Kelley and I take Friday to dry out our things and reorganize ourselves. We limp like old women as we dry our tents in the apartment parking lot and wash and dry all our clothes. I hang my pack in the laundry room to dry out as well. In the afternoon we drive to REI to pick up a few things. I buy the green trail maps of the PCT sections we plan to hike. One thing I learned yesterday is that I will always try to have good maps. Halfmile maps are good for covering the Pacific Crest Trail and they are free to download, but if you need to get off the trail in an emergency they are inadequate.
In our original plan, cousins Laurie and Mike and Mike's daughter were supposed to meet us tonight. Mike has to work but he puts his daughter on the train at Everett.
Laurie picks her up at the train station and brings her to the apartment where we weigh her pack (30 pounds without food or water, yikes!) and then do a pack shake down. She brings out everything piece by piece and weighs it on the scale next to her. Her father, the former Boy Scout, wants her to be well prepared but several things are duplicates of things we're already carrying. Filter, nope, we already have 2. Tent, a whopping six pounds, gets traded for my 3 pound copper spur. By the time we're done she's shaved 10 pounds off the pack down to a 20 pound base weight.
It is after 11:00 when we are finally done. We plan to meet the next morning and drive to the Ramona Falls trailhead after dropping my car at Trail angel Shrek's house in Cascade Locks.
Saturday, July 26
I have a hard time sleeping and finally record some of my thoughts in my "fortuitous events" blog post. I wake up sad. My sister's dog was run over and killed yesterday and I cry as I think about that while I take a shower. Kelley sees my tears, since I can't top crying and decides to send flowers to Tamara from us. I'm grateful she understands.
John texts me to be careful since we've already had problems with fires, floods and rain. He doesn't have a good feeling about us going back out on trail, and honestly, I am still a little shaken from the previous events myself. I have a new respect and solemnity for the PCT.
I have done what I can to plan and prepare for this backpacking trip. I have medical training as a former EMT, and probably have a better than average knowledge of the wilderness due to my search and rescue training. I purchased a Spot device that tracks us and can summon emergency help in a life threatening emergency. But I still have a knot in my stomach as we drop off my car in Cascde Locks.
We head up the road towards Mt. Hood, but take time to stop at the ranger station to double check fire and river conditions. Everything looks fine. Adam was going to hike with us to Ramona Falls, but bought a new pair of shoes the previous day which gave him horrible blisters. Instead, he takes our picture at the trailhead and wishes us good luck.
It is a warm day and a Saturday and Ramona Falls is a popular day hike. We play a game guessing how many people and dogs we will see but give it up after 27 dogs and 178 people. Finally we reach the falls, which are cool and shady and we take a long break.
We loop around and can see the Sandy River below us. We are back to where Kelley and I had to turn around, just on the other side of the river. At one point we do cross the Sandy on a temporary bridge. We don't know it, but three weeks later a hiker will be killed crossing that same bridge when it is washed away by the river in a rainstorm.
We have basically made a large loop. We need to cross the Muddy Fork, a silt filled stream, and the map indicates that there should be a hiker bridge but we can't find it. What we do find is two large trees with a rope tied on one to hold to as you shuffle along the other log. Kelley takes the lead and makes to to the other side safely. Lil Kelley (Mike's daughter) goes next. She is scared but perseveres to the other side. I'm proud of her! This is her first backpacking trip and she is a pleasure to have along. Laurie goes next, dancing across the log to the other side. I go last and regret not strapping my hiking poles to my pack. They get in my way and make it more difficult.
On the other side an older woman, Karen, has watched us cross and Kelley gives her advice on how to do it. It is much more difficult to do from her side. She and her partner, Mary, will have to crawl over the root ball to get on to the log. We simply had to crawl over that at the end. We all decide to camp there for the night, and Karen and Mary make room for us. There is no other camping site for several miles.
We filter water while Mary bathes nude in the stream. I am surprised at her utter disregard for her nudity in public. Naked and not afraid!
We set up our tents and Kelley cooks up a delicious bean dinner with corn chips. We settle in to our tents and I can hear Laurie and Lil Kelley giggling and telling stories. Laurie seems to have gotten the storytelling gift from our grandmother, who would always make up a Betty and Bobby story for us whenever she'd tuck us in to bed.
Sunday, July 27th
We wake up at 7:00 and have coffee and breakfast. We wanted to get out of camp by 8:00am to beat the heat, but don't hit the trail until 10:00. I'm not too worried because we're only going six miles, although it is a steady uphill with 1,800 feet elevation gain. I learn from Mary and Karen that Lolo Pass where we plan to camp does not have water, but that we will cross a small stream in 2 miles where we can stock up. We pant our way up the mountain. Lil Kelley is the tallest with the longest legs and often takes the lead. I tend to power up hills and slow down going downhill. Laurie hikes the same steady pace. I leave her behind on the hills and she catches up on the downhill parts.
We reach the stream and filter water. My pack is heavy with four liters of water for the next four miles. And the black flies! Deet does not repel them and they drive us crazy landing on our bare arms and legs. It is hard to stop and rest because they are worse when we stop. The flies definitely need some free pie!
Eventually we reach a beautiful ridge. On one side we can look back and see Mt. Hood. On the other we see Mt. Adams in the distance. We pick blueberries and stop for lunch at a Mt. Hood view point where we discover we have cell reception. Kelley and I can see the ridges we climbed as we passed Mt. Hood on our journey north. It looks like we have hiked so far!
