did wonder why then they were picking me.up at White Pass, as the pass is no where near the Wonderland Trail, but in my experience it is bad manners to argue with someone offering you  ride, so i just nodded politely. At the bottom of the pass, and at the southern entrance to Mt Rainier National Park i we.parted ways and i was left once again on the side of the road with my thumb out trying to flag down passing cars as best i could. An hour later i was still there, and getting a bit worried. The southern entrance of the park is in a deep valley and was already losing the light even though it was barely 5pm. I also had no mobile phone reception to call my angels in Seattle who were putting me up for the night. Not good. Finally ny.luck changed and a couple picked me up and took me up to through park's northern entrance where again i was left by the side if the road. This time however, i got a ride almost instantly from a naturalised German woman was up in the park for the day. I allayed her fears that i was a crazed murderer looking for my next victim by informing her i was a stranded British hiker/tourist on my way to Seattle to pick my girlfriend from the airport, and that seemed to do the trick. Before long we were speeding towards Seattle, and not just to he city in general, but actually to where i was going, right to the door. It turned out thus woman lived only a few streets away from where i was going, an incredible but of luck on my part given the vastness of the Seattle metropolitan area. About 90 minutes later i was once again ejected from a car, byte this time at the house of Bob and Kelley Kiel. Bob and Kelley are the parents of Nightcrawler, aka Jess who live in south Seattle and who often help out hikers in need. I am very grateful to them. My luck continued as i arrived just in time for dinner, and so i sat down to a delicious homecooked meal if corn on the cob, spicy chicken and rice, salad, and glass or two of wine  it was sublime, if not a bit surreal given my hitching fortune, and the fact that only a few hours before i had been in the wilderness of the Cascade mountains. A good end to a.great day.

Day 142 : The green tunnel

8th September 2013
Mile 2256 to mile 2285 : Mt Adams to the Goat Rocks
Mileage : 29

I was hoping today for some stunning views of Mt Adams today, but views today were elusive. I arrived in camp last night just as he light was fading, and i still don't have a head lamp so i couldn't see how close to a nearby waterfall i was sleeping. I woke up at dawn to discover my sleeping bag was soaking wet from condensation, so i was pretty close. I tried to look on the bright side which was that the white noise from the falls meant i had slept the whole night without waking up once. I broke camp at speed so as to get moving and start warming up as quickly as possible. I waved good morning to Frosty and Goldie, with whom i had arrived in camp the night before and set off down the side of the mountain. The day proved more difficult than it should have been given the good weather and relatively easy terrain. For some reason i just didn't have much energy, and i struggled all day. I stopped on an exposed hill top at lunch to let my sleeping bag dry, and took in one of the few views of the day, before plunging back into the forest below me. Just after lunch Goldie and Frosty caught me, testament to how fast they were moving, and how i was moving as i left camp at least 45 minutes before them, and i leap frogged with them later.in the day as we climbed into the Goat Rocks wilderness. It was good to be above treeline again and to finally have good weather long enough to enjoys the views, and views there were. The setting sun set Mt Adamsalight and even illuminated the brown ruin of a volcanoe that is Mt StHelens. I arrived at my camp spot, as indicated by the map, to find a marshy meadow, and no good looking spots for me to sleep on. By this time the light was almost totally gone so i had to make do with a trailside patch yet again, but i didn't mind, at least my commute to work in the morning would be short! The final hurdle of the day involved my stove. From the outset i have been using a homemade pop can stove which uses as its fuel either denatured alcohol, or an antifreeze called HEET. At my last trail stop i couldn't find either, so i compromised with buying isopropylalcohol, which does work if it is pure, but i didn't see that the stuff i bought was only 70%, with the remainder being water. This stuff just didn't work. Usually my pot sits right on the stove and it does its thing in the evening quite happily unattended leaving me free to do other chores. Tonight though it took forever to boil the water i needed for my dehydrated rice, to the point where i almost lost my temper and threw it away. I persevered though and was finally rewarded with some tepid aldente rice that i ate in the dark ensconced in my sleeping bag, at least there was no condensation so far that night.

Day 141 : Mt Adams

7th September 2013
Mile n/a to mile 2356 : Trout Lake to the base of Mt Adams.
Mileage : 33

My hike in to Trout Lake was 18 miles downhill, my hike out was 15 miles uphill towards Mt Adams. The weather had cleared up overnight and i was treated to glorious sunshine, and stunning views of Mt Adams, as i hiked up the road towards the mountain. I was further treated to a slack pack, ie a hike with no rucksack, courtesy of Cuddles and Funsize, who had a car and had spotted me hiking past where they were staying. The kindly took my rucksack up to the trailhead and hid it in some bushes so i wouldn't have to hike with it. The last time i slack packed was over 1500 miles ago at Tehachapi, so i didn't feel bad about doing it here, especially as i was road walking. Several hours later i was back at the trail having completed my detour to Trout Lake having only lost one or two hiking hours, a small price to pay considering what I'd gotten from the town. It did mean that that i had to keep pushing hard in order to keep on schedule. The trail ascended the mountain on its west flank, before contourbig around it clockwise before heading down the north face of it. I set up camp by a small stream just before the descent and watched the lightshow of the sunset on the glaciated sides of Mt Adams, a good end to a good day.

Day 140 : Trout Lake

6th September 2013
Mile 2208 to mile n/a : Horse Camp to Trout Lake
Mileage : 18

I woke up.several times during the night to find there was no let up from the rain, and at dawn there was no change. My decision to sleep on the outhouse porch was a good one, as i was the most dry among the hikers camped around the angel's RV. Dry though in this instance was a relative term. Anything that wasn't inside my sleeping bag with me, or inside one of my dry stuff sacks was completely wet through even though i had had complete shelter from the rain. The angels had put on a heart warming breakfast of pancakes and coffee for everyone, and we stood around under the RV awning each discussing hiking options for the day. The weather was supposed to improve by the afternoon so those that weren't too wet decided to hike on. Others decided instead to head to the town of Trout Lake some 18 miles o the east of the trail. I joined husband group as i worried about another night in wet if the weather did not infact improve. Most of the hikers heading in to town did so via four wheeled transport of some kind, i however did not as to do would have broken my continuous hike. I was due to get off trail to spend 10 days with Sophie being tourists in and around Seattle, and had 4 days, including today, to get to White Pass, from where i would hitch into Seattle. This meant i would not have time to go back to the horse camp if i stayed in Trout Lake that night. I could however hike into Trout Lake, and then hike out to meet the trail father on, which is what i decided to do. So i replaced 33 trail miles with 33 road miles, 18 of which i did today. If any of you readers assume road miles are somehow cheating let me tell you husband is not the case at all. Road miles are more difficult that trail miles, by a long way, and the reason for this is the pounding one's feet receive on the unforgiving road surface, mostly tarmac but sometimes concrete, which is even worse. The only way to make it stop ia to go faster and get it over with, but this just intensifies the pounding. 18 miles later i made it into the hamlet of a town which is Trout Lake. I recuperated with a diner cheeseburger and a huckleberry milkshake, and considered my next move. It turned out that a Jonah Christian group welcomed hikers to stay with them at a former school, so i headed there. At the old school i found about 20 hikers all seeking shelter from the elements, and being amazed by the hospitality of our hosts. There were beds for all, hot showers, washers and driers, a sports hall to dry out all our kit in, and to top it all off, dinner had been laid on for us all. It was heaven. If all this hospitality wasn't enough Cuddles, a cellist by occupation, was putting on a concert with his wife who is supporting him on the trail. Cuddles has been giving concerts all the way up he trail as a way to stay in shape, and i have been lucky enough to attend 3 of them, and all by chance rather than design. By the end of the concert i was crashing pretty hard and heads back to the old school to get some rest in preparation for the second half of my road walk back to the PCT and Mt Adams.

