August 9, 2004 Day 1 Monday -
Linda dropped me off in time to catch the 9:45PM Bainbridge ferry with my, 10 pounds too heavy, 46 pound pack. (This included my 12 pounds of food.) I started the book Praque Counterpoint by Bodie Thoene while on the ferry. In Seattle I climbed up to 3rd and caught a bus to within 2 blocks of 8th and Stewart where the Greyhound Bus Terminal is located. I arrived at the terminal at 10:50PM. The bus did not leave until 1:10AM and the ticket office did not open until 12:45AM.
August 10, 2004 Day 2 Tuesday -
I had a good chat with a 90 year old Mexican fellow and ended up getting in the ticket line late but still purchased a ticket for $57 and caught the bus. The gal selling the ticket had never heard of anyone going to Sisters, Oregon! At 7:06AM I transferred to the Valley Retriever Bus in Salem Oregon. The bus driver was friendly but did not know where Santiam Pass or the Pacific Crest Trail was! I told him it was 6 miles east of the junction of highway 20 and 22 so we counted out the mile post from that point and found the PCT easily. I slept a little while on the Greyhound and the 2 others on this little bus were very small teenage kids who were able to curl up on those small 2 person bus seats and appear to sleep. I do not think my legs could have curled up that tight and besides I wanted to enjoy the scenery. The bus was heading to Sisters Oregon but I jumped off a little early to catch the trail.
The morning was perfect. Clear blue sky heading to a hot day. At 8:45AM I got off the bus at the spur road that leads up to the PCT trail head. At 9:00AM I signed in to enter the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. A 55 year old day hiker from Bend joined me at the trail head and hiked with me until we reached the Skyline trail at 9:45AM. He took the high PCT route and I took the Skyline Trail so I would see more lakes and have more water. I was not carrying water yet. At 9:58AM I reached a pond and changed into shorts. At 11:15AM I reached Lower Burley Lake and took some pictures and purified some water. This lake is off the main trail a bit and I appear to be the first one here in a couple of weeks. I took my shoes off to cool my feet. At 1:12PM I reached Santiam Lake and took the side trail around the east side of the lake. This was a nice lake with no banks. I have only seen the one person so far. At 2:54PM I reached North Dixie Lake where I swam and rested. The trail has been hot and dusty and mostly in a very large burn. In most areas all trees are dead and just an occasional clump of grass growing. When I was about ready to depart a group of 3 older men showed up coming from the north. They had hiked from Santiam Pass up the PCT and then looped back on the Skyline Trail over several days. One of the group had also hiked the PCT across Washington and Oregon in sections. We talked for awhile and they decided to continue to Santium Lake and I on to Jorn Lake.
I hiked for some time before I realized I had mistaken Jorn Lake for a pond probably just seeing the end of the lake and was well down the trail. Big mistake for me. Rather than go back I continued on getting rather tired in the hot sun with little water. Really smoked my feet with the effort, passing through much more burned off land. At 8:00PM I finally came to a nice rushing creek and made camp. Drank ˝ gallon of water! Cooked up mashed potatoes, with dried meat and dried vegetables for dinner. I felt like I had blisters all over my feet and was sore all over my body. At 9:10PM I was in the very hot tent and took my anti-inflammatory medicine the doctor prescribed for my knees. Camp is at 44 deg 33.290 min and 121 deg 50.803 min per my GPS. My map does not show the longitude and latitude so that does not help me much. I awoke momentarily at 3:07AM and felt a lot better so popped a blister on my right big toe. Hiked 11.5 miles today.
August 11, 2004 Day 3 Wednesday -
Up at 6:50AM after a great sleep and enjoyed a granola with dry milk breakfast. (Dry milk, yuck.) I am not even sure I am on the correct trail but the compass says the trail is going north so I will continue on. Thought of Linda enjoying skim milk this morning and was jealous. My feet are still tender. There is no dew on the ground and I am comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. There are few bugs. At 8:07AM reached Marion Lake with sun just breaking over the hills. Lots of campsites here but no people. At 8:23AM reached a well signed trail junction. Lake of the Woods Tr. No 3493; To Minto Pass TR No 3437; Marion Tr. HD. (Thank you forest service for a good sign!!!) At 9:22AM reached a junction with the signs, Shallow TR: Lake of the Woods TR. No 3493 and per the map I am sitting by John Swallows grave, whoever he is? At 9:37AM I reached Midget Lake which is really a pond with lily pads. Took my shoes off, read my book for awhile airing my feet, then changed socks.
