Lava Rocks and Underwear

Oh but soon it was time to get busy. First was breakfast easy enough right? Well u would think but breakfast is weird in Oregon apparently people don’t get up in the mornings and it’s hard to find places open before 10. The fast food places are all locked up and only serving thru the drive thrus and well I don’t have anything to drive. So we walked downtown we had to go to the local sporting goods store and it was somewhere in that direction as well. We walked around a while and found a coffee shop that sold us well coffee which was awesome and we wandered on but the cafe google maps led us to wasn’t there at all so we wandered some more and found a bakery and got delicious homemade croissants with fruit filling that paired well with our coffee and our roaming ways. We eventually found Mountain Supply Bend and walked in a big circle around the surrounding blocks until it opened at 10 and then sock time!!! Ok y’all I think I’ve gone over this before but the Darn Tough Sock exchange is the greatest thing on earth (ok 1 of Them I mean there’s also mountains trees and rocks that are pretty great ) but I mean I washed them. So they were clean but still I carried two pair of holey socks I had hiked hundreds of miles in into that store and laid them on the counter. The worker grinned and said this way. He took me to a wall of fresh clean brand new socks grabbed two pair asked “same ones?” “YES” I happily replied always surprised this actually works no matter how many times I do it: and he handed me two brand new pairs! that’s it no paperwork or anything old socks go in new socks come out FREAKIN AMAZIN! Ok so yea I love socks clean soft dry socks! 

Since I traded my socks in there, I bought a couple of meals including a suspicious looking organic vegan free range freeze dried meal in a brown bag. The workers assured me it was made locally and absolutely delicious: it was some sort of mushroom pasta. I have an addiction to trying new things so I got one. Uphill needed fuel for his stove (my jetboil is bulky and somewhat heavy but his superlight stove uses like 5 times more fuel.) the store was out of fuel: crap that meant we had to walk all the way back over to REI. So we did and he got fuel and we walked all the way back to our room. I walked across to Walgreens and bought birthday gift cards for nieces and nephews and my Dad and we walked back downtown and I mailed them and Uphill picked up boxes so he could buy food and mail it to the remote resupply stops in Washington. (My Dad mails mine from Tennessee) Then we tried to eat pizza but they were only selling it to go and we didn’t want to carry it so we just went back to the room. We relaxed for a bit and then had to go to the Safeway for groceries. I only needed a few days worth so it didn’t take me long. Uphill bought enough food to literally walk across the whole state of Washington with. I swore I wasn’t leaving my room again once I made it back but I still had to type out my blog. ( as you’ve noticed I’m perpetually behind) Uphill packed up boxes and ordered an Uber to take him back to the post office and mail them out to distant towns we would eventually reach on foot. Whew chores finally done and dozens of town miles walked it was finally time to chill! Well and type. We ordered pizza delivered and I did leave the room again to walk to Walgreens for drinks but it was almost straight across the street. We relaxed and ate and typed and read and slept at the end of a busy day off.

The 13th came with a need to get back on trail but also a need for breakfast. We walked the other way and actually found a diner that let us in and served us French toast and pancakes and coffee. Back to the room and everything packed we realized we were in the middle of a fairly large city and there was no practical way to hitch out from downtown. Sighing I ordered a LYFT that would take us all the way back to the trail for a 60 dollar fee plus tip. My credit card groaned under the weight but it accepted it and  a lady in a big suv picked us up right at the door. The driver really wanted to talk and that’s usually what I keep Uphill around for but he was talking on the phone with family so I did my best tho with my bad hearing I could only catch every 4th or 5 th word but I nodded and grunted occasionally and she kept talking until Uphill finished with his conversation and took over driver passenger interactions and I happily sat back in my seat and relaxed.