Day 139 : A wet, windy Washington welcome

5th September 2013
Mile 2178 to mile 2208 : Trailside camp to horsecamp
Mileage : 30

An hour or so before dawn i awoke to raindrops landing on my face. I had anticipated rainand had my tent ready to pull over me to keep me dry. This actually worked quite well, and during a short lull as the forest lightened i packed up quickly eating breakfast on the hoof to speed things up. The first half of the day passed as normal, although with a short magic stop provided by Sagegirl. While sitting having a cup of coffee and an apple with Sagegirl with a couple other hikers conversation turned to another magic 20 miles farther up the trail. I resolved to push on to this next magic hoping for some shelter there a major storm was forecast for the next 48 hours. The forecast didn't disappoint and sure enough the rain started as predicted in the middle of the afternoon. At first i hoped the precipitation was due to the fact the i was walking in a cloud and that ut would.stop.who i descended out of it, but soon it became clear that this rain was here to stay. I raced on as fast as i could determined not to spend one minute longer in the rain than i had to. As i hiked i realised i had a conumdrum on my hands courtesy to my lack of headtorch. Should i stop while there was light and resign myself to a night of torential rain, or should i press on as fast as possible hoping to make it to the magic before the losing the light altogether. This option included the risks of my tripping over unseen roots and rocks in the dark, and losing the trail in the dark. I decided to risk it and picked uo the pace pace to the point where i was practically running down the trail, my path illuminated regularly by the huge flashes of lightning that thankfully stayed far enough away from me to not be a concern. It was pitch black when i finally made it to the magic, but made it. There i found about 15 hikers huddled around around a roaring fire eating hot soup provided by a husband and wife team whose names escape me as i write this. After warming up with fire, soup and dinner i began thinking about sleep. The ground was becoming saturated and slowly becoming one giant lake, and i could see anyone sleeping on the ground, regardless.of the tent used, was.going to get very wet. I decided therefore, to sleep on the porch of the outhouse, a good idea, as it turned out.

Day 138 : The bridge of the gods

4th September 2013
Mile 2155  to mile 2178 : Cascade Locks to a trailside camp
Mileage : 23

I was up early today and escaped the cascade locks vortex before i met anyone who could entice me to stay. The day started with a crossing of the Bridge of the Gods, a fairly ugly trust bridge which someone told me proudly was the third oldest bridge across the Columbia river. The grandiose names refers to a more ancient bridge. Native American legends tell of a cataclysmic landslide eons ago that dammed the river creating a huge lake. The pent up.water eventually burst through leaving behind the Bridge of the Gods. The current bridge is built at the site where the original is supposed to have been. After several inadequate photos taken in between annoyed passing motorists i crossed over and entered Washington. After more photos this time of the 'You are entering Washington, the Evergreen State' sign, i started the long, long climb back into the mountains. The Columbia river that i just crossed is only a couple hundred feet above sea level, meaning there would be  a lot of elevation gain over the next couple days to take me back into the Cascades. The effects of 3 days of RnR made the climb more difficult than a normal climb would be 3 or 4 days into a stretch. The effect of even 1 or 2 beers the night before is noticeable, as is the lack of caffeine on that first day out of town. But mostly it is the rest that takes the biggest toll. A break of 1 or 2 days is welcome, but i find that any more than that, even just 1 more day, tends to have a detrimental rather than restorative effect on my body as more body stiffens up considerably, and it takes a while to get back into the groove. Many hours later, as.the light was fading, called it day at a one person sized cowboy camping spot right next to the trail. As i set about my evening routine i realised i had left a crucial bit of.kit in Cascade Locks : my headtorch. I was too tired to be angry at myself, and sat in the darkening forest trying not to feel.too down about this. One of the key things i have learned on the trail is that have only myself to blame when things go wrong : Only PCT myself in danger through my actions twice so far on the trail, once coming out of Tehachapi when i ran out of water, and once when i climbed mt Whitney and came close to getting hypothermia. A lack of a headtorch wasn't about to put me in any danger, but it was a major inconvenience. It would mean stopping well before nightfall from now on in order to set up camp while the light lasts, this would take up to an hour off my evening hike depending on late evening light conditions. Annoyed and depressed at the same time i finished my routine as quickly as i could and tried to get.some sleep.

Days 135, 136 & 137 : A well deserved triple zero

1st, 2nd & 3rd September
No miles

I think the last time i took this many zeros in one go was in Mammoth, 1400 miles ago. I hadn't originally intended on taking more than one, but thats the way it turned out. At arriving Cascade Locks on Saturday evening i was on course to get all the way to Snoqualamie Pass by the 9th and from there it would be an easy hitch into Seattle. Unfortunately, i had forgotten about Labour Day, that coming Monday and so was immediately faced with a double zero as i would have to wait til Tuesday morning to pick up my boxes from the post office. As it happened it took me pretty much two whole days to update my blog, so it wasn't as if i had nothing to do. Although when i have to i will write ny blog from my little phone sized tablet, in is much simpler using a desktop computer, so in the morning after arriving i went across to the Best Western motel, where they provide computers for guests, and pretty much sat there for two days straight with breaks every once in a while to catch up with fellow hikers as they passed by. Although many hikers stay at the various motels.in town, i was staying,along with many other hikers, at Shrek's Swamp, the residence of the local trail angel Shrek. It was a great place to relax with other hikers swapping stories with other hikers about our escapades in Oregon, and speculating about the weather ahead. Many rounds of eating, drinking, sleeping and blogging later i found my way to the post office morning to pick up my bounce box, and 2 surprise care.packages from Mum and Maggie, thanks guys! Among other delights, Mum had sent me a brand new hiking shirt, spookily just in time as my old one was falling apart at the seams. Among Maggie's presents were some cumbrian mint cakes, which Edmund Hillary is supposed to have taken up Everest with him all those years ago. With all my chores complete, i could have gotten in a few afternoon miles, but at this stage the power of the town vortex became too strong and i ended up staying be more night enjoying the company of Rocks, Rusty, and KaZu, all of whom i hadn't seen in a long while.  Apart from enjoying the company of the other hikers, the other reason i didn't mind taking an extra day off was that i knew now that i wouldst have to push myself too hard to get to White Pass, where i would be getting off trail for 10 days o have a short holiday with Sophie, whom i haven't seen since i left Paris in April.

Photo updates for the last 14 days on their way!

Day 134 : The Eagle Creek Trail

31st August 2013 Mile 2120 to mile 2153 : Sandy River to Cascade Locks Mileage 33 Average mileage since day 101 : Today I finished to Oregon section of the PCT completing the 450 miles of Oregon in 18 days for an average mileage of 25 miles per day, and that includes 2 zeros in Ashland! Most of the day was spent on a more scenic side trail called the Eagle Creek Trail, which is probably taken by 95% of hikers. The highlight of this side trail is the famous tunnel falls, as the name suggests is a waterfall behind which the trail passes. The downside of this side trail was unfortunately it was very rocky underfoot, and that took its toll on my feet and my time. Before long though I had made it to a carpark at the trailhead just as the light was fading. To get to the actual town of Cascade Locks I still had a 2 mile road walk to do, and I didn't feel up to it that night, so I yogied a ride from Bob whom I met at the trailhead and a few minutes later I was back standing on the road trying to figure out how to get the house of the local trail angel Shrek. Thankfully it wasn't too difficult to find and soon enough I was sitting in a local brewery having pizza and beer with Fink, Israh and Astrid celebrating being done with Oregon. As thru-hikers we were able to 'party' up to hiker midnight at 9pm after which point heads were starting to nod and we headed back round the corner to Shrek's Swamp where we all passed out at speed as only thru-hikers can.

