WE DID IT!!!!!

7/27/2014 WE finished!!!!!

The last day! We woke up very late, due to our tent fly and the roar of the creek next to us…8:15!
Cooked hot chocolate, and packed up all our soaked gear. Because EVERYTHING is wet except our pj's, I decide to wear my pj's and long sleeve warmth top, and connor puts on her wet long sleeve top and her wet running shorts.

but…..miraculously there is sun!!!!!! so fitting for our last day hike from Tunnel Falls into Cascade Locks….just 8 miles!!!! whoop whoop!

we set off, and immediately notice that there are many many day-hikers on the trail, all dressed in cute little tank tops and bright colored shoes, and ALL of them smell like LAUNDRY DETERGENT!!!! So strange…. they walk by, and we can actually smell them. Downy, Bounce, Tide, lovely smells. we wonder what we smell like !!!!

Also, we notice that we are in a completely different world than they are. and that we must look completely alien to them, with our big packs, hiking poles, long pants, long sleeves, hats and hiking boots. And it is so humorous to us that they have no realization that we are hiking the PCT (we are on the popular Tunnel Falls Alternate route, which is off of the PCT). These people do not even know what the PCT is. They each pass us and pretty sure they each say to their hiking partners (fairly sure there is a smirk that goes along with this), "wow, did you see how much stuff those 2 girls are carrying? talk about overpacking! they even have hiking poles!"

and of course we look at them and their bright colored tank tops and cute designer attire (there was even a girl wearing her easter sundress--all white with daises!)and think they are from another planet, albeit a nice smelling one!

So we hike and hike and hike…. for some reason, this last 8 miles seems to take forever! We stop and chitchat, we ask people where to eat in Cascade locks, we saunter along. Finally we get to a parking lot, which means we only have 3 miles left.
We find cars and cars and cars, a trash can (yaaaay!!!! we love dumping our little bags of trash!), a huge sign with all the rules, a Water fountain!!!! and a boot scrubber. "Please use boot scrubber on your way into and out of the trail, to rid your boots of invasive seeds". No bathroom, but a boot scrubber!

we continued along the parking lot road, past multitudes of OSU and Uof O stickers…..osu, osu, u of o, u of o…….so strange to be in a state with 2 main universities……. and we see a bathroom! so of course we have to use it! very odd. "Cart out your own trash", but with a paper towel dispenser that has instructions. "hold firmly with both hands and pull. If you use only one hand, paper towel will tear". wow. we are really back in civilization. paper towels and instructions.
and a banana slug on the sink. a real one. probably not too happy, so I pick him up and put him outside on a leaf, where he promptly curls up and plays dead. maybe he did like it better on the sink.

delving further into civilization, we walk with a outward bound-type counselor group who tries to tell us where the trail is…. last day and we can't find the trail. so funny to us. at last, we find it on our own, and hike on a bike trail (so anti-climactic) towards cascade locks. the maps say we will take the paved bike trail for 4 miles, into town, but soon we are back on the single track pct, eating black berries, and whisking away cobwebs (is there anyone else on the trail? i guess not!)

We encounter a homeless guy smoking a cigarette,and he offers to share his milwalkie beer with us, but then suggests we probably won't like this brand…..
a couple more miles….then we are at the toll plaza for the bridge of the gods!

we made it!!!! it's 1pm, and we walk slowly through the town, past the motels and the fast food restaurants… we choose a 2 story ale-house that doesn't look fast food, order lunch, and call Dianne Tapfer, who drives from hood river, collects us and we head back into civilization.


A wonderful end to an amazing journey…. sunny day, smiles on our faces, happy to see our friend Dianne, and ultimately our families, but also quite sad to be done. We look longingly across the river into Washington, and imagine ourselves continuing into the next state, with its ups and downs and jagged peaks…… maybe next year! :)

Through the rain and muck

7/27/2014 After crossing the Sandy river, with its thigh-high white water, we were a bit shell-shocked, a bit cold and a bit lost. We had to both pull out our gps (iphone Half Mile and Guthook apps) to try to find the trail in the pouring rain and mist. no luck. Then we happened upon some little stone cairns that other hikers had built, to show the way. These are little stacked stone towers that people use to mark the trail occasionally. and in this case, they led us right to the trail.

But by this time, Our phones were soaked, as much as we tried to keep them out of the rain. We both put them in our bra's, our only dry part of our bodies, and hoped that they would dry out. We continued and took the Ramona Falls Alternate, which boosted our spirits. It was one of the most beautiful sections of the entire trail, gorgeous, lush and the falls were lovely. Of course our phone cameras were both completely fogged, but we took misty pics anyway.

then, the Muddy River Crossing…. 2 logs stacked on top of each other, with a rope to help shuffle sideways across. Such a funny river crossing, we couldn't help but to laugh. ….and also to comment….. here there is the Sandy River, absolutely dangerous, and with no aid whatsoever (except for submerged logs, which might help in august), and at the Ramona Falls creek, which is like crossing a large mud puddle, there is a beautiful lacquered bridge! And at the Muddy River, which could be rock-hopped across, there is a rope and Logs! Makes no sense. There should be ropes at the Sandy, at least!!! anyway, something to ponder. separates the mountain women from the girls, thats for sure!

After these 3 water features :), it was smooth sailing. this section, although still with its occasional 1000 ft inclines, is the flattest of the entire trail. We enjoyed just hiking along, and swashbuckling through the berry bushes and overgrown trail. The weather was still pretty bad, and soon we came upon 4 men and their scout troop of 16 and 17 year olds. They were freezing cold and were using their Delorme device to call in for an emergency pickup of the boys, who were huddled in their emergency blankets and tents, shivering. My guess is that the boys had not anticipated being cold and hadn't packed the right gear.

