Decisions. This morning before I packed up, I was still not sure if I was going to take the alternate at 2128 or just follow the PCT. The PCT route stays high and looks kind of samo-samo. The Alternate, on the other hand, drops into the river valley of Eagle Creek which looks to have some cool waterfalls. I made a plan for both routes.

I figured that either route was going to be an easy day since it was looking like the next campsite would be about 20 miles downhill from where I started. Lingered around my tent until 8 making some extra breakfast, chatting with passerby backpackers, and generally getting a lazy start.

Man was I wrong.

You’d think the trail would something like this

But what it actually was, looked more like this

This went on for hours. There were fresh fallen trees everywhere and these were not the easy hop over and keep going variety. No, these were the climb/crawl variety, contorting my body to fit through the gaps. Sometimes, the gap was too small, so I’d unsling my pack and throw it over/under the obstacle before moving on to the next one a 100 yards down the trail. It was exhausting and a little scary sometimes. Nothing like climbing over a shifting tree while hanging above a steep drop-off.

While enjoying today’s gymnastics I ran into a few day hikers and backpackers sharing their tales. Got passed by a few PCT’ers in the afternoon, Guy named Bloodbeard and a gal named Rocket. They convinced me that the alternate route was worth the diversion, so that settled my decision.

At Eagle Creek Trail Junction, I found my two PCT friends at a picnic table chatting. Rocket had her pack on and looked ready to go. Bloodbeard, on the other hand, was seated and looking very pleased with himself drinking a can of Pinot Noir. Yes, a 12 oz pop-top of Pinot. It’s an Oregon thing, they told me.

So the first 2 miles of this “trail” is really just a ratty, unmaintained foot path that goes straight downhill. I looked at the topo and it is simply a straight line perpendicular to lines of elevation. No switchbacks, lots of blowdown trees to crawl over, and, in some cases, no trail either. The drop was from 4,200 feet to 1,800 over about 1.5 miles. It seemed Rocket was waiting for someone to go first and it certainly wasn’t Bloodbeard, given his half full Pinot, so I dived in.

Rocket followed and BloodBeard caught up to us on the way down. They let me lead, picking my way down the mountain. When we lost the trail, one or both would make some suggestions from above and behind me. As promised it was straight down. It would take me all day to climb back up which I guarantee I’ll never do. The funny thing was that it eventually dump me stumbling onto a properly maintained trail. You really begin to appreciate the work that goes into trail construction and maintenance after an experience like this.

So on the maintained trail I stayed in the lead and hit the first water spot to refill. I had been dry for a couple of hours. As I was topping up, I saw Rocket eating a mouthful of blackberries. That pretty much slowed my pace to a crawl, as I was scooping them up by the handful by the trail. Those two took off and I didn’t see them again.

Got passed by another Gal named Pancakes who was hiking with her dog “Super Tramp”. The dog looked like a golden retriever, but she called him something else. Said he used to guard castles in the old days. Anyway, the dog was caked with mud and humping his own dog pack. He seemed pretty happy. Said they had done like 29 miles that day.

Got to the tent site about 5 miles into the alternate. It was a fantastic spot right next to the river and just above the first set of falls. Pancakes was already getting her tent up and making dinner. Another older gal was also there all settled in. She told me this was her first backpacking trip….ever. Well, I wasn’t going to take no for an answer so, I just dropped my pack and started setting up my tent next to her. Later that night, another PCT’er showed up and plopped down next to both of us. Guess she is getting a little more than she expected on her first backpacking trip 🙂

I fell asleep to the sound of the falls.

Up at 5am, showered, then jumped on the Oregon Breeze bus and did the 2.5 hour ride to Government Camp. I asked the bus dude if he’d drop me early at Frog Lake, but that was a no-go. Hey, he just drives the bus man.

After that drop off, I got some breakfast at a local restaurant then waited another 2 hours for the shuttle that takes me uphill to Timberline Lodge. Got there at 12 and packed my resupply box.  There is supposed to be an amazing buffet here, but time’s awasting. Got on the trail at 1.

As a little side note, I think Timberline was the location where the Shining was shot back in the day. I was in a hurry and did not get a frontal shot of the place.

Only thing I knew to expect today was that I’d be doing a lot of downhill. The trail picks up at 6k on the side of Mount Hood, then follows the western side going up and down through gorges. Ton of day hikers out here today. Passed a few overnight backpackers on various climbs today. Surprised how fast I’m moving now.

I did a little figuring when I was coming down. This picture shows where I end up at the bottom of the big downhill. If you look at that second escarpment at the center, that was where I eventually ended up near Ramona falls.

When I got to the river valley and climbed over a bunch of blowdowns, the next biggie was the Sandy river crossing. I ran into a couple trail crew folks, one of whom pointed me to a ford point. She says “Shouldn’t be too deep” so I just jumped in and started wading. It wasn’t bad, except the last bit where the water got up to my crotch. The flow was really strong here, but I polled my way through it and got to the other side. Took a quick picture of some other folks crossing behind me. On hindsight, should have taken a better one.

