Author: Marcus

The Olallie Lake Store is just to the west of a small mountain. So, the sunrise doesn’t hit it until fairly late. This, coupled with the fact that the backpackers’ tenting area was in the trees meant that most hikers, including me, got up fairly late.

As I went about my morning tasks, a couple groggy, hungover southbounders asked about the spring again.

Since I was next to a store, I wanted some town food for breakfast, but the choices were limited. The Olallie Lake Store only has power when the generator is running, and it usually isn’t. So the things they sell are mostly trail food. I settled on coffee and Hostess little chocolate donuts — both things I could have on the trail. The total cost for these meager provisions was $5, plus $1 for refilling the coffee.

But, sitting on the front porch of the store, sipping hot coffee on a cold morning, looking out over the lake, was well worth it. I had a long chat with a retired hiker doing the Oregon section. We chatted about who backpacks and why, as the coffee warmed me up for the day.

After all this, I wasn’t actually on the trail until about 9:45 — a tremendously late start. This wasn’t a big deal, though, because my next resupply was at the Timberline Lodge, about 50 miles away — probably 2 easy days. I could try to get there earlier in the day, but the all-you-can-eat breakfast there was famous.

The trail today was standard Oregon: Tall conifers, with knee-high berry bushes on either side, and elevation changes that were gentle and few.

In fact, the trail was so gentle, I got going really fast. I’d seen Bill and Breanna’s names on a list of Olallie Lake campsite users, and thought I might be able to catch them.

The miles flew by, one after another, all day.

When I finally got to my target campsite, I wasn’t the first to arrive. There were already two backpacks there. They were similar to what I remembered Bill and Breanna carrying. There was a bear canister there, even though bear canisters weren’t required here — Bill always used a bear canister, even in the desert. There was a two person tent pitched in the center of the campsite.

Instead of people, though, there were two pairs of shoes. Probably their owners had gone downhill to the lake. So I set up camp, and started eating dinner, wondering if Bill and Breanna were out swimming.

As I ate my third tortilla, a young couple I hadn’t met before came up from the lake. We had a brief chat about today’s trail, and went to bed.

In the end, I passed just about everybody I’d seen at Olallie Lake, but never saw any sign of Bill or Breanna.

Today may have been my fastest day, though it wasn’t my longest — over 30 miles in 9.5 hours, lunch included.

Last night had been cold and windy. The days are definitely getting shorter, and the nights are getting colder. I can’t stay on the trail forever.

Today had many, many water sources. Ponds, lakes, streams, and so forth — they were all there today.

Oregon’s berries were out in full force on this part of the trail, too.

As the day wore on, I got pretty hungry, but the scenery just kept getting nicer.

A new mountain made an appearance in the distance today. I think it’s Mt. Hood.

A high pass brought back something I’d thought I left behind in the Sierras: Snowfield crossings.

The altitude wasn’t that high — about 7000 feet — but the terrain was very reminiscent of the high passes of the Sierras.

The food situation was pretty bad today. As I got hungrier and hungrier, I got slower and slower. The 7-hour stretch from my small lunch until dinner was rough.

But I got to the Olallie Lake Store before closing, and got my fill of food. The store’s picnic tables were a gathering point for hikers, so we sat and chatted about the trail until late tonight, then set up camp in the woods next door.

Next to my tent, some southbound PCT hikers sat at a picnic table, illuminated by an eerie green lantern, and speculated about trail I’d just been on. They brought up the Big Lake Youth Camp, and it’s free laundry and showers. I relayed to them what Elizabeth had told me — that it not only had laundry and showers, it also had free breakfasts and bag lunches. This boggled their minds.

Just before getting into my tent I warned them about the nonexistent spring. They thanked me, and I went to bed.

Visiting Bend was a lot of fun. There were many great places to eat, resupplying was quick and easy, and I was able to replace my slow filter at an actual REI.

I happened to be in town during a beer festival called Brewfest. Bend being something of a center for brewing (there are more than a dozen breweries in this fairly small town), Brewfest is a major event.

Sadly, I was feeling carsick by the time we got to the event, so I couldn’t really properly enjoy the festival, but I found a couple new beers I liked. It seems I get carsick much more easily since I’ve been hiking.

The time to leave town came way too soon, and I found myself on the trail at about 2 in the afternoon after only one full day in town.

What’s more, I hadn’t packed quite enough food. I’d gone light on the meals, and didn’t count out the snacks properly. Further, I’d been planning on leaving town with my belly stuffed, but I’d felt carsick, and couldn’t eat all that much for lunch (just an egg salad sandwich, a few fries, and a three-star chocolate milkshake at The Depot Cafe in the town of Sisters). And, I’d slept late and skipped breakfast. I’d definitely finish this stretch hungry.

And, I hadn’t looked at the water report before leaving. Standing in the parking lot, I realized I had 10 miles to cover in the hottest part of the day, with only 1L of water.

I left the last major town of the PCT in bad shape. I dragged like crazy all day.

The scenery was nice though.

I hiked late, since I needed to be in range of the Olallie Lake Store tomorrow, or I’d have no dinner.

The sunset was very colorful today. In the forest, rich red light filtered through the trees. In burn areas, the light was pink on the white tree trunks. When I finally set up camp, the sun was almost completely set.