Crater Lake to Cascade Locks

I’ve made it all the way to Washington! At this point, I’ve been hiking so long that NOT hiking makes my body hurt more the next day than hiking does. In this section, I got to see glaciers up close, pet a few llamas, and dealt with some classic Pacific Northwest rain. Here’s how it went.

Aug 8th – Day 117

I got up early and started hiking a little before 5 by the light of my headlamp. The trail was flat and straight. Pez had left camp before me, and Keebler and Wiggles were behind me. I made pretty good time, but I wasn’t in any particular rush. I wasn’t set on doing the 24 hour challenge, and while a 40 mile day might be nice, I didn’t want to push it too much and get injured.

At a road crossing a van was parked offering coffee and some light food to hikers. The van was owned by an older couple who had driven down to surprise their 18-year-old grandson, Sam. Sam didn’t have a GPS device and didn’t send updates much, so they’d been there for several days waiting for him, unsure of when he might come by. They asked everyone if they knew him. I unfortunately didn’t know Sam, but someone else did and assured them he was coming.

After a while the trail started to gain and lose elevation again and the scenery was beautiful. At a beautiful creek under a craggy peak I decided not to stress about getting in a 40 mile day. I didn’t want to have to rush, or miss any part of the beautiful trail night hiking. By this time, Pez, Keebler, and Wiggles were far ahead of me, so I headed forward alone.

By the time I made camp as the sun was setting I had gone 36 miles, a new record for me. I camped alone at a peaceful site, and I was glad to feel uninjured after my longest ever day.

August 9th – Day 118

It was an uneventful morning as I headed towards Shelter Cove. I walked through a horse campground, where the camp hosts had put out signs inviting hikers to hang out. The hosts were out when I arrived, but another hiker told me they had told him we were welcome to hang out and take sodas from the mini fridge in front of their giant fifth wheel. I stayed for a while, hoping they’d return, but eventually had to keep going.

I continued towards Shelter Cove, a resort with a restaurant, general store, and PCT camping area that would be my next “town” stop. I got there in the early evening. Pez, Keebler, and Wiggles were all already there, having completed between 50-60 miles each in their 24 hour challenge. One hiker had completed an astonishing 78 miles in 24 hours.

I set up my tent in the PCT area and rejoined the group. Unfortunately the restaurant had closed early due to a staff party, but a guy in a camper van dropped off a dutch oven for us to use, so Chef, true to his name, made us all nachos instead. As we were all hanging out in the evening, listening to tree boy play music, Legs showed up! After getting off trail due to an injury back in Yosemite, he had spent over a month home recovering before rejoining the trail in NorCal. He’d pulled several 40+ miles days in a row to catch up to us, and was feeling strong and injury free. He also had a new trail name: Half Moon. We were excited to see him and he was excited to see us and hike with the group again.

August 10th – Day 119

The next morning I showered, did laundry, resupplied, and charged my power bank. Soda Pop and another hiker had their power banks stolen in the night. We were concerned, as we usually left power banks and sometimes even cell phones plugged in to public outlets overnight with no issues at all. Theft was not something we were used to worrying about.

We headed out in the early afternoon. I found some blueberries on the side of the road on the way back to the trail and crawled into the bushes to eat some. Berries were one of my favorite parts of this section of trail.

We made camp at a very impressive hike/ski shelter. The shelter had a large wood burning stove for heat, a place to dry wet clothes, a large hangout area, electricity, and a sleeping loft. It was warm enough that we didn’t need the fire. For such a nice cabin, I didn’t sleep all that well. It’s harder to sleep with so many people crammed together. Still, it was an experience and I’m glad I stayed there.

August 11th – Day 120

After leaving the cabin I hiked for a while until I came across a sign set up on trail. It was the kind of sign that dreams are made of. Trail Magic ahead! I rushed ahead to find a couple who introduced themselves only as “Ducky’s Mom and Ducky’s Dad” grilling hot dogs for everyone and giving out snacks and drinks. It was heaven and I quickly inhaled two hot dogs.

The rest of the group headed off quickly, agreeing to pick a campsite at a lunch stop at a lake ahead. I stayed a bit longer to talk to the trail angels that fed us. After chatting with Ducky’s parents, I learned that they come to this spot and grill hot dogs for PCT hikers at least three times a week for the entire month of August. I was blown away by that level of selfless commitment. They also told me that when it isn’t August they spend their free time fixing up the Donomore cabin just before the California border with Oregon, the cabin that had saved us in a terrible thunderstorm. I told them about how incredible the cabin had been in our time of need and thanked them profusely.