Day 133 : Timberline Lodge

30th August 2013 Mile 2107.5 to mile 2120 : Timberline Lodge to Sandy River Mileage : 12.5 Average Mileage since day 101 :

All of us were up early today with one thought one our minds: buffet breakfast. I remember growing up in Dubai one of my favourite treats was to go to the buffet brunch at the Jebel Ali Hotel and it still sets the bar for any buffet experiences subsequent to my childhood, massively infrequent as they are even on the trail. The Timberline Lodge has reset the bar. It has become the breakfast buffet against which all others will be measured, and in all probability they will be found wanting. Waffles and pancakes with fresh cream and berries and actual maple syrup. A huge leg of Spanish ham that took me instantly back to tapas bars in Barcelona when i tried it. Mountains of fresh fruit that actually had flavour, a full range of cooked breakfast options and much, much more. Breakfast was served from 7:30 to 10:30 and i pretty much sat and ate continuously for the duration of the breakfast service. I had intended to eat with my fellow roommates, but as i sat down at the table a minute or two before the rest of them two middleaged gents asked if they could join me. I smelled an opportunity to yogi breakfast off them and of course welcomed them to my table. I tried my hardest to yogi a meal of them.discreetly, but to no available, but i wasn't bothered as they turned out to be very good company. A couple hours later I was about ready to leave and get back on the trail when I ended up bumping into Funsize and Cuddles, who gave me the Pinata to take to Oregon border Funsize, Goldie and Frosty, and Shedder and Roo, all of whom, with the exception of Cuddles whom I'm saw briefly in Shasta City, I hadn't seen in more than a thousand miles. Meeting up with all of them put paid to my plan to get some major miles today, and decided to stay for lunch. The lunch buffet was almost as good as breakfast, and after several more hours of eating I finally got back on the trail and struggled down the trail. Some days on the trail are easy, and some are difficult, today's hiking was difficult due to the enormous amounts of very good food i'd consumed that day. Nevertheless I managed almost 13 miles that afternoon before I lost the light and stopped. I wished I could have stopped earlier, but I wanted to make it to Cascade Locks the next day and so needed to bring the distance down as much as possible. So I camped just before the last big climb in Oregon, and went to bed early as I had need nor desire to eat again that day.

Day 132 : A change in the weather

29th August 2013 Mile 2073.5 to mile 2107.5: Warm Springs to Timberline Lodge Mileage : 34 Average mileage since day 101 : The whole of today was centered around getting to Timberline Lodge that evening, so I was up and moving early in order to get some easy early morning miles under my belt before the weather changed for the worse. Although the weather is not supposed to change just yet, I have been having an ominous feeling over the last few days that autumn in the Cascades has started. As if confirming my suspicions, the weather decided my kit wasn't quite wet enough after another humid night smaping right by a river and so attempted to rectify the situation all afternoon. Apart from the rain, the day passed uneventfully apart from bumping into Fireball, with whom I had crossed the half-way marker, and whom I hadn't seen since leaving Burney Falls. Fireball had reached Crater Lake, was having a rough time and decided to get off trail for a couple days and then head south for a while to mix things up. To me this seems a bit weird and it's not something I would have done, but I'm better at not judging others now and am glad that he's still on trail. The has been an almost palpable mentality change among the hikers still on trail as we realise that although we're close to the end now, we still have hundreds of miles to go with ever worsening weather conditions, and every hiker has to prepare him/her-self for that. Hikers are still dropping off like flys, and it seems to me that from here on out the trail is a mental challenge as oppposed to a physical one. That is not to say the physical challenge is non inconsiderable, far from it. Infact, the the trail will get tougher in Washington, and the physicality of the trail is compounded by the slow but constant deterioration of our bodies. Any hiker that started out from Mexico is by now experiencing a fatigue and weariness that doesn't really go away regardless of how much you eat or sleep. It would be great to be able to slow down and take more zeros and hike fewer miles everyday, but the thought of being stopped by the weather one or two days from the Canadian border not something any of us will entertain for even a moment, and we all know that if we want to get there, we must keep pushing as hard and as fast as possible. So it all comes down to mind over matter. In my view those hikers that will make are those strong enough mentally to endure the weather and physical pain long enough to get to the border. I thought a lot about that today while hiking, and realised the make or break issue for me will be my ability to stay dry when sleeping. I can deal with the cold, and the rain when i'm hiking as I can just eat more, and hike harder to stay warm and dry. But when I'm done for the day, i need to be able to put on dry clothes and keep them dry, and me warm when I sleep. To that end I know my Tarptent is going to have to go. I spent a fair amount of money on it, and am disappointed by its performace, but hiking experience is hard won through a process of trail and error so I tried not to get too annoyed by it. I am fortunate that this is my only hiking kit issue thus far (apart from run of the mill things like socks and hiking poles of course). What works for one hiker, doesn't necessarily work for another so now i need to find a replacement. A couple other hikers I've been hiking with over the last couple days, namely Horny Toad, and Senor Verde are also users of the Contrail Tarptent but are nevertheless thinking about switching to the Big Agnes, whatever that is. I personally can't justify spending several hundred dollars on a shiny new and all powerful expensive tent fitted with an en-suite bathroom that I will use for 10ish days, so I've decided I'll go the other way, i.e. low tech and low cost. I am going to get myself a piece of tarpaulin big enough to stretch across me when I sleep and that i can put up high enough over me that hopefully it will keep enough of the weather out to keep me ish-dry while in northern Washington while allowing me to get my morning and evening routines done with minimum hassle. The pros of this option of course that it costs very little, and is very light, but the cons are that the protection it can provide is minimal at best, and that in a real storm, might be totally inadequate. I'm also aware it will mean that I have to camp in the trees at night in order to string it up, which shouldn't be a problem given the forested nature of the Washington Cascades, but it will mean i have to think a bit more about my camping choices as i get farther north. All these tent toughts helped me pass the time as I sped towards the final climb of the day up the southern flank of Mt Hood towards the Timberline Lodge. I usually plan my days to avoid long climbs at the end of the day, but today I decided the prospect of Timberline Lodge was worth it. Timberline Lodge though, as the name suggests, is at or above the timberline of Mt Hood and was a long climb almost , but thankfully not quite, into the cloud layer obscuring the higher portions of Mt Hood. The only way to tackle such a climb at the end of a long day is through the intake of massive amounts of sugar, which is why i carry a skittle reserve at all times. As I've said previously I don't often use sugar on the trail as a form of energy but it does have its uses, and this is a good example of when it comes in handy. I could literally feel my energy levels surge from the sugar entered my blood stream as I started the climb. High on sugar I was able to pretty much run the 5 miles up to the the lodge which I reached just as I began to crash. The lodge was swirling in ever darkening mist and fog as I raced up to it and into the warmth of the luxury lodge. My plan for the night only took me as far as the lodge, and not what i'd actually do when i actually got there. Although massively hiker friendly, the lodge is still a very expensive place to stay and I had no intention of shelling out a lot of money, and so had actually scouted out a bit of shelter around the back of the lodge where i could retreat to if i didn't find anything better. As often happens though on the PCT 'The Trail Provides' and the time from me entering the main entrance of the lodge uncertain of where i'd stay, if i'd be able to get clean and if i'd be able to get something to having all that sorted under a minute, as Cartwheel, a fellow PCTer was walking through the lobby and instantly helped me out. He gave me his room key and told me to go upstairs, have a shower, and claim a sleeping place on the floor of his room. I love the PCT. In his room were hikers , Scout, an Alaskan girl, The Messenger, and Israeli, and The Chosen One, a self styled Rastafarian. This bunch were equally hospitable and before long I was warm and clean and looking for something to eat. The Timberline Lodge is revered by all PCT hikers for its legendary buffets, but I was too late for the evening one so contented myself with a meal and beer at one of the other restaurants. The extremes between the rough and ready nature of the trial, and 5 star luxury of the lodge were difficult to process. I sat that in the restaurant listening to the pianoed lounge music emanating from somewhere nearby, watching all the other people staying there interspersed with other PCT hikers in a similar sort of trance. Pleased with the day's accomplishments, I headed back to the room and got went passed out almost instantly upon getting into my sleeping bag.