I read in my book a quote from Hitler’s “sportspalast” speech saying “We want no God but Germany itself! No God but Germany! No God!” Then I remember the horrible atrocities the Nazi’s performed. I thought that this is like Communism and Secularism of today. Made me think of how some of the evil medieval campaigns were supposedly Christian in original purpose but ended up obviously evil in end result. (They were Christian in name only!) We must not forget all the good the Christian faith has enabled throughout history.
Then my mind wondered why some people always attribute such evil motives to others. They act like they can really read another person’s motive. Seems to me God is the only one that does that reliably. 10:07AM time to reboot and move out! Enough thinking.
10:35AM Reached Lake of the Woods and took socks and boots off again. Saw North Cinder Peak behind lake. Read another chapter. 11:00AM packed and left lake. At 12:54PM had lunch of sandwich roll with cheese and lunch meat while resting on trail at a ‘Y’ junction. Only one sign and not sure which way to head out. Read another chapter and changed socks. At 2:06 - 2:40PM read another chapter while feet are recovering again.
4:48PM Arrived at well camped Hanks Lake after another chapter break. Washed in outlet cleaning all the trail dust and sweat off myself. Also washed 2 under-shorts, 3 pair of socks, a t-shirt and a hanky. Just before reaching Hanks Lake there was a trail back to the PCT however I chose to descend down to Hanks Lake. Another couple was camped there and so after setting up camp I headed over in my sandals and found out they were spending several days there and enjoying their time. They had packed in a fat air mattress which they were using to float on the lake in the hot afternoons. They had caught some fish and seemed set up rather well. Upon their recommendation I walked the 10 minutes up to Hunts Lake in my sandals and read my book and watched an otter that evening. This was a rather lame day for me due to sore feet. Tried popping blister but little fluid drained. A deer strolled lazily past camp. I used cooking oil to lubricate the o-ring on my water filter which made it pump a lot easier. Burned 80 pages of my book. For awhile I thought I had lost my small water bottle I tie to my pack but found it on another cord. Hiked 9.2 miles today.
August 12, 2004 Day 4 Thursday -
6:26AM Woke up after sleeping well. I did see 6 meteors last night during the scheduled meteor shower. There is a nice breeze which feels good. Almost too warm for a sleeping bag. After a granola breakfast and placing 2 inches square of mole skin on each foot I hit the trail at 7:21AM. Met a group of 11 boy scouts on the trail. Their scout master is from Shoreline High 1980 graduating class. I graduated from Shoreline in 1963. We talked for 10 minutes. Also met 3 old men on a day hike. At 8:52AM reached Pamelia Lake with lots of campsites but no one there. Met a fellow day hiking up trail 3442. He was at the junction where that trail meets the PCT fortunately. He helped me see the PCT made a switchback at that point. If he had not been there I am quite sure I would have headed down trail 3442 by mistake! He had sold his house and moved back east and was scheduled to get married until his wife-to-be changed her mind. Now he was back out here looking for work but taking some time off to hike first. I followed him down the PCT until we came to a pond where he continued on and I stopped for lunch, water and rest. I reached the pond at 11:30AM and had to find shade as it was so hot! While there another lone hiker walked through.
