Crossing into Cali: the Siskiyous & the State of Jefferson

North of Ashland

8/16: Walked south from Ashland today. This evening - thought I heard a trippy hippie bells & xylophone concert or wood windchimes through the forest, and I thought I even heard Buddhist gutteral chanting. Now I have concluded that it is livestock with bells around their necks that I am hearing especially since it seems it is random & changing/moving...(turns out the sounds were from mooing cattle and the bells they wore)...Hitchhiking is humbling.

At the California border

near Happy Camp (off of the trail)...8/19: Easy hitch into Happy Camp from Seiad Valley. Hot here. The Cali section so far is way more dramatic & spectacular than the 250 miles in Oregon. Think I've walked over 300 miles this trip. The sunset by Lookout Springs atop Middle Devil's Peak past Copper Butte last eve was stunning! Too bad my camera battery had died. At Cook and Green Pass, I had a cosmic moment with a black mama bear and her brown and cinnamon cubs. We made eye contact for awhile. They didn't run away. The cubs scrambled up a tree - easy like koala bears and stared at me. I stared back. Woman of the Karuk tribe who gave me a ride told me that male black bears attack & kill more humans than grizzlies do - but don't wanna believe it.

Grider Creek

Near Mt. McLoughlin

8/9: Went over Devil's Peak/Pass this eve. Some 18 miles today from Stuart Falls. Not tired - could walk more. My hammock is hung up on a ridge and I can see Klamath Lake & Mt. McLoughlin. Have walked 200 miles on this trip now. Just do that 4 more times and it will be 1,000 miles.

Enjoyed hiking with and hanging out with Machine for the day, but her pace was faster than mine so she didn't stick around for too long.

Crater Lake

This morning I saw a crazy weasel/giant ferret creature (maybe a fisher) that was bounding around me and not afraid a bit. Met Machine, a SoBo who I will probably see again soon.

Stuart Falls, a detour suggested by Weather Carrot...

With some folks I befriended at the falls

Starry Sky at Umpqua Hot Springs

8/6?: @ Umpqua. Ahhhh! Paradise here. Fresh springs gushing out rocks as waterfalls, old growth cedars, No Mosquitoes, hot travertine waters. No one has even descended/set foot into my campsite during the days I've been here...At first I was a bit antsy about doing 'nothing' but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it...Hitchhiked here from Diamond Lake on Tues...At the springs I've befriended some of the locals and even though they are poor and homeless they are immediately eager to share what they have.

Williamette Natl. Forest to Mt. Thielsen

7-27: At Dumbell Lake - hiked over 16 miles today...MOSQUITOES! There are mosquito carcasses spread all over my body and my gear. I wore the mosquito net for most of the day. I stopped hiking around 5 pm cuz my knee hurt, my back hurt, my shoulders hurt. Had to keep moving on account of the skeeters. You stop to slap and 3 more bite you. My legs are covered with mosquito bites and the campfire smoke doesn't seem to deter them. And my "10 hr" DEET seems to last for only a half hour. But they can't bite me through me rain jacket and my rain pants and so that's what I'm currently wearing. As it is dusk, skeeters are swarming all over me. I couldn't survive without this mosquito net. Took a lovely swim in the lake...Entrenched in mosquito clouds I was def. questioning my logic behind this trip.

7-30: At Rosary Lakes just a few miles from Williamette Pass/Shelter Cove, my 1st resupply...In the cool eve, I took a most lovely, divine swim in the N. lake. Felt amazing. Oregon lakes are all the perfect temperature.

Diamond Peak Wilderness...

Mount Thielsen, known as the Lightning Rod of the Cascades

PCT 2010, Sisters Wilderness

These photos are from my first full day back on the Pacific Crest Trail this summer. I started hiking south at Santiam Pass where I left off the trail in 2008. Above image from July 25th is a view looking south at the Three Sisters volcanoes from the lava in Mt. Washington Wilderness in Oregon.

from journal: 7/25: Looking back North one can see Mt. Washington, then 3-Fingered Jack, then Mt. Jefferson & finally hazy Mt. Hood all lined up into the distance to the horizon.

Pack feels heavy, today my legs are tired. Figured out how to battle heel blisters.

7/26: Lots of snow - with patches taking 25 minutes to cross...Beautiful - reminded me of snow-skiing but a few times I got panicky as I couldn't find where to go across the snow or where to find the trail.

Day 39, Oregon

1st day hiking in Oregon and rejoined with Ghetto Blaster after misadventures with Waffles and Suntan in Cascade Locks.

I didn't think I would see any more northbounders when I ran into Waffles and Suntan. I had just arrived in town after dark after crossing into Oregon across the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods. It was the longest I had hiked in one day - 26 miles - and I was pumped about eating dinner in town. Yet, at 9:02 all of the eating establishments in Cascade Locks had stopped serving food and even the pub had stopped serving beer. I was very bummed but at least a grocery store was open for chips, salsa, beer and ice cream. That's when Waffles generously invited me to split a motel room with the two of them. The next day Ghetto Blaster showed up in town and Waffles had been cut off from ordering more drinks from both bars in town by 3 PM...9-29 - got drunk and when we were crossing railroad tracks to get to a nearby park and island to camp out and drink more beers we lost Waffles. The last time I saw him he was collapsing towards the pavement in a gas station parking lot. Waffles ended up on a train and fell asleep. He slept out in the rain under a highway underpass later learning he had traveled nearly 160 miles away - missing one shoe and wearing a trash bag as rain gear with only sweat pants and a sweat shirt - he had to hitchhike back in his condition.

Eagle Creek detour, Tunnel Falls...

ghetto blaster swimmin in the rain

Days 41-42

ramona falls

mt. hood

When we arrived in the dark at the infamous Timberline Lodge, a giant historical ski lodge, there was snow on the ground and ice covering the sidewalks. Various food fantasizing and hunger ravaged northbounders had been telling us about the incredible Timberline Lodge all you can eat buffet breakfast for the last 500 miles. That night, we didn't hesitate in indulging in an overpriced delicious dinner with drinks. I ate so much that I thought I might throw up. I couldn't even finish my carafe of wine. After satisfying our appetites, we couldn't stand the idea of stringing up our thin hammocks in the chilly, freezing air above 6,000 feet when we were in an enormous and heated wooden structure full of empty conference rooms. After we found out that we could rent a bunk bed in a shared room for like $140 each...we went into survival mode. We found the sauna, stashed our backpacks and stripped down to shower and soak up the dry heat. I used some of the hotel's towels for a pillow and blankets and we slept that freezing cold night on the hard, wooden benches of the sauna. At the time I didn't realize that it would be my last hot shower for over a month. The night passed without incident and the breakfast buffet was truly epic.

mt. jefferson