Oregon
31. July 2003 — Day 97 - Mt. Ashland Campground to Hwy 99 (Ashland) - mile 1724
Eventless 9 miles to Hwy 99 except that we nearly couldn’t find the trail. We started off cross country but underestimated how far away the trail was. Reached the highway at 9:30am, walked down along it towards Challahans. We made it 100 yds when the first car that came by picked us up. They had lived near San Jose, so Diesel had something to talk about and the woman was originally from Germany, so I had something to talk about. They dropped us off directly in the middle of town. In search for a place with huge amounts of soda, we wandered around downtown. Ashland is kinda touristy with lots of small shops and bistros/cafes but limited places to get a gallon of soda.
Well we found a place in the end and sat there for a good while. Splitpea walked by. They were all (DNA, Freefall, Splitpea) staying at the hostel. Mr Tea walked by as well. Nearly didn’t recognise him because he got a hair cut. We finally moved and called Bill (older gentleman we met on the trail before Etna Summit) and he said he would pick us up in 10 mins - which he did, then he gave us the long, touristy way to his house through the Lithia Park. When we pulled up to his house we couldn’t believe it - huge house on the hill overlooking Ashland and the valley. Got settled in to the guest room or should I say apartment. The usual shower, then laundry and afterwards Bill fixed some lunch for us. Diesel and I ate while Bill told us stories. That’s how the afternoon went by. Terry came over around dinner time to chat to us. Juanita, Bill’s wife cooked a lovely dinner with shrimp, rice & salad. Watched the sunset from the deck/veranda. Nice day and good to be here. The long and strenuous chapter of California is finished - here comes Oregon and Washington. Like Diesel says the hardest part is over now, all that’s left is to finish it off. One thing though, it’s still a long way to go (900 miles). I fear Diesel will get off the trail here. His foot is still bothering him, but if it is not better tomorrow, he most likely will go home. He has a lot of good stuff to go home to. We see tomorrow.
02. August 2003 — Day 98 - Ashland - zero day
After breakfast which extended quite late Bill drove us down to Terry’s place so we could admire his rock garden, which is pretty impressive. Afterwards Bill gave us a tour around town and dropped us oft near the town center. Went around town to get new shoes, went for lunch, got our hair cut. I actually had the barber take down my beard, which had gotten really long after three month. We made it to the library before it closed and then I had to do my grocery shopping for the next stretch. In the supermarket we ran into Bill so he could give us a lift back to his place. We started to cook dinner which was a little rushed because Diesel & myself wanted to see a movie in town. Bill didn’t want to drive again so he let us use his old Volvo. I don’t know why he wanted me to drive but there I was after not driving for 3 month. It was pretty interesting. We watched “Swimming Pool” - not really a great film but it had a nice twist at the end. When we got back we had some dinner left-overs and started chatting to Bill. It was pretty late when I went to bed.
03. August 2003 — Day 99 - Hwy 99 (Ashland) to Klum Landing Campground - mile 1753
We had a quick breakfast and then Bill drove me to the trail and Diesel to the bus stop. His foot wasn’t getting better even after nearly two rest days so he decided to quit the trail. I’m really sad to see him leave the trail. We hiked nearly 500 miles together and we were a great team. So I started off down the trail by myself again on a miserable day. It had started raining and it continued for most of the day. Not very exciting day made it to Klum Landing Campground and pitched my tent. It rained through most of the night and at some stage I could hear a bear knock over a trash can and root through it. Thanks god it didn’t come to my tent.
04. August 2003 — Day 100 - Klum Landing Campground to Island Lake - mile 1791
The rain had stopped when I broke camp but by now most of my stuff was damp. Started off and got wet feet from brushing against grass and scrub. Made it to “Dead Indian Road” and from here on I took an alternative route down to “Lake of the Woods”. While walking down the road suddenly two cars stopped and I thought: “Oh, great now I have to talk them out of giving me a lift”. But to my surprise it was Bill with his family. I had not expected to see him again that soon. We talked for a little bit and he introduced me to his grand kids. I continued on and had my lunch at the lake resort. The alternative route got to more lakes - so more water and better campsites. I camped by a really nice lake. I walked something like 31 miles but on the trail I made 35 miles.
05. August 2003 — Day 101 - Island Lake to Top of narrow, open flat - mile 1822
The morning was dry at least. The trail climbed up pretty high – 7320 feet. After the descend into the valley I had my lunch break at Honeymoon Creek. Thankfully the sun was out so I could dry my stuff. Met some weekend hikers, that were hiking southbound and told me that there was no on-trail water until Crater Lake 27 miles away. I thought about my options and after looking at my maps I decided to take an alternate trail to Stuart Falls. Only had to carry water for 5 miles before setting up camp. The next morning I would only have 3 miles to Highway 62/Crater Lake.