This afternoon I crossed paths with several groups, maybe 20 or so hikers. After watching 2 other hikers cross, I crossed the rushing Russell Creek with boots on. I had gone up the creek a good distance but could find no dry way across. Used my walking stick for stability and crossed slowly and carefully. Late in the afternoon I arrived at Scout Lake which is in Jefferson Park. There were several groups camping at the lake so with sore feet I found a protected campsite and went swimming with shorts and t-shirt on. My clothes were very dirty due to the hot day and the dust and sweat. It felt very good! Later 3 young gals in one piece suits swam and squealed for a long time. It was a hot afternoon. I made ˝ a package of Lipton Spanish Rice for dinner. It takes 10 minutes to simmer but is very good! I thought I had already run out of a can of MSR fuel but found the stove was not screwed down tightly. I also took my water filter apart and found sand in the check valve keeping the valve from working. The filter works better again. 6:54PM I am sitting in the bright sun at the edge of the lake eating dinner and reading. I made some vanilla pudding which is not very good but I finished it. Two gals are making the rounds to see if anyone has the right sized gas canister for their stove. They have one but it is the wrong size. Hiked 9.5 miles today.
August 13, 2004 Day 5 Friday -
6:19AM Slept well again however left the door to the tent open too long last night and had to eliminate 5 mosquitoes prior to going to sleep. I seem to fit in my tent better this year. In previous years I could barely put my socks on in the tent. Maybe I try to do less in the tent now? Another blue sky day although there is no sun yet. I have not used a double shirt or a jacket yet and have not had any dew. I would love to go over to Bays Lake which is just 10 minutes away but my feet are just too tender. 7:10AM broke camp and reached a pass which is at the Willamette National Forest boundary at 7010 foot elevation. I met Southpaw there who has been hiking from Mexico this year. 30 miles a day. We talked for 20 minutes and I took his picture with the sign. His journal is at www.TrailJournals.com/Southpaw. While at the pass two riders came up on horses and talked for awhile. I was very surprised the horses made it across the snow patches and the rough rocks. They started the trail 1 ˝ hours earlier. Another lone hiker came through. Continuing on the trail I crossed several snow fields. Took the rubber cap off my walking stick so I could dig into the snow for better stability. Was not too steep but a little slippery.
10:48AM reached parking lot by Breitenbush Lake road 4220. At 11:20AM reached nice pond with clear water so took shoes off, replenished my water and had lunch. I let my socks dry and read another chapter. It is hot. 1:44PM past Many Lakes Viewpoint. 2:10PM reached Upper Lake and took shoes off and enjoyed some blueberries. The other day I had one blueberry and one blue huckleberry while hiking. They were like Tic Tac’s having lots of flavor. I saw someone camped across the lake. I also stopped at Cigar Lake and took the time to go for a swim. The water felt really good.
4:30PM reached Olallie Lake and the resort there. Used their cell phone and had to walk up to Head Lake to get reception and after several tries made a call to Linda. Found out all was well at home. Cost $6 for 6 minutes. Bought an 85 cent diet coke. Lots of people at the resort including 4 or so through hikers. Most of which were heading out for the night. 10 or so people swimming in Head Lake. I could have camped there but after talking with Linda and the coke I was so energized I continued on.
7:30PM reached Jude Lake which is rather shallow lake. I purified 1 gallon of water which gives me enough water for dinner and to fill my water bottle for the morning. I tried to go swimming but stepped into 18 inches of mud at the water edge. So with difficulty staying out of the mud I just rinsed off. Washed 3 pair of socks. Fixed the remaining Spanish rice adding meat and vegetables. Tasted very good again! While the meal cooled I set up the tent and then ate in the tent away from the blood sucking mosquitoes. Made my first Crystal Light and am guzzling fluid. The first part of the day there was lots of scenery but the last few miles were rather boring. Hiked 16.8 miles today.
August 14, 2004 Day 6 Saturday -
6:15AM Slept well! Good radio, listened to “Have Gun Will Travel” on the Mystery Theater but of course fell asleep for the last part. 7:15AM broke camp. Noticed a couple stopped at the end of the lake for water this morning. On the trail I met a single guy southbound. He had been with 2 others but their knees went bad so bailed out. He was struggling with a 50 pound pack. I notice on the trail I use my walking stick to clear a lot of branches off the trail. I am able to do this without slowing down.
10:20AM passed Trooper Spring but stopped at Lemiti Creek for water. The creek was just a trickle with stained pools of water. Filter water. 11:02AM passed a little used logging road. It has been sprinkling lightly since breakfast. I am still in my t-shirt and my shoulders are wet but I am not chilled at all. There are no views, I am just in the woods.