The men were quite impressed with us, which made us feel really good, but we felt obligated to admit our misuse of "PCT rule #2, which is, "if you send something home, you will need it". We explained how we sent our warmth layers home, and then needed to purchase $200 of vests and rain gear at the Timberline store….. and we sheepishly admitted that we had sent our fuel in the box that Dianne took with her-yikes! (earlier on the trail, I had asked connor, "did you keep a fuel?" she said, "no, did you?" arrrghhhhh, another bar lowered below Cheryl Strayed and her book "Wild"! Sending home fuel. absolutely our worst maneuver yet.

But, as trail magic would have it, one of the men gave us his jet boil fuel---since they were being rescued, they would no longer need it. We were saved from a cold dinner of power bars. (lest you think we would have starved, we wouldn't have. throughout the trip we have had way more power bars than we could EVER eat!) So, wet and cold, we set up camp early, cooked in our tent (verrrry carefully), hung our clothes (why? good question. even in our tent, they seemed wetter in the morning), stripped down, put on our only dry clothes, and snuggled in our sleeping bags. We got an idea from the shivering scout troop and cut up our emergency blanket and stuffed it into our sleeping bags---immediate warmth!!!! whoo hoooo!!!!

and went to sleep at 8. and woke up at 8. and put on our wet clothes and hiked another day in the rain and went down the incredibly steep and rocky Indian Creek Trail Alternate to tunnel falls and saw the beautiful tunnel falls---very very very cool! and couldn't take pictures since our phone cameras were still water-logged and camped by the river, and woke up at 8 and on the trail by 10:15…. (last day and a new late time!!!) Last day, last day last day!!!!!!

Sandy River near-death experience

7/25 morning…timberline lodge to sandy river After spending the night at Timberline in absolute luxury, we headed for the trail at 9:30am. As mentioned in the last post, Connor and I were a bit nervous about crossing the Sandy River, since we had heard so much about it. In the Oregon Section, this is the only "Dangerous" river crossing, and they recommend crossing it at 6am, when the snow run-off is at its lowest.

We three (connor, Ian and I) left the hotel in the murk and rain and cold (Just next to and above us, the ski lifts operate year round,and we can see our breath) and I immediately knew I was ill-prepared with my $5 plastic rain poncho that didn't stay snapped with the wind, and which didn't even cover my arms or sides. I had chosen to save my only warm layer of polar fleece for warming up in the tent (bad decision), and I was wearing a s/s layer and a long thermal layer under my rain poncho. not enough. As we started hiking up the trail, I was having trouble getting enough air (did I tell you I got bronchitis, maybe from the fire smoke??) and I started to panic. I realized I couldn't make it with what I was wearing, and I stopped and said i couldn't do it. Ian kept going with nary a word(was a sad and strange goodbye after all we had been through over the weeks), and Connor and I went back down to the store and spent more money.

I bought a synthetic down vest $90, and a little rain jacket that looked like it would cost $28 at target ($140), and off we went back to the trail. A half hour later, Connor and I are back on the pct (10am..our latest start yet), but with the rain and murk, we are ok with that. We have 3 days left of our hike, we don't have a ton of miles, and we told Dianne we would be at Cascade locks on Friday. we don't have to rush to finish the last section.

We go up and down with the elevation changes, and although there are beautiful vistas, they are absolutely and completely obscured by the rain and fog. We follow the trail. At about 1pm, we reach the sandy river. We can hear it roaring in the distance, and when we arrive, we have to yell at each other to be heard above the din of the river. There is a designated crossing of 2 logs, but the water is pouring over the top of those, and we realize we have to walk upstream to find a safer crossing.

Out of the mire and fog appears a lone youngish guy, also eyeing the crossing. We motion to him, he comes over and we confer. He decides to cross and after doing so, doesn't think we can make it from that spot. The water is hip deep. We go further upstream, and manage to get across 2/3's of the river, but the last section is so fast and furious, we eye it some more. The lone guy points to various places, and then goes back in, maybe to help us, maybe to check the levels… he loses his footing, and almost goes downstream. he heads back to shore and resorts to pointing again, until we all agree on a seemingly flat area (there must be rocks and it must be shallow!). We unlatch our packs, and he watches as we tentatively take our first steps. there is no speaking. we are terrified, and the roar is deafening.

Connor and I link arms and cross with a forward shuffle step as we have been instructed by the guy at Timberline. She is stable and balanced. I am not. We step into the current. it is at our thigh level, full throttle and hitting us with its mighty power. We struggle to keep our footing and balance, trying to lean into the current. A wrong step will send us down the river and certain death.

I lose my balance several times but Connor is stable and somehow keeps us upright. I step on her foot. I'm screaming, "DONT MOVE DONT MOVE DONT MOVE DONT MOVE", then "GO GO GO GO GO". When our feet are close together we are at the mercy of the raging river. When our feet are apart, we are balanced but also like tree twigs instead of trunks. There is no stability, no mercy. I lose my balance once and I know it is the end. I can feel the gravity pulling me backward, but in one split instant, Connor is able to pull me forward. terrified we continue, and somehow we make it across. The young guy disappears in the mist. we are alone again, wet, sopping and shocked to still be alive.

Timberline lodge, not a bad place to be!

