Well this morning I lounged on the front deck of the cabin for most of the morning. I’m packed and ready to go, but Gordon seems to have other problems. The new owners took over the place last week and they don’t seem to be too interested in serving hikers. Gordon told me the owner does not want him to drop/pickup hikers due to concerns about liability (whatever that means). Anyway, I have to cool my heels until the owner dude leaves at 12 o’clock.

Wasn’t all bad. The chairs on the deck are super comfortable and there’s plenty of shade. I took a long nap until Riley, Gordon’s dog, came by to wake me up and get going. Gordon ran me back to Shelter Cove where I left my battery charging. Got that packed, then he dropped me at the trail while picking up another set of hikers. I gave him a $50 for the troubles and wished him luck with the new owners. From the sound of it he’ll need it.

Back on the trail and feeling good. Today’s activities involves a couple of nice climbs from 5k to eventually 6500. Encountered a couple of older guys hauling gargatuan packs on the first climb. We chatted for a bit. They asked me how far I go in a day. I told them 20 to 25 miles. They laughed and said they planed to 30 their whole 5 day trip. Heh. Bet those packs had a couple of liters of burbon.

I was passing lake after lake on the first climb. Around 1910 is a lake called Lower Rosary which was beutiful. The trail runs right along the shore line so I stopped, had a snack and snapped a couple photos.

A couple PCT kids passed me throughout the day. We just chatted for a couple minutes and they continued bounding up the hill. Probably going to be a common feature of my hike. Most of the folks I’ve met through-hiking started in late March and now have their eyes firmly on the prize. They want to knock out the miles.

My target for today was a campsite at the peak of the second climb (mile 1921). When I got there around 7, I found Gnocchi and his kid Lucas in a tent all ready to turn in. I’d met them earlier at Shelter Cove. Gnocchi is a genetists who lives in San Bernadino county. He is an Italian from Argentina and quite the character. He did the California section of the PCT in ’18 and is trying to finish the Oregon section this year with his son. His kid says he is there to monitor his dad, then head to graduate school in the fall.

Anyway, the campsite is on the edge of a big hill. Lots of flat spots for tents surrounded by trees. Not a bad spot, just lacking in significant views. Mosquitoes are pretty bad here. I suppose tomorrow will be more of the same. I started with 4 liters today and still have 1 left after dinner. I’m still amazed at my lower water consumption. This pack makes such a huge difference. I plan to keep dialing my carries down. Saving 4 or 5 pounds of weight is worth it.

Showered twice, eating everything I can get my hands on. I backflushed my filter and fixed the Salty hat ! Writing away on the blog and itching all my bug bites. I am definitely feeling like a human again. I found some deet at the store, so that is packed away.

I’ve been chatting with the Family and Stormtrooper. Storm will hit Ashland at mile 1717 in a few days. He really wants to catch me. I guess I’m now his motivation to go faster. Pretty sure he’ll do it at some point in Washington.

Will be hitting the trail tomorrow afternoon. Gordon has really shown me the love.

Last night I went to bed to the sound of buzzing. Later at night I had to scare some animals away from my camp. They were nosing around my tent. Maybe they want shelter from the skeeters too. I woke at first light and heard the buzzing start up. They are waiting for me. I did a little experiment with my shitty botanical insect repellent. I sprayed a spot on my tent and sure enough the skeeters moved away…for like 15 minutes. Then they came back. This stuff sucks.

So today my plan is to go covered. I zipped on my leggings (thank goodness I brought them) added my long sleeve shirt and headnet. I always leave my socks outside the tent with my shoes to air out. Well I can only find one. As I’m looking around, I notice my hat which I also leave outside has a big chew hole in it. Some critter last night munched on my hat and ran off with my sock. Going to have to sleep with this stuff from now on.

Anyway, I got out with a mixed sock combo and in full mosquito battle armor. Dropped the tent, packed and started hiking. No breakfast today. I’ve got to cover some serious mileage which fortunately is mostly downhill. I’m passing a bunch of nice lakes surrounded by ponds and bogs. My insect friends are trying to get in anyway they can, but my armor holds. At any one time, a dozen skeeters are stuck to my headnet. F you, bitches ! I constantly spray my hands with the not-repellent, but those get plenty of bites. I….will…buy…deet at the next stop.

My pace was pretty good. I tried to keep it just slow enough to not sweat alot. No breaks for 4 hours, just hiking slow and steady. Eventually I made it to the bug free zone of Mountain Creek (1896) where I stopped and had some lunch. Ran in a section hiker called Scorch who just wanted to talk and talk. Seems to be a trend. Folks must be lonely out here. Anyway, Scorch’s hiking pace is anything but and I left him behind.

A little later I rounded a corner and this little dog comes running up to me all barking. Behind the dog is a lady who is section with the dog. We have a nice chat then I notice she has a revolver in a shoulder harness laying on the rock. I’m like, “hey that’s kind of heavy” to which she replies that it helps her feel safe. She had some incidents on the trail. What incident? Well she says that while hiking around Ashland, she walked between two Bigfoots on the trail. Huh. At this point, the dog is still barking at me, the gal has a gun, and she believes in Bigfoot. Definitely time to leave!

After travelling through more of the bug menance I started getting pretty hot. I could not keep this pace and not sweat. Enter my salvation in the form of little snow blobs in the shadows of the trail. Every mile or so, I would scoop up a big snowball and carry it, switching from hand to hand dumping my excess heat into a melting snowball. When one was done, I’d find another. I actually started getting chills ! Going to file that technique away for the future.