12:20PM arrived at North Pinhead Butte. Took a picture of the sign saying water is 4 miles either north or south. I had lunch there with my shoes off. 3:10PM resting at springs with fresh clean water. Then reached Warm Springs River and washed socks and feet. Popped a heal blister on left foot. I hiked part of the day with wet socks due to the rain. I had dinner at about 6PM of potatoes, meat and vegetables. This campsite is at the 45th parallel which is half way between the equator and the North Pole. A fellow joined me at the large campsite. He was studying to be a nurse through Seattle University. He was getting his way paid by the Navy and will need to serve 3 years. He is hiking south to Crater Lake. We had a great evening. Was nice to be able to talk to someone. (I may have talked too much!) Hiked 17.1 miles today.
August 15, 2004 Day 7 Sunday -
6:15AM Slept great and had some good dreams. 7:10AM broke camp after a Cream of Wheat breakfast. Left before my fellow camper got up. 8:31AM fast, easy hiking in the woods. Removed a rock from my shoe. Crossed 2 roads. Perfect weather. 10:36AM just entered Mount Hood National Forest. Shoes off.
1:08PM resting on the shores of Timothy Lake. 4 sailboats and several motorboats mostly on the other side. I am looking straight across the large lake at the boat launch area. Am taking a good long break. My socks are drying and took a good swim. Feels good to rest!
4:30PM Reached Little Crater Lake. This lake is an artesian well. Very deep clear blue water but only 50 feet around. There is a boardwalk to this lake and around part of it. I got a gallon of water out of it for camping tonight. Didn’t even filter the water. The side trail to the lake is only 5 minutes long. I headed north up the PCT 5 minutes and off to the west cross country 5 minutes and found a nice private meadow to camp for the night. My feet are tired again. I figure if I could cut my pack by 10 pounds I could get 5 more miles a day! I have not used a coat yet and the GPS has not been needed. I have several new blisters on my left foot but little juice comes out when I pop them. Had a noodle mix for dinner. Tasted great. Another simmer for 10 minutes with very low heat. I notice it takes forever for my titanium pot to cool. More horses use these trails. Saw several groups of hikers around Timothy Lake. Felt I had to lay on my pad and read to let my feet recover. Since no walking I crawled into my mosquito free tent at 8:05PM and read. Listened to the radio also. It is still hot. In the middle of the night I woke up for a bit and noticed how quiet the woods were. No wind, no cars, no animals just absolute silence. Listening real carefully I can hear the blood pumping through my head! Occasionally a dead branch or piece of bark falls. Hiked 15.3 miles today.
August 16, 2004 Day 8 Monday -
Up at 6:30AM and broke camp at 7:10AM after a restful night. By 8:35AM crossed 3 roads and reached a campsite with a spring. Met Southpaw and Aaron, both through hikers, at a viewpoint of Mount Hood. 10:54AM crossed main highway 26. 12:20PM lunch of bread and cheese.
4:09PM arrived at a creek which had a nice campsite so called it good for the day. Soon after arriving about 8 riders on horses came through. I think the leader was the only one that noticed me resting on my pad. The rest were busy handling the horses as they crossed the creek. Not too long after that Grave Digger and Gummy, a young couple, came through and stopped for water and conversation. They headed up toward Timberline Lodge as they were looking forward to breakfast there. They are covering about 27 miles a day. Then after them an older couple came by with the handle of the Newlyweds. They had recently got married before hiking the Appalachian trail together. His knees were hurting so I showed him my miracle knee medicine. He was going to see if his doctor would prescribe it over the phone when they get to Cascade Locks. She was from Wisconsin and now lives in Alaska. I popped one blister on my right foot and 2 on my left. Camp location is N45 degrees 18.962 minutes and W121 degrees 41.580 minutes. Per the GPS the Bridge of the Gods is 26 miles north of here as the crow flies.
8:30PM I crawled into tent. Put the rain fly up as it looks like it could rain. This is the first night I used a jacket. It did not get too hot today for the first time. Maybe being in the trees helped some, along with having a slight breeze. Hiked 18.3 miles today.
