Oregon PCT 2016: Day 1

I started my second trek on the PCT on June 20th. I had already sent food to my 5 resupply locations and just needed to start walking. Rather than getting someone to drive me 6 hours south, I chose to take a greyhound bus from Portland down to Ashland on Interstate 5 and hitchhike to the nearest location on the trail.

The bus station was as great as a bus station usually is at 5 in the morning. There were a few interesting characters about. Other than that all was pretty normal and simple, although handling a backpack is awkward anywhere but on the trail. The ride was exciting. It was fun to look out the window to the east and imagine hiking back north on the trail! We stopped at a gas station for lunch in Medford and I was soon riding a city bus to the south-most point of Ashland. Someone picked me up as I was still walking toward the exit because I looked like a PCT hiker about to hitch hike. It was so nice of them and put me way ahead of my planned schedule!

Ridin' the bus!

Medford with Mount McLoughlin in the background

I was dropped off at exit 6 where Callahan's Lodge stood. This is a well-know resupply location on the PCT with a restaurant and accommodations. I was there there way earlier than I had expected and not completely sure what to do. Originally I planned to stay the night there and start the next morning... but I wanted to start the hike and it was still early in evening.

Found him climbing on my arm... I jumped.

Trial tent setup at Callahan's

I chose to have a nice meal and "practice" setting up the tent, something I had not done before the hike... oops. Afterward, I would decide if I felt like hiking. While eating I met Marina, a girl who was new to the trail and still getting her legs underneath her. She had heard of snow to the north and was hiking south. She looked tired and told me about her first days on the trail. I encouraged her the best I knew how.

Dinner!

Marina

After the meal, I was restless and excited to get going on the trail. So I decided to just go for it! I started off at about 6:30 pm. I really ended up leaving closer to 7 because I looked around for my old hiking stick from the Washington PCT in 2015... I had left it in the car when I hitch-hiked. Bummer. It was a beautiful evening though, and pretty cool once I got off the road.

Leaving Callahan's

Almost a mile on the road

Crossing under I-5

On the trail!

Amazing evening for a hike

Cool footbridge

The first day of a long hike like this is magical! It is exciting and a little scary. Anything could happen in the next couple weeks but I was there to experience nature in all of its uncertainty and on its own terms! The trail was pretty well shaded and wound east along the south side of the Ashland valley up toward Pilot Rock. I ran into a few day hikers but it was a quiet few hours of hiking.

Mount Ashland to the west

Heading up to the ridge

Pilot Rock ahead

One of many gates the trail passes through

Near Pilot Rock

As I tend to do, I shot a little higher than reasonable with my mileage goal that evening.  I had planned on hiking 7 miles to a campsite just beyond Pilot Rock. But with the time spent looking for my hiking stick and the slow pace I took while daydreaming, I only made about 5 miles before dark. So I took my first evening as an opportunity to try camping on the trail rather than in a campsite. After about 5 miles of hiking, I found a spot where the trail was wide and flat, set up my tend, ate, and slept.  I was on the trail again!

Evening light

There is something wonderful in the uncertainty of a first day like this one. The nervous excitement of starting something and not knowing how it will turn out is something I cannot get enough of. I feel so alive! I wish there were a way to feel that way during everyday life, but everyday life is often all about stability and repetition. This is a paradox: Everyone wants stability in their life but they also want spontaneity. We want to relax and be safe but somewhere in our hearts we also want to try, to risk, to win at a new game that we haven't rigged to be safe. To me hiking gives a feeling of authentic adventure. Sure, I have planned and brought gear, but I will walk an uncertain number of miles through a new place full of uncertainties. I cannot guess what it will be like but I can face each moment as it occurs. I wish I could share this wonderful sense of possibility with everyone I know.

Oregon PCT 2016: Planning

So I hiked the Washington PCT. What next? Laura ended up with work during the next summer but I am a school teacher and therefor had some time the next summer. So I decided to do the Oregon PCT. I would hike north from the California/Oregon border and someone could pick me up at the columbia river gorge near home.

I didn't try that hard to update gear as most of the gear we used worked very well. We got another jetboil stove in case Laura wanted to go on a short hike and needed a stove. I ended up taking the tent, although I had originally planned on trying out a bivy sack. I also bought another pair of Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes hoping that the company would have fixed that problems I had using the last model.

I planned to send food to: Fish Lake, Crater Lake, Camper's Cove, Big Lake Youth Camp, and Ollalie Lake. I also planned to hike fast. In fact, I gave myself 20 days to finish the state before I would help out at a church camp. I would start in mid-June right after school and hike until early July.

I made one major mistake in my planning, I assumed that the trail would be free of snow. It turns out that Oregon has snow in the mountains well into July on the typical year. This seems to surprise everyone and certainly surprised me! The snow made for lots of new experiences and adventures.

I ended up hiking slowly due to snow and not making my 20-day window. I made it north to Campers Cove and Willamette pass before choosing to get off the trail. Later in July, I hiked back south from the Columbia River to finish the state.

