Northern Oregon forests were thick and lush. After a fire detour I climbed up and around amazing Mt. Hood. Hikers and tourists alike filled the restaurant at timberline lodge for the notorious breakfast buffet. Then we hung out at the amazing lodge into the afternoon.


Descending to the Columbia river gorge and the border with Oregon and Washington hikers take an alternate route down Eagle creek a trail spattered with amazing waterfalls. The most stunning is Tunnel Falls where the trail, blasted into a cliff actually traverses behind the falls!


I've been traveling with the Love Train which includes most of the hikers that I spent time in Eugene with. But as I was filling my plate at Timberline Lodge a smiling hiker shouted my name and ran up for a hug. It was Spud! who I hadn't seen since Etna, CA. Oasis and Honey Bear were close behind and the crew I hiked Northern Ca with were reunited.


Now I'm in Cascade Locks preparing to enter Washington and the final 500 miles of the trail. Washington sounds rugged and insanely beautiful. My resupply stops are small outposts so I may not be able to update my blog much. Into Washington I go.
 
 
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Oregon has started treating me well. I think I missed the notoriously vicious mosquitos by just a few days. Crater lake was a spectacular sight. I climbed to the top of the Watchman, a peak on the rim for a stunning panorama. I ate an entire medium pizza at Diamond Lake. Was escorted through a forest fire by smoke jumpers. Then the beauty meter was pushed into the red in Three Sisters Wilderness.

The Three Sisters are huge glaciated volcanos each over 10,000 ft. The trail dances around these colorful monsters through vibrant and fragrant fields of purple lupine. To enhance the beauty we walked through as a thunderstorm built above us and sprinkled rain  most of the afternoon. In the Sister's Wilderness we walked through fields of obsidian, glinting in the sunlight.

I've been hiking in a big group of amazing hikers (Yankee Son, Hallmark, White Bear, Mufasa, Busted Magic, Chimp, Spork, Cookie, Border Patrol, Wompus Cat and Zen) as I approached Santiam Pass. Hallmark invited us to join her at her Uncles house outside Eugene. Her uncle John opened his guest house up for us smelly hikers to relax and celebrate hiking 2000 miles. That's right 2000 miles!

Coolest of all, Uncle John recently built a massive tree house in Douglas Firs on his property. 

Today fifteen of us hikers are off the trail taking a zero day. And we have nothing to do but eat. The day started with me making huevos rancheros, Scarecaw making biscuits and gravy and Cookie making scones. Snausage, who I reconnected with after not seeing since Ashland and not hiking with since the Sierras got up early to start smoking a large amount of pig to be eaten for dinner. 

My cousin Olivia lives here in Eugene and I had the pleasure of hanging out with her and making dinner last night. She is an amazing person and it was a treat to catch up with her on this trip.

I'm doing well and looking forward to the rest of the journey to include huge glaciated volcanos, dense forests and craggy ridges, all to be shared with amazing people.
 

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Mufasa with Huevos Rancheros
 
If you have been hearing or reading California news, there are many forest fires burning due to the super hot, dry conditions everywhere. But Histo got out of the state before he was impacted by those. Now Oregon is burning. Yesterday Histo and other hikers were escorted by firefighters through a smoldering fire area, and the trail closed behind them. If you check the PCTA website you will find there are two more fires, one he passed through today most likely, and the other coming soon. In these cases the PCT is closed and there are detours around the fires. This is a whole new aspect of the journey, and a little surprising that it is hitting in Oregon (with more fires to come in Washington). It hasn't rained up there for a month; normally it rains pretty continuously in Washington. Here's hoping Histo and fellow thru-hikers will get around the smoke and dangerous fire conditions, and back to walking through beautiful forests soon.
 
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Brief update: this morning Histo called from about 10 miles south of Crater Lake Rim (see him and his sister Lena on his first camping trip: Mazama campground, Crater Lake!). He's hiking with Doc (the younger one), Hallmark, Yankee Son and a couple other thru-hikers. I mentioned that on my drive home yesterday the only thing I could see of Mt Shasta was its shrouded flanks, ghostly-white from wildfire smoke. Histo reported that yesterday they had the same phenomenon in Oregon: they walked along a lovely ridge, but could only see about 2 miles due to smoky haze. Fire season is here, and some fires are on or near the PCT!