Day 131 : Blueberries

28th August 2013
Mile 2042 to mile 2073.5 : Breitenbush trail junction to Warm Springs
Mileage : 31.5

Average mileage since day 101 :

My plan to use my tent as a cover instead of as tent did not go well. I had again assumed that most of the wetness came from the humid night air, and not from myself, and that by covering myself with my relatively impermeable tent I would escape the worst excesses of the condensation. This turned out to be a mjor error on my part and I woke up in the early hours of the morning wet both inside and outside my sleeping bag. I was less than happy with myself, but at that stage decided it would be better to keep the cover on rather than let the wet sleeping bag start to freeze in the near freezing temperatures. In the morning, it took a lot of energy and willpower to get up and moving, but was finally on the road just before 8am, a very late start in the world of thru-hiking. Minutes after starting, I ran across both of the only two Scots on the trail, I think there are about 10 Brits still on trail at this stage, and 5 of us are hiking within 24 hours of each at the moment it would seem. One of the Scots, a young guy of 21ish told me a harrowing story of some trail magic gone wrong in Bend, the other town to which I could have hitched instead of Sisters. He said he had had the best day so far on trail, and possibly the worst night of life. The best day involved being driven around on a mobile bike-bar in Bend having all his drinks paid for by fellow drinkers, so far so good. Towards the end of the day he was doing exactly what I had been doing looking for a place to stay for the night. Before long he had found somewhere and was probably feeling pretty pleased with himself. After arriving at this gent's house however he realised he was in the house of white sumpremacist, and he said Edward Norton's character from the film American History X about summed this guy up. Poor Lighthouse was at this stage stuck, he had had a few beers and so was not at his most sober, it was dark, and he knew aboslutely no-one in Bend to call who might have been able to help him out. In the end had to endure this guy ranting and raving all night long before he finally passed out drunk. With the guy passed out and the day finally dawning Lighthouse made his exit and found his way back the trail and the world of normal thru-hikers. As he recounted this tale I was thinking to myself how easily that could have been me in Sisters instead of him in Bend. Thru-hiking on the PCT is a very safe activity in just about every respect. The nature element can throw things like lightning bolts at you from time to time, but mostly is benign if you know what you are doing out there. The human element however is a bit more unpredictable. Although I am sure there have been a few other harrowing encounters on the trail, this is the only one i have heard of in 131 days of being out here and it is not the norm. The norm, is much more like my experience in Sisters where the overwhelming experience is positive, but it just goes to show that every once in a while as a thru-hiker you are going to encounter odd people, and as a thru-hiker in many respects we are fairly vulnerable. But also we are very tough knowing that these encounters are few and far between and that a bad expereience like this just makes all the positive ones just that bit more positive. Lighthouse was packing up as I bumped into him aand I didn't hang around as the morning was cold and I was behind schedule, but a few minutes after that I bumped into the other Scot, a woman called Ingrid, and her 2 american hiking partners Tracy and someone else who's name i don't remember. These three were munching blueberries that they were picking from the bushes lining the sides of the trail. I joined in with gusto for a few minutes before reluctantly continuing up the trail. I have seen berries appearing on the trail for a couple weeks now, but have been unwilling to eat any of them for hear of eating some that i shouldn't and getting really sick in consequence. With confirmation from Ingrid and co though I enjoyed picking a few berries before realising that time was aticking, and that i hadn't done more than a mile. For a long time now the trail has been a green tunnel so havne't had many scenic views, and with the inclement weather any mountains i have seen have had their heads chopped off by the clouds that have dogged my progress since Crater Lake. But in climbing up to a ridgeline on the north side of Mt Jefferson I was treated to views south as far as 3 Fingered Jack, and north up to the massive hulk of Mt Hood. Tomorrow evening I'll be there! After more delays Ollalie Lake, and then some frantic speed hiking I the miles i needed to cover in order to make it less than 35 to Timberline Lodge the next day.

Day 130 : 3 Fingered Jack and Mt Jefferson

27th August 2013
Mile 2011 to mile 2042 : Yet another burn zone to Breitenbush trail junction
Mileage : 31

Average mileage since day 101

So my cunning and fox-like plan to keep the foot of my sleeping bag warm as I slept didn't quite work out as anticipated. I think in all fairness, I did prevent the bag from water ingress from the outside of the tent. What I was less sucessful in preventing however, was the evaporation of water egress from my feet inside my sleeping bag, so my sleeping bag ended up wet anyway. I was disappointed to say the least. It seems there is no winning when it comes to keeping my sleeping bag dry with my tent poncho combo, so i'd have to go back to the drawing board if i were to find a solution that I could work for me in northern Washington, where rain and the wet would be the normal state of affairs. Packing away my wet sleeping bag I started off up the trail skirting around 3 Fingered Jack before heading toward Mt Jefferson. Dan, my impromptu Sisters trail angel, had told me to expect the trail to be in poor condition in this section with lots of of rocky sections that would be difficult on the ankles, and he wasn't wrong. It wasn't too bad in most places, but it did mean that my average speed for the day made it dificult to get up to the 34ish miles I had planned for the day. I ended up sleeping on the north face of Mt Jefferson in a meadow trying a new tactic for my sleeping bag. Tonight I would try upzipping my sleeping bag along most of its length in order to let it breathe, and instead of erecting my tent, use it as a cover directly over it. This proved to be an evern worse idea than the previous night's.

