July 6th Evening

So after taking the second side trip down to Bend, I am back up to Elk Lake. The “Two Time Trail Angel” Christina was quite hospitable again. This trip was a little more work than the last one. She had to work, so I used the day to mail packages and repair gear.

I spent the better half of today catching up on emails, as so many of you have been kind enough to write in support for my adventures. I also took a nap, which I must say was quite nice. Trail naps don’t really happen. Then I talked with her roommate over a yummy pizza dinner.

When she was done with work, she took me back to the trail at Elk Lake. Arriving here, I first bumped into “Doodlebug” a fellow thru-hiker who jumped from Kennedy Meadows up to Portland and is now hiking south.

Then I met up with Mike and “Boon” and “Sass.” I was happy to see “Boon” and “Sass,” as that meant I might have someone to hike with. After talking it over, it looks like I might join them for a few days. They are out hiking for a short time, and only hike 10-15 miles a day.

So I will set out with them tomorrow. The next day we are going to summit South Sister. I am sad that I did not climb Mt. Thielsen, so I don’t think I want to pass up the opportunity to climb up South Sister (elevation 10,358 ft). After that I may continue hiking with them, or the time might demand me to hike faster. We will see.

July 7th Evening
Elevation: 5700 ft
Trail Miles: 905 miles

I lay here in my tent writing of a great day. Outside the front of my tent I have a great view of a glacier-draped South Sister, elevation 10,358 ft. Looking up at it as the sun sets the red pumice captures the light and asks me to summit it tomorrow. So, in the morning I will climb the remaining 4,658 ft up to the top of the third highest peak in Oregon.

I have already climbed to the top of Mt. Hood, the highest, and I am in excellent shape right now, so it should be a fun little side excursion. But all the details will be in tomorrows journal. First, we must discuss today.

I rose early, as per usual, and walked down to the lake. I helped an older gentleman load his new boat out of the water, and then sat and drank a coffee and did the crossword while looking out over Elk Lake with Mt. Bachelor peaking over the hill.

When “Boon” and “Sass” came down, I bought them a breakfast, as a little thank you for taking me on as a hiking partner. After breakfast, we packed up and said goodbye to “Doodlebug” and Mike. As we lounged about waiting to leave, waiting for no reason other than relaxation, a six-point buck walked through camp. Sadly the elusive deer dissappeared before I could get a picture. Twice he did this, taunting me with only memories and no photos.

Setting out on the trail around 1:00pm, it would be a leisurely day of eleven miles. Hiking for an hour and taking a break, and then repeating, was a nice change from the usual thru-hiker pace. We had bought beer to have for the summit, but the weight was somewhat annoying, so we drank some early.

After climbing up 2000 ft out of Elk Lake, we offered amazing views of Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, South Sister, and Middle Sister. Dropping back down into the dense wood we emerged out onto Wickiup Plain where we took another break. Sitting down with views of both South Sister and The Wife, we tossed light pumice rocks around as we enjoyed another beer.

Realizing the day was nearing an end, and the mosquitos were getting too annoying we hoisted our packs and walked a little further along. Crossing over a couple cascading streams, and down some more forested hillsides, we emerged onto a nice plain where we set up camp.

Over dinner “Boon,” “Sass,” and I talked of our hikes and the plan to summit South Sister tomorrow.

Its nice walking slower than “thru-hiker pace.”

July 8th Rainy Night
Trail Miles: 915 miles

Waking up to a overcast sky, I slowly crawled out of bed at 8am. The sun was burning some of the clouds off. As Denise and Loren, aka “Sass” and “Boon,” crawled out of there tent, I went about my business of packing my gear up.

After we were all packed and ready to go, we made our way into the moss draped trees to start our ascent of South Sister.

Not finding much for trails in the area, we decided to bushwack up the hill. We followed a creek bed up to a location far enough from the trail so as to be hidden. There we stashed our packs and continued our climb. Though it was much easier to walk without a pack, we would soon be climbing up mountainsides much steeper than the usual tread of the trail.