I got to the lake where I thought we’d all meet and was disappointed to find that no one was there. They’d all moved on without me, and I had no idea where the planned campsite was. This happened sometimes, but I was frustrated that just a few hours earlier we had agreed to meet here and it hadn’t happened. I had no idea where the rest of the group might be camping, so I hiked as fast as I could until late in the evening. Finally I stumbled on the group at a crowded site at a lake as they were all heading to bed. I didn’t think there was really room for my tent, but I was too exhausted to keep going, so I squeezed in wherever I could. I felt very unwelcome and out of place. Too tired to even eat dinner, I slipped into my sleeping bag and felt angry at myself for not being able to keep up that day.

August 12th – Day 121

By the time I got out of my tent to break it down every one except Half Moon had gone. I asked him if he knew where the group planned to camp, and he said they’d decide at a lake lunch stop in 16 miles. I was disheartened, because I knew I’d get too hungry and need to stop for lunch before that lake, and the group wouldn’t wait for me, so I once again would not know where the campsite for the night was. I felt hurt that not only was I not included in the decision making, I wasn’t even informed what the decision was. I hiked on feeling pretty down about myself.

Despite great views of the South Sister throughout the day, I was still feeling down. Spending all day hiking gives us a lot of time to think, and sometimes that’s not a good thing. I spent all day ruminating on negative thoughts about myself and what others might think of me, and I started to feel the hopelessness and panic that comes with feeling like I am intrinsically not good enough for something that everyone else is good enough for. I thought about a trail angel I’d met back in the desert. Her husband had attempted the PCT amid struggles with depression. He’d killed himself on trail. Like me, he’d probably started hiking with hopes of healing and peace, but with too much time ruminating ultimately felt worse over time. I decided that I didn’t want to keep feeling worse, so I had to say something. With a little bit of cell service, I sent out a text to the group letting them know that I was feeling left out by never being included in the decision making. They apologized, and sent me a text letting me know where they planned on camping. I felt a little better as I headed that way.

When I got to camp there was a large group there. Everyone seemed to know each other and I didn’t, so I felt a little out of place, but I was glad that the group had camped whare they said they would. I cowboy camped that night, and caught at least a dozen shooting stars thanks to the Persieds meteor shower.

August 13th – Day 122

The first few miles of trail that morning snake through the “Obsidian Limited Entry Area”, a heavily restricted zone that prohibits most hikers from entering. As PCT hikers, we have a free pass to walk through and see the many waterfalls, meadows, and obsidian stones in the area. It lived up to the hype, and I was mesmerized as I hiked through. I quickly fell behind the group, as they tend to rush into town on town days but I wanted to take my time that morning. I hoped that I’d be able to catch them, or that if I couldn’t, they might wait for me before hitching into Bend.

Next, the trail passes through a large field of lava rocks. There is a steep climb in this section, made more difficult because the entire trail is on fist sized pumice stones. It was a little frustrating to hike on, but I passed a llama train and I got to pet one, so it was worth it.

As I approached the road I got a bit of cell service again. I remembered that I hadn’t sent anyone the information for the AirBnb I had booked in Bend. Selfishly, part of me thought that maybe if I didn’t send the AirBnb information maybe they’d wait for me at the highway, but I pushed that thought aside and sent a screenshot of the address and check in information.

Despite the challenging volcanic terrain, I had one of my most enjoyable days of hiking on trail. I’d never really seen a glacier before, and I was amazed by the size of the glacier on the middle sister. The volcanic landscape was fascinating and beautiful, and I was feeling good as I got to the highway. My mood went south quickly. When I got there no one was around, so I tried to hitch alone. After only seeing two cars in about 15 minutes, I started to feel frustrated. How had they all gotten rides so quickly? I pulled out my map and saw that there was a point of interest a ways up the road, so I headed up to see if there were any cars in the parking lot I could flag down. When I got there I found Pez. He told me they’d left me a note at the road crossing to meet there, but I hadn’t seen it. There was also a hiker named Ziplock there. Ziplock had gotten off trail, but lived in Bend and was giving hikers rides into town. We were grateful as he drove us straight to a brewery.

After the brewery we headed to the AirBnb, a small but cute guest house, and resupplied at a local Walmart. We had Chipotle delivered and then played board games in the evening.

August 14th – Day 123

Wiggles made an impressive breakfast spread in the morning. We talked a bit about an upcoming fire closure that we needed a ride around. While I had road walked around previous fire closures, the only legal road walk to avoid this one would be 118 miles to go around only 20 miles of closed trail, and most of those miles would be on a high speed highway. This is in part due to the fact that the fire closure is in the Warm Springs Reservation, where even in normal times PCT hikers are absolutely forbidden to go more than 200 ft off trail. As much as I wanted to maintain a continuous footpath to Canada, I couldn’t make myself spend four days walking on nothing but Highway, so I decided to get a ride around with the rest of the group.