Day 129 : 2000 miles

26th August 2013
Mile 1988.5 to mile 2011 : Lava Lake Trailhead to yet another burn zone
Mileage : 22.5

Average mileage since day 101 :

This morning I woke up to the wonderful smell of frying bacon. This, along with fresh bread and coffee, is one of the real luxuries in life, and I was lucky enough to wake up to Dan making breakfast. Rather than take on calories, as I usually do in the morning, I enjoyed breakfast, and after breakfast Dan drove me back to the trail via the coffee shop where I had a cup of really good coffee. The fry up and coffee put me in good stead for the day ahead, which, although was better weather wise than the day before, still entailed several miles of hiking gingerly across seemingly endless lava. To make matters wortse, I didn't have maps for this section up to the Big Lake Youth Camp. This lack of maps was not an issue in terms of safety or anything like that, more that I like knowing about the trail in front of me so's I can prepare myself mentally for any tough climbs, or tricky miles, case in point, the lava. The mapless 13 miles between McKensie Pass and the Big Lake Youth Camp was an error on my part, as I would be picking up all the maps I'd need to Cascade Locks at the BGLC so it more of an inconvenience rather than anything else. About a mile out from the youth camp I came across a very important sign in the dirt, the 2000 mile marker. To be honest it was rather anticlimatic. I have come along way, 2000 miles infact, but the miles seem less important now than the places I'll be getting to. Also, given that I was on my own there was no-one with whom to celebrate, but nontheless I did have a quiet smile to myself thinking about the fact that for all intents and purposes, I have now hiked 4/5ths of the way to Canada from Mexico, an impressive achievement if i do say so myself. At the Big Lake Youth Camp I found my box and packed it up into my rucksack along sime KaZu, one of the Japanese contingent on the trail. The last time I saw her I think was over 1300 miles ago at Kennedy Meadows South just prior to entering the Sierra and so we chatted a while before she headed off to find a ride to take her into Bend for a day off. I on the otherhand made my way to the mess hall of this youth camp where i'd been told the day before from Nora, the girl i'd met at the coffee shop in Sisters who'd offered me a place to stay up here, that I'd be able to find a meal here. Sure enough I managed to find some cheapy reheated pizza from the kitchen and sat eating it while a group of early 20-something years sat nearby. I am used to most people taking some sort of interest in my hike, and have a standard schpeel that all hikers have on stand-by ready to dole out at a moments notice, but oddly the 'kidss' running the youth camp couldn't care less about me. I thought it odd at first, given that they probably had all chosen to come out to work at this camp, but then realised that as college kids they were all much more interested in each other and the trials and tribulations of college life rather than what some bearded english guy was doing hiking through the West Coast wilderness. After my late lunch of cheap pizza, I was back on trail heading north towards 3 Fingered Jack, the next volcano on the road north toward Canada. There are 105 miles betweeen the Big Lake Youth Camp and Timberline Lodge, my next goal, and I intend to get there in 3 days and the afternoon I left from the youth camp. This meant that my dayly average would come considerably the more miles I could do today, so I took off from the youth camp intending to get some serious miles in before nightfall. Unfortunately, my ankles had taken a real battering on the lava flows, and consequently let me know I needed to stop just after 7pm. It is extremely rare that I stop before 8pm, so for me it was a real luxury to have that extra hour of daylight in which to do my evening routine. I also took the opportunity to try out my new, improvised sleeping bag dry system, which consisted of a polyethene poncho wrapped around the foot of my sleeping bag in an attempt to shield it from the worst of the exterior condensation and perhaps, rain. Although I didn't know it at the time it turned out to be a bad idea.

Day 128 : The Three Sisters

25th August 2013
Mile 1969.5 to 1988.5 : Mesa creek to Lava Lake Trailhead
Mileage : 19

Average mileage since day 101 :

As predicted I woke up with wet everything thanks to the rain and the inadequcy of my tent to keep me dry. Luckily there was a pause in the rain long enough for me to break camp, and so I managed to stay relatively dry while I got ready to hike. Today hike saw me skirting left around the day's set of volcanos, the Three Sisters, and they were not happy to see me. By mid morning I was trudging up wet and slippery trails trying to avoid stepping on the sharpest shards of obsidian that littered the trail in some sections. All three sisters, Southern, Middle and Northern, were hiding in thick cloud and clearly I was hiking through the oregraphic influence zone caused by them as I hiked either in rain, or clouds all day. The wet conditions makes stopping and resting unpleasant, as all that happens is that I get more cold, more wet, and more miserable, so I didn't really stop except to get food out of my rucksack to munch on the hoof. By the middle of the afternoon though my morale had sunk pretty low, and I had little desire to hike more miles, especially given the long exposed lava section which my map told me I was getting pretty close to, and the amount of lightning i was witnessing. A couple days before coming into Shelter Cove there had been a lot of lightning and corresponding thunder, and after each flash I would crudely work out how far away I was from it in order to judge the danger levels. Today I tried to do something similar, but found I couldn't do it due to the shear amount of lightning flashes all around the mountins. Hiking down to the pass the rain, thunder and lightning were continuous. It wasn't really dark enough to see the individual flashes, especially given that I was walking under a forest canopy, but the thunder just became one long rumble that would vary from a low volume and frequency rumble to huge bangs almost right overhead. Originally the day's objective had been the Big Lake Youth Camp, where I had a resupply box waiting for me, but coming up to McKensie Pass I decided I had had enough of the weather for the day and would attempt to hitch into either Bend or Sisters some miles east from the pass. The trail has an uncanny ability to throw highs and lows at you in quick succession, and today was the perfect example of this. My morale was at a real low coming into the pass, and I didn't fancy my chances hitching in the storm, but as I emerged at a carpark I bumped into weekend hikers Shay and Beth with their teenage daughter Lu just getting into their car. They were only too happy to help out a fellow hiker, and soon enough I was on my way to the small town of Sisters. As I had not planned on stopping there, I had not bothered to find anything out obout Sisters or Bend, so had no idea what lay in either of them. In the end I got dropped off at the local bustling coffee shop, and thought about my next move. I decided the best course of action was to start talking to anybody and everbody who would listen to me, and talk loudly enough that everyone would know I was a PCT hiker and had a British accent. The combination of the two has served me well numerous times on the trail and I had faith in them here. Within minutes an elderly couple had suggested I go up to the local firestation where, they assured me, I would find information on trail angels and if the worst came to the worst, I'd be able to stay. After that a girl about my age piped up to say she was working for the summer at the Big Lake Youth Camp that I had been due to get to that day, and that I'd be more than welcome get a ride with her back there for the night as they had ample room given the camp as there were no children there at the moment. Minutes after that another guy, Dan, chimed in. Dan is a Forest Service employee just back from spending two weeks on the PCT managing a trail maintenace crew and that I could stay with him. Jackpot. So within 20 minutes of arriving in Sisters I had a place to stay with a shower, laundry, kitchen and even a ride back to the trail courtesy of Dan. "The trail provides", there is little else to say. 15 minutes after that I was being given the tour of his Forest Service house which was his home whenever he wasn't out on the trail himself. In theory Dan lived with other Forest Service employees, but given the outdoor nature of the work that they do the house is more often than not empty. Dan proved excellent company as we cooked dinner together, had a couple beers and swapped trail stories until I was struggling to keep my eyes open. The most interesting and blood curdling story he told me was about the time he had been struck by lighting. He told me that most people don't actually get hit directly, but rather indirectly as the current dissipates through the ground, and this is what happened to him. He says during one trip out in the wilderness he had gone to bed one night and then woke up, or regained consiousness i suppose, to find that he had suffered fairly significant burns all over his body. It was a sobering story given my recent encounters with lightning, but not sobering enough to keep me from nodding off after a couple beers, so I took myself off to bed and slept in a bed for the first time in a long, long time.

Day 127 : Equipment failure

24th August 2013
Mile 1934 to mile 1969.5 : Another Burn Zone to Mesa Table Creek
Mileage : 35.5

Average mileage since day 101 : ?