This hike was a real challenge for me personally. I pushed myself very hard to see what I was capable of. I found this rewarding in ways that I never expected. I look forward to challenging myself in the future to see if I can do even more but more about that after this hike is documented. The following many posts will be from my hiking adventure during the summer of 2016. Then I will be all caught up and not post-dating everything!

Washington PCT 2015: Day 40 and post-hike

Goodbye, PCT

Our final day was one of both nostalgia and excitement. We had hiked 40 days across the entire state of Washington! Now it was almost over.  One thing about hiking is you spend a lot of time thinking. So we though and talked about the experiences we had shared, how we would miss some things, and how we both wanted to make space to do more of this.

Northern Terminus

Northern Terminus

PCT Selfie

After checking in at the north border, 6 miles from our campsite, we hiked another 8 miles to Manning Park. It was a really weird feeling to walk into a booming loud place after so long on the trail. We got food at the diner there and were allowed to stay in a hostel used for housing hikers. Many of our friends eventually caught up with us and we all had dinner together and swapped stories!
The next morning, we were on a bus for Vancouver BC, where Laura and I stayed the night. Then, we boarded a train back to our hometown.

Bus station in Vancouver BC

Nice room for the night

Dinner in Vancouver BC

I cannot explain what this experience meant to me. The closest I can come is this: I live in a modern world. Modern people don't go on adventures. They study, work hard, climb ladders in the social and professional world, and convince themselves that there is some important reason to play that game. I, unlike many PCT hikers I have met, do think that society has many things to offer and should be valued. But there is nothing like true self-reliance. There is nothing like waking up and planning out the days activities and knowing that everything you do will be new and challenging. I miss that feeling everyday as I live my normal life.

I also am so thankful that I could share this experience with my adventurous wife. She is a brave daring soul and I am proud to be her husband. Occasionally, when we are snug in our bed, she will ask, "Joel, will you tell me a story from the trail?"  And I will ramble on and on about a day of our hike, interrupted only by the occasional correction, describing every animal, person, turn of the trail, or other minor detail that I can remember as we drift to sleep.
 

Canadian candy for the train

Wasington PCT 2015: Day 39

Beautiful morning

Day 39 was amazing, especially at the end. It started out with a long gradual climb through the forest. Then, we were in some amazing mountain meadows.

Ridge walking

Shull Mountain

Hiking up to Rock Pass

A beautiful field

Panorama below Holman Peak

It was a lovely parting gift from the trail to get views for hundreds of miles in all directions. We saw snowy peaks to the south and tall mountains up north. There were flowers and berries along the trail. We talked a lot about how this was our last day and tried to soak up every moment of it. We also talked a bit about food... we were excited to eat our arrival meal at Manning Park!

Amazing view to the south

Heading over Rock Pass

Woody pass: so close yet so far

Woody pass was a funny moment in day. It is a very short hike to it straight across from the nearest pass but that route is a dangerous deer trail. The PCT winds nearly two miles into the valley below and up the the next pass.  It was a very long hike and we never seemed to get to the top of Woody pass. By the time we did arrive, we were grumpy hikers yelling at the pass. It is kind of fun to yell at the top of your lungs in the middle of nowhere!

Heading down into the valley

Our last ridge walk is ahead

Not a fan of Woody Pass

New view to the north

Highest point on Washington trail

After our moment at the highest point of the trail, we headed down to our final campsite next to Hopkin's lake. It started out difficult as we hiked down the Devils Staircase. That is a steep scary section of trail that is not for those with heights problems. It was rough for Laura but she got through it like a champ! It was like one last cruel joke played on her by the trail.
We were soon down at the lake. There were deer everywhere making noises and things. We had a lovely dinner and relaxed. We were excited to have finished our last full day of hiking on the PCT. We had hiked 18.5 miles and had only a short hike to the border.

Hopkins lake

Our last campsite

Washington PCT 2015: Day 38

Morning on Glacier pass

Day 38 dawned bright and beautiful! We got up and started our way up one of our last climbs of the hike. We hikes a set of switchbacks in the shade and were greeted with a beautiful sunny view at the top of the pass.

Mount Ballard

Lots of switchbacks!

Late breakfast with a view!

There's our trail

We ridged-walked for quite some time, stopping regularly to see the amazing views in all directions! We eventually arrived at Hart's pass. It was HOT and we stopped for a long lunch break.

Ridge walking

Beautiful valley

Having a great time!

Pretty rock formation

View for miles

Blight to the north

Getting closer to Canada!

Last stop before Canada!

Hart's pass was the last road we would cross before hiking into Canada so we checked the last trail register for the names of some of our friends. Then, we hiked on. It was a very warm afternoon but it was also beautiful! You could see forever from the slopes of slate peak!

Heading up to slate peak

View from Slate peak

After shale peak, we hiked down into some more wooded areas and passed into the Pasayten Wilderness, the last wilderness we would pass through on our way into Canada. It was nice easy hiking and we finally arrived at a good campsite below Tamarack peak.

Heading down to Indian pass

Hello Pasayten

Beautiful moon rise

We shared our campsite with Gotta Go and one of her many hiking companions. We also met one of the strangest characters I may ever meet on the trail. He was an older guy and talked incessantly about crazy things and would not stop! We finally all got to sleep after a 15 mile day.

Lovely campsite