Day 113 8/4
Mile mark 2053.6-2092.8 (-28.6 closed pct miles, +14 mile road walk)
Ollalie Meadows Campground to Seeping Spring
The long road walk detour. Luckily there wasn’t much traffic here and we got a ride for the last seven miles.
Mini crater lake.
Day 112 8/3
Mile mark 2030.3-2053.6 (+3.5 miles on a dirt road on the start of a fire closure)
Shale Lake to Ollalie Meadows Campground
Day 111 8/2
Mile mark 2007.1-2030.3
Bend to Shale Lake
Day 110 8/1
Mile mark 2007.1
Rest Day in Bend
I’m terrible about remembering to take pictures in town. I had an absolutely perfect rest day with my parent’s friends, Bill and Marilyn, in Bend. During my rest day I recharged mentally and physically, and got a lot of encouraging words from friends and family. I realized while I was thinking about the past few days, that I had gone 290 miles in 10 days and not taken a single day off. By the end of the rest day I had changed my mind and was ready to tackle the rest of the trail.
Day 109 7/31
Mile mark 1980.8-2007.1
South of Minnie Scott Spring to Bend
I wake up and for the fifth straight day, I don’t want to hike at all. I tell myself when I get to Bend I’m going to quit the PCT. I eventually start hiking and run into lots of other hikers who all seem to be very chatty. They all ask me where I’m headed, and not wanting to explain why I’m quitting, I reply “Canada.” They all then tell me I’m in the home stretch and are amazed by what I’m doing. This makes me internally cringe, knowing I’m planning to quit.
I then run into Coppertone, a notorious trail angel, who makes ice cream floats. He hiked the PCT a few years ago and now is traveling up the PCT doing trail magic. After talking for a bit, I ask him if he had ever considered quitting and he replies “yes.” He then told me he got the “Northern California blues,” but eventually worked through them. I had also heard of people getting the “Southern Oregon blues,” but here I am, in Central Oregon, and still feeling blue. I hike on feeling confused.
In the afternoon, I come upon the 2000 mile mark. I tell myself I’ll be happy with finishing just 2000 miles of the PCT, but in the back of my head I can hear a voice saying “you know it’s only 668 more miles to Canada.”
I head down to Big Lake Youth Camp to pick up a resupply box I mailed there. I meet some of the extremely friendly counselors at the camp and they direct me where to get my box. I start going through my supplies and think its pointless.
I rush off to meet one of my parent’s friends who I’ll be staying with in Bend. For so long I have dreamed of standing at the northern terminus of the trail and now I’m giving up that dream.
Day 108 7/30
Mile mark 1953.7-1980.8 (-1 pct mile, +2.6 to Elk Lake Resort)
Dumbell Lake to South of Minnie Scott Spring
Had the best breakfast yet here.
Obsidian fields.
I was feeling mentally exhausted of hiking at the start of this day and was very seriously considering quitting my hike. The PCT seemed to sense my despair and put me in a gorgeous area with one of the best sunsets I’d seen. I couldn’t capture it, but the sky was a teal blue like I’d never seen before.
Day 107 7/29
Mile mark 1920.7-1953.7
Another shot of the shelter.
Day 106 7/28
Mile mark 1898.6-1920.7 (+2.6 for resupply)
The impressive Maiden Peak ski hut. Home for the night.
Day 105 7/27
Mile mark 1867.0-1898.6 (+.7 to water)
Day 104 7/26
Mile mark 1836.4-1867.0 (+.8 to water, +2 Down and Up a Hill on the wrong trail)
Technically I was higher on a section of Crater Lake. The PCT at Crater Lake splits into an equestrian and hiker trail. The hiker trail goes up to Crater Lake, but the official PCT is the lower equestrian trail.