Day 117: Over 2000 Miles!!

Date: Sun 8/12

PCT Start Mile: 1991.6

PCT End Mile: 2019.7

PCT Mileage for Day: 28.1

Total PCT Mileage: 2019.7

The Highlights: Big Lake Youth Camp, 2000 miles, climbs, and night hiking

Oh boy this morning was cold. I made a mental note that from now on, my hiking clothes and warm layers are going in my sleeping bag so they’ll be nice and warm in the morning when I change. My bag and the tent were covered in condensation again, this may be the new normal.

We had a short 3.5 mile hike this morning to the trail junction for Big Lake Youth Camp, where we took the .7 mile trail down to the Camp. We planned to make a quick stop through mostly to charge our phones/bricks, but also shower and do laundry while the devices charged.

The Youth Camp actually recently opened a brand new PCT hiker area, with our own hang-out building with plenty of chairs, outlets, a full kitchen, two bathrooms with showers, laundry, and an organized package pick up area. It was super nice. Typically if there is some special hiker area at a campground or resort, at most where is a big tent set up, so to have a whole little indoor building was super awesome.

As usual, it was also a hub of hiker friends, with many of the usual suspects who we had been leapfrogging with throughout Oregon: Megan, Huck, Hiccup, Dingo, Trash Queen, Penguin, Avatar, and several others.

Also, to our surprise, we would be able to join in for the hot breakfast at the camp.

The camp typically serves three meals a day at set times for the campers, and hikers are welcome to join (donations appreciated).

We had read in the Guthook comments before arriving, however, that there would be a staff retreat August 12-14, so no meals would be served at the camp. So, we were not expecting to be able to get a meal, but apparently breakfast was the last meal being served to the current batch of campers that would be heading home today, and we were welcome to join.

So, at 8:15am when the breakfast bell sounded, we head for the cafeteria for hot eggos, vegetarian sausage patties, and – oddly – a variety homemade ice creams. And coffee. We also got some entertainment in the form of camp songs and other shenanigans by the outgoing campers.

By 11am, having finished our charging and chores, we started back to the trail. Rainman, Pitch, and Mustang were arriving just as we were leaving – this is a common theme between our two groups. One likes to show up when the other is leaving. We chatted for a bit and then head out. We will see each other in Cascade Locks at the end of the week.

Just 5-6ish miles after leaving the camp, we passed the 2000 mile marker. TWO THOUSAND MILES!!!! If you’d have told me in the southern California desert to imagine making it to the 2000 mile mark, I wouldn’t have even been sure I could make it out of the desert with all of the foot pain I was going through at the beginning. And now here we were standing at the 2000 mile mark, only 650 miles left to go in this journey. It’s crazy. We’re doing it! We’re making it!

The rest of the day took us through the Mount Jefferson Wilderness and more significant burn areas, including a long hot six mile climb through a very exposed burn landscape. For how hot we were up the climb, we ate a late lunch at the top in some shade, and in no time at all I was freezing. Sometimes you just can’t win out here.

Wanting to get in about 25 miles after leaving the Youth Camp, we still had over 12 miles to go after lunch, which was late and short. After a less than 30 minute stop, it was just after 4:30pm when we started hiking again.

The rest of our day included a three mile descent, a three mile climb, and then about six miles of undulating terrain. Much of this continued through past burn area, up rocky climbs, and over ridges along the mountainsides with beautiful views of Mount Jefferson.

Around 8:45pm, we donned our headlamps as the sky grew darker, hiking until almost 9:30pm before finding a tentsite for the night. The last 45 minutes of the hike through the dark went slow as the rocky trail skirted narrowly around the mountainside. Frogs jumped from the trail.

Finally we set up camp in the dark and I ate a cold dinner in my sleeping bag once again, Shawn opting to eat his outside. Tomorrow we should be finished hiking much earlier and I’m looking forward to an earlier bedtime.

We were told earlier today that tonight is supposed to be the peak of some meteor shower. Shawn saw one just before he got in the tent, but I haven’t seen anything. As much as I’d like to stay awake and watching skies, it’s pretty likely I’ll fall asleep immediately. I’ll report back tomorrow.

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