Today for some reason lots of bits of my kit seemed to be failing me. I got through socks at a rate of knots, and am used to them falling appart on me. Other bits of kits though should not be failing me though. I noticed today that all the other bits of my clothing, i.e. my shirt, underwear and hiking shorts are also failing me. In truth i am surprised my shirt has lasted this long without getting holes in it, but in contrast I am surprised that my hiking shorts are wearing out, as are is my underwear. In order to provide my lowever back and hips with extra padding i usually where both the aforementioned pieces of clothing up high, and clearly they are taking the brunt of the abuse from my rucksack, which is a good thing i suppose, but I am annoyed that I will soon have to replace both. My Dirty Girl gaiters have also seen better days, and are developing holes on the sides where they catch on vegetation. I can ascribe all these kit failures to general wear and tear on the trail, and am mostly proud that it has all held together this long. What I am less than happy about however, it my tent. I have the Contrail Tarptent, and I do not like it. The Contrail Tarpent should not be thought of as a tent, but more as a basic shelter which will keep the worst excesses of the weather off you while you do a weekend hike or something of this nature. The reason I say this is that it does not keep me dry, at all. The Contrail Tarptent when erect resembles an irregular pyramid, and in profile looks like a right angled triangle on it's side, with the hypotenuse on the floor, and the right angle at the apex supported by one of my hiking poles. The opposite side functions as the head of the tent, with the adjecent side sloping down to the floor where my feet rest when I'm sleeping in it. The problem is that my feet, when in my sleeping bag, touch the sloping roof, and as the tent does not have an outer rain sheet the water comes through and soaks my sleeping bag. This effect is compounded further by the fact that almost from day one, I have been sleeping with my feet elevated on my rucksack which I do because a) my feet usually hurt too much in the evening for me to be able to just leave them flat on the floor when I sleep, and b) I don't have a full length sleeping bag so need to keep my legs of the floor in order to keep them warm. This means that my sleeping bag from the knees down is touching the top of the tent and is thus soaked every time I use the tent. This wouldn't be a problem if I were only out for a day, but given I have now been on trail for over 4 months, and that I have another month to go in the northern cascades in the autumn, I am going to have to figure out a way to deal with it. Last night, with more rain clouds on the horizon I again put up my tent, and although it did not rain, my sleeping bag was nevertheless wet when I woke up. Today this wasn't a problem as I stopped for about an hour at lunch to dry it out. I think though, that both the sun, and hour long breaks, are going to be frequent my days less and less as I get closer to the Canadian border. As I was looking for somewhere to stop at the end of today's hike though, the spitting started, and I resigned myself to another wet night, and following day.

Day 126 : Shelter Cove

23rd August 2013
Mile 1912 to mile 1934 : Shelter Cove to Another Burn Zone
Mileage : 22 + 2

Average mileage since day 101

I could have slept for a week after my ordeal in the cold and rain yesterday, but unfortunately the store owner ensured it was not to be. I packed up my stuff and tucked into a breakfast of coffee and icecream. Almost 2 litres of icecream to be precise. I decided to stay at Shelter Cove for as long as it took for me to eat it all, and it took me all morning. If there is one thing to say about Shelter Cove it is that they know how to take money off hikers. All credit too them as I understand that they need to make a living, but I felt violated paying a dollar and a half for a 3 minute shower, which is about as much time as it takes to fully clean one of my toes. The storm had either petered out during the night or had moved elsewhere, and so in the morning the hikers came out of the woodwork to enjoy a glorious morning relaxing on the porch of the store. The big attraction for me in coming to Shelter Cove was a care package sent to me by Sophie. I loved everything in it, and most of all the cryptic crosswords. I spent the morning eating icecream and wiping the rust off my crosswording skills and by midday was ready to leave. The afternoon was spent getting 20 miles done in order to keep to my schedule and be sure of not running of food. This afternoon, I caught up with Jess, whose parents are very kindly going to put me up in September as I get off trail for 10 days. Jess had had a bit of trail magic the night before thanks to a family friend, and had stayed in a ski resort (at least I think it is anyway) just up the road from Shelter Cove. I was envious of her sleeping in a night comfy bed with more than one toe clean, and had I have known whe was there, she would have no doubt offered me floor space, but I was happy enough being out of the cold last night and didn't begrudge her good fortune. Trail Magic has funny ups and downs all the time, and it is almost as fun listening to other hikers's experiences with trail magic as it is experiencing it yourself. I considered hiking with Jess for a little while, but it would have made my schedule difficult to keep so I headed on up the trail and ended up camping in yet another burn zone.

Day 125 : The Oregon Skyline Trail

22nd August 2013
Mile 1871 to mile 1912 : Miller Lake trail to Shelter Cove

Mileage : 35

Average mileage since day 101 : 23.1

Today was one the first time on the trail where I took a short cut. The short cut in question was the Oregon Skyline Trail which would cut about 7 miles off the official PCT. From the beginning of my hike I decided that my goal would be a continuous hike, i.e. with a continuous line of footprintsfrom Mexico to Canada, only allowing myself a detour if that detour be at least as long, difficult, or scenic as the PCT. The one factor I hadn't considered at the planning stage was safety. Since leaving Crater Lake, the view to the west has been essentially one long line of dark black clouds illuminated by flashes of lightning every once in a while. Yesterday, the clouds were sufficiently far enough away that I didn't really worry about them, but in the evening they were much closer and I decided to put up my tent in case it rained. Although it didn't rain last night, the sky was dark and omminous and I prepared myself for a day hiking in the cold and wet. As I headed toward the junction the decision was made for me. From a prominant bit of section, I could see the ridgeline of the next section almost completely obscured by the dark clouds, except for the strobe-like effect of multiple lighting flashes along its length. My near miss with lighting coming into Etna only 10 days previously was still fresh in my mind, and I decided I wasn't purist enough to risk being hit by lightning. My decision made for me, I turned onto the OST and made my way along it to Shelter Cove. Although not as long, in my opinion the trail wasn't any easier than the PCT it was mostly very sandy, which is very time and effort consuming through which to walk. The first half of the detour to Cresent Lake passed uneventfully, with a few minutes of rain here and there but nothing of any real note. During the second half however, the heavens opened. I knew that I would be a Shelter Cove that night, so wasn't really worried about the rain, but the lightning was close and continuous for miles and miles. I was thankful that the trail was easy enough to allow me to almost jog or trot at times, and that i wasn't having to negotiate lava fiels as I made my down to Shelter Cove on the north western shore of Odell Lake. By the time I emerged out of the trees next to the lake it was almost pitch black. It was so black that at first I didn't see the double line of railway tracks right infront of me. I did however hear the air horn of a freight train about to pass in front o me. I had my head phones and hadn't noticed the low frequency rumble that accompaies these mile long train, and so almost jumped out of my skin. It wouldn't have made for a good Hollywood nailbiter as I wasn't really close to being run over by it, but I did have to stand by it and watch it rumble passed me for about 5 minutes getting colder and wetter with every second. Thoroughly knackered, I made it to the resort store and found it closed. I hadn't known what to expect, but I had thought i'd be at least able to get a beer and something hot to eat, but it was not to be. Two hiker sitting outside the front of the store on the porch offered me a beer and some cold leftover pizza, which i accepted without hesitation as I had no intention of eating hiker food that night. Given as the rain was showing no signs of letting up, I slept on the covered porch knowing that I'd probably be shouted at for it in the morning by the store owners, but being too tired and wet to care. The long, cold, wet day coupled with the beer knocked me out almost instantly, and I forgot all about the weather until being woken up by the store owner who was indeed less than pleased to see me sleeping on his porch.