August 17, 2004 Day 9 Tuesday -
6:00AM Slept well. Concluded in the night that I should not carry more than 35 pounds with these boots or lookout feet. At 6:15AM saw my first mosquito and figured if they are up I should get up. 7:10AM broke camp after Malt-o-meal. Wore coat and long pants while at camp. 8:40AM back on PCT after visiting Timberline Lodge. What a beautiful building! I was able to see the US ski team practicing on the side of Mount Hood. I left the PCT and hiked the Paradise loop trail which was well worth it. Lots of nice views of Mount Hood and beautiful flowers. At 10:30AM crossed the Zig Zag creek with dry feet. There was snow close by. At 10:41AM reached the Paradise Trail junction. At 2:26PM waded the Sandy River as 2 people I had met 30 minutes earlier had waded across. Then 2 gals and a guy came through and found a spot upstream to get across with dry feet!
7:15PM crossed under massive power lines and found a creek crossing the trail with plenty of water. This was 5 minutes north of Lola Pass. Found a sloping campsite up the trail 100 feet. Cooked up the potato dish. Had a hard time finding water at times today. Never saw Romona Falls as the forest service directs the PCT downhill just before the falls then across the Muddy Fork on a new natural fallen log then back up the other side in a major climb. I suspect it was the long way but made for horses. (grump) I actually thought I might have been off the trail as I descended so far. Gummy and Grave Digger passed me on the hill. They had a $2 pancake and egg breakfast at the lodge which they said was real good. Was a great day other than going too far.
Slept well even though ground is sloped and hard. Finished my book and radio did not work as it needed another battery which was in my pack. Hiked 18.4 miles today.
August 18, 2004 Day 10 Wednesday -
6:15AM up with a granola and cocoa breakfast. Broke camp at 7:15AM. At 12:30PM I took a break and removed shoes and rested on my pad with a health bar. At 2:00PM reached Indian Springs Camp and found the spring which is half inch pipe with a reasonable flow of water. Purified a gallon and rested on a picnic table guzzling the water. No one was there for awhile then 3 first-time hikers arrived from Lola Pass and they got water and rested, waiting for the rest of their party. A southbound single guy also stopped. Then a through hiker, Buzz, stopped and we chatted quite a bit. He thought about 300 start the PCT in Mexico and half may finish in Canada. He had a cold packaged meal and, of course, got water. I showed him the Indian Springs foot trail #435 which is a shortcut to Eagle Creek Trail. He took the shortcut. I followed at 3:00PM and after a long downhill descent reached the Eagle Creek Trail at 4:00PM. At about 5:30PM I reached the 7 ˝ mile camp and found a good spot. One lone guy was camped farther south and two couples were camped not too far from me. I could not see or hear either group. I washed off in Eagle Creek which was good and cold and got water. I was only able to get waist deep due to the cold. I had a rice, meat, vegetable dinner with cocoa. Slept well even though I had no book to read. Hiked 18.4 miles today.
August 19 2004 Day 11 Thursday -
Got up at 6:10AM and had granola and broke camp by 7:00AM. Walked out the very interesting Eagle Creek Trail taking lots of pictures and toward the end meeting more day hikers. Reached the main highway at Eagle Creek Campground at 10:30AM. Changed into my cleanest clothes. Spoke with the campground hosts and they pointed the way to the bike trail that parallels the highway up to Cascade Locks. The 12 foot wide asphalt bike path was 2.4 miles long. I passed two bikers and one runner. Once I got to Cascade Locks I found Greyhound just stopped coming there 3 days earlier and there was no local bus service. I met Grave Digger and Gummy along with Aaron in town. They were just relaxing. I also saw the female portion of the newlyweds and waived as she was across the street. I saw Southpaw from a distance also. Grave Digger needed socks so I gave him a very stinky pair. Hope he can get them clean. I phoned Linda and let her know were I was and found out things were still in good shape at home. Then I went to the local grocery store and purchased a large bottle of Mountain Dew pop and some awful chocolate covered donuts.
