Oregon Challenge Complete - mile 2150ish

Yes yes yes!  Completed the run through Oregon in 14 days flat.  I'm not such a competitive person, nor am I racing to Canada (first one who gets there is the loser) but setting a goal and hitting my mark felt good.  I had a great crew of folks coming into the OC who stuck it out with me all the way to Bend/Sisters, OR where they had to jump out to get food and then got sucked into good town times.  At the time it felt silly that I was pushing on with all my buddies right behind me to step into another hikerless void but within days I caught up to the first wave of my old peeps - Seahorse and Chilidog!  Yes!  I knew I'd been moving fast for a reason.

Had to change up the routine some to make miles.  More so than in any other section I've realized how much walking has become my lifestyle.  If I'm not eating, sleeping, or rearranging my stuff then I'm walking.  Sun up to sun down.  But it doesn't feel like a chore it's just the way it is.  I get up at 5:30 before first light, get my stuff jammed into my pack, wolf down a bear claw and get walking by 6 when the sun's just starting to hit.  And it doesn't feel like "Here we go again.  Another long day.  Gotta start walking." It's just what happens when all my stuff is packed and there's no more breakfast pastry.  Automatic pilot.  As thoughtless as turning on the coffee machine in the morning, or driving to work/school even though you're half asleep.  And the day just rolls by as I put more miles behind me.  Take a coffee break, walk some more.  Each lunch, walk some more.  Sit down for a snack, and walk some more... all the while seeing some amazing sites, having good conversation with other hikers, meeting new folks on the trail - ya know, living.  And Oregon had some amazing sites to see.  This section has been one of the most stunningly beautiful areas I've walked through on the whole trail.  First all the beautiful lakes with clear swimmin' water reflecting the tall forest around them, then the Three Sisters and all the lava flows and snow capped volcanoes chained together.  Then Jefferson... then Washington... then Hood... volcanoe hopping our way through the state.  I'd get by one and climb a ridge to look back and when I'd turn around BAM another giant would be staring me down off in the distance.  It's fun to see where you're headed, and where you've been.

Got to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood with Chilidog, Seahorse, Marmot, Roo, Goodness, and Zim and chowed down on an amazing breakfast buffet.  Yes!  It was a pre-border celebration anticipating dropping into the Columbia River Gorge in two short days until we heard... fire everywhere!  Ok not everywhere.  But the fires on the north side of Hood had just gone from manageable to humongous overnight and the PCT was in the danger zone (or atleast in the closure zone).  We were the first ones to hit the roadblock so we sat down with a rep from the forest service and brainstormed a detour around the other side of the mountain.  It would add about 15 miles, involve a fair amount of road walking, and put us up and down trails that laugh in the face of the PCT's mellow grades and cruiser conditions.  Most rangers urged us to just thumb a ride to the river and call it a state knowing full well just how inglorious this detour would be but at this point we've come to far through too much to start skipping sections.  The thruhiker compulsion got the best of us and off we went.  The first section on the timberline trail was a little grueling but beautiful.  Then we dropped down to a pretty major road for a 15 mile pavement section.  To make the best of the situation I hitched up to a store to grab some cold drinks and snacks and brought 'em back to help entertain us through the night-hike road walk.  It was pretty fun to cruise down the road at night.  Not a lot of traffic and a great opportunity to all hang out while we walked.  It's hard to get 10 people in a conversation when you walk in single file.  But taking over that road we might as well of been sitting around someones living room chattin' it up.  Lot's of good jokes and riddles got us through a long night.  In the morning we finished out the pavement, got up a forest road and back to trail to drop down into the gorge.

Coming into the gorge was a really exciting time for me.  I know this place.  I've hiked here and lived here and have felt at home here.  But I've never walked here!  Coming up over the ridge and getting a look at the Columbia River with Washington on the other side brought on a realization of how far I'd come like a slap in the face... one followed by an unstoppable grin.  I might actually finish this trail!  For the first time on the whole trip it feels like the end is just a ways away instead of being some far-off goal that's not even worth considering yet. 

Having great and long-time friends in Portland and hiking with folks that have lived in the area and have connections in Hood River was just icing on the cake.  The trail down to the gorge was another reminder of how spoiled we have gotten on the PCT - some of the steepest 3 miles of trail I'd ever been on in my life.  When we finally hit Cascade Locks, I tried thumbing a ride to Portland.  But by then it was already pretty dark and prospects were low.  So instead I went with Seahorse and Chilidog to Hood River with their friend Megan.  Sweet brewery, good mexican food, right on the water, cool town.  And... I finally ran into Bubbles!  Hell yes!  The time of chasing my friends down was finally over.  We hung out for a bit before everyone crashed.  The next day it was taking care of business time - puting together 5 packages of food to scatter down the trail in Washington.  A tedious process but we got it done.  Said goodbye for now to Chilidog and Seahorse and hitched a ride to Portland to meet up with friends and track down Boots.  It all came together at the Laurelthirst with some live bluegrass and good local suds to make the reunion of old friends on trail and off even more exciting.  Wound up closing the bar and headed back to my good friend Lisa's house to get some sleep.  Now I'm hanging out at a coffee shop in the usual Portland fashion and getting myself excited about getting back on trail.  I miss this town and would love to come back and do it even better than I did before.  Maybe sometime down the road.  I have other things to do for now.

So I've heard some clamoring for more photos and I'd love to get them out there because there's some really cool stuff to see from OR.  But unfortunately I didn't get the chance to make it happen yet.  If I have more time in town today I may give it a shot.  Otherwise it might have to wait until I'm done.

Cool!  One last piece of business.  So I've mailed my last five boxes out and will definitely be hitting those post offices/businesses/homes.  As usual, make sure you check out the how-to on mailing before hitting the PO.  If you wanna send anything out here's the skinny on where I'll be:

c/o Trout Lake Grocery
PO Box 132
Trout lake, WA 98650
ETA: 9/11

c/o White Pass Rural Branch PO
at the Kracker Barrel Store
48851 US Hwy 12
Naches, WA 98937
ETA: 9/14

General Delivery
c/o Chevron Station
Snoqualmie Pass, WA 98068
ETA: 9/18

Dinsmore's Hiker Haven
(my name)
PO Box 374
Skykomish, WA 98288
ETA: 9/21

General Delivery
Stehekin, WA 98852
ETA: 9/25

That's all folks!