So now it is 7/23 and we have made it to Timberline Lodge, around the fire reroute, with the help of Ian's friend Beverly, and my friend Dianne Tapfer. Our hiker friend Ian is with us again, and the 3 of us decide to get a room for the night at Timberline, since a storm is definitely in action out there and it is pretty nasty. Dianne talks to the front desk and she and Connor are able to get us the last room at Timberline.

For those californians reading this, timberline is Oregon's equivalent to the Awhanee hotel in Yosemite--grand,historic and an incredible experience. So we go for it. of course :) So we get a behind the scenes tour from Ranger Steve (they have forest rangers on duty at the hotel). He shows us the room that Eleanor Roosevelt stayed in when she and President Roosevelt cut the ribbon for the hotel back in the 30's, as part of the Work Relief effort. We have lunch (thank you, Dianne!) in the upstairs cafe, and then it's 3pm and we check into our room, overlooking the pool and valley. Dianne leaves us, and the moment she does, we realize that we have sent things with her that we will probably need (2nd law of the trail---if you send it back, you will need it!)

So, after sending back our long sleeve warmth layer shirts, we now have to go to the outdoor store in the hotel and buy new ones. Guess we still have trail brain after all! We enjoy a wonderful wonderful day at the hotel---we have dinner at this incredible pizza restaurant downstairs, and see fellow hikers, we take photos with the Axe from "the Shining" (the exterior of the lodge was used for the exterior of "The Overlook" hotel in the movie), then we roast s'mores by the fire, and finally watch "the Shining" on the big screen. the staff is amazing and the most accommodating of any hotel I've stayed at. Love this hotel.

Of course the weather cleared up and was sunny pretty much the moment we rented the room…but by morning we were in a huge storm again. We awoke to THUNDER and LIGHTNING soooooo loud, it seemed like the building was being carried down the hill, and that we were in a rock avalanche. We have never heard lightening and thunder so loud. it really sounded as if the mountain were crashing down around us. We had set our alarms to 6am, hoping to leave right after breakfast, but with this new development, we rolled over and went back to bed.


Finally, after a lavender-blueberry pancake breakfast, and after much consulting of maps and hotel staff, we were ready to hit the trail at 9:30am. It was murky, rainy,misty and cold, but we couldn't stay forever. We were a bit apprehensive about crossing the sandy river, as we heard that the day before it was impassable, with whitewater at hip to waist level. Ian wasn't worried, but I certainly was, and rightfully so……..

back on the trail again 7/21

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I feel badly that, like a book, we left you with a cliff-hanger! Last time we posted, we were thwarted by fire! and that was way back on 7/21…..

so, to bring you back to the trail and up to date From Elk Lake, where we received our resupply packages and a wonderful STEAK dinner, grilled in person by (our hiking buddy) Ian's 2 friends, Connor and I headed off into the wilderness of the evening, with our plan to camp beside a small lake about 4 miles in. It started gettin dark, which didn't bother us, but then we saw the big pile of bear poop in the middle of the trail and we got a bit nervous. We decided to sing at the top of our lungs, but the crazy thing is that we couldn't remember a single song except jingle bells. So jingle bells it was!!!!

We never saw the bear, and had another quiet night with the mosquitos! When we woke in the morning, we realized that we were camped next to a tiny lake, and the real lake was perhaps 100 yards away. oh well. still beautiful.

From this point, the hike was probably the most spectacular and varied of any we had up to this point, as we were now in the Sisters Wilderness and our plan for the day was to hike around all three sisters mountains! The 3 Sisters mountains are gorgeous, and we had the most fun sliding on our behinds down the slopes, and forging our way through snowfields. Who would have thought!! We camped alongside a lava field, and continued north, to lava camp, which is a forested lake amidst the lava fields.

We were hiking on a weekend, in a area accessible to day hikers, and we were so surprised at the number of people (and dogs!) we saw. I guess this area is quite close to Bend and Sisters, and is a favorite for families, and ladies hiking groups, and dog walkers. anyway, after a nice nap at Lava Camp we continued towards Big lake Youth Camp. We have at this point learned to hike in the morning, take a nice break midday, when the temperatures are close to 100 degrees, and then take off again around 4pm or later. So we did. We had a 4 hour hike through tough lava rocks and spent the night in the middle of the lava fields, in a small spot amidst the rocks.

The morning section and part of the previous night we dubbed a "mastadon graveyard" as there had been a burn, and the way the trees split and turn white, they look like mastodon tusks all over the ground. We lost the trail due to all the burnt debris and logs, and some thru-hikers caught up with us, and we all lost the trail once again in the same spot. Luckily, one of the men had hiked this section before, and with the help of our gps, we got going again. After a short while, the graveyard turned to a beautiful wildflower meadow and then forested area. I have never seen so many beautiful wildflowers in one place as in oregon on this hike. just exquisite.

Eventually we made it to Big Lake Youth Camp, which is the most friendly, welcoming place that we traveled through. The staff greeted us, got us set up for showers and REAL TOWELS, fed us lunch, and DID OUR LAUNDRY FOR US!!!!! OMG!!! We hung out from 10:15 until 8pm that day. Our hiking buddy Ian had called his roommate Beverly for a ride to Bend. She and Frederick picked us up at 8, after taking a tour of other youth camps (lol!), and they kindly took us into Bend, where we had found a hotel to stay in.

We have talked before of the kindness of those we have met on the trail, but Beverly and Frederick win a big medal--they drove all the way from Eugene, took us to bend, then drove right back to Eugene--arriving after midnight.