I then started hoofing it to the Bridge of the God’s and found out from the toll booth lady there was no sidewalk across the bridge! I headed across facing traffic and just got started and a teenager with rings in his ears stopped and gave me a lift to Stevensen which was several miles east of the bridge on the Washington side! I gave him $2 which he didn’t want but I insisted since he had been so nice. From where he let me out I just had to walk across the street to the Main Street Convenience Store where the Skamania County Public Transit has a bus stop. I waited by the bus stop for awhile but it was rather primitive in that there was no bench or nice grass. I eventually waited on a bench at the store. I bought an ice cream bar and a bottle of coke while waiting. The bus came through going the other way and a fellow got off as he noticed I was hiking. He is heading North from there on the PCT. Also while waiting another fellow with 2 boys chatted. He is a temporarily out-of-work logging truck driver.
I had to wait for over 3 hours and finally caught the bus at 4:45PM. The bus to Vancouver cost only 50 cents! There were 6 of us plus the driver. Lots of conversation and laughter as it was a daily commuter bus with friendly people. At the Vancouver transfer station I eventually caught the C-tran bus #37 at 6:15PM. (There was some confusion as a handicapped gal and myself missed the 6:00PM bus.) The bus driver and a passenger were interested in my trip. The passenger was 51 years old and had an English degree and was working at a gas station saving money to get a masters degree in either English or History. The bus driver called his dispatch and they thought the Greyhound terminal shutdown at 7:00PM and I would not make it there until 7:05PM. Eventually he advised I just catch a transfer to Portland. So at another transfer site he got off the bus and made sure I got on the right bus to Portland at no charge. On this bus the lady driver was also very helpful and she showed me where to catch the rail transit to old town in Portland. While on that bus a lady with a large bag of aluminum cans she set the bag in the isle of the full bus and kept waving and smiling at me. I am sure she thought I was homeless also. She got off prior to me and I noticed the lady bus driver was super nice to her. I purchased a ticket for $1.30 out of the machine. Caught the train and from the old town stop walked the few blocks to the Greyhound Terminal.
At the Greyhound ticket counter he said the last ticket to Seattle was just sold so I bought a ticket for 7:40AM. However he said the terminal does not stay open all night! This was about 8PM. I again called Linda and let her know what my schedule was. I wandered next door to the train station and they did not have a train out until the next day and their terminal also closes. Neither ticket personnel nor the security at the bus station had any ideas where to spend the night. They all said not around here as it is not the best part of Portland.
I started walking toward Marty’s even though it was 8:30PM and passed through a park on the Willamette River. I saw quite a few people camping at the park. (Homeless) I found a real nice bike path along side the bridge with bikes, walkers and runners using it so I took that across the Willamette River and continued on for awhile. In a short time I observed a rough path leading to the river’s edge and followed that. Soon I found a spot in the 3 foot high grass that seemed totally private. There I spread out my pad and later my sleeping bag and spent the night. There were two freeway ramps high on both sides of me but you could not see the cars, just hear them. Maybe the trucks were high enough to see me however. Then I was within a couple hundred feet of the railroad tracks and trains were making plenty of noise at times. The river glistened in the lights of the city. I also had light from all the street lights from the ramps. After just resting for a couple hours I eventually put on the earphones to my radio and listened to a sermon and then music and slept rather well.
August 20 2004 Day 12 Friday -
I was up at 6:15AM packed up and headed back to the terminal. No one saw me re-enter the bike path. As I walked through town an African American fellow asked where I was going. I said Seattle and he said Portland is the best and recommended I stay. I am quite sure he was homeless. I caught the 7:40AM Greyhound to Seattle and arrived just before noon. At 1:25PM I was on the bus at Agate Pass and called Linda from the Poulsbo Dairy Queen for a ride home. While waiting I had a hamburger.
All is in good shape except for the bottom of my feet. I lost 10 pounds on this hike due to the heat and physical exertion of carrying too heavy a pack. At home the pack now weighs 32 pounds which would have been a good starting weight. Shortly after I was home the rains started and appear they may remain for weeks. Used only ˝ canister of MSR fuel!
Camps -
Total = 144.3 miles
Jim