Day 83 – 36.5 km – Thursday 18.07.2024
Even today I wake up in front of the alarm clock at 6 a.m., but I stay up at 7 a.m. and enjoy the soft bed.
Then I get up and have a coffee because breakfast is only available from 8 a.m. I’ll be in the breakfast room at 8 sharp and really hit it. The selection is manageable, but in addition to muffins and beagles, you can also make your own waffles with maple syrup, which I take advantage of. I sit here for almost an hour and make waffles and drink orange juice and coffee.
Then I pack my things and walk 5 minutes to another hotel, from where a Trailangel wants to get me back to the PCT. Together with the two hikers ‘One Town’ and ‘Sinombre’, it’s off to the highway back to the trail. Leave there and the driver and we exchange about 15 minutes, since a lot has happened again since our last meeting.
After that we start around 11 a.m. Even though I’ve been told more often that Oregon is very flat, it’s going uphill for a while. For a long time I’ve been out and about in the forest and in between there are also vacancies, from where I can take another look at Mount Shasta, which, however, disappears a bit in the smoke from the surrounding fires.
Later it keeps going up and down and relatively little happens. During my lunch break, I have to do an emergency operation for a moment, as I have a small bladder on the heel of the new shoes, which quite affects me when hiking. Shortly it is opened and then taped off, which is not entirely sterilely feasible. After that, running is easier for me again and I can go on faster.
In between I meet again, who also traveled directly from Shasta to Ashland and thus caught up with me. So I’ll probably be more likely in the next few days that I’ll meet people I’ve actually taken down a bit, but that bothers me less because it’s always great to see familiar faces.
In the afternoon, relatively little else happens and I keep walking around the area. On an old dam, which already has a few holes, I fill up my water to walk another 5 km.
At first I thought about camping here, but then I decided to go on to go on, which is supposed to have been a good decision. Because a little later I see a sign with Trail Magic. Unfortunately, people aren’t there right now and so I only drink soda, even if the food looks very tasty.
I continue walking through the forest and just before the camp where I want to stay tonight, I meet a woman in the golf caddy who apparently delivers a burger to a hiker. She takes me the last 200 meters and asks me if I want to eat something because she could bring it to me. At the campsite, I sat down with other hikers and entertainers while waiting for my dinner to be delivered to me. Around half past 10 a.m. a man actually comes and brings me a delicious cheeseburger and a hot dog. So together with ‘Double Dinner’, who arrived shortly before, I still have a delicious dinner. For the extremely nice Trail Angels we take a group picture and then we go to sleep again, to be rested tomorrow.
Day 84 – 52.1 km – Friday 19.07.2024
When I get up today, all the tents are gone again. The last thing I pack is and walk briefly to a commercial camp where I can top up my water.
On the way back I meet a hiker who I had a conversation with just before the border of California and Oregon. Unfortunately, she was a little slower than me and had to turn around half a mile from the border because the fire had already come too close to the trail. I realize again what luck I was able to cross the border on foot.
In the morning I actually go through the forest quite unspectacularly the whole time. Little happens and knowing that there is about 15 miles of trail magic, I walk around pretty quickly.
In between I get a short view of the surroundings, but otherwise it’s pretty monotonous green.
Around 1 p.m. I reach a parking lot on a street and meet a whole group of hikers, who all have a delicious meal. Here, too, volunteers served a lot and there are burgers, hot dogs, beer, soda and a delicious iced coffee again, which I was particularly looking forward to. As one of the men tells me, he roasts the coffee himself and has a small company that is said to be doing pretty well. Although people are doing this for the first time, they really thought of everything and like me, some other hikers here also spend a long time here.
In the late afternoon, however, I set off again because I would like to do a few more miles. I walk to a water point and fill up my reserves. Then continue through the forest.
Only towards evening does the landscape change a bit and I’m increasingly on the road on lava rock. Even if the trail looks pretty interesting, it’s less pleasant for the feet.
For a long time, it’s downhill over the scree and I’m glad when I meet a road with a river that means the end of the lava rock for me.
Here I fill up my water again and then climb a few more miles up a mountain. Shortly after half past seven, I set up my tent in the forest, quickly cook a mashed potato and then go to sleep straight away.
Day 85 – 47.3 km – Saturday 20.07.2024
In the morning I relax my oats and then start walking quickly. Even today I’ve been out and about in the forest for a long time and have to climb over fallen trees again and again.
In the morning sun, the forest looks very nice, which is also due to the fact that some smoke is hanging in the trees, which is illuminated by the sun.
With an unobstructed view of the distance, I can clearly see the smoke that suggests the numerous forest fires here in the area. Although I’m far from the fire, the smoke is noticeable up to here. Partial whites go through several hundred miles and can get pretty uncomfortable. Luckily it’s still good here and I keep walking through the forest.
Shortly before noon, it’s slowly going uphill. Since the climb in the hot midday sun is very exhausting, after all we have almost 37 degrees again, I’m taking a lunch break in a shady place and recovering from the climb.
After that it goes downhill for a long time. Partly white I walk along the slope and can examine the forest that has been burned down miles. Unfortunately, for me, too, it goes through burned trees, which means that I am directly exposed to the sun.
After another climb, it goes downhill on the other side of the mountain. To my surprise, I actually find a few smaller snow fields there, but luckily I don’t have to cross them. After all, there is still enough water in the area and I can drink enough liquid.
