Month: July 2019

Ashland to Crater Lake

On By René Duindam1 Comment

After a double zero it can be hard to return to the trail but we were excited to move on as Oregon promised more delightful trail. A trail angel took us to the trail head after we shouted him coffee. Lovely walking until Grant did his ankle again – poor bugger! We even managed to hitch down the road at the end of the day to enjoy Fries, free beers and ice cream at the Green Springs Inn before walking up to the campground late evening.

First day of my new Oboz shoes had gone well so once we hit the next campground with a rubbish bin I threw out my old Solomons – 1000 trail miles plus tramps in NZ. Really lovely country, almost as nice as NZ. Stayed at the Sth Brown Mountain shelter after 20 miles (32kms). First ones there so we slept inside.

Nice night at the shelter, only a resident mouse scratching around during the night. Met Alabama (Twister) and a Canadian couple, nice chatting in the evening. Off to Fish Lake for a meal and a shower. Meant to carry on but Grant wanted to rest his ankle. Short day with time for swimming, reading and resting.

Day 100 – 5 July – Happy Birthday Ness! On this special day we decided to take an alternative trail to see the lake area which the main PCT skips. Can’t say enough about the beauty of the lakes but unfortunately for us we had entered Mossie country. Coming from NZ you’d think I’d be used to it but these “skeeters” were relentless, huge, angry and swarming. You needed a bug head net through the worst of it. Going to the toilet meant using Deet wipes on your exposed butt before being able to go to the loo – and that’s all I’m saying about that.

Back onto the PCT first thing in the morning after staying at Deer Lake. Today would see us back into the snow crossing Devils Peak where Anna glissaded down the back. 200 meters of snow sliding fun! After the peak we eventually had to walk through a large burn area, always slightly depressing but natural.

We seem to be part of a hiker bubble as around 20 tents all parked nearby us. Lots of others have skipped the Sierras and jumped northward either going northbound or south. Today we hiked to Mazama to collect our resupply box from the campground before hiking around Crater Lake. Box collected, showered, laundry done, Pizza eaten and a few miles hiked in the evening to top off another great day. I even met the local “Rangers” who posed for a quick photo…..and yes, those are guns they’re wearing.

Next up Crater Lake…..and beyond.

Double zero in wonderful Ashland

On By René DuindamLeave a comment

A huge THANK YOU to Jeremiah, Isabella, Joan and Dan for letting us stay at your place. Pitched the Palace on your deck, ate at the picnic table, let us use your laundry, kitchen and bathroom. You let total strangers stay at your lovely place – brilliant!Ashland was wonderful from the moment we arrived, well deserved pancakes at hiker-friendly Callahan’s, a lovely British Uber driver who took us into town, a really nice Co-op that had proper barista coffee, market along the stream and a gorgeous park to walk through.Old Solomons – 1600kmsNew Oboz – zero kms. Our first Zero day was spent going over to another town called Medford to visit the REI outfitters. I needed new shoes and putties, Anna needed new socks and shorts. This ended up taking hours, after which we Uber’d back to Ashland and resupplied thinking we would leave the next day. Home by 5pm, not feeling chilled, so we decided to have a proper day off the next day. And next……Oregon shows off absolutely gorgeous wilderness.

Halfway and still going strong

On By René Duindam1 Comment

Technology, in particular the WiFi we’ve encountered recently has made it almost impossible to upload our blogs with pictures.

We’re halfway through Oregon, halfway through our PCT miles and also crossed over the 2000km mark a few days ago.

We’ll push out our updates when we get the chance. Oregon has been fantastic!

More of our adventures to come soon.

Oregon, 1000 Miles and still going!

On By René Duindam3 Comments
The “border”

Mt. Etna to Ashland, 118 Miles (190kms) in 8 days, including a half day coming into Seiad Valley (Grant twisted his ankle) and a half day coming out to the trailhead at Ashland. We’re certainly making more progress than had we stayed in the Sierras. Since our jump northward we’ve already done another 300 Miles and finally crossed our 1000 Mile mark. No regrets going north.

This area is absolutely gorgeous. Our first night back on the trail at Mt. Etna took us to an alpine lake where we swam (a bit chilly with snow around the lake edge) and camped. There were introduced Trout but also a large Salamander population – really cool!

Although further north we still encountered some snow on the trail but not enough to cause us any issues. We spent the day with views of Marble Mountain, a huge rock outcrop that took an age to go around. We camped again at another lake (Paradise Lake) at a lovely campsite, enjoyed dinner and a fire in the fire pit provided. A wild Deer took an interest and wandered around, probably used to being fed by other hikers.

The following day saw us crossing 200+ tree falls. The area had experienced a large wild fire and most of the tree falls were burnt logs that had finally fallen down. In addition to this, the fire had opened the canopy, let heaps more light in and allowed the undergrowth to overgrow the track in many places. It appeared that the trail volunteers hadn’t visited this section of the trail for quite a while. One kilometre from our destination, Grant badly twisted his ankle but managed to hobble to campsite – bugger!

Next morning saw us walk the 7 Miles to Seiad Valley, a tiny community with a Cafe providing hikers with huge meals. They didn’t disappoint. I had the Hobo/hiker breakfast – yummy! We bought some food and found a Trail Angel who let us camp for free on his property. Lovely place, beautiful trees, direct access to the river where we had two swims and a lift to a place for dinner in the evening. On our return he invited us for Smores by the open fire. Nice way to end the day.

Breakfast the following morning at the Cafe, a few last minute resupply items and we were off again. Grants ankle looked pretty bad but he wanted to soldier on. Luckily we could take a relatively gentle forestry road for the day to avoid the more difficult trail. A fantastic day following a nice gently climbing road next to a creek. Good views, time to look around instead of constantly watching your feet on the uneven trail. We arrived in good time at the intersection with the trail to find the weather had turned, windy and cold, so we decided to stop for the night and camp.

The topography of the landscape continues to change, with steep craggy mountains being replaced by older, more rolling hills. Lots of open meadows with wild flowers separated by pine forest. Lots of views all day. Still some snow across the trail but again not a problem for us. We ended up staying in an old Musterers hut by an open meadow – very rustic and a nice change. We sat on camping chairs around a lovely fire and chilled after dinner. Nice! Bit cold up here considering it is meant to be summer.

The Oregon border came and went. Obligatory photos and videos but no change to the environment. I don’t think nature knows about borders and that stuff is meant to be different when you cross them. Onward to a publicly accessible campsite where we camped before hiking down to the trailhead the following morning. The one thing for me about crossing the border was a sense of making progress especially on passing the 1000 Mile mark. Only 1640 Miles to go!