Everyone asks me if I was scared to be by myself. Nope. Never. Not once. When I worked for the Forest Service, I would occasionally go into the field by myself. I always loved those solo days. I could do everything my way. An added bonus was that I could take a pee anywhere I wanted. :) My Forest Service experience helped immensely when I was on my own on the PCT.
The downside of solo hiking is that you have to carry everything and you have to set up camp, filter water, etc. without help from someone else. I learned a ton about myself during this stretch. I also learned a ton of patience. Tired and don't want to set up the tent? Too bad, it's going to rain and there's no one else to do it for you. Solo hiking is unforgiving and doesn't give you any choice but to do suck it up and keep going. I loved it.
August 14, 2014; Miles - 18
My first solo day. I was very sad to leave Jeff at the trailhead. I am not looking forward to the next 5 days by myself. Nights are going to be hard. I got started at about 9:30 and made good time all day. It was very uphill today but I got to see some nice lakes and got high enough to see all the way back to Crescent Lake (I think). About 1:00, my pack got weird. It's really jabbing me in the left shoulder blade. I'm hoping I didn't bend the frame. It will make for a very uncomfortable 200+ miles. My attitude about the trail waxes and wanes with regularity. I love it up until about mile 12 and then my enjoyment drops steadily. At dinner, I think about quitting altogether. This happens every day. :) Its's really hard to keep a positive attitude when you just want to sleep but there's still so much to do. I am at Charlton Lake. When I arrived here, I was immediately confused by a strange sight. There was a campsite full of tons of gear. There was a huge 6 person tent, folding tables, bicycles and tons and tons of Rubbermaid tubs full of paper towels, paper plates, etc. When you're on the trail, you get very myopic. You're following this little ribbon through the woods and that becomes your world in a way. So when I walked up on this camp, my thought was "how on earth did they get all this stuff in here?" I had just hiked in 18 miles to get to this point, so I was thoroughly confused. I didn't realize that Charlton is very close to a road and is popular with car campers. It's very odd to see car campers literally bringing in wheelbarrows full of stuff when everything you depend on is in a backpack on your back. The campsite I chose was right next to the path leading to the parking lot and one group spent about 2 hours going back and forth with a wheelbarrow and a red wagon collecting gear. I think they were having a family reunion or something. I really miss Jeff.
The intrepid explorer. It was cold that morning, so I've got most of my clothes on.
One of the Rosary Lakes.
Looking back at the Rosary Lakes and Odell Lake.
I could see Crescent Lake way in the distance but it didn't show up well in the photo.
A trail marker for the Eugene to PCT trail.
That sounds interesting although I think you'd be crossing a lot of hills.
My world.
Charlton Lake sign with geocache.
Charlton Lake in the morning. Lovely.
August 15, 2014; Miles - 18
I started this morning by stepping in dog poop. The car campers have a very nice Pit Bull named Nellie - but not so nice that she pooped 10 ft. from my tent. Also not nice that the owner didn't clean it up. I heard them last night - the dog sniffing around my camp and the owner yelling "Nellie get out of the there! You're not my dog!" I think the owner was watching the dog poop in my camp. Not cool. The trail was pretty easy today, which is good because I am tired from yesterday. My backpack is also OK. I think something shifted in it yesterday and that's why the frame was jabbing me in the shoulder. Phew! Walked through a burned area that was strangely pretty. Lots of fireweed and pearly everlasting. Tons of lakes along the way but many were stagnant little ponds. Many more mosquitoes today than I've seen before. Saw a bear! Luckily he ran straight off into the woods. Talked with a thru hiker at length. Asked him how he finds the mental strength to do it every day. He said he likes seeing something new every day. Hah! All I've seen is trees for days and days. Should see Sisters tomorrow. As always, I love the trail in the morning but around 2 or 3, I'm pooped and hating it. I need to finish Oregon so I never have to do this again [famous last words]. Right now I'm sick of the trail. Camped at Horseshoe Lake, Three Sisters Wilderness tomorrow! Tired of my feet hurting.
