Day 119

Trail miles: 23.6

Total: 1815.6

The mosquitoes were bad enough that I immediately put on my rain clothes and bug net and kept it on for the first like 10 miles. It was so hot in the suit that all of my clothes were drenched in sweat. I had to take it off once we began the waterless section. I couldn’t lose unnecessary water. Oh I almost forgot to mention the bear! No pictures unfortunately, probably because of how shocked I was. I saw it run behind some trees. When I sidestepped to bring the bear into view, he was staring right at me! Then the bear turned around and ran down the hill. So cute. It really brightened my spirits. Wish I would have gotten a picture! It had the perfect pose for one. 

The spring toward the end of the day was concerning. The comments said that not only was it a long walk, but it was difficult to follow and steep. One comment said there was a pond not too far from the trail if you head NNW 345 degrees. Surprisingly I was able to follow it and there was a Lilly pad pond just over the hill. The water was warm and brown, but I needed it. I had to walk on a log out to the center just to get to a spot that was deep enough to take from without getting my shoes all mucky. I barely saw anyone all day. I could have kept my flipper in its case and no one would have noticed. I think I saw more southbounders than northbounders. After my lunch break I entered a burn area that was very exposed. And just while we are going through a heat wave across the world. I was thankful when it started to rain! I haven’t seen rain in a while. Lucky it came to cool me off for my last uphill climb before camp. I decided not to push 30+ miles to camp. Maybe I should have since it seems like everyone else did. Maybe I could have planned better to make it more miles last night to the lakes to set me up better for today. Short walk into town tomorrow, maybe 6 miles.

118

Trail miles: 24.8

Total: 1792

I had to run out of my tent this morning with my baby wipes in hand. If you are going to poo before digging a cat hole, make sure the ground is soft enough to dig. Sorry to the poor animal that owned the hole I shoved my poop into. Needless to say I needed more pepto bismol. I hiked 6 miles to the creek where I dipped my feet in for a nice ice bath. I also made a breakfast essentials coffee with a Honey Bun. Made for a nice start to my day. I got up the 4 mile hill where I met a section hiker who is hiking the whole state of Oregon with his son. He hikes the same pace as me so it was easy to walk behind him and talk for a mile or so. I sat down for lunch around 15 miles. I couldn’t find a flat spot so I just settled for some shade. I should have been more patient because there were better spots not even 20 steps further. I kept leap frogging a group of horses and their riders today. Oh and one adventure dog that would follow beside the horses. They were very nice to me and kept saying encouraging things. There were a lot of downed trees today, so it made it more difficult for them to get around them all. I once saw them using a hand saw to remove one. One rider just got off the horse and had the horse jump the log. Pretty cool. At the spring, I got news that my so called tramily did not wait for me. I’m not surprised. I did cry in front of everyone at the spring though. I think everyone on trail has seen me cry now. I made it to camp after one stop to give my feet a break. The mosquitoes got pretty bad here and there that I was smacking my shoulders and legs to try and kill them. But they are very manageable at camp.

Day 117

Trail miles: 24.5

Total: 1767.2

I slept in a little later than I wanted to (4:40am) because I was so tired from getting in late last night. At least I had a great sleep now that I have my blow up sleeping pad again. Bad news is though my hip bruise from the hip belt on my pack swelled up overnight. I added my sleeping pad under my hip belt today as an added layer of cushion to help. It did go away after I took some meds. Another slow day of hiking. It’s just Groundhog Day at this point. Not many views so far in Oregon. I made it to lunch with the girls, but they always leave so quickly when I am done eating that I feel like I don’t get enough rest. So I barely made it 3 miles when I had to stop again. My feet are back to being in pain after just a couple miles of walking. I am dry camping alone tonight (with other thru hikers) because everyone else went another 6 miles to the next water source, making it a 31 mile day for them. No way I was feeling up for that today. They say they will wait for me tomorrow at the lake.

Day 116

Trail miles: 23.5

Total: 1742.7

You know it’s ironic that the entire time I’ve been in Oregon, I’ve had dysentery. Not good when you are sharing one bathroom with 5 people. I really considered staying another night for it but I would have made any excuse to stay another day in that town. We made it to continental breakfast before Lifeguard picked me up and took me to grab pepto bismol before trail. I think it kicked in pretty quickly. The morning went ok even thought I felt like I was moving in slow motion. My new pack feels heavier somehow. And it kept pinching my left hip. I didn’t make it to the campground we were sleeping at until around 8:00pm. I felt pretty sad in the afternoon. I’m just plain tired of hiking. I was crying again by the time I figured out where the PCT section of the campground was. I had to make it here though because there’s not a lot of water anymore, and there was a potable water pump. The campground was loud for a while with kids running around screaming. But I was able to drown it out with my podcast. We did end up making a full day out of today even with the late start. Not that I care anymore.

Day 115

Trail miles: 0

Total: 1717.7

Nothing like waking up and being stressed because everyone is feeling productive bright and early. I was the last out the door for breakfast. Then everyone came back and immediately dove in to packing their resupply boxes for Shelter Cove and Crater Lakes. There was no room in that hotel room for me to think and I do what I do best and avoided all of it by watching Tik Toks in bed. I figured I would wait until they all left so I could have the room to myself. It made me feel better when they left and I actually became productive. One of the boxes is being sent through USPS like usual, but Shelter Cove only accepts UPS or FedEx. I thought we might have to take the bus, but luckily there was one in town, and the worker there was very familiar with the hiker box process. Maybe UPS is the way to go from now on. We were hungry as always so I got some Nashville hot wings and a rum cocktail. The wings were really good! I finished my resupply and dropped the package to Cascade Locks off at the post office along with a package to home filled with my Gossamer Gear bag and my accordion style sleeping pad. I’m so excited to get a better night sleep on my thermarest. Hopefully these hip bruises go away now. Since all my chores were officially done, it was pool time! The hot tub was actually nice to dip my legs in for a while even though it was 90 degrees out. I stayed there for almost 2 hours. After a shower, I walked around town. Ashland is such a cool small town. Lots of shops and restaurants. Lifeguard and Alex are going to the park tonight where they are putting on Shakespeare plays. Raechel, Krista, and Brad are out watching street performers. I bought more stickers. I would have gotten more clothes, but the post offices were closed for the day. I’ll just have to come back! I grabbed pizza and headed back to the hotel room where I have Dr Pepper to drink it with. The TV sucks so I played Only Murders in the Building on my phone. Just vegging for the night as my mom would say.

