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Days 124, 125, Cascade Locks

Part 4, Oregon, Days 124, 125

Cascade Locks

Miles: 0

Total Miles: 2144

I'll be entering Washington tomorrow to start the final 500 miles of my thru hike. I spent today preparing for this last stretch. It has been a very busy but worthwhile double zero here in Cascade Locks. I was so busy that I didn't really document my time too well. Most of my time was spent rewriting the posts for my last update. I'll try and fill you in on the last 2 days, and expect the blogging to return to normal when I hit the trail. 

I slept in the park by the river on my first night. There were over a dozen other hikers there too, but none of us slept. Trains were running about 100 yards away every hour, and when they went by the ground shook. At 5am, workers started setting up for a half marathon that day. I didn't care about getting no sleep because I was headed to a motel anyway. 

Today was my 4 month trailversary! I can't even describe what that means because I've been too tired to think about it. All I know is that the end is getting closer. I stayed at the cheapest place in town; the Columbia Gorge Inn.

The rooms are old and basic; perfect for hikers. The bathroom was very odd. There is no separation between the shower and toilet. It's like a locker room:

I collapsed on the bed and laid there for a few hours before venturing outside. 

I went to the East Wind Drive In, which is very popular here. There is usually a huge line and over an hour wait for food. 

I got there when there was no line and ordered a large ice cream come. Little did I know, the ice cream was 10.5 inches high.

 They put the whole thing into a cup for me since it was so tall:

I don't think I need to tell you how awesome this was. A food highlight of the trail. Many hikers were in town, and we all spent time hanging out. At this point, many of us have been hiking together for 4 months, and we've become friends. I ate dinner at a local bar with Dr. Pounder, a hiker I met all the way back on day 2. He's from Berlin.

I didn't really sleep too well even though I was so tired. I don't sleep very well in towns. I was so fascinated by the small, and staticky television that I just stayed up watching nothing in particular. 

I woke up at 6am on Monday and started working on my hiker errands. I washed my tent on the shower, and flushed my water filter. I duct taped some holes shut on my tent and other gear. I went to the laundromat and sat in the hear wearing all of my rain gear as I waited for my clothes.

Apparently, this building sold guns. 

I ate breakfast at the nearby Cascade Inn. It looked pretty shady and was connected to a bar. 

Something was peculiar about these pancakes... They were either missing an ingredient, or had one too many. I couldn't tell. I still ate them. The lounge was filled with these penny casino games.

I played for a minute before they made me sad and I left. 

I went to the post office, hoping my package would be there.

It was! About 2 weeks ago, I emailed Merrell, the company that makes my hiking shoes, and told them I was thru hiking and had worn my current pair of shoes for over 1400 miles. I sent pictures of the shoes, and they sent me a free pair, no questions asked! Can you tell which is the new pair?

I resupplied at the local market. I'm gonna have a heavy pack, carrying food for the next 150 miles.

I saw so many hikers in town that I haven't seen in hundreds and even thousands of miles. I spent the afternoon catching up with many people. 

I saw Legend, of course, and I saw Senor Whiskers!! He gave me a bag of gummy bears way back in Acton, in the desert.

I watched the smoky sunset over the Columbia River with Crunchmaster and Houdini before going back to my room to organize all of my resupply.

Big issues loom ahead for my hike. Several major wildfires are currently blocking the way to Canada. Detours involve hundreds of miles of road walking. I don't have to worry about this for a few weeks, but it totally sucks. I really hope something miraculous opens the trail. 

I'll be back to trail blogging as usual when I'm hiking again. The Washington section is very wild and rural, and I don't know when I'll have phone reception, but I'll do everything I can to update this blog whenever possible. 

Onwards to Washington! 

Day 122, Water World

Part 4, Oregon, Day 122

Water World

Miles: 19.1

Total Miles: 2113.10

Go to day 114 to continue where I left off!!!!

Last night was violently windy. I stealth camped behind the Timberline Lodge with a bunch of other hikers, and all of us had one thing on our minds; the Timberline breakfast buffet. It felt like Christmas Eve. I woke up at 6am and started packing up. At 7, I walked to the main lodge and sat on the couch until the restaurant opened. There was a great coffe bar. There must have been half hikers and half tourists waiting for the buffet. It's big to us hikers because we talk about it for hundreds, even thousands of miles. I sat at a table with Diogenes, Claire, and Tex. The dining room was very fancy:

I got in line and was NOT disappointed. 

Everything had exotic or top line ingredients in them. Eggs

Apple cinnamon pancakes:

Potatoes:

All kinds of sausages and such:

Little quiches:

There was a waffle station, yogurt and fruit station, pastry station, smoothie station... Really just a lot of stations. Here's my first plate:

Holy fucking shit people!!! This was amazing. That's sweet cream on my pancakes. I want to rub that stuff all over my body. It was so good. Here's my second plate, though I forgot to photograph the waffles.

I took a lot of heat from my fellow hikers for only finishing about 2.5 plates. I was full. Best breakfast ever. The waitress gave us all shots of Apple cider vinegar mixed with whatever to help with digestion, or something. 

This tasted like cat piss. After breakfast I couldn't move for awhile. I sat on the lodge couches and surfed the net on my phone. The weather was horrible outside, and it was so cozy inside. I finally built up enough nerve to hike out by 10am, though other hikers didn't fare so well. Few would hike out this day. 

As you can see, the weather was crap; Cold, windy, and rainy. 

I rain proofed my pack and planned to hike as far as I could with a late start and an over full stomach. 

The forecast called for rain all day. Today was much colder than I could remember. I had to layer up.

I crossed lots of streams and creeks today. I also began to see water falls.

I came to my first tricky creek crossing today; Sandy Creek. It was really easy actually, but I had to walk upstream a bit.

I crossed and quickly lost the trail. I walked to far down stream and into a bunch of bushes. It took me 15 minutes of bushwhacking to find the trail. Soon I was at an alternate trail junction for Ramona Falls.

I saw a lot of day hikers, unusual in poor weather, so I knew it was a popular trail. The falls were huge!

I looked for awhile then moved on because it was cold and wet. The rest of the alternate was beautiful. 

Back on the PCT, I hit my next tricky creek crossing; Mud Creek. 

There was a rope on a fallen tree, so I crossed that way. 

I almost dropped my phone in the water here!

I kept moving to stay warm. A long and steep climb came next, the second big climb of the day.

When I was near the top, I began to feel sick. Not just sick to my stomach, but dizzy. I sat down a couple of times, but the dizziness concerned me. 

With the bad weather and sudden sick feeling, I found a camp spot early. 

This is the first time during my hike where I've not eaten any food after hiking. I have no appetite, but it's the sick feeling that's grounded me. I couldn't stand anyone. I hope everything's ok. I really need a rest, and that will come in 2 days.