We continue down to Lolo Pass. It is next to a dirt road but there is a nice picnic table where we camp.
I rehydrate my home made spaghetti. It is not very warm but still tastes good and we chow it down. The flies drive us to our tents where Laurie and Lil Kelley practice tent yoga. We decide to break camp at 8:00 AM to beat the heat.
Monday, July 28
I wake up at 6:15. My eyes are blurry, I feel a little dehydrated from trying to conserve water and I am desperately homesick. I pack up and eat breakfast and I am ready to go at 8:00am. Nobody else is ready to go. Finally, I shoulder my pack and tell Kelley that I will wait for them four miles up the trail at the Lost Lake/Huckleberry trail junction. I am antsy to get hiking.
I head up the trail and pass under the buzzing electrical lines. There is another nice view of Mt. Hood and in a quarter mile I come to a small stream splashing across the trail! Water! I didn't think I'd reach water for another five miles! I dump my pack on the ground, grab my sawyer squeeze filter and drink directly from the filter after filling the bag. I drink and drink, cameling up on water. Then I filter more and fill up my 24 ounce Gatorade water bottle.
I pull out my dirty socks and wash them in a ziplock bag with some Dr. Bronners soap, careful to dump the water 200 feet away from the creek. After rinsing them I tie them on my pack. I pick up my pack and start to head up the trail when I hear people coming up the trail. I expect to see the rest of my group but it is two hikers, one a thru hiker called Papa Chulo, and his friend who joined him for a few days, Paul. I ask if they've seen 3 girls and they say they were still in camp when they passed them.
We have a nice talk but eventually I continue up the trail. They pass me after awhile and I enjoy hiking in solitude. There is a great view of Mt. Hood and abundant blueberries along the trail. But then those dang flies reappear. I come upon Papa Chulo picking blueberries while Paul puts moleskin on some hot spots and we talk again for a long time. Then I continue on my way and I see the Lost Lake trail junction where I told Kelley I'd wait for them. I expect I will be waiting awhile but I barely wait 5 minutes and they all appear. The flies are so bad they've been hiking with no breaks.
In less than a quarter mile we stop to get water at Salvation Creek. We are hot and the flies are making us very cranky. Lil Kelley and Laurie work together to filter water. Lil Kelley holds the bottle in one hand while Laurie squeezes the filter with one hand. With their free hands they swing bandanas at each other all the while stomping their feet to keep the flies from landing. It looks like a kind of strange jungle dance. I sing with their stomping rhythm, "You've got the power," but they are not amused. They have both had blood drawn from the biting flies.
We finish filtering water and I have a thought. "Kelley," I say, "I think we need to have a trail meeting. We are not having fun and I don't want Lil Kelley to hate backpacking. We just passed the trail down to Lost Lake Resort. We could take a vote and see if we want to get off the trail early and go to Lost Lake or continue on the PCT."
Kelley likes the idea and we climb up to where Laurie and Lil Kelley are and tell them about the Lost Lake option. We discuss it and Lil Kelley votes for Lost Lake. Laurie is neutral. She'll do either. I vote for Lost Lake and Kelley says, "Lost Lake it is!" We start the hike down to Lost Lake. From my green trail map I know how to get there.
The Lost Lake trail winds steadily downwards and surprisingly the flies diminish a bit the lower we go. Eventually we reach a wooden walk way that leads toward the resort. Finally we see the resort store and we dump our packs on the wide porch and go inside to buy cold drinks and snacks. To our dismay there is no pay phone and no cell service. The clerk tells us that we have to go a half mile up the road to have cell service.
This is bad news to us. We need to try to find a ride to Cascade Locks to pick up my car so we can return to Portland. We are hot and discouraged so we decide to take a cool swim in the lake before doing anything else. The water feels delicious and I feel much more optimistic once I've cooled down. Kelley decides to try to hit up some people in the day use area for a ride and starts talking to everyone explaining our predicament and offering gas money for a ride. Unfortunately no one is going that way, but a different resort employee does give us some great help. He tells us that if we stand in the clothing section of the store we might get cell reception.
Laurie and I head back to the store. She has Verizon and I have AT&T and we hope that one of us can get reception. Laurie has much better luck than I do and is able to text Tamara, Kelley's friend who originally took us up to Olallie Lake at the beginning of our hike. Tamara graciously volunteers to drive out and pick us up. It feels full circle. Tamara was part of our beginning and now part of our ending.
Two hours later we pile in her car and head to Cascade Locks. We pick up my car from Shrek and I leave him a donation for watching my car. He gives us all lime green PCT bandanas, which are nice and unexpected souvenirs, and then we stop at Char Broil for some of their famous burgers and fries.
Our Pacific Crest Trail adventure is done for another year. It did not turn out anything like we thought it would, but we've learned to be flexible and enjoy the unexpected. Kelley and I learned we can hike a 20 mile day if needed, which neither of us thought we could do. I learned the importance of knowing how to get off trail and the value of Green Trails maps. Kelley learned the importance of having a non cotton base layer. One really nice aspect of our hike this year was getting to spend time with various cousins and extended family who we've lately only seen at funerals. I'm not sure which section we will tackle next year, but I am sure that at some point we will be back on our trail again. Who is in for next year?