Day 124 : Mt Thielsen

21st August 2013
Mile 1837.5 to mile 1871 : Crater Lake Rim to Miller Lake trail

mileage : 33.5

Average mileage sic day 101 : 22.4

Camping on the rim of Crater Lake was worth the risk of it being mildly illeagal. It was simply stunning, the pictures, which I hope to uplaod soon, cannot even begin to do it justice. It rose directly across from me turning everything red and gold as it slowly rose into the sky. After just sitting and watching the lake for almost an hour watching the night slowly give way to day, I finally wrenched myself away and started the long, long trek down the north side of the crater with my heavy rucksack. It turned out that my 4 litres of waters of water that I'd decided to carry to get me across the day's 27 mile dry stretch were un-necessary, as there was a cache at the road bordering the northern side of the Crater Lake National Park. I'd heard from a south bounder not to depend on this cache, and so that's why i'd packed out so much water from Crater Lake, but I found the cache full meaning i didn't need to have carried all that water all that way from the lodge. I couldn't have known about the cache being full, so had taken the right decision to carry the water, but it was annoying anyway. The rest of the day passed quickly and before long I had managed almost 34 miles before the light forced my stop at the Miller Lake trail junction. I had taken a half day at Crater Lake yesterday but was still on course to get through Oregon in 17 day, assuming of course that the next few days would go as well as today.

Day 123 : Crater Lake

20th August 2013
Mile 1824.5 to mile 1837.5 : Stuart Falls trail junction to Crater Lake Rim
Mileage : 13

Average mileage since day 101 : 21.8

Lisa. I had planned to arrive at Crater Lake, where I'd be picking up a resupply box, with no food and that included that mornings breakfast. With a light packed, and spurred on by the thought of a real breakfast I covered the miles into Crater Lake's Mazama Village at speed. Mazama Village is located at the southern base of the fomer Volcano known as Mazama by the indian peoples that used to live in the area. After picking up 2 resuply boxes containing 6 days worth of food from the store, being charged way too much for breakfast, taking a cold shower at the campground, and speaking to Sophie for the first time in ages, I headed up the hill to the crater rim. I'd forgotten what 6 days worth of food feels like, and it wasn't pleasant. The trail up the the rim was steep and hot, and I was hot and sweaty by the time i got up there. Although impressive, I wasnlt blown away by the view due to the fact that the prevailing westerly winds were blowing huges amounts of smoke from the fires i'd been smelling up to the lake and was so think tat I couldn't see the other side. I contemplated my next move sitting at the rim cafe eating an overpriced icecream, and finally decided that I had come a long way to get a good view of crater lake so would stay until I got one. With that decided I headed across to the Crater Rim Lodge to find out if I wanted to be fleeced some more before heading back to the trail and bumped into Puppy again before even setting my rucksack down. I was surprised not to see her at Mazama, but had rightly guessed that she had just continued straight up the trail to the rim, and sort out resupply stuff from there. I sat down and managed to get some a plate of very english looking chips and struck up a conversation with Lisa, who was sat opposite us on the other side of a small coffee table. Lisa was very interested in our experiences as she had a friend who was contemplating the trail, so Puppy and I, entertained her with trail stories for an hour or two we tried hard to put off our chores, mine hiking, and Puppy's resupply. I had been assured that the smoke would clear up as the night drew on Puppy and I waited until dark before heading back to the trail to camp on the rim. Camping on the rim of Crater Lake is mildly illegal, but I am used to stealth camping by now and so wasn't worried about being caught. Besides, although the rules apply to us, the no cmaping rules I feel are mostly there to deter non hiker campers from camping there, and don't really apply to us. I know that isn't a very good attitude to take, but I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to see the sunrise over crater lake, a sight every thru-hiker should see. Puppy and I finally got up to leave, and as we were about to settle our bill's discovered that Lisa had covered it for us. Neither of us were expecting it and so were very grateful for the hospitality shown to us both by this impromptu trail angel. If you're reading this Lisa thankyou very much, those chips were much needed and greatly appreciated! Puppy was heading down to Mazama in the morning to do her resupply, and I was continuing around the lake to the western most point in order to get the best view of the sun rise, so we parted ways in the dark. It's unlikely I'll meet up with Puppy again on the trail but you never know with the PCT anything can happen. I carried on in the dark for a few miles along the rim looking for somewhere to stop right on the end of the almost sheer clifs down to the lake below. The trail was surprisingly difficult here with several steep ups and downs, exacerbated by my heavy rucksack with my 6 days worth of food, and also by 4 litres which I would need to cover a 27 mile dry stretch I would have to cover tomorrow. I had orginally planned to head up to a fire tower on a peak called the Watchman, but stopped just short right on the cliff. I made camp quickly and set my alarm early in order to be sure of seeing the dawn the next morning.

Day 122 : The Oregon Desert

19th August 2013
Mile 1794.5 to 1824.5 : Red Lake trail junction to Stuart Falls trail junction
Mileage : 30

Average mileage since day 101 : 22.2

Tired and irritable from the lack of sleep the night before, I resolved nevertheless to get a full day's hiking in and be so tired that i would sleep no matter what that night. I had resigned myself to a difficult day when after only a few miles, my day was turned around by Puppy. Puppy is one of the few hikers on the trail that I would actively seek out to talk to and hike with, and I happened across her mid morning as she was breaking camp. The last time I had seen her, i think, was probably about 800 miles ago just before getting into South Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately for her, she had gotten a cold off someone and was suffering from the usual cold like symptoms and was therfore struggling to make miles. Thankfully, I have been spared any sort of illness and as I had no intention of getting sick, kept my distance as we spoke. Puppy is a solo hiker, and although I usually hike with people, we both prefer to do the actual hiking alone, but today we kept each other company. I lead the way and she tagged along behind me, 'pulling' her along. Given my irritability not even an hour before I surprised myself by actually enjoying the company of another hiker and before long we were making good miles at a comfortable pace. Puppy is a stronger and faster hiker than me on a normal day, but we seemed to maintatin about the same speed that day as we made our way north. On the maps today I saw that we were passing through the Oregon Desert. Hiking along the PCT in Orgeon shaded by a forest canopy the idea of a desert made me smile to myself thinking of other deserts i've experienced on this trail and growing up in the middle east, but I guessed that the main reason it is called as desert is that there is little water. The volcanic landscape of the southern section Oregon Cascades with its porous means that there are few springs and creeks, and most of the lakes are man made and far from the trail. The 'desert' nature of the trail and the corresponding relative lack of water meant the we hiked fast taking only enough water to get to the next source. By the end of the day however Puppy was feeling the effects of day's hike coupled with her cold and had to stop a few miles short of my own goal. I didn't feel bad about carrying on and leaving her to fend for herself as she is one of the capable and independent, male or female, hikers on the trail and didn't doubt she'd be fine. I stoppped a just inside Crater Lake National Park but before the crossing with the main entrance road, as I intended to get up early and get to Mazama Village at the main entrance in time for a real breakfast. Given the miles I'd covered that day, and lack of rest the previous night, sleep came quickly and easily that night.