Eventually the skeeters took a siesta and I unzipped all my armor and practically ran to Shelter Cove. Got there about 4:30. The folks there have totally rolled out the welcome mat for PCTers there are showers, laundry, a cool awning with picnic tables reserved for PCT hikers. The hiker box is full of stuff and my resupply was there. I sat down at the picnic table and some fellow hikers give me a plate of ribs that someone donated to the group. Man, heaven.

So, at this point I figured it is Friday, I’ll just sleep at the campsite and get picked up on Saturday. I’m sitting there eating a burger and this dude Gordon walks up asking for John Baum. He is from the resort that has my cabin that Alice booked for me. I tell him yeah, I’ll see you on Saturday. He says ok, walks away, then realizes that I don’t know what day it is. IT IS Saturday. Well after that is cleared up, I grab my pack and literally run to his truck. The place he puts me in is incredible. Huge living room, 2 bedrooms, kitche, etc. I’m sitting there right now, drinking a beer and writing this blog.

It was a good day (said with a Canadian accent).

Last night was really cold. I was zipped up in my bag with a buff wrapped around my head and still shivering. I eventually got warm enough to sleep, I just needed to stay very still :). Must have been around 30. Morning was cold as well so I stayed zipped up till 7 then jumped out and got moving. Dark Horse was still in her tent when I left.

Today I need to bust out some miles. I’ve 46 to go to get to Shelter Cove and a pickup! I’ve left burnville behind and now walking through some beautiful old growth forest. The beauty comes with a price….skeeters. They go from bothersome, to thick, to outrageous. Near the end of the climb, there is no stopping them. I’m spraying this crappy repellent called Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus which the eco friendly gal at REI convinced me to buy instead of Deet and it does not work worth a damn.

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So I’m walking, slapping off skeeters, spraying, and generally miserable. Then it gets even worse. I’m talking clouds of mosquitoes. They are going up my nose, mouth, eyes. I inhaled several, ate even more. Goddamn. Finally I stopped and unloaded my bag to find my headnet. That improved things a bit and I made camp at the first spot available at the top of the hill. I jammed into my tent and sat there eating trail mix for dinner. There is no way I’m unzipping this tent !

Thank God this day is over.

Started at 6:30 this morning. Getting a little better about rolling out of the sack. Hike today started with a slight downhill then turned into a mostly easy climb from 6k to 7.5k. I grabbed a couple liters at the water cache at 1848, I love these trail angels up here!

Fortunately, there is less burn up here and decent shade. Had a little huffying and puffing up a stiff grade. It was getting windy and I knew I was near the top of this bit of trail. When I finally popped out, there it was. Mt Thielson. Wow.

I was standing around taking pictures when a day hiker appears. He is going up the Mt Thielson trail which intersects the PCT here and offered to take a photo. I was like “You walked all this way to take my picture?” Well here it is, the Salty One fronting Mt Thielson.

Carried on hiking and crossed my first patch of snow. First thing to come to mind was that I should have brought some tang to mix in….but it was not to be. Nobody carries tang anymore. Pity that the science of orange powder has been overridden by Organic this and that.

Next stop was Thielson Creek at 1856 where I stopped and grabbed some water. There was a gal there northbounding from Ashland named Dark Horse. She is out to finish up the trail like me. She said her name came from always being the last one into camp after everyone had written her off (i.e. betting on the dark horse). Anyway, she packed and moved out while I was having some tasty Granola with Blueberries.

Munching away, here comes another full-on Northbounder named Tenderfoot. Turns out he hiked part of the PCT in 2017. I don’t recall meeting him, but the name rung a bell. He only got as far as Walker Pass then. He said his pack was way to heavy and he got some injuries. Well now he is back with a featherwieght pack and full of advice for anyone who would listen. Given that I was the only one there, that person would be me. I busied myself rearranging my pack because I’m carrying an extra set of shoes and the weight distribution is killing my lower back. He had some suggestions on how to pack which were useful, then a bunch of gear suggestions which were not. Dude just wouldn’t quit….so I did. Off I went up the hill.

Climbing away, I passed Dark Horse who was making some good progress. She is slow, but determined. Later Tenderfoot sailed by me, at a crushing pace. Good for him. Hope he makes it this time.
I’m hurting at this point. My pack, while pretty awesome all things considered, is killing my back. I got to thinking about it and I miss all the padding and stiffness of my old pack. Frankly, strapping into my old pack was like having an exoskeleton on. That pack is so stiff, I didn’t even need sholder straps, the thing just hung on my waist, transfering all the weight straight to my hips. This one on the other hand needs those shoulder straps tight. That combined with all the weight hitting my lower back is making me a little miserable. I’m pretty sure that once I dump the weight of my extra shoes, it should get a little better.

So I’m hurting and feeling a little wrung out. I knew I’d hit shelter cove on the weekend which means I’d likely not get a room and would have to tent it. I need a bed and some civilization! So I sent Alice a message on the InReach and she finally found me a place. I just need to get there in two days for a Saturday night stay. She is my Angel!

I camped at 1860. Supposedly this site was “awesome” according to guthook comments, but I found it to be just ok. There is a lot of smoke in the valleys so the views were truncated. The site is at 7600 feet and pretty close to the highest point in oregon for the PCT. Dark Horse showed up later and setup while I was turning in.