The next morning after an unsettling breakfast in the motel breakfast area (unsettling because there were so many vacationers and families from the REAL world, and because CNN was blaring on the 2 tv's), my wonderful friend Dianne Tapfer came to pick us up and take us around the Fire zone. She drove 2 hours from Hood River, got us and drove us to Timberline Lodge. On the way, we stopped at Smith Rock, which is an area where people come from around the world to do rock climbing. beautiful.

By the time we got to Timberline Lodge, which was our next resupply drop, we hadn't eaten a single meal from our Big lake Youth camp resupply, so needless to say, we had a loooottttttt of food and supplies to get rid of. Dianne was kind enough to take a big box with her, since we would see her 3 days later, at the end of our hike. The area had been having storms, but it started to get very nasty out, and cold. We decided to continue our hotel tour (haha) and were able to get the last room at Timberline Lodge. to be continued…...

Love hate relationships

Things we love:
dirty girls gaiters
Hiking poles (they act as extra legs)
Luci solar inflatable tent lamp (great for tent parties)
Pink crocs (amazing as camp shoes)
Snow peak mini collapsible stove (giga light) (fits in a dental floss container)
Ian's sleeping bag (ultra light quilt)
Brooks cascadia trail runners (everyone should hike the PCT in these...no exceptions)
Mid afternoon naps (necessary to recharge for the next 13mi segment)
Hot cocoa (Ian's Swiss miss dark chocolate)
Emergen-C (vitamin c powder)
Electrolyte fizzy tablets (nuun brand)
Gummy bears (anytime)
Vitamin I (ibuprofen)
Beautiful sunsets and sunrises (esp devils peak)
Tent parties (for group bonding)
Our tents in general
Panoramic pictures (helps to truly capture oregons beauty)
Elastikon tape (for blisters)
Sawyer mini water filter (we envy Ian's)
Dressing like twins
Laughing until Jean pees her pants
Sleep socks
Fleece lined leggings
Resupply boxes (it's almost like Christmas)
Amazon prime (our lifeline)
REI (all the countless hours spent there plus our guru Charles)
All the nice Oregonians who have gone out of their way to do kind things when we most needed it (trail magic)


Things we hate:
filtering water in general (time consuming)
Constricting mummy sleeping bags
Crinkly expensive noisy thermarest pads (not enough adjectives to express our dislike)
Deet (ate through jeans shorts and Ian's arms)
Socks that are too big
Shoes that are too small
Hiking boots in general (Connor will never wear another pair ever again including the 5 pairs she now owns)
Hiking pole tans on your hands (so attractive)
Sunburns
The days between showers and laundry (including minimal teeth brushing and no hair brushing)
Mosquitos
Mosquitos
Mosquitos
Mosquito bites on your butt
Mosquitos
Most dehydrated meals (have to force feed ourselves)
No AT&T service anywhere in Oregon (we envy anyone with version and get laughed when we say we have AT&T)
Rice dinners 30 nights in a row (esp when one hates rice to begin with-Connor)

Twas the night before BLYC

I had the night before Christmas running through my head, and during the endless ascent of harsh crumbly lava rocks created a PCT version just for you:

'Twas the night before blyc
And all through the land
Not a creature was stirring
Not wolverine, horse or snake in the sand

Ian Jean and I were bundled up
Cozy as can be
While the wind whistled outside
Through the dead mastodon trees

As I lay in my bag
gazing up at the stars
I dreamed of a down puffy
And dark chocolate bars

The miles we just covered
Lay behind us, finally done
And the miles ahead
Promised adventure and fun

Who knows what could happen
with forest fires burning bright
The possibilities were endless
But for now it's goodnight


BLYC is big lake youth camp, our next resupply stop. The hiking was rough, a slow 14mi climb through a deserted landscape (2000 ft climb in under 2 mi). Jean has bronchitis. We slid and sludged through snow, sand and lava rocks; our bodies taking a beating.

Twas the night before BLYC

I had the night before Christmas running through my head, and during the endless ascent of harsh crumbly lava rocks created a PCT version just for you:

'Twas the night before blyc
And all through the land
Not a creature was stirring
Not wolverine, horse or snake in the sand

Ian Jean and I were bundled up
Cozy as can be
While the wind whistled outside
Through the dead mastodon trees

As I lay in my bag
gazing up at the stars
I dreamed of a down puffy
And dark chocolate bars

The miles we just covered
Lay behind us, finally done
And the miles ahead
Promised adventure and fun

Who knows what could happen
with forest fires burning bright
The possibilities were endless
But for now it's goodnight


BLYC is big lake youth camp, our next resupply stop. The hiking was rough, a slow 14mi climb through a deserted landscape (2000 ft climb in under 2 mi). Jean has bronchitis. We slid and sludged through snow, sand and lava rocks; our bodies taking a beating.