Day 121 : The fawn

18th August 2013
Mile 1762.5 to mile 1794.5 : Big Spring to Red Lake trail junction
Mileage 32
Average mileage since day 101 : 21.8
I started late today as I had camped in a grove of pine trees that had kept the light levels down meaning my body woke me up a bit later than usual. I had been joined late last night by another hiker called PimPlimp, who headed out before me. We were both ready to hike at about the same time, but as I prefer to hike alone I let him go first so waited a few minutes to let him get ahead. There is a weird trail phenomenom in which hikers leapfrog past each other but without seeing each other, and this is what happened with PimPlimp. I wouldn't see him again until Crater Lake, where he surprised by turned up behind me at Mazama Village at the main park entrance. The trail is strange sometimes. Setting out into the cool of the morning my main thought was what I would put in this day's entry. It is difficult trying to find ways of spicing up blog entries describing a day on the trail which is pretty much identical to the previous day. I hope I manage to keep you all suitably entertained! Just as I was thinking about what to write, I came across the fawn. On the face of it deer encounters, and even fawn encouters, are far from unusual, but this encouter was unusual in every way. As I cam round the corner I could see a little blog of brown in the middle of the trail. I clicked my poles together to let whatever it was know I was there and give it time to get up and disappear into the trees. As I got closer however I could see the little guy was lying unmoving in the trail and did not move a muscle even as I got close enough to touch him. He was lying with his head pointing up the trail, so although he must have heard and smelt me, he hadn't lifted his head up to look at me so I gently stepped past him to let him know I was a hiker and not a bear about to take advantage of a prone little fawn. I took off my rucksck and knelt down next to the fawn to investiage a bit further and could clearly tell something was wrong. I could see his heart and lungs moving, so knew he wasn't dead, but apart from that I had know idea what was wrong with him. Wierdly, I sort of felt that he was just absolutely knackered and could go no farther at that moment, and just did not have the energy to even react to my presence let alone stand up and run away. I can empathise with that sort of fatigue and tiredness well, but there was obviously something more to this little guy than that. He literally didn't even blink or flinch as I stroked his head, or felt his legs to see if anything was broken. I wondered if he was thirsty, as this section of the trail is very dry, and so scratched a small hole by his mouth, put a spare ziplock back down to form an impromptu bowl and used a little of my water to try and get him to drink something, but there was no response. I rubbed a little of it on his muzzle to let him know what it was, but to be honest I had no idea if he was old enough to be drinking water and not his mother's milk as he was small and still covered with the bambi-like white identifying spots of a fawn. Given the total lack of response from the little guy, I realised there was little I could do for him. AT&T, my mobile phone service provider, has unbelievealbly poor coverage at the best of times in Oregon and Washington, so calling an RSPCA type body was out of the question, even if i had known the numbers to call. I could hear some rustling in the brush near me and assumed mum was watching me nervously from just outside my field of view so decided the best way I could help the two would be to just leave them to their own devices. I put on my rucksack and looked back at the fawn one last time before heading back up the trail. I would like to think that once mum had turned up he would get up and disappear back into the forest, but the feeling I got from him was that he had just given up and accepted that the end was nigh. When I met up with Pimplimp a couple days later he had no idea what I was talking about, so presumabely the fawn had stumbled on the PCT in the 10 minute interval between the pair of us. My encouter with the fawn that morning had cost me a good couple miles of hiking time, so I upped my pace and tried to claw some time back. This proved difficult during the middle of the day as I had to contour around a volcano called Brown Mountian, but which I couldn't see due to the denseness of the forest. The trail was difficult contoring around this volcano due to huge lava flows which periodically cut across the forest, and across the trail. Lava, as per my experience on the Hat Creek Rim, is difficult and tiring to traverse, and this was no different. In the hot sun I carefully threaded my way across the lava trying my best not to stress my feet or ankles any more than was absolutely necessary. After a couple hours of this I was sore and tired and in need of a welcome break by one of the few creeks coming down off the next volcano in my way. Thankfully this volcano, Mt McLoughlin, was forested and devoid of lava flows so traversing was no problem, and by the evening I was well past it. Just as I was looking for a camp spot I began to smell smoke everywhere, and it began to even obscure the hillsides around me. I was aware that there were big fires west of me, but thought I wasn't sufficiently far enough away from them for them to not be a threat. I couldn't see where the smoke was coming from so had to assume it was not close, and therefore not an immediate threat. Evenso I decided to get a couple more miles in that evening to try and get away from the smell at least, in case it was actually nearby. It was fully dark by the time I had stopped and I had to make the best of a campsite almost right on the trail. I started my evening routine and before long was tucking into that night's dinner. Dinner tonight however was so salty it was inedible. I had a Bear Creek potatoe soup with 8 servings adding up to 1200 calories. Unfortunately each serving had almost a whole gram of salt in it and was supposed to be heavily diluted and was not intended as a hiker meal. I only managed about half of the meal before having to reluctantly through it away knowing the effect of not eating would be detrimental to the following day's hiking, but being unable to stomach the salt. I dug a hole a few meteres from my camp and buried it before settling down for the night. Sleep for whatever reason did not come easily that night. For a start the smell of smoke was still in the air and made me uneasy, and also i think in the dark i had pitched up on top of, or at least clost to an ants nest and was constantly flicking inche long black ants off me. 2 of them even managed to get between my sleeping bag and the liner waking me up periodically. At some stage, I don't know at what time this occured as I hate looking at the time during the night and knowing I only have an hour or two left in bed, I heard a large animal in the forest nearby. I have encountered so many deer in these forest that I know what they sound like, and this did not sound like a deer. I suspect it was a bear coming to investigate the food i hadn't eaten that night, but I didn't manage to get a look at it as my head torch is just a cheapy one that doesn't penetrate very far into the forest gloom. The animal, whatever it was, lurked around my camp for some time preventing me from getting back off to sleep before it finally headed back into the dark. The combination of disturbances that night prenvented me from getting any real much needed sleep, and fnally just as the first rays of the dawn started to lighten the forest, i packed up and headed up the trail in a bad mood.

Day 120 : Big miles

17th August 2013
Mile 1728 to mile 1762.5 : I-5 to Big Spring
Mileage : 34.5
Average mileage since day 101 : 21.3
Although obviously i crossed into Oregon a couple of days ago, it feels like the Oregon hike began today. I was up and hiking by 6a, today as i was woken to the sound of the Intertate highway close to which i camped. By mid morning I had managed 10 before 10 and was feeling on form so was anticipating a big mile day. Just after my first stop, I met a trio of Oregonians out for a day hike and they kindly offered me a homemade muffin. Homemade food is hard to come by on the trail, and even harder to pass up, so I chatted with them for a good 20 minutes before heading off into the woods. Oregon has a reputation for immitating the ATs green tunnel so I was looking forward to shady hiking, but at least for the first day it was not to be. For whatever reason most of the day's hiking was in view of the full summer sun, but still I had made a good 20 miles by lunchtime so sat and had a leaisurely lunch by a creek amidst several groups of day or weekend hiker/campers. Days of the week mean little to thru-hikers, but i new it was the weekend due to the number of non-thruhikers on or around the trail. While sat enjoying my lunch, I had one of my most bizare encounters on the trail. A little girl came past me and asked me if i was a hiker, I responded giving the standard response "I'm hiking from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail" at which point her mum turned up, and had obviously overhead me speaking to her child and as the pair walked away, I heard the mum say "Don't listen to what that man just said". Now I often get people looking at me incredulously when I explain what I'm doing, as clearly most people have never heard of the trail, but I have never had anyone assume that I am lying. I wasn't annoyed by this but rather dismayed that her instant assumption was that I was lying and that her daughter was about to miss up an opportunity to learn about the trail. I had my PCT bandana close to hand so ran after the pair to put this woman straight and explain to the little girl that I what I had said was true. The woman did not look happy to be contradicted in front of her child, but I was glad I got to show the bandana, which has the route across the 3 states marked on it, to the little girl who rewarded my efforts with some suitable gasps of awe. My good deed done for the day I headed back up the trail making it another 15 miles up the trail before the light put an end to my day's hike. 35ish miles was a good start to Oregon