Miles Hiked 385.4
PCT Mile 891.0
Elevation feet 5,299
Miles Hiked Today 14.2
Did you know there are a lot of rocks, boulders and more rocks in Oregon? There are and I have the pictures to prove it.
The day started out great. I was hiking by 6:15 a.m. on essentially a flat trail. Sure there were a few up and downs, but they were barely noticeable. This trail condition lasted for a couple of hours until I came to a paved road. There was a large water cache at the road. After filling up with three liters of water, I crossed the road and a climb began.
The climb wasn’t as much the story as the rocks, boulders and more rocks. It’s as if this mountain took a gigantic dose of Exlax and the result was large skree and boulder fields for the next several miles. An interesting phenomenon associated with the boulder and skree fields was what the trail did. I’m hiking southbound, of course, and just about every boulder or skree field I came to included a climb. The consistency was quite astonishing.
Another feature of rocks, boulders and more rocks, was the heat. There was no tree canopy, so the late morning and early afternoon sun bore down on me. The boulders and lava rocks also hold the heat, so this was not a fun section.
Wait, though! Help is on the way. I started getting reports from passing northbound hikers that there is a trail magic up ahead. My hike through the boulder and skree fields continued but with a renewed purpose. I would love a cold drink and any food other than the protein bars I’ve been eating. Trail magic promises that.
Eventually the rocks, boulders and more rocks finally stopped. With the trail magic about six miles ahead, I picked up the pace of my hike. Just before 3:00 p.m., I reached the trail magic. These people went way above what you normally see at a trail magic. They even had a menu, so you could select what you want to eat. I started with a beer and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, an ice cream sandwich for dessert, a Coke, another beer and finally a seltzer water. What a great trail magic.
I left the trail magic at 5:00 p.m. . There is a cabin just 2/10 of a mile south on the trail. I decided to camp on the grounds where the cabin is located. There were numerous reports of large rats and mice in the cabin so that was not an option.
Tomorrow I have the choice of going back to the same trail magic and hit ’em up for breakfast. Or there is another trail magic a couple miles south on the trail. I could try them instead. Nothing like getting fed for free; although I did give a donation to the people running the trail magic I attended today.
The end of Oregon is getting close. I’m 45 miles from Ashland, Oregon where I’ll probably get off the trail. With a little luck, there will be trail magic all the way to Ashland. Problem is I have a lot of food in my backpack. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that if people keep feeding me.