06. August 2003 — Day 102 – narrow, open flat to a mile after Summit Rock Road – mile 1849
Made it to Mazama Campground Store (Crater Lake) at around 8:30 am. Thought I could get proper breakfast but it turned out they only had junk food. Still better then nothing. I was surprised that no hikers were there. Did the usual town stuff – shower, laundry and resupply. I was ready to move out by 11 am and just when I came out of the car park I saw Masa & Tomo. I had passed them when I took the alternate route. I had decided to take the lower, official PCT route instead of walking up to the crater rim. I would come back here with Emma to do the touristy stuff. Just when I got back to the trail it started raining. In the rain I suddenly was startled by what I think was a bear mum with a cup. Never saw the mum but the cup I saw rushing up a 3-foot tree. It didn’t want to come down and the tree was right beside the trail. So I actually had to walk around the tree to avoid upsetting the bears. For at least a half hour I was watching my back and trying to make more noise. Just before Highway 138 I saw two elk on the high plain. I camped a mile or two after the highway.
07. August 2003 — Day 103 – a mile after Summit Rock Road to Nip & Tuck Lakes – mile 1879
Had a pleasant walk in the morning around Mt. Thielsen. During my lunch break I met two south bounders – Second Wind and Sir. SmilesAlot. They set down for a break and we had a chat while I ate. They told me that I was the 23rd thru-hiker they had met. In the afternoon a thunderstorm on top of a ridge caught me. The rain was pretty heavy and then it started hailing. It only lasted an hour or so. But it looked and sounded like there would be more coming down in the evening. Because of the water situation I went off the trail in Windigo Pass to walk 1.5 miles to Nip & Tuck Lakes. Where I ran into GoForth with her horse who already had setup camp. She was finishing up on her thru-hike/ride doing Manning Park to Northern California. It was interesting to talk to her about the experiences she had gathered. It does not seem to be easy to do a thru-ride.
08. August 2003 — Day 104 - Nip & Tuck Lakes to Shelter Cove Resort - mile 1907
It rained most of the night but stopped just before I got up. GoForth offered me a cup of coffee, which was really nice. I had decided to go forward on the alternative route because it would save about 7 miles and get me into Shelter Cove resort at 2 pm. The walk was quite nice and I took the opportunity to dry out my stuff at Diamond View Lake at lunchtime. I arrived at Shelter Cove Resort quite early. I asked around if there was a shuttle or bus going to Eugene. The lady there was really helpful and made a few calls. I started chatting to an older guy named Jim, who had been on the trail with his son Jeff. Now they had to get off the trail because Jeff had problems with his knee. He was very interested in my trip and he offered me a lift to Eugene for the next day. I set up camp in the reserved area. Not really a good spot - barely any level ground. The rest of the day I spend doing the usual town stuff – shower, laundry and food. I had dinner and Jim confirmed that they could give me a lift. So I would be able to sleep in and have plenty of time for breakfast, because we would not be leaving until 11am. A good day and I’m really looking forward to see Emma.
19. August 2003 — Day 115 – Shelter Cove Resort to Charlton Lake - mile 1925
I had more luck in the morning after breakfast it took only 20 min before a nice older lady stopped and gave me a lift. I talked to her all the way up to the pass. When I got out of the care she gave me a few apricots. It was very strange to be back on the trail and I was wondering who would be around me. I hoped a few people would have caught up to me now. I started of at 12pm and made about 17 miles to Charlton Lake. When I set my pack down and started filtering water I heard voices from a little peninsula and they sounded very familiar. It couldn’t be or could it? Well I walked over and it could be. There was Hatchet and Paul they had not come far in the last week. I was quick back in my routine cooking dinner and hitting the sack. In a way it was good to be back on the trail.
20. August 2003 — Day 116 – Charlton Lake to Elk Lake – mile 1953
During last night I somehow twisted my back and I had a shooting pain in my left shoulder. I was painful for most of the day. But I wanted to get 28 miles in that day to Elk Lake Resort so I was pushing hard to make it there early so the shop/restaurant would still be open. I met a section hiker about 5 miles before the resort and told him about it. I arrived at 6pm and first bought orange juice and coke. Then went into the snack bar for a cheeseburger with onion rings. The burger was good and the portion was OK. Since there was no phone at the resort and there wouldn’t be one in Ollalie Lake either I send a postcard to Emma. The women behind the counter was helpful. I met the guy I talked to earlier and he told me that the camp ground was full but he found a family that had some space were I might be able to crash as well. We walked up there and sure enough they let me stay there as well. Funny, even after the burger I was still hungry, so I cooked one of my dinners, which did the job. I was really full now.
21. August 2003 — Day 117 – Elk Lake to South Matthieu Lake - mile 1980
It was really noisy during the night. People made a lot of noise so I had a restless night. Got going early again and during the day I came through the Three Sisters Wilderness, which is really nice - a stunning high plain (Wickiup Plain) with volcanic rock formations. Very cool to pass all three sisters in a day it gives you a feeling that you are actually making progress. I came across a couple on horseback and they told me that there was a fire in the next section and that supposedly the trail was closed. For some reason I was tiered and exhausted the whole day. I pushed hard to make it to McKenzie Pass by evening, but I didn’t make it. I had to stop 3.5 miles short at South Matthieu Lake, which was quite nice. I didn’t even try to figure out what to do if the trail was closed. There was not much that I could do that evening anyway and I did not know what the situation was. Tomorrow morning would be early enough to worry.
