Day 120: Timberline Lodge

PCT Start Mile: 2096.9

PCT End Mile: 2108.1

PCT Mileage for Day: 11.2

Total PCT Mileage: 2108.1

The Highlights: Timberline Lodge, delicious hot food and coffee, 2100 Miles, solo tent site

Waking up this morning, my body hated me. We had cowboy camped in the hiker area outside Timberline Lodge when we’d arrived in the wee early hours of the morning, setting ourselves up in the dark. Like all nights, I rotated in my sleeping bag like a rotisserie chicken, flip-flopping from side to side throughout the night.

As a side sleeper, I typically prefer my right side for the majority of my sleep. However, as we’ve lost weight throughout this adventure, my hip bones have become more prominent than usual and my right one seems especially sensitive, getting very sore if I lay on my right side too long. So, I toss to my left, though my IT band has some soreness on this side and it can be difficult to find a position where it isn’t uncomfortable. Back sleeping is difficult for me. Stomach sleeping is a definite no. So, good sleep has been trying lately. The trail is starting to wear on us.

Shawn, on the other hand, got great sleep and was up chatting with one of our tent neighbors when I opened my eyes groggily a bit after 6am. He was chatting with Tumbleweed, a girl who had started the hike on the same day as we had, part of our first bubble. We hadn’t seen her since Wrightwood, something like mile 369. From trail logs, we watched her get as far as a week ahead, and then slowly start falling back to only a few days ahead of us, and then one, and now we’d merged.

It’s funny how this has happened all along the trail as some hikers speed up and others slow down. Some went out of the gate fast, became a bit worn with the fast pace, and slowed down again. Others – like us – gradually picked up the pace as they went, slowly reeling in some of those that had went out quickly. Still others started fast and stayed fast and are already finished. Others are no longer on the trail.

We made quick work of packing up our sleep stuffs and made our way to the steps of the historic Timberline Lodge.

Built just after prohibition ended, the lodge is a beauty of architecture. I wish I could speak a bit more intelligently about this, though I’m sure all of it is on Wikipedia or something. I did overhear a staff member giving a tour and learned that most of the woodwork through the main hall areas (and perhaps elsewhere) is from Ponderosa Pines from the Trout Lake area, just across the Columbia Gorge in Washington. So, there’s that little tidbit. The view of Mt Hood is front and center through the large windows of the main room. Not a shabby view for relaxing.

While the architecture is impressive, it is not why hoards of PCT hikers flock there daily from the trail. Like everywhere else we go, we go for the food. Timberline Lodge is known for having some of the best meals on the trail, with an AYCE breakfast, AYCE lunch, dinner, and a pub offering artisan pizzas and other appetizers. It’s possible there is other food as well.

Most hikers try to time their visit for the AYCE breakfast, arriving at 7:30am when the restaurant opens and staying as long as there is room in their bellies or until the buffet closes at 10:30am, whichever comes first. We were there at 7:30am.

To be honest, I’m a bit of a disappointment as a hiker in the food arena. I can’t put down a whole pizza and I definitely don’t live up to hiker standards at a buffet. Today was no exception. While I filled my first plate, I couldn’t finish it and never went back for seconds. Except for a second berry smoothie. Those were delicious. Mostly I think my body was still exhausted, too exhausted to tackle an AYCE buffet with thru-hiker panache. What an embarrassment. I did drink lots and lots of coffee, so I was at least a success in that arena.

Shawn did a much better job living up to thru-hiker eating standards, with a Belgian waffle with fruit and whipped topping, biscuits and gravy, lots of eggs, sausages, pastries, and fruit. And also two smoothies. Golf clap.

After our long day yesterday, the plan for today was to rest and eat most of the day before hiking out in the afternoon. So we were off to a good start with the breakfast buffet. When we finally felt we’d done our damage, we wondered back out into the common area outside the restaurant, where couches surrounded a large fireplace and hiker electronics were plugged into every possible outlet in the room. We relaxed here all morning, catching up with online stuffs and chatting with other hikers until – you guessed it – lunch.

For lunch, we went downstairs to the Blue Ox Bar for a pizza. We had also planned on packing some pizza out to eat for dinner on the trail, but after seeing their pizza, decided this might be too messy and resolved ourselves to eating normal trail food (i.e. ramen) for dinner later.

Around 2pm, we finished pulling ourselves together and made our way to the trail, the first section of which crossed under a chair lift which operates year round, ferrying skiers up to the snowy slopes of Mt Hood.

Heading northward from Timberline Lodge, the trail climbed a bit further before descending for three miles to the Zigzag River and then climbing again away from the river, hiking along narrow trail along the gravel slopes.

Only a few miles into the hike, we passed 2100 miles! Woot! Another hundo bites the dust. This was actually the very first time we didn’t see a rock marker for the mileage, so quickly made our own. We were not as neat or crafty as some of the markers, but just wanted to make something quickly, so… voila…

Eventually the trail descended through forest switchbacks for five miles, crossing through a rock wash along the way. The wash was a bit of a choose your own route adventure through the rocks and a silty river, actually named Sandy River. Crossing this involved balancing across two slippery logs while bending over to put a hand on a third log for balance. Across the river, we followed the rock cairns to find where the trail resumed.

After 11.2 miles, we called it a day when we found a nice single tentsite. We had originally been planning to go just a bit further to a larger tentsite, but larger sites mean more campers and sometimes it’s nice to just have a site to yourself for privacy and quiet. Not having to listen to others toss and turn on their air mattresses all night is a huge plus.

Our tent site is right on the edge of a ravine, the Sandy River rushing far below. Other than the bees, which seem to be a constant presence in Oregon, its a great little site. The bees are a whole other topic, but suffice it to say, when it’s time to eat, a swarm of them find me and fly around my face. Crossing my fingers that the bees magically disappear when we cross into Washington.