Crossing snow fields and climbing over large fields of volcanic rock, we continued our ascent. The clouds were blowing in, but, thankfully, no dark clouds. We took a rest about two-thirds the way up and enjoyed a magnificent view to the south of Mt. Bachelor, Elk Lake, and Odell Lake.

As we climbed further the wind picked up a little bit, but we were determined to get to the top. Coming across one final snowfield, we went up a few hundred feet over a glacier to make it to the caldera near the top. Climbing down to the otherside of the ridge to get out of the wind, we looked at this stunning aqua-blue summit lake.

In the volcanic formation of South Sister, about 2000 years ago, a crater was formed near the top. Since then the snow and ice has melted, keeping the crater filled with water. Walking down to the icecold water, I looked into the icey blue depths. I knew the water was pure, so I filled my water bottle and drank the coolest, freshest water on the whole trail.

Continuing toward the peak, we passed two groups of two on their way down. The wind was beating ferociously, violently whipping red pumice sand up into our eyes and mouths. Getting close to the actual summit, we ducked down over the edge of the ridge to get out of the wind.

With fingers that did not work, we pried open our “summit beers” with our teeth. Then we toasted to a good climb of 4600 feet, and the summit of South Sister. Once we finished our beers we ran our cold bodies off the ridge and down the mountainside to get out of the wind.

Finally out of the violent wind, we glissaded down the glaciers as far as we could, until we were away from the snow and could walk on dry land the rest of the way. Of course the dryland was slowly becoming wet with a light sprinkel. So we hurried the rest of the way down to our bags to set up camp.

Getting out tents set up, we all decided to pile into there tent and play games. Tossing dice, dealing cards, and sharing trail pictures we sat as the rain beat down on our tents. It was quite nice to have an evening which did not consist of cooking a meal, eating it, and passing out because you just got done hiking for 14 hours.

I enjoy this leisurely pace quite a bit. Yesterday I hiked half what I usually do. Today I put the pack down and climbed to the top of a mountain. Tomorrow I will have a short day as well.

July 9th Evening
Trail Miles: 925 miles

It is a strange thing to sleep in until 10am and lollygag around camp until noon. I think today was the first time on the trail I actually sat down and had a breakfast. Usually, I just have a quick snack, pack my gear up and get moving. Usually, I hike two hours and sit down and have “second breakfast.”

Not today. Today I ate a breakfast, powdered milk with granola to be precise. Its not a glamorous breakfast by anymeans, but it is a step up from the usual “PopTart.”

When I was done with breakfast, I strolled around camp and chatted with “Boon” while “Sass” was getting ready. I have taken to this slowed down pace of living on the trail, and have decided to continue at their pace until they are ready to go. We planned out how to hike the rest of their hike and realized that we had a light two days ahead of us. Then again it is normal days for them, light for me.

As we broke camp and finally hit the trail around noon, we stopped and talked with some other hikers in the area. Continuing along we were offered views of the South Sister, the peak we summited yesterday. We felt it too, as we went uphill. Our legs were fatigued from the strenuous climb up the mountain yesterday.

With a late start, and tired legs we took our first rest after only 45 minutes of hiking. This is something I have not done since the first week on the trail, but I saw several nice sitting rocks in a lush green meadow. So, naturally, we took a break in the meadow admiring the view.

From there, we slowly climbed along a hillside until we reached an excellent lookout point. Down in the valley below, two serpentine streams slowly wound into one. Above the fog rolled in, slowly obscuring the view of another peak in the Three Sisters Wilderness, The Husband.

After enjoying a slow-paced lunch, we looked over the maps and continued on to make our way to the Sunshine Shelter, one of a few shelters along the PCT. Before we made it there, we talked to a few trail maintenance persons who informed us that the shelter had burned down and no longer exists.

A little dissappointed, we continued on into the fog. The volcanic rock of the area started to sparkle with the limited light. We had reached an area full of obsidian, natures glass. Small shards of black obsidian rock was scattered around and on the trail. The recent rainfall and fog had cleaned off all the bits and pieces, and the light was captured in raindrops on the black glass. Soon the small chips were passed over in admiration of larger rocks, only to soon be passed over in admiration of boulders that were nearly all obsidian.