 
Hyatt Reservoir near Ashland Oregon 8/9/2012

Change of State

On Monday August 6 I reached a huge milestone. I'm talking about 1700 miles big. I'm talking about the border of California and Oregon. I've walked all the way across California, the long way. The border really wasn't a glamorous place by normal standards, just a wooden sign on a tree, "Oregon/California" and a register, but this was a place I had only seen pictures of and fantasized about.

I reached the border alone and enjoyed a surge of emotion. Only a quarter of a mile later, where the PCT crossed a dirt road, I was  stoked to find a surprise party of hikers. Balls and Sunshine, who hiked the PCT last year (she is 12), hosted this awesome trail magic surprise. I hung out for lunch.

My last day in California included a 4500 foot climb that my buddy Mike joined me for, and a thunderstorm. I chose to pitch my tent and wait out the storm instead of hiking an exposed ridge in the lightning and rain. The whole thing only lasted about four hours.

I took a nice rest in Ashland, OR where my mom drove up to meet me. Since crossing the border I feel like I'm trying to complete something that I don't want to end. The trail has been a blast and I am very excited for the next two legs: Oregon and Washington. I have less than 1000 miles to go, but the weather window will close in the end of September, so in an effort not to battle the snow in running shoes it is time to move.

Kathy salutes the thru-hikers, Hyatt Reservoir 8/10/2012

Today is the last day of my summer holiday of being a PCT groupie. I hiked my last small stretch of the PCT, looking for Histo's shoeprints (he took off three hours earlier from our camp at Hyatt Reservoir in southern Oregon. It was a pleasure spending two days with Histo in Ashland and then camping with him once more. Now I return to work: seven packages to send north on the trail over the next month; school prep, meetings and classes starting.

What a tremendous privilege it has been to meet Histo during parts of his adventure, and to meet many of his fellow amazing, intrepid thru-hikers, on and off the trail. It's still hard to believe they're doing this, and STILL doing it--Oregon and Washington here they are!

Thank you Histo/Karl/son for sharing your world with us "others" so graciously. Though I won't be meeting you on the trail again, I'll continue celebrating every mile with you in my heart. love, Mom
 
The miles have been flying by! It is hard to believe it was 12 days ago that we passed the halfway point. Now jsut past 1600 miles I am still in this huge state we call California. The Summer heat drove us West toward the coast and higher elevations in search of some relief... okay maybe the trail happens to take a turn southwest around Mt. Shasta toward the Trinity Alps and the Russian Wilderness, a beautiful surprise.

Now less than 100 miles from Oregon I am taking a day off in Etna to rest my feet and fill my stomach. At this point in the hike it can be intense to try to carry enough food for five days, it basically doubles the weight of my pack.

The hiking has been enjoyable and challenging. Burney Falls was an amazingly beautiful sight. We hiked the last 100 miles from Castella to Etna in three and a half days, you can do the math.

I had my sister ship my ipod to me with a bunch of podcasts for entertainment. One of the podcasts she loaded up is a spanish learning podcast. I have been picking it back up slowly and it is fun to try to have conversations with myself, and occasionally Honey Bear en espanol. I'll be fluent in spanish by the time I get to Canada. Muy Bien.

It is entertaining on the trail how the hikers get bunched up and spread out. I hiked for two days with Honey Bear, encountering only two or three other hikers breifly, but at the end of the second day we caught up to a group of nine other hikers and here in Etna we found many more. Arriving in Castella today are Nips and Wildflower, who took off some time, they are with a group of twelve that includes Peels and Beef Nugget whom I haven't seen in 900 mi and 1200 mi respectively.

Spud and I had a conversation the other day about how on the trail it feels like we measure time in miles. We rarely know what day of the week it is, until we need to pick up a package from the post office. Now as we push higher miles each day it feels as though the summer is flying by.