It was a 30ish minute drive but we arrived at the trailhead and shouldered our gear. The mile and a half side trail took us back home to the PCT where we belonged. We hit the trail 1952.6 

and we climbed because we always climb. Another burned area for awhile and then trees and forests meadows. Sisters mirror Lake went by in the warm afternoon. The three sisters (seriously awesome mountains) watched us from the distance. We hit the obsidian limited entry area which we were allowed to enter with our permits but were explicitly forbidden to go to the waterfall which we assumed was down a long side trail so we weren’t going to it anyway. The obsidian was cool as it sparkled in the sunlight black as coal and glistening. We heard the water and realized the waterfall we weren’t allowed to visit was only 100 yards off trail and plainly visible but to walk that 100 yards legally we’d have to apply for a whole different permit so we laughed and took pics of the cool water rushing over the sparkling black rock face from our trail and hiked on. We passed ponds and glacier fed  creeks and marveled at the rocks glad to be wild and free; our knees and ankles, stomachs and backs had enjoyed their day in the city without the heavy packs but our spirits craved these high mountain meadows and forests. We hiked on making it through the limited entry area where camping wasn’t allowed and turned off trail right after the sign making our way deep into the trees to a clear camping spot. The old growth mammoths of the forest ringed our tents their fallen brethren and a couple of boulders furnished our sitting room and we ate and slept in our forest home. 1957.6 A 21 mile day. 

And long before dawn on the 14th of August I was up and at it again. I climbed the steep hill and found the trail by my headlamps beam and was off to see the sunrise on a brand new day in a brand new place. I was excited because that morning I would reach halfway: well my halfway. And also volcanos were freakin everywhere. I was entering lava fields with all sorts of weird formations strange rocks jutted and twisted and twirled back on themselves. The sun woke up creating a ball of fire rising out of the volcanic wastes it was breathtaking and My pace slowed to a crawl as I took pictures and stared in wonder at my surroundings. The power of nature had laid waste to the forests of old long ago and created this strange mesmerizing landscape covered in rocks and lava dust and here right here I hit PCT Mile 1978.5 which was mile 1326.5 for me HALFWAY. I had been walking for 2 months and 5 days and I was finally halfway done with the PCT. I sat down leaned against a lava rock and ate a fruit pie. Taking it all in. On these long distance trails a lot of people lose heart and quit at the halfway mark because they realize, finally really realize how long they’ve been out there and that they have to walk that same distance all over again. Carrying a pack over mountains for two months straight is daunting and it was a bit crazy to think I was just halfway there but I wasn’t disheartened I wasn’t really anything I was just at peace sitting in a lava field eating a pie. 

But I still had miles to go and so I made the number 1326.5 out of lava rocks and took a pic and posted it to Instagram and I hiked on and ok so the lava fields are beautiful but then the trail turned straight into piles and piles of just plain freakin lava rocks like the whole world became just loose piles of rocks of all shapes and sizes. I could see mountains well volcanos in the distance but all else was just rocks, ankle twisting hard to walk on rocks, for as far as I could see. I followed the trail as best as I could slowly picking my way through. I also had a whole new problem the super expensive underwear I had bought at REI had turned into torture devices with every step they were wadding up in my pants ( my new also super expensive pants which I was actually loving) but the underwear were absolutely horrendous what were they doing trying to crawl up and escape??? Ok so this was my only pair and something must be done! I checked my maps AHHA 20 something miles away was a highway and a little ways down that highway was Sisters Oregon and I was betting they had a store that sold Underwear. So I had a plan but I still had to cross the lava rocks and make it over 20 miles with the evilest undergarments known to man trying to destroy me. What a life. 