We hiked further through the area to Obsidian Falls, where a waterfall cascades down a hillside covered in bits and pieces of obsidian. As the rain was starting and we were eager to eat we hurried to find a camp, enjoying the falls less than we all would have liked, but more than the average thru-hiker.

Finding a descent spot in the shelter of tall pine trees, Loren (”Boon”) started making dinners for all three of us, while Denise (”Sass”) and I (”Moose” for now) filtered water. Once all the chores were done, the three of us climbed into their tent and played card games until nightfall.

July 10th Evening
Trail Miles: 935 Miles

Yet another relaxing day, and more to follow. Rising to the cold and rain, I opted to stay in my sleeping bag a little longer than I typically do. As “Boon” went about his business, I layed in my tent and chatted with “Sass.”

It’s odd, now that I think about it, when Jon, Debi, and I rose to hike the day away, we had little conversation in the morning. It usually picked up by “second breakfast,” but before then we generally were fairly quiet. The solitude of the morning is nice, but it was particularly nice to just lay in my sleeping bag and talk about my dreams, to “process.”

Realizing that I could not lay in the sleeping bag all day, I climbed out of bed and ate a breakfast. The plan was to hike the rest of the way to the highway, where we would then work our way down to Eugene via various vehicles.

Packed and ready to go, we set out in the light morning mist. As we wound our way out of the obsidian encrusted land, we found ourselves hiking through more volcanic rock. Massive mounds of red, gray, and black pumice scattered among several other forms of volcanic rock made for a nice hike out of the Three Sisters Wilderness.

As we descended out of the area, the trees grew larger and more mossy. The mist had become a light rain, and the hike felt very much like Oregon to me. The trail was occassionally muddy and had the rare trail puddle here and there. By the time we had entered the forest and left the obsidian cliffs, “Boon” had collected about ten pounds of obsidian rocks. “Sass” and I talked most the rest of the way down about books, more books, and quotes we enjoy.

Arriving at the trailhead parking early in the day, we tried calling “Boon’s” mother, but did not get cell phone reception. So instead we walked out to the road and put the thumbs to work. Looking like smelly vagrants (cause that is what we are), we sat on the roadside eating food and playing games, all the while holding our thumbs out to passing cars. Imaginably there was a road show somewhere nearby, because we were passed by, by several beautiful classic cars.

Eventually a family stopped and picked us up, giving us a ride to the next highway. The couple had three adorable kids who asked us endless questions about the hike. The youngest told us of his love of lego’s and transformers. Soon, we were being let out at the next highway.

From there we readied ourselves to walk with our thumbs out, but a kind young women who passed us earlier had turned around to give us a ride to her next stop. Taking her up on the ride, we chatted for the short trip and thanked her for her hospitality as she let us out a couple miles down the road.

Walking a little over a mile, we took a rest at a ranger station, where “Boon” managed to get a call into home to be picked up. As we hiked on to the meeting point, another group of hikers who had offered us a ride earlier picked us up and drove us abit further down the road.

With a ride coming, we declined the ride all the way to Eugene. Instead, we hopped out at our meeting spot to wait for “Boon’s” mother. Shortly after arriving at the store we were told that the mother could not come pick us up, and we should instead catch the bus and ride it down.

Since the bus was not expected to arrive for another 90 minutes, we split a six-pack of Obsidian Stout, a tribute to the area we just hiked. Soon after, the bus arrived and we piled ourselves and our gear onto the bus. The three of us played a dice game until “Sass” decided to nap.
Chatting with “Boon” the time went by quickly, and before I knew it, we were in Eugene. Returning to Loren’s house, we were treated to showers and a magnificent dinner. After the dinner, the three of us went and picked out a movie to watch.

After the movie we all crashed.

Sleepy

Happy Trails, Inner Peace, & Harmony