Pez had talked a while back about relatives who had offered to give us a ride around the closure. I’d assumed that was the plan. However that morning Pez mentioned that his relatives could only take four people, including him. Capacity hadn’t been an issue when we first talked about it, as there were only four people in the group, but since then we’d added Posideon, and Half Moon had rejoined. Now we were at six. As Pez talked about plans to take a day off and borrow his relative’s car to explore Portland, it occurred to me that the plans must have been finalized in this last stretch, when I wasn’t around. The plans didn’t include me, anymore. Pez apologized and said he’d asked if they could squeeze a fifth person in, but the answer was no. Wiggles, Keebler, Pez, and Posideon would go to Portland, and Half Moon and I needed to figure out our own way around.

The rest of the group headed into Bend to do a river float, but I stayed behind to formulate a new plan. Half Moon had booked the last seat on a bus around the closure the next morning, but I could get a seat on the bus the next day, if I could find a place to stay in Bend. Hotels in Bend were insanely expensive, so I checked the hostel instead and snagged the last dorm bed left. What’s more, the hostel was within walking distance of the bus station. I had a plan.

That evening Wiggles made an incredible spaghetti dinner for everyone and we played more board games before we’d have to separate in the morning.

August 15th – Day 124

Half Moon left for the bus stop before I woke up. The rest of us had a nice breakfast before packing up and heading into town. I left the group as we left the AirBnb, because I needed to go downtown to get to the hostel. I took and Uber to a brewery with a bunch of food trucks and hung out there until I could check in. Afterwards I explored downtown Bend before heading back to get some sleep before my early morning wake up call to catch the bus. It wasn’t a bad unplanned double zero in Bend.

August 16th – Day 125

I took the 7 am bus to Government Camp, where I waited at a gas station for a while until a second bus came to take me to Timberline Lodge, where I’d rejoin the trail. At the lodge I found Half Moon, who had hung around since the day before strictly for the breakfast buffet. I had reservations for the lunch buffet, so I explored the lodge while I waited.

Half Moon and I ate together for lunch. Apparently he’d made a second reservation for lunch after they’d kicked him out of the breakfast buffet for staying too long. I guess they knew the thru hiker strategies here. The food was good, and they still had the waffle makers out, which I was excited about. Afterwards we lounged around in a food coma for a while before finally hitting the trail again in the afternoon.

The weather was nice while I hiked, but I could see clouds moving in. I checked the weather and was astonished to see that the high for the following day was only going to be about 45. There was also a chance of rain. I resigned myself to a day of bad weather and soaked up the sun while I could and headed to camp. By the time I pitched my tent, the fog had already rolled in.

August 17th – Day 126

I woke up to the sound of rain on my tent. My tent wasn’t leaking, but everything inside was damp from condensation due to the intense temperature swing. It was COLD, and I took the opportunity to sleep in. I hoped for the rain to stop, but by 10 I resigned myself to being cold and wet, and I packed up and headed out.

The rain wasn’t heavy, but it was constant, and I was soaked pretty quickly. I’d sent my thermals home in NorCal, so my only options for bottoms were my hiking shorts or my wind pants, and I had to keep one of them dry to sleep in, so I hiked in nothing more than soaked shorts, my hiking shirt, and a thin rain jacket in the low 40 degree weather.

By the time I got to Ramona falls my rain jacket had wet through from the constant rain and all of me was soaked. I was almost too cold to appreciate it, I just snapped a few pictures and kept going. I thought about how desperately I wanted to be warm and dry. I thought about asking to borrow my parents’ camper if there was ever a rainy fall day in SoCal when I returned. I thought about how grateful the South Bound PCT hikers would be if I showed up with it at a trail head and turned on the generator to heat the inside and warm them up as they dried off.

Magically, it was as if someone read my mind. I stumbled out of the woods at a road crossing and into TRIPLE trail magic. Parked off the road were Sam’s grandparents again, who had a covered area with a propane fire pit for heat. There was a van owned by Big Red of the Minnesota Hikings – who was famous on trail this year for his fun loving attitude and unique Guthooks comments – with a full bar making specialty cocktails, and a group of locals making us hot food. I couldn’t believe my luck, and on a day where I felt so down. Half Moon was there, too, and we shivered together as we enjoyed the hot dogs and pulled pork sandwiches the locals had made for us.

Now that I had a place to stay dry I could get out my jacket! I threw it on and hung out under the covered area, hoping to warm up. I felt a little better, but still had a chill deep in my bones that wouldn’t go away. As Big Red handed me my “dark and stormy” (an appropriately named cocktail for the times) he asked if I had a jacket. I told him I was wearing it. He went to his van and insisted that I borrow one of his jackets as well, because my lips were still blue. I thanked him and I finally started to feel warm enough.