hitchiking the PCT

Hitchiking the PCT
On a dark and stormy morning we awoke at the base camp of crater lake. A 5 mi hike loomed before us if we wanted to see the natural wonder and the glassy water above. Our feet were winning us accolades among the through hiking community as our blisters were among the worst they had ever seen (gaping chunks of flesh were falling off our heels). We did not have it in us to shove our feet into our ill fitting hiking boots (I later found out that mine were 2.5 sizes too small...ouch!) So we decided to try our hand at hitchiking, which we have never done before just to set the record straight. Clad in flip flops we timidly stuck our thumbs out right before the ranger station. The first car pulled over immediately, and two kind airline pilots hopped out to lug our packs into their car. We gave them trail names on the way up: white gorilla and Air Force one (aka Ian and Casey). They were best friends from 7th grade and were out for an adventure after their flight to Japan was canceled. They had rented a car and driven to the redwoods and just happened to be headed to crater lake. They dropped us off at the top and I got their number in case we needed a ride elsewhere, although AT&T has no service in Oregon apparently. After attempting acro-yoga and taking fake chirstmas card photos we parted ways and just as the clouds let loose and the rain poured down. We sought shelter in the grand hotel, which was in stark contrast to our huge pack and grungy hiking clothes. Irish coffees boosted our mood instantly :) Due to unforeseen events and the kindness of 2 strangers giving us their empty room we decided to detour and stay the night at diamond lake, which we then had to figure out a way to reach our end destination (as we were in so much pain we could barely walk). As luck would have it Kylie's phone had roaming so we called our friendly airline pilots who 'had just left'. I said we were miserable as the rain had turned to snow and would it be possible for them to drive us anywhere north (apparently they got a kick out of that). An hour later they pulled up after apparently being lost, finding us on the side of the highway. We got to diamond lake, using airplane terminology to direct them and bought them dinner in an attempt to repay the kindness they showed us. They told us tales of all their failed hiking adventures, hang gliding, sailing, fishing and many other sports they have picked up. Apparently these guys were up for about anything. They saved the day for us. Thank you two so much, I hope you read this and contact us if you are ever in the Bay Area! And remember: bring water!

Fire! Oh no! We have just found out that the pct is closed for combined 80 miles , just above where we are! We are going to try to hike to big lake youth camp, pick up our resupply boxes and then-- who knows! Many of the hikers are hitchhiking to bend, then to timberline mountain lodge.

If so, that cuts about 6 days from our trip. We r bummed, and hoping that the trail will open up. We of course have no cell service. We will let u know.

Snow! 7/19 Today was probably the most beautiful day yet--hiking past the 3 sisters mountains, which were stunning in all their rocky, snowy beauty. It was like waking through enchanted forests, lush and woody, with brilliant sparking springs and creeks. We didn't even have to purify our water, as it came straight out of the mountain in places.

But today was also a day of crossing more snowfields than we could count. At first, we were a bit tentative, but soon we swerved and slided, trying to stay vertical with the help of our poles. But it was slow going, and tiring-- we made It only 15 miles and are now ready to conk out in our tent.... Beautiful sunset, beautiful day. And a hiker tan!

A new low! Apparently setting the bar at cheryl strayed ( wild)'s low level was not low enough for us. Somebody ( me) managed to forget...... Their boots in Eugene. How is this even possible? Probably the single most important item we could own. Sigh. We can only aspire to be like you, cheryl strayed.

The kindness of strangers We are continually humbled by the unexpected kindness of people we have met along the way. For examples:
1. The Hoffman's at shelter cove--Alex met us at the trail, Jeremy guided us to our campsite, this great family of hikers runners skiers and soccer studs gave us fruit, encouragement, great stories and a ride back to the trail.
2. The family we met at bj's restaurant who offered to drive is 1 1/2 hours back to the trail.
3. The lady who brought us quarters for each of us to take a shower, and another kind stranger who gave us shampoo
4. The united pilots who deserve and will get a page of their own
and Debby and Herb Moussa who helped us find the trail near Diamond Lake.
5 all the nice people at rei!
6 Everyone who has supported and sent us nice comments and encouragement along the way. Thank youuuuuuuu everyone!

(

Bye to our blister sister 7/18-- Friday Today we continue with one less sister with blisters. Kylie had to leave us to go back to the Bay Area, so wednesday we hitchhiked 1 1/2 hours to Eugene Oregon, with an adventuresome kayaker coincidentally also named Eugene, who was on his way there to pick up action figures at toys r us:! He left us at a bj's restaurant, where we ordered salads ( veggie deprived), then we got a taxi to tour us around the u of o campus.

We got a welcome call from Tara my "niece") who kindly took us to her home,where we got to see Ryan, Ro and theo before we sadly dropped kylie off at the shuttle. (yes, tears were shed by all. We will miss her so much. Tara fixed us up with miracle salves for our blisters, and Ryan and Mikey(resident hiking experts!) helped us lighten our packs. We realized we needed the respite and Tara's wonderful care! Connor and I were so exhausted we could barely get a sentence out-- we crashed at midnight, slept till 9, then took a nap till 2pm. We didn't realize how tired we were.

We discovered that being in civilization is a hugggggge transition. So strange after the solitude and simplicity of the wilderness. As hard as the hike is , physically and mentally, it is truly an enlightening experience on the trail.:) So, back to it with renewed excitement!

We will misss our sister kylie:(((( And a huge thank you to Ian's friends bob and Kyle who kindly gave connor and I a ride back to the trail.

growth

We have grown so much! On our first day we almost died after a 9mi hike and now we are confident in our ability to hike 22mi and properly plan where & when to break, filter the right amount of water, and cross reference our maps. We now have individual and extremely varied philosophies about blister treatment and time/mileage updates. We can ration cliff bars and energy chews like champs. We can properly lace our shoes and have intelligent 40min conversations about socks and shoe fit. I can now close my pocket knife after opening it to get rid of unneeded grams of packaging. We can hike through the pain of blisters, corndog toes, sprained ankles and frozen IT bands, DEET in eyes, my 50 thousand mosquito bites, redneck sunburns, mud, rain, snow, bruised hips and collarbones, and missing toenails. And most impressively surviving the stench of our socks trapped in a tent overnight. We are so hardcore...... sometimes. Xoxox Kyliente

what's in a name

On the PCT everyone uses trail names rather than their real names. You want to know who is hiking near you because you can be a half mile away from each other and never know. There might be 100 Garys or Johns spread between Mexico and Canada. And you can't very well say the skinny guy with a beard, sunglasses, and a blue backpack because that is essentially 85% of the trail population. So people you run into give you trail names so that we end up talking about the same person. The names are generally based on either and experience you had, something you say or do a lot, or a defining physical characteristic. We were pretty excited to get trail names because it's a sign that you've really been accepted into this PCT-hiking subculture.

