August 1

Distance: 25.0 miles | Ascent: 6050′ | Descent: 4280′

Mile marker: 545.3*

Lunch: J – Thanksgiving (B+), A – jambalaya (A)

Dinner: J – spicy mac (B-), A – Thanksgiving (A)

We were told that Oregon is flat. That we’d cruise for miles and miles without tire or wear. Yet, today was our largest ascent since we started keeping track.

The day started with a 2900′ ascent over five miles. Tough but doable. The trail deceived us. 1700′ of that ascent was over the last two miles. It was super humid and we were drenched by the end. At least the early start meant it was somewhat cool.

Since we were on the alternate route, we rejoined the PCT proper at the top and rested. We looked at the map and saw our next two water sources were 4.1 and 8.9 miles away.  We aimed for the second to have our lunch, but the heat and humidity of the sun burning off the clouds and fog had us do an early lunch (measured in trail miles). The various climbs, exposure, and pockets of humidity caused fluctuating dry/wet cycles for our clothes. We did a good bit of bobbing up and over and glancing left and right of a ridge that offered ever-increasingly large views of Mt. Hood.

We stopped for lunch at a windy campsite and met two hikers going northbound who told us more about the amenities at Timberline Lodge: showers. Cold shower, but still shower. After the day we had, it was intriguing.

Once we got going again, we started running into a bunch of day hikers and weekend backpackers. After 22 miles, we rested for a bit and Jason foolishly asked someone if there was a trailhead nearby since we were seeing so many people. She informed us there was one about 60′ from where we were sitting. This trip has been good for us to break out of our little shy shells and talk to more people unprompted, but that interaction will set us back a little.

We decided to follow another alternate route to camp near a waterfall. Aware of how popular the trail was becoming and that waterfalls are an attractive place to camp, we set out to find a spot, any spot, in the next 5ish miles. We found a great spot all to ourselves. It had a super cool pink cliff and direct access to the creek. We heard pikas chirping at us from the rocks.

Tomorrow is our resupply at Timberline Lodge. We made reservations for the lunch buffet. We plan to beeline to the lodge in time for a quick shower and an all you can eat spread.