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.