22. August 2003 — Day 118 – South Matthieu Lake to Clear Lake Resort - mile 2007
The last mile to McKenzie Pass was probably the longest one of the whole trip. You could see the highway but then the trail turned in the opposite direction leading away through a lava flow . It was really exhausting to walk on this and it took a long time. When I finally reached the road I saw the sign saying that the trial between the Pass and Breidenbush Lake was closed due to the forest fires. There was also a note from Meadow Mary that she would be coming by in the morning and at lunch time to shuttle hikers around the fires. On the map I saw that ¼ mile down the road there was a trailhead and so instead of stumbling across the lava field I took the road. I walked into the parking area and saw some hikers there. Billy Goat, Tuna & Numbrrrs and one or two more. I talked to them to see what the story was.
Meadow Mary arrived a few minutes after me and she would shuttle most of the people around the fire. I asked if anybody knew if there was a way around it, because I wanted to make it a complete trail. Missing 50 miles was just not something I wanted to do. Billy Goat said he was going to try to walk around the fire and Meadow Mary had already bought a forest service map for him. So after a quick check on how long it would take and how much food I still had in my pack I decided to give it a try. So it was only Billy Goat and myself setting off down highway 242. the road was very narrow and because traffic got redirected there were a lot of cars on it. Thankfully we only had to go down 4 miles until we reached another trailhead. This trial brought us down to highway 120 after 7 – 8 miles. It was funny to walk with somebody again. Billy Goat would walk slower and have a totally different rhythm then myself. Reaching highway 120 we had to walk down this one for a good while. There just wasn’t any trail going in our direction. But the good thing would be that there would be a resort hopefully with a shop and maybe even a restaurant. We reached Clear Lake Resort shortly after 6pm and could not believe it but they had already closed. Bad Luck. So we searched for a water tap and cooked dinner right there on a picnic table. Both of us did not feel like walking much further that day. We had our food and by the time we were finished it had become dark. We just went up the access road of the resort and found a disbanded dirt road were we slept under a big tree. It had looked like rain for most of the day but still we decided not to pitch our shelters.
23. August 2003 — Day 119 – Clear Lake Resort to Marion Forks – mile 2030
Not putting up a shelter nearly turned out to be a big mistake. The rain started at about 4 am so I had to get out of the sleeping bag and setup my SilShelter using only 4 stakes (instead of 12). Thankfully it did not rain hard. By the time we got up it was just a light drizzle. The first few files were along the highway again before we got onto a paved forest road, which we followed for another 7 – 8 miles. During the day it rained on an off. We tried to take breaks under some trees when it did. The rest of the day was uneventful and by the end of the Day we were at Highway 22 just before Marion Forks. There is not much there: a fish hatchery, restaurant with a small store and ranger station. I have to say I was looking forward to this the whole day in the hope that we would have more luck this time. We did. The restaurant was open longer so Billy Goat and myself had dinner there and talked. We came up with a plan for the next day because we had to sneak back into Jefferson Park. We stayed at Marion Fork that night, again in a abandoned forest road.
24. August 2003 — Day 120 – Marion Forks to Upper Lake – mile 2048 (+7 extra miles)
Again the day started with a road walk but it was only for about 3 – 4 miles before continuing on a dirt road that would lead to a trailhead. I had walked ahead of Billy Goat because I wanted to reach Olallie Lake 26 miles away. But while on this dirt road running into a forest service person would have meant that I had to turn back, because we were officially not allowed to enter Jefferson park. I did not see anybody on the road and there was nobody at the trailhead. The road was nicely graded, but the trail that would lead me back to the PCT was different. It was really steep and tiring. Back on the PCT the walk was nice. The scenery was really nice. Made it to Breidenbush Lake and just walked into the parking lot of the trailhead. I noticed the truck parked there but I did not think that it could be someone from the forest service. So I walked past it to the pit toilet to do my business. I’m to this day not sure if someone called me there or not but I pretended not to hear him. From there I tried to make it to Olallie Lake Resort but I did not make it and I stopped at Upper Lake for the night.
I just had a nice and easy walk to Olallie Lake Resort. Just another Oregon resort, small overpriced resort with cabins and camping ground. I had a nice breakfast with fresh coffee and muffins. I wanted to take a shower there but there was a queue so I would have to wait until 11 o’clock. Somehow I was not feeling well that day so I didn’t mind the little forced break. While I sat there Billy Goat came walking along. I did not think to see him there that early. We stayed there for a little while before we started off together. We stopped at Trooper Springs which was not great – muddy and mucky.