In between, I find out from a hiker that an alternative route around the next fire is apparently no longer used and that instead of being driven around in the car, which doesn’t exactly please me. This bad news puts a lot of pressure on the mood for both me and the other people. I then trotted further through the forest, a little in a bad mood.
At the last flowing water for the next 20 miles, I fill up my tanks and then head to the last section of the day in the evening. After another hour I sat on a stone along the way and have dinner before I set off again.
The path leads me through the forest for a long time, although in the evening I am annoyed by some mosquitoes and therefore quickly walk around the area with my mosquito net on my head. Unfortunately, I still don’t really get them off, which is very annoying. When I don’t feel like it anymore after almost 30 miles, I turn off in a free space in the forest and set up my tent there. I’m still writing a diary and then I go to sleep at half past nine.
Day 86 – 25.6 km – Sunday 21.07.2024
Today I get up at 5:30 a.m. and pack everything up as I want to be in Crater Lake for lunch. After a quick breakfast, I quickly start walking.
In the morning, most of the time goes through the forest. Initially still in beautiful green and later again increased through burned-up surfaces.
Unfortunately, I often have to climb over upturned trees again today, which is quite annoying. At least it’s relatively cool and I’m making good progress. On a hill I take a short break after 7 miles and then it goes more or less downhill for the remaining kilometers.
I arrive at the national park at 12 noon. In the restaurant I meet other hikers and have lunch with them. The topic of conversation is once again a fire that burns a few miles from here and requires a bypass. The PCT was closed on the section from Mile 1849.5 to Mile 1879.9. According to local people, the area is quite covered in smoke and bypassing over a highway is strongly discouraged. So there will probably be another little drive for me, with which I probably have to skip to Shelter Cove.
Later I sit down with ‘One Town’, ‘Sinombre’ and ‘Double Dinner’. Unfortunately, ‘Double Dinner’ will end or interrupt his PCT here. He will go on vacation with his family for the next few weeks and thus leaves us on our way together. But he might want to go back and walk on. We say goodbye for a moment and then unfortunately there is another hiker on the trail less. Some people have already stopped. While at the beginning it was mainly canceled due to injuries or accidents, other reasons have also increased in recent weeks. Some couldn’t cope with the heat wave, others annoy the more common fires and others seem to have caught the so feared Northern California blues. Unfortunately, some people I hiked with are now out for various reasons, so the field is gradually clearing, even though I’m out and about with a lot of people at the moment. Many have skipped the fires over a large area and sometimes even the whole of northern California was skipped. As a result, a lot of people that I had actually left off for a long time have caught up with me. Let’s see how it develops in the next few weeks, as the number of fires further up north doesn’t exactly get fewer.
After drinking enough soda, we continue to the campsite’s shop to pick up packages there. I also sent myself a package this time, but unfortunately it didn’t arrive here. Stupidly, I sent via USPS instead of UPS and so it ended up somewhere else. Apparently I could pick it up at the park ranger station at 10 a.m. tomorrow. But since I already wanted to be a few miles further at that time and I only need food for a day due to the blocking, I prefer to use a hiker box in the backpacker area. There is plenty of food from other hikers who received their box but sent far too much food due to the lockdown. So I get a dinner and a bit of food for tomorrow’s hiking day together.
Then I take a shower and wash my clothes, which need it just as much as I do.
Later I sit with other hikers for a while and let my clothes dry in the evening sun. We have dinner together and drink a beer or two together. Around half past nine, everyone disappears into their tent and it goes to sleep.
Day 87 – 38.6 km – Monday 22.07.2024
At 6 a.m. I pack everything up quietly and start walking straight away. Many tents are still on the campsite and I hardly see people walking around. I first follow the road to the back and then it goes straight uphill for a long time.
I get back to the PCT via a small path. Here, too, it is uphill for a long time through the forest. Today I feel really good and rested. Apparently half the day’s break has done me for.
After a little over an hour, I finally reach the upper part of the crater from where I can look at Crater Lake.
I follow the Rim Trail, which takes me further north over the edge of the crater. Again and again I get a beautiful view of the lake, which was formed by a volcanic eruption and is the deepest lake in the USA.
I climb a few more meters up to a vantage point. From the top I have a good view of the whole lake, even if it is a bit clouded by the smoke of the fires in the area.
Here is a panoramic view:
After a short snack break, I descend back to the trail and walk a few more miles along the crater before the path finally turns off and leads me further away from the lake.
The path is very easy to walk today and so I’m making good progress, even if the area is a bit more unspectacular later.
Shortly after 3 p.m. I reach a road after 38 km. From here I have to continue with the car to avoid a fire in front of me. Together with three other hikers, we will soon be driving to the next village. We have to change there.
As we are waiting for an answer from Trail Angels, ‘Sinnombre’, ‘One Town’ and I still eat a sandwich in the subway. Just as we were about to set off to hitchhike, a Trail Angel reports that we can take us to Shelter Cove. In the end, he drives a total of 6 hikers through the area and at 7 a.m. we arrive at the campsite at a lake. Unfortunately, the shop has already closed and since I have sent myself a food package here, I will probably have to wait for tomorrow.
But many are like me and in the HikerBox I find something for dinner. I sit with some familiar faces for a long time before we all go back to sleep around 9 p.m. Since the shop won’t open until 8 a.m., I might be able to sleep a little longer tomorrow.
Overview
Here is the overview map:
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