August 16, 2014; Miles - 15
I was all set to write about what a great day I had on the trail and then I just bonked. I have never been so tired on the trail. The day started out well. I forced myself to eat all of my dinner last night and I really felt the difference in energy today. Early on in the day, I encountered a huge tree across the trail. It was on a steep hillside so there was no going up or down to get around it. It was as high as my chest. I took my pack off and flung it up and over to the other side and then I got my left leg over it and very ungracefully belly rolled over it. Thankfully there was a branch stump to hang on to. Met up with tons of horseback riders. I forgot it's Saturday. I stopped at a nice little stream to get water - good thing too, it was the last decent source I saw for a long ways. Decided to check my phone and wow - 3G in the middle of nowhere. Called Jeff, which was so nice and kept me in good spirits all day. The trail crested the Cascades today and now I am back on the dry side - hot and dusty trail. I am bored with trees but they are nice and shady. Jeff said Terry and Alice started the trail 40 minutes after me but I have not seen them. Climbed Koosah Mountain toward the end of the day - oof! It really sapped my strength. I wanted to do 19 miles today but I am totally out of gas. My feet hurt from walking on trails chewed up by horses. The bummer is that the ground at my campsite is too hard to get tent stakes into. :( Not sure what to do. At Sisters Mirror Lake.
A pika in this rock fall screamed at me for a while.
A dirt note I left for Terry and Alice. I never did see them again.
The nice little stream where I got water. Right on the trail and not marked on Halfmile's maps. Maybe he thought it was too obvious to mention.
Nice easy walking.
My first good view of the Three Sisters.
August, 17, 2014; Miles - 17
I woke up to find that everything in my camp was soaked with dew. My shirt and bra that I rinsed in the lake yesterday and laid out to dry were dripping wet. It put a "damper" on my whole day. I was exhausted all day and had to force myself to keep going. I felt as weak as the 1st day on the trail. BUT - the scenery was gorgeous. The Three Sisters area was magnificent. Big mountains, lovely meadows, pretty little streams. Wildflowers galore - whole meadows of blooming lupines. Just stunning. I couldn't stop taking pictures. I stopped at about 3:30 at Obsidian Falls and ate dinner. It really helped to perk me up although I had to force down every bite. I also took out my sleeping bag and tent and let them dry. My tent was still totally soaked. After that I continued on a couple of miles to a spring. I'm sorry I ever made fun of Opie Dilldock Pass because it kicked my butt - rolled my ankle too.
August 18, 2014; Miles - 21
Today is my last day on the trail. I rolled my ankle again and it is very painful. The trail was not fun. It started out fine but then I had to trek 13 miles without a water source across lava. I was lucky to find a water cache at Lava Camp before striking out on the lava on the north side of McKenzie Pass. I just wish I'd taken one more liter. Some other hikers mentioned there was a trail angel down at the McKenzie Pass trailhead but she wasn't there when I got there. I sat at the observatory for a while and reflected on what was ahead. I really wanted to ask some of the tourists if they had any water but no one would look at me. I think they thought I was a bum or something. I must have seemed that way with my stinky and filthy clothes. If only they knew I have a Master's degree and a good paying job! I'd been forewarned about the lava at McKenzie Pass, so was somewhat mentally prepared for it. In my opinion, the lava wasn't so bad, it was the miles of dead forest and effed up trail that I hated. On the lava, I decided to be all Zen and chose not to notice my discomfort. You can't walk very fast on it and you have to pick each spot to put your feet. Your ankles are constantly going every direction and your feet are in misery because there are no flat places to step. But through all that, I kept reminding myself that someone had built this trail for me to walk on. How amazing is that? Plus it's kind of neat to walk through a landscape that is barren lava for miles around. What really irritated me was the fact that the trail made no sense. After the initial bit of lava, the trail goes east across a second lava flow instead of just crossing a saddle, which would have eliminated about 1.5 miles of the trail. WTF? It totally ruined my Zen state of mind. After the lava, the trail goes through a burned area where there is a ton of blowdown on the trail. I was constantly going around or climbing over dead trees. I was so mad and scared the whole time. I was completely panicked that I would run out of water - I only had 3 L with me all day. So I did probably a dumb thing which was walk 13 miles with no rest breaks and ate nothing. I walked a total of 21 miles today and my feet and legs are killing me. I was super dehydrated when I reached Big Lake Youth Camp. I can barely walk - my legs are spasming and my feet are crippled. I ate a banana and took electrolyte pills to help with the cramps. The nice people at the Youth Camp fed me and let me shower. I will leave a $20 in the donation box. Breakfast tomorrow too! The shower was the best though - they gave me a towel and soap!
The End
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