Day 114

 Trail miles: 0

Total: 1717.7

I felt like being productive this morning so I started baking the almond pastries and washed my pot. I figured it would be easier to wash them at the BnB rather than the hotel. When I tried to pack my gear in the new bag, I started panicking like I usually do. It feels smaller than what I have and I haven’t even tried packing my food yet. I tried to forget my worries until I got my food. Rachel’s friends came at 9:00am to take Krista and Raechel to breakfast. I got a hitch from them to the AT&T store where I was easily able to upgrade my iPhone! While the phone was turning on, I ran to Dutch Bros to grab a coffee. I ended up running across 4 lanes of highway traffic to get back because I didn’t want to go back to the crosswalk. It was a very hot walk over to Walmart, but at least it was short. I feel like I know how to resupply now that I just go through the aisles without looking at my list. Then when my cart was full, I would decrease the numbers of my checklist. I still need some more tomorrow but at least I can walk to the stores here. Brad and I took the bus back and I’m glad he was there because I had no idea how to get back. We had to take two buses so Brad got us transfer tickets. I guess it probably took less than an hour to get to the hotel. Krista called the hotel so we could get a check in without her there. The rooms beds are huge! Gives me more space in the bed now that Brad finally decided to not sleep on the floor. Although later he did take up 2/3 of the bed for his resupply picture. I got two packages from my mom and one was completely filled with cookies and banana bread! Thank you mom! At the lunch restaurant, I ordered a cubano and a huckleberry cider, which I’ve probably never ordered before. It was so good! Kiersten would be proud! And jealous of course. Then Brad and I bounced around town looking through the shops. We came across a cool shop called Paddington Station. They had all types of shirts and Pendleton merchandise! Maybe I’ll buy a blanket as a reward if I finish. By this time, Raechel and Krista’s friends were back so we met them at the smoothie store. I didn’t get any food for dinner because I was too full still and was saving room for dessert. Lifeguard, Lifeguards mom, and Alex joined us so we had a big table! When we got back Krista and Raechel repackages a lot of their food for resupply while I showered and went right to bed.

Day 113

Trail miles: 13.8

Side trail miles: 0.7

Total: 1717.7

Miles to Medford: 24

The only head start I got today was making it to the top of the two mile hill before everyone caught up. That’s ok because the rest was mostly downhill. I had to dig two cat holes that morning, so probably the aftermath of the stomach pains I felt yesterday. I was talking to my mom on the phone (as I do sometimes when I have service on the long downhills) and I hear Brad calling out to get my attention from behind. I turn around and he is asking for a tampon for Raechel. He’s apparently become our runner for when we need help. I luckily had what she needed so it all worked out. But she was still feeling crampy the rest of the day. I thought maybe it hurts worse because of all the sugar we eat on trail. After 15 miserable miles, we found ourselves at highway 99. A car pulled over and it turned out to be Lifeguard’s mom! She said she saw backpacks coming out of the woods and hoped it would be us. We stopped at Callaghan’s lodge to drop off Brad and check it out, but it wasn’t much mostly because the restaurant looked to be closed. We hit chipotle on the way back to the BnB to eat while we were doing laundry. The shower felt so good as always. And soon we were making our way back to town to go to the REI, Trader Joe’s, and sushi restaurant. At REI, I tried on a bunch of new bags and found one I think will work for me: the Osprey Ariel 65. The good thing about REI is that I can return it within a year if I don’t like it. I also picked up a new shirt since mine is ripping where my pack sits on it. The sushi was alright, the dumplings were better. We Ubered home with some goodies from Trader Joe’s and now I’m sleeping on the couch in the family room for the night.

Day 112

Trail miles: 24.6

Total: 1703.9

Today I felt particularly proud of myself. It was for a different reason than climbing up a big hill or doing big miles. I left camp and made it 5 miles in before I got stomach pains. I felt a sharp pain in the center of my stomach, below my ribs. I ended up having to lay down they were so bad. The rest of the crew caught up with me and ate breakfast, but soon moved on. I tried to get up and I maybe made it a half mile before I laid down again. I repeated this for a couple miles until I got to the spring. I figured, at least I had water if I had to stay here for a while. I got a text from Raechel saying they would wait for me at the Oregon border and to take a nap if I could. Brad was going to come help. I told her that wasn’t necessary, but Brad is too nice and loves extra miles, so when I tried to get up again, he was right around the corner. I had taken 6 Motrin by this point and I think it finally kicked in because I was able to walk with Brad to the border which was 4 miles away. After pictures and lunch, the boys ran off as they do and the girlies stayed together. We ate dinner around 6:00pm right after the 1700 mile marker. It was hard to find a flat spot on the ridge, but I was able to find a nice big flat rock to cook and sit on. Then we had 4 miles left to camp. After having such a terrible start to the day, I was still able to make the miles that we planned for. Maybe the motivation was town day tomorrow or that I had no food left. Either way, I was really happy that I still got to camp around 8:00pm. Now I get to look forward to a nero and 2 zeros!