Start point
Hwy 138 and PCT intersection, mile 1848.8
End point
Unlisted Tentsite, mile 1870.6
Miles hiked
21.8
Wilderness area
Umpqua National Forest
Mount Thielsen Wilderness
Wimea National Forest
People I met
Minnie Mouse
The day on trail
Today was nice, but it ended with a struggle!
I woke up nice and early, without terribly restful sleep. After moving campsites I felt displaced and couldn’t relax fully, and my sleep wasn’t the best. At least the chargers in the bathroom worked and my battery bank, Garmin, and headphones were fully charged. I swapped out all my electronics on the charger for my cell phone, so it could charge as much as possible.
I left my phone at the bathroom, walked back to the site, and packed and organized everything in my pack. When I have time to do it, even if I got too much food on my resupply, it all fits nicely in my bag.
After packing up I went to shower. I had extra crusties in my eyes, which confounded me because I didn’t sleep all that much. It felt really good to wash it off. The showers at the site were really nice, especially considering how basic they are.
Refreshed and now dressed for trail, I walked to the bathroom, got my phone, then went to my site, ate a couple slices of pizza as I got my pack on, and coordinated pickup with Ketchup.
Ketchup and her friend ran late. We planned on 8 am and they arrived around 9. Frustrating, but still doable. It’s just going to be a late day of hiking. I ended up eating the rest of the pizza while waiting, which just means less weight to carry and less trash to pack out. Her friend was nice, funny, and accommodating. It was really fun chatting with him. Ketchup had also gotten a new pack on the zero day, switching from a Gregory to an Osprey.
Finally we got to the trailhead!
Almost immediately there was a junction sign, a Wilderness Area marker, and a water cache.
Slaphappy, Yoga Bear, Snake Mate, By The Way, and a bunch of others were hanging out at the cache. Yoga Bear was doing yoga, Slaphappy was sitting drinking water, and the others were napping. All good things to do at 9:30 AM in my book!
I continued on because I didn’t need water — I had freshly filled my bottles at the campsite.
There were a bunch of cute blazes.
And the trail finally opened up overlooking some mountains, I think the one in the background with the snow patch was Mount Mcloughlin.
Approaching Mt. Thielsen was really cool. It’s so jagged it looks like it could bruise the sky.
The trail dipped away from the mountain and down to a creek. But first I had to pass through a narrow crevice between a broken tree, after which I was rewarded with another mountain view.
Ahhhh a creek! Time to sit down, eat, and get some cold water.
I ran into Minnie Mouse, whom I’d met earlier. I also saw Oujin, who I hadn’t seen since around Big Bear! Apparently he did the entire Sierra! Ketchup rolled in as Oujin and I caught up in his high energy but broken English. Minnie Mouse took pictures of everyone for her blog or diary, which isn’t too uncommon. Oujin took a selfie of all of us.
I ended up taking a bit of a nap after eating. Probably 45 minutes or so. Ketchup took off and I followed later, passing her about 15 minutes in.
There was this blaze that had been somehow partway swallowed by the tree.
I passed another trail junction sign.
And the burrow of some animal.
The trail had a section where it was dug out really nicely, underneath all the organic material and topsoil, to the mineral layer at the base.
It can be rare to find trail that fully cut out.
I passed by a meadow with some sort of interesting features in the dirt.
And this trail blaze that looks like it might fall sometime soon. It’s just hanging on.
The trail stretched on until we got to the highest point in Oregon and Washington on the PCT!
When I got there, Yoga Bear and Slaphappy were just taking off. Slaphappy was kind enough to take the picture of me with the sign for me. Shortly after they left Minnie Mouse came by. After she left, Ketchup got there, all within a 10 minute period.
I sat down and had a snack; Ketchup took off.
After refueling, I headed out and had some great cell service with a mountain view. I met Iron there and hung out with him and Minnie Mouse for a few.
Leaving there, I descended back into forest and saw a new mushroom for me! A West Coast Reishi! They’re not a mushroom for cuisine, rather they’re used in a lot of Oriental medicine. They’re highly sought after by some crowds, but I was just excited to see one!
I was really running out of steam at this point and was struggling. The mosquitoes were swarming to the point where I couldn’t stop for water. I ended up quickly throwing my pack down, grabbing a bottle of picaridin, and spraying it on me. It took the edge off the bugs so I could focus on hiking through the struggle. I’m afraid that’s going to be a theme of Oregon.
I like to focus on little point of happiness when I struggle, like this fungus. And this blaze let me know I was on the right path.
I passed a viewpoint with a lake and the moon rising over it.
And the sun started to really go down. I love the beams of orange light coming through trees. The colors just delight me and the light emphasizes all the textures I love.
Finally I got to camp. Ketchup was there and set up. She let me know she wasn’t coming out of her tent because it was getting swarmed by mosquitoes.
I reapplied picaridin, set up my tent, made dinner, and then fell asleep so terribly quickly.