Once the propane fire got going, Half Moon and I looked at each other and decided that this is where we’d camp. I set up my tent and noticed as I pulled my sleeping bag out of the waterproof liner than it was partially soaked. There must have been a small hole in the liner somewhere, and after hours of hiking in the rain water had managed to find it’s way in. Half Moon’s quilt was also wet, despite his “waterproof” bag so we were glad we decided to make camp early before things got even worse. It wasn’t raining when we went to bed, and we were hopeful for better weather the next day.

August 18th – Day 127

It was still cloudy and damp, but warmer and drier the next morning. Half Moon and I tried to dry out our stuff, but eventually gave up and kept moving. This part of the trail was hit with a massive wind storm earlier in the year, and huge trees were blown down on and around the trail. It made progress slower, but eventually we made it to camp at a lake. We were grateful that it was finally warm and sunny, and we were able to start drying out our tents.

August 19th – Day 128

We headed into Cascade Locks down a beautiful gorge towards the Columbia River. The area was recently burned, but it was still beautiful. On the way we passed Tunnel Falls, a very tall waterfall with a tunnel blasted behind it that the trail goes through. It was probably the coolest waterfall I’d seen on trail to date.

When we got to the Bridge of the Gods we found Chef and Rosie doing trail magic! It was an impressive spread, so we hung out there for a while and then moved to the campground where we’d be staying and pitched our tents. The campground had an overflow area for PCT hikers, and it was packed. PCT Days, a festival celebrating the PCT, would begin the next day, and many hikers were in town to celebrate.

Once we were set up we headed to the Thunder Island Brewing Company, which was packed with hikers for a pre-PCT Days party. It was a lot of fun, and I caught up with a lot of hikers I hadn’t seen in a while. Eventually Half Moon and I headed back to the campground to call it a night.

August 20th – Day 129

I woke up at 3 am and saw that my phone and power bank was completely dead. I walked to the bathrooms, where I’d seen outlets, and plugged in my power bank to charge a bit next to another hiker’s power bank. I went back to the tent to sleep a bit more. When I woke up at 7 and headed to the bathroom to get it back, it was gone. Another power bank lost due to theft. I was frustrated, but glad I had only charged my power bank, and not my phone itself, which I had considered charging. I packed up my stuff and headed to the store to buy a new charger and power bank.

Wiggles, Keebler, Posideon, and Pez showed up later in the afternoon and we all set up camp on Thunder Island, a larger space that had been set aside to host the multitude of PCT hikers and PCT enthusiasts in town for PCT Days. We explored Cascade Locks, walked around PCT days, and spent more time in the brewery. It was a cold, cloudy day, but it never rained.

Augusta 21st – Day 130

I woke up that morning to find that a large river cruise ship had docked next to the island. Cascade Locks was extra packed with all of the cruise passengers and PCT hikers in town. I picked up a package containing my thermals, grateful to have warm clothes for Washington, and said hi to the guys who made my backpack at PCT days. It was great to see they had a booth, and it was fun to finally meet them and show them their pack in action.

That afternoon at a brewery Pez and I reunited with Smiles. Smiles and Pez were the first two people I hiked with way back at mile 112. It was fun to see the gang back together. Unfortunately, Smiles had bad news. He was getting off trail due to a foot injury and heading back to Houston. We vowed to make the most of the time we had. We left the brewery and headed to the PCT days beer garden. When the beer garden closed, rumors spread of a hiker “rave” on a baseball field nearby. I was skeptical, but we headed over anyway.

Sure enough, in the middle of the field was a car with flashing colored lights playing techno music. It felt less like a rave and more like a small town high school party, but we stuck around anyway. As everyone else danced I chatted with Smiles. He told me that I was the first person he met on trail that he still talked to, as we met on both of our third days on trail. Smiles was the hiker who had miraculously scored a ride to Julian from Mt. Laguna. I was really going to miss him, but he said that he’d found what he came for. When Smiles started the trail, he was noticably shell shocked after a year as an ICU nurse in one of Houston’s largest hospitals. Working so much in such a grim environment had taken a toll on him, as the vast majority of his covid ICU patients had died, usually alone. Now, Smiles was looking forward to going back to work. The Delta variant was running rampant through Houston, and he said that he felt back at work in the hospital was where he needed to be. He was at peace, and he had a purpose. When I headed back to my tent for the night, I wished Smiles the best and invited him to come to LA and visit if he ever got the chance.

August 22nd – Day 131

I packed up my bag and headed to breakfast. It was cloudy, windy, and threatening rain, so we waited for the weather to clear a bit. When it became clear that it wouldn’t, we headed out around noon. We crossed the Bridge of the Gods, a major landmark on the trail as the border between Oregon and Washington. It’s also a pretty terrifying crossing, as the bridge is narrow and there is no pedestrian area. After nearly getting squished by a trailer, we made it across, finally in Washington! I was excited to start the last leg of my journey, and hopeful for the remaining 506 miles.

Until next time,

Megan “Fire Ant” Spencer