We are together known as the "Sisters with Blisters" due to this blog- which was an unfortunately accurate omen of how our feet look now.

Connor aka "Sherpa" : Due to shedding 17 pounds from her pack on the side of the highway in our first few minutes hiking. ( there is also an inside joke involving her having a major blonde moment but it's inappropriate so I promised I wouldn't go into it. .....)

Jean aka "White Rabbit" : Our ever consistent keeper of time just like the namesake from her favorite book/movie Alice in Wonderland. She keeps us up to date on how many miles and hours we've been hiking and our rage and the affect of our breaks on our itinerary. And how many fallen trees we've climbed over

Kylie aka "Kyliente" : I was severely misinformed by the internet that a tic-tac box was perfect for carrying seasoning on the trail. So I filled a box with Cayenne peeper. It exploded in my food bag on the first day so everything I've eaten is flavored with cayenne. (Margarita shock blocks and Cayenne pepper is amazing btw)

Side note: News of the sisters with Blisters is traveling. As we walked up to Camp Mazama, hikers we don't know said "oh, look, it's the blister sisters!" And our friend Aquagirl said that some randoms were asking if she knew us while at the Crater Lake Lodge. We would like to think it's because we're sooo amazing, but we think word of our 50 lb packs and ginormous resupply boxes has traveled faster than we have =]

Xoxox Kyliente Sherpa & White Rabbit

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

Day 1-5, in a nutshell!

Update day 1-5

One should never wait until the 14th day of ones' trip to start updating our events . But here goes:

Day 1: after being dumped off at the trail junction near the California border by jeff, Malcolm and Una, ( thank u loved ones!) we slowly hiked the 9miles to the fenced in spring with no fence. We stopped on the way for every flower, butterfly and huge dandelion on the way, took pics at pilot rock, and with extremely sore feet, we plomped down our heavy packs and fearlessly set up camp. We shortly met 9 other hikers- the fastest of the thru hikers from Mexico, who gave us words of wisdom.... Mostly about lightening our packs.

Day 2: 7/4 Fourth of July!!! fenced in spring to little Hyatt campground. 14 miles. By now we r dying of blisters. Uphilllllll. We found our way to the campsite after wandering for some time, showered at the campsite and jeff/ Malcolm and Una drove 15 minutes to bring us Hagen Daz ice cream and to take whatever we could unload from our packs. By now, the 50 plus pound pack is torture.

Day 3: 7/5 little Hyatt to almost brown shelter. 18.2 miles. Tried our hardest to get out of camp b4 9am, which seems to be our time. Made it to a spring by 3pm, and put our sore feet up for 3 hours then carried on until we could go no further.

Day 4: 14 miles, to fish lake resort. Beautiful day of hiking and beautiful resort. Soaked feet in the lake, took showers , got our first resupply boxes-- Christmas!!!!! Ok, now for the embarrassing part-- people actually lined up to take pictures of our boxes because they were so huge!!!!
So, fellow hiker Ian gave us the "shakedown", which means going through our packs to get rid of excess weight-- not hard to do in our case!!!

Day 5: after contemplating taking a " zero" day, we reluctantly headed back on the trail at 5:15 and hiked 9 miles uphill in the coolness of the evening to a meadow near summit lake. Mile 1789.

Will write more later... Battery low,

What we fear

What we fear:)

A "Sage" woman has said, " the things we carry in our packs speak to our fears. Be fearless!"
(Thank you, Sage!)

What we fear is...... MOSQUITOS!

Covererrrrrred with mosquito bite welts, and hating Deet.  Deet is the devil.... Ate through my shirts  and fellow hiker Ian's skin. Am buying some avon product in the store here and giving up Deet for good.:))))

Traipsing over logs

It doesn't sound important but logs are a big deal.
Each day we have to find our way over, under or around huge fallen trees. These slow us down considerably.  some portions of the trail are better maintained than others, and I find myself counting them. It helps keep me sane.

Day 1 :   0 logs
Day 2:  3 logs
Day 3: 18 logs
Day 4 : don't remember
Day 5 : 19 logs
Day 6: 70 logs
Day 7 : 121 logs!!!!
Day 8: 2 logs
Day 9: zero day :)
Day 10.... Hanging out at diamond lake so far... Gotta get motivated:)

Animals: no bears so far, but many deer, thousands of butterflies, dragonflies, minnows, chipmunks, frogs and birds.

