Month: September 2020

August the 18th I slept in. I was at the luxurious Timberline lodge sleeping. On a Cloud of feathers or at least a mattress stuffed with them. I was warmly snuggled under the feather duvet with a cool mountain breeze coming down from Mount Hood that stood outside the open window next to my bed. It was not a morning to be in any particular hurry but my nature also doesn’t allow me to lie in after sunrise. Still my being in bed past 6 am was wonderful as I forced myself up and began to organize my resupply from my box. Uphill was having issues with his foot and had figured out it was from his shoes so he was trying to find a way to get new ones. We made our way downstairs where we hoped for the free coffee that had been rumored but saw no sign of it so we headed across the parking lot to the day use building and found the small cafe ( or at least they called it a cafe) Two brothers that we had last seen back in Bend (Dundee and Riddler for names) were there and we managed to get coffee and microwaved breakfast sandwiches. We all sat and ate and visited for a while. Then Uphill went to find his box while I returned to the room and finished packing. We were getting ready to make the last push out of Oregon into Washington. As I packed Uphill returned to the room and packed then set about looking for shoe it took a while and several phone calls but he eventually manage to get a pair of Altra Olympuses ordered to Cascade Lockes Oregon with one day shipping. It was the last town in Oregon and the trail would take us straight into town in another 50 miles or so. With a plan in store and a great desire to make into a new state we left theLodge behind a little after 11am and resumed our hike around the magnificent Mount Hood.

August the 15th I awoke at 2033.2 in my tent sandwiched in between a log and some bushes. I crawled out of my tent packed my gear and hiked out to see what the day would bring. And soon after it brought blue skies and sunshine. It was a gorgeous day and warming quickly I was enjoying the hike even with the frequent burned zones I was having to walk through. We climbed up and passed by Rockpile mountain. As the burns grew worse, the deadfalls multiplied. Fallen trees were everywhere every few feet it seemed like I was crawling over a log. The day had grown hot and there was no shade. I was growing weary as I reached the final climb of the afternoon I was feeling worn out and ready to camp. I could see Mount Jefferson looming in the distance and I reached White water creek where the water flowed straight from its glaciers. The water was milky white but tasted great after I filtered it to get the sediment out. I set up camp in the large camping area next to the creek and relaxed. Several dayhikers rolled in and set up on the other side of some trees and Uphill came in and camped near me. Around 9 that night more hikers came in and for some reason 1 lady set up not 3 feet away from my tent where I was trying to sleep it wasn’t even a flat camping spot and there was plenty of room but she squeezed in between me and the trees on the slope and made camp. After she finally settled in I got to sleep knowing she was going to hate it when I got up at 4 the next morning. 

Oh zero days how I love them at least in theory, it’s a day to just exist, to be, to not put miles on my swollen ankles and creaky knees. But in reality it’s usually a day of chores. I had managed to fit in a lot the day before when I hiked 20 plus miles thru mountainous forest and wobbled, crawled, semi dexterously leapt through the blowdown obstacle course (losing half my pants in the process) before hiking off the trail getting a ride to town, buying new clothes going to the doctor (all managed by walking all over the city on foot) figuring out how to fill a prescription and how to get Taco Bell delivered and eating like 5 times from different places so yea it had been a busy day but now on the 12th I awoke in my beautiful bed at the rainbow motel and I laid there. yup I awoke and I just laid there it was phenomenal I gotta do this more often I thought to myself what a concept to not wake up, pee, deflate matress, stuff everything I own in a bag throw it on my back and start climbing a mountain “is this how the other half live?” I wondered aloud: from the bed next to mine I heard “are you talking to yourself, Wallace?” “Yup” I cheerfully replied. “Ok” Uphill was getting used to my weird.