I crossed the rocks and I could see a road I needed to cross just a few hundred yards away and was looking forward to a break but the trail turned left and up away from the road: whatever soul laid out that trail really really liked walking on lava rock the trail twisted and turned and wiggled for another half mile or more all in sight of the road and a weird lava castle? That was built there on the hill; before finally unceremoniously dumping me out on the tarmac. Where was the weird castle thing? I had seen it only a few minutes before. I looked right and the road went up and disappeared around the bend. I sighed adjusted the evil underwear the best I could and set off up the highway to look for a lava tower. About a quarter mile away I found it looking like a lost piece of Dracula’s castle what I soon discovered was called the Dee Wright observatory. It really was built out of lava rock in 1935 : somewhere around the middle of 65 square miles of lava rocks. From it you see the Sisters (3 huge mountains) and Mount Washington and loads and loads of other mountains. On north sister lies Collier the largest glacier in Oregon. So strange lava rock tower, spectacular views , miles of brutal rock hiking, halfway point, murderous underwear, and it was still morning. I climbed all the way up the tower of course and saw the cool dial that pointed out mountains. Then went inside and it had holes in the walls that lined up with each peak that had the peaks name over it. It was super cool but as always the miles called to be walked so I didn’t stay long and was soon back on trail. 

I was on dirt for a minute and things were looking up but then just around a curve the trail veered sharply right straight back into the rocks and up. For miles it meandered all about trying to ensure not a lava rock was missed as it crisscrossed the field in the completely wrong direction from where the trail was supposed to go. I made time as best I could and finally reached the other side only to turn back and skirt the edge across to where the trail went back north. If the trail had led straight from the road to here only a short distance rock hike would have been necessary but a fully immersive lava rock experience was fun too. From there it was up, with views of Majestic Mount Washington as I hiked through the scrub. I stopped for lunch and took a short alternate to Big Lake Youth camp where there was a water spigot and I drank  and filled my bottles as I had run out miles before. As I walked out I saw a guy heading south and gave him directions to the faucet on the outskirts of camp. From there I made it back to the trail and walked a further few miles to the highway. Uphill was nowhere in sight so I walked across and climbed up to the water cache to see if he was there but he wasn’t so I talked to another thruhiker for a bit and then turned back towards the highway I saw a car pulled over and a lady talking to Uphill. Had he already found us a ride? I ran down the hill so as not to miss it and dodged crazy traffic to cross the highway to discover… cookies? The lady was definitely not willing to give us a ride to town but she had stopped to make sure we had water and to give us homemade cookies¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well I’m always game for cookies. She also wanted to talk which was fine except we couldn’t hitch with her there so I let Uphill talk and I sat in the shade and ate all the cookies. He didn’t want to eat strange roadside cookies so more for me. yes, I briefly wondered if they were poisoned by an evil cookie lady driving around committing murder by baked goods but hey gotta go sometime might as well be while eating cookies right? Eventually she left and We stuck out our thumbs and before long a completely stuffed to the brim car pulled over with a young couple and their dog and loads and loads of gear. They somehow made room and stuffed us and our packs in there to. They were former PCT thruhikers and happy to give us a ride on their way east looking for more adventures. Soon we were in Sisters Oregon enjoying milkshakes and I was on a quest to rid myself of Satan’s underpants. Sisters was a tiny town so my options were limited I tried the outfitter but got no love as they didn’t consider underwear important outdoor gear. How very very wrong they were. I walked around hoping to spot a shop and saw a small store called Mckenzie Creek that had clothes in the window. I hopefully went in and found a small supply of hiker clothes and there in a small box were boxer briefs; obviously they had been bought in a package at Walmart and then opened so she could sell them individually at a profit for 8 bucks a pair to desperate underwear deprived hikers but I didn’t mind a bit: I’d have paid twice that or more and the lady was super nice and from Clarksville TN not far from where I grew up. So victorious with my new boxers clutched in my fist I walked down main street to where I had left Uphill watching our gear and sipping a milkshake. We found a nearby Mexican eatery and gorged on burritos before walking towards the outskirts of town to hitch back to trail. As we crossed a roundabout not even trying to hitch yet a truck stopped in the middle of the road blocking traffic and told us to hop in so we did and he sped off carrying us the long curvy way back up the mountain to where we’d left the trail. After being dropped off we filled our water bottles at the cache and walked a mile before finding some sort of, kind of, flat spots in the bushes where we could sleep after a wonderfully strange day on the PCT.