Close Encounters

My first individual post! Very confusing but I finally figured it out! Now that we finally have a bit of internet I wanted to do a shout-out to everyone we have met along the pct. Everyone has been fabulous...including:
Ian/lightweight: met him day 1 and our traveling companion since day 2. We adopted him into sisters got blisters. He gave us the shakedown (going through every item in our packs and being brutal and ruthless about throwing things out. We are so much more like Cheryl Strayed than we EVER could have imagined). He found us a safe sleeping ground on devil mountain after hiking 18.2 miles across lava rocks in the dark and rain. He is basically our hiking guru and has taught us so much!  We originally gave him the trail name baby blue  as his eyes are like glaciers but the name didn't stick...not manly enough! The Mosquitos love him (and Kylie) and are eating them alive currently. He has graciously agreed to be a guest blogger so expect a post from him soon (an outsiders perspective to the crazy world of the sisters with blisters)
Sophia and Gary/aqua girl and boulder monkey: such an amazing couple we are so happy to have met them! They also are hiking the Oregon portion of the pct and are traveling about the same pace as us so it has been great to stay with them so many days already! They are the most enthusiastic fun supportive and loving couple. Gary enjoys walking backwards down the trail as he is so fast (and occasionally taking a tumble). He meticulously planned the calorie intake for every day and is so on point about every snack break and meal consumed, he perks up with calories if he is falling asleep. Sophia has an amazing  singing voice and is so bubbly and outgoing, giving me tips about blisters and life and everything in between. We cannot say enough about these two and hope to meet up with them tonight! Definitely going to plan a trip to Tacoma to visit them after the pct (thanks in advance you two!)
John and Diane/trail guide (aka walkie talkie) and possum: Diane is 14 going on 25 and is one of the only young people we met on the trail. Natural habitat: in her dad's hammock sleeping/on the kindle or in the bathroom watching pretty little liars (possum sightings). Possum was not excited about her name but eventually it stuck. Possum activity: She is the typical teenager, bringing eyebrow pencils on the trail and making her dad carry almost everything. John/jack/walkie talkie/tour guide/cantaloupe has hiked this portion of the trail 3 times (hence the nickname tour guide) he knows everything about anything pct related and shares it with anyone around willing to listen. He is our cheery spirit on the trail and is so knowledgable!
Patrick/ripped: the nicest litigation attorney around.  Looks incredibly good in a trash bag while waiting to finish laundry...hence the nickname (he thought it was self-grandizing but it stuck). He hiked the trail before and made it 300 miles until his blisters became so bad they were coverig over a 1/3 of his foot. His name has a double meaning, that is possibly why it has stuck. An amazing and incredibly kindhearted person!
The Germans: self explanatory. a couple we recently met but had heard tales of before  reaching them at crescent lake. They never had a honeymoon and are currently taking it even though they have been married for 20 years. Adorable. The guy was smoking a pipe when I met him.
Halfdome: unsure of his real name but we ran into him along the trail. He provided us with inspiration when we were at a low point. His arms and tan  highlighted in a dirty American flag tank  were quite remarkable.
Other incredible people we have met (we love you all): Charlie day hiker  and his 5 lb pack (he's famous along the trail and has done it 5 times), guzz and Cheshire, off kilter (Scottish), the 3 guys including whiskers who were incredibly fast and the first to pass us, swick going for the triple crown, mileage mike and snow drifter, yazi, the British guy,, ronalin our personal golf cart driver around the campsite, mammoth, oakdale, rekon, hobbit, girl 1 and girl 2 from Tennessee and Wisconsin, thirsty boots who spread lies about us quitting,  roadrunner, old guy dan
I'm sure we will meet many more wonderful people and will have a separate post about our hitchiking adventure and the pilots!
Love the sisters with blisters
K (kyliente) J (white rabbit) and C (Sherpa)

Language of the trail

Language of the trail:
1. Zero day-- when u hike no miles in a day ( we haven't had any of these yet)
2. Nero day-- when you laze around, then hike just a little. We had Nero days at fish lake and crater lakeside far.
3.  cotton world-- the real world
4. Gram weenie-- (we obviously aren't). One obsessed with the weight of their pack.
5. Camel up-- drinking a liter of water so u don't have to carry it
6. Fatty up-- same thing but with food.
7  trail brain-- severe effort required to accomplish or remember anything at all.
8 the shakedown: when someone with more experience goes through your pack and gets rid of all the things you think I can't live without.
9. Resupply box: food and supplies that you mail ahead, and you open as if it were Christmas.
10. Base weight-- the weight of your pack without food and water... Obviously we do not know what our base weight us.
11. Hiker midnight:9pm
( soooo true)

Things we have learned:)

Things we have learned:
1. That our cool stove has an igniter (day 4).
2. That the reason we have blisters on our heels is ( day 2):  
A. our boots are too big or
B.we haven't laced them tight enough.

3, it's not a good idea to throw away your Deet before entering the sky lake wilderness. ( day 5)
4. Prob a good idea to check GPS a few min after u get going. ( day 6-- wrong direction 1 mile, twice!
5. There is such a thing as "trail brain", in which it is impossible to actually retain any information.
6. Always Carry 4 x the amount of blister stuff u think u will need.
7. Everything takes double the time that u think it will.
7. Deet makes your mouth numb.
8 you can never own enough duct tape.
9. sunhats and sunglasses are incredibly tedious
10. 20 pound resupply boxes may be overkill.
11  any additional ounce carried will be felt.
12 Mosquitos do not make good pets
13 take ibuprofen before bed or your legs will literally ache all night.
14. Eat before you hike and you don't have to carry it.
15. If you mail it home , you will need it the next day.
16. Hitch hiking can be fun( day 10)
Our learning curve... Maybe a bit steep:)

Thugs we can do without

Apparently, everything.

Let's just saw we aren't the lightest hikers on the trail.... We met "Charlie day hiker" on the first day, and his pack weighed 5 pounds. Ours?
Wellllll...... After connor dumped 17 pounds on the side of the road, her pack still weighed 41. Mine? 56.... Aaargghhhhh.
We found out that people do not bring:
Shovels
Buckets
Extra boots
Nutella ( although that is debatable)
Bowls and forks
5 pound solar charger that doesn't work
9 liters of water
Microwave popcorn.... Yes, we know we r in wilderness:)
3 sets of all other items
A stuff sack for each item
Rain jacket and a poncho
75 windproof matches ( we just discovered in day 5 that our cook stove has an auto igniter)



Anddddddd... A 30 pound resupply nix for 4 days of hiking
The people here at fish lake liked up to take photos of it because it is the biggest yet.!!!