After that it was more down to the tentsites at Ramona falls. There must be an easy access from a nearby trail head, because all the sites had at leat one person in it with a pile of car camping type gear. Saw kids porting in all kinds of stuff like folding chairs, big bottles of propane, and one kid with a coleman camp stove. Looks like quite a party was getting provisioned.

There was still some light left and I wanted to get the next climb out of the way. So back up from 3k to around 4.5k. Made the camp site by 7, but unfortunately someone(s) beat me to it. There are some huge blowdowns in this area which is in a saddle at the top of the ridge. Most of the other sites were wrecked. Had to put another 30 minutes into brush clearing and got a flat spot to setup. Did a 15 miles on a half day. Pretty happy with that.

Spent most of the day doing laundry and fixing stuff. My hose and bladder system is an endless source of frustration. I have to rethink that setup someday. The Salty hat has received a new fix in the form of a sock cut to the right lenght and taped inside. I want this hat to make it to Canada in some form.

I finally found some proper DEET. Bought two bottles. The Botanical’s are going into the trash. So happy to be stocked with some real chemical vengeance !

The hiker hunger has definitely kicked in. I’m eating everything in sight!. Getting a bus ride back to the trail on Tuesday. Should be restarting around 2097.

Meanwhile, Stormtrooper has been texting me. He will arrive at Shelter cove tomorrow (1906). That kid is going to catch me soon.

 

In the morning I quickly packed up and headed up trail to the highway at Santiam Pass. Along the way, I ran into Twig, a through hiker from Minnesota. We hiked together until the highway, chatting about our hitching luck. Apparently he has the same luck as me. Nobody wants to pick up the old smelly guys :).

When we got there, we repositioned about a mile up the road so folks would have a pull-over spot and stuck our thumbs out….for like 30 minutes. At least a couple hundred cars passed us before finally a dude stopped and picked us up. He had through-hiked in 2018. We had a good chat into town.

I asked him to drop me off in the sketchy area of town for the cheap motels. Found one, not cheap, but plenty sketchy, and made myself comfortable. Walked around bend a bit. This inner tube floating down the river thing looks fun!

 

When I woke up this morning, I noticed the girls-gone-hiking pair were setup near me. They must have rolled in late last night, which is pretty impressive mileage. Didn’t chat with them, just packed and left. Walking over a bunch of lava rock for a couple miles. This stuff is harsh, but anything is better than more green tunnel.

Dropped into a little meadow below the lava rocks, turned a corner, and found my buddy Gnocci with his kid in a perfect lounge spot next to the water. We chatted for a bit. Looks like they will be going to Timberline on the same route as me. Gnocci doesn’t seem to be in a big hurry. He seems to be enjoying time with his son.

Passed by another exclusion area at Scott’s lake. Not sure what this is all about. There must only be a few Oasis up here between the lava fields. Passed some other local hikers who were going on about the complexity of figuring out what permits they needed to hike through the limited use area, where they could camp, etc. I feel their pain. The Forest Service does not make this very easy.

I could see I was approaching the lava fields the Old Timer told me about. He said “Better hike that in the morning, because there is no shade and those black rocks hold the heat.” Well I timed it perfectly, hitting the fields at high-noon. Heh.

Check out this picture

If you zoom in on the mountain, you can see lava poo all over the mountain speckled with tree lined spots.  These are areas that have been broken down over the millineum to host a decent ecosystem. In the lava fields, the only thing living is a bunch of moss and the occasional sad little bush/tree. My hike through the lava fields took me down into a couple of forested areas similar to the pic above.

I took a bunch of pictures of the lava fields, but none really capture the scale. It was huge. There is something eerie about standing in a middle of this gigantic dead rocky wasteland with the wind blowing at 20 mph+. I suppose Mars might be a little like this.

Walking on this stuff is sketchy. The whole trail is composed of fist sized pumice just waiting to roll your ankle. Hiking poles are pretty much useless, so it 100% concentration trying to hop across the service without mistep. Falling in this stuff would be ugly. The stuff is so abrasive, I could not even find a comfortable place to sit down. It is like sitting on 60 grit sandpaper wrapped around every rock.

Finally left the lava rocks behind to re-enter yet another burned forest. Man half of the trail in Oregon seems to have been burned up over the last 5 to 7 years.

Last time I saw water was Scott’s lake, so I took the by-pass and hiked into the Big Lake Youth Camp to fill up. In years past, they have been a wonderful host for hikers. I believe they have a building setup specifically for hikers to stay in. Well this year is a different story. I don’t know if it is the Covid thing or something else. I was met over and over again by smiling, yet firm, camp counselors asking if I was a PCT hiker and, if so, I should go to the water spigot next to the horse corral. Get your water and get out. On my way out, two more counselors checked up on me. Ok, folks, I’m leaving.

I walked another couple miles to the last camp site before the highway and setup next to a small lake. Mosquitoes were bad here, but fortunately the wind was blowing pretty hard. Unfortunately, the wind is also blowing all these dead trees around. Spent a few hours worried about that in my tent then fell asleep.