I think they can tell we r novices!!!!

7/3/14 --- Start to mile 1736

We arrive at the Hwy 99/ I-5 junction at about noon after a last meal at  subway. We promptly dump out everything in our backpacks and start making piles of what makes the cut and gets carried with us and what is being sent back with our trusty support team (Jeff, Una, Malcolm).  Then we pull out our bathroom scale and weigh our packs to make sure we can carry them.! Connor got rid of 17 lbs worth of supplies! We say our final goodbyes and start off!! Well... After a half hour photoshoot with the PCT sign of course =]  Our guidebook says that this is one of the ugliest parts of  the trail, but we think everything is just soo beautiful and stop about every 30min to take pictures- of butterflies, trees, the first people we meet walking, and especially the dandelions that are almost as big as your head!  The trail itself varies so much from mile to mile- in some places the trail is only six inches wide cutting through bushes up to your chest, then shady pine forests, to rocky slopes of mountains, to prairies frosted with white and yellow blooms. We're spending the  night at what the guidebook calls a spring, but it's actually a pipe sticking out of the ground. Trail lingo #1: the guidebook will now be refered to as  "The Book of Lies" since is has only been compleatly wrong this whole time. We're tempted to turn it into a fire and cook dinner.... But we're soo tired that sounds like way too much work! It's crazy we spent half a day walking in what can be driven in 15 minutes! Official PCT tip #1: dehydrate your own marshmallows- it's time consuming but so worth it! Can't wait to see how we feel tomorrow! Xoxo K+C+J sisters with blisters

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On our way!!!

7/3/2014
Well, we are on our way to the border... it is still dark out and we have loaded up the Yukon with 3 packs in the overhead Thule bin.  We are actually off!!! yikes!

We hope to spend the night around mile 1738, past Pilot Rock, near a spring that is listed on our map. We will need to purify our water and fill up.   Our first resupply station is at Fish Lake Resort on 7/6, so not too bad:)

Before I leave, I just want to thank my wonderful husband, Jeff and my two incredible daughters Lauren and Hailey for giving me the freedom to do this hike, and to leave them for a month. I am so blessed and fortunate to have such a supportive and loving family. Thank you for being amazingggg!

Hope that the next report is not about blisters!!!!!  and hope that we can actually get enough service to update our blog!!!

Jean



Here is our itinerary in case you are interested! The blue highlights are where we are having food mailed, and hopefully we will get a shower!!!

Day #	Day	miles	cum miles	PCT mile start	pct mile finish	Daily anticipated Start location	probable Camp location
1	7/3/2014	9	9	1727	1736	Ashland/I5 crossing
2	7/4/2014	14	23	1736	1750		Hyatt lake campgr.
3	7/5/2014	15		1750	~1765	Hyatt lake campgr.	possibly Old Baldie
4	7/6/2014	16	39	~1765	1781		Fish Lake Resort
5	7/7/2014	16		1781	~1794	Fish Lake Resort
6	7/8/2014	15	54	~1794	1809		Ranger Spring Camp
7	7/9/2014	11		1809	1820	Ranger Spring Camp	Stuart Falls Camp
8	7/10/2014	10	64	1820	1830	Stuart Falls Camp	Mazama/crater Lake
9	7/11/2014			1830	1844	Mazama/Crater Lake	Hwy 209 Junction
				1844	1853	Hwy 209 Junction	Hwy 138 Junction
10	7/12/2014	31 /2 day	95	1853	1861	Hwy 138 Junction	Thielsen Camp
11	7/13/2014	17		1861	1878	Thielsen Camp	6 horse spring
12	7/14/2014	6		1878	1884	6 horse spring	OST Junction
		9	104	1884	1893	OST Junction	Crescent Lake
13	7/15/2014	6.3		1893	1899	Crescent Lake	Diamond View Lake
		5.2	109.2	1899	1912	Diamond View Lake	Shelter Cove
14	7/16/2014			1913	1924	Shelter Cove	Bobby Lake
		15.8	125	1924	1929	Bobby Lake	~1929

15	7/17/2014	15	140	1929	1944	~1929	~1944
16	7/18/2014	15	155	1944	1959	~1944	Elk Lake Resort
17	7/19/2014	16		1959	~1975	Elk Lake Resort	Foley Ridge Trail/Linton Spring
18	7/20/2014	14	169	~1975	1989	~near Linton Spring	Lava Camp Lake
19	7/21/2014	14	183	1989	2002	Lava Camp	Big Lake Youth Camp
20	7/22/2014	20	203	2002	2022	BLYC	Rockpile Lake
21	7/23/2014	16	219	2022	2038	Rockpile Lake	Jeff Creek
22	7/24/2014	16	235	2038	2054	Jeff Creek	Ollallie/Head Lake
23	7/25/2014	18		2054	2072	Olallie Lake	WACS2072
24	7/26/2014	17	252	2072	2089	WACS2072	Little Crater Lake
25	7/27/2014	19	271	2089	2108	Little Crater Lake	Timberline Lodge
26	7/28/2014			2108	2117	Timberline Lodge	Ramona ALT
		17		2117	2125		Lolo Pass Campground
27	7/29/2014	13		2125	2138	Lolo Pass	Indian Spring
28	7/30/2014	15	286	2138	2153	Indian Spring	Dianne Tapfer!