Day 84:

Date: June 24, 2015

Progress: 25.0 miles - tentsite (mi 1852.6) to tentsite near Six Horse Spring (mi 1877.6)

This morning I hid in my tent for a while because I woke up to seven thousand mosquitoes surrounding the walls of my bug net. By the time I finally got moving at 9:45 they weren't quite as bad because it had warmed up a little. 

I felt pretty good today, and covered the 25 miles quickly and without spending much time resting. The mosquitoes were bad on and off. 

When Backtrack and I got to our campsite, we both quickly set up our tents to create a haven from our impending mosquito doom before walking down to the water source on the 0.4 mile side trail. 

Mt. Thielsen, the "lightning rod" of the Cascades, according to Backtrack. 

Day 83:

Date: June 23, 2015

Progress: 23.1 miles - Mazama Village (mi 1829.5) to tentsite (mi 1852.6)

Leaving Mazama Village, we had a bit of steep climbing to get up to the Crater Lake Rim. We took the "hiker PCT" aka the Rim Alternate, which is technically not the PCT, but all the hikers take it. It was a little strange to be hiking through an area saturated with flip-flop wearing, car-driving tourists. That said, the Disney Land type downsides were easily offset by the beautiful views of Crater Lake. 

Crater Lake was a giant mountain some number of years ago that erupted and left a giant hole that had gradually filled with snowmelt and rain water. It's really big, and really deep. Way bigger than I had imagined. 

Once the Rim alternate connected back with the PCT, we were hiking through lots of downed trees, and then eventually a mosquito-laden hell. There were more of them than we've had yet. For the last 10 miles of hiking it would have been suicidw to stop for a drink or a break. I hiked as fast as I could to avoid the giant swarm that was continually trailing about two feet behind my backpack. It was straight out of a nightmare. 

There are a thousand of them around my tent right now, and there is a loud chorus of buzzing as I feast on my Backpacker's Pantry Pad Thai that I got out of the hiker box in Mazama Village. 

Just before the mosquitoes descended

Day 82:

Date: June 22, 2015

Progress: 22.4 miles - tentsite (mi 1807.1) to Mazama Village (mi 1829.5)

Today we hiked into Crater Lake National Park, to Mazama Village, where there is a store, campground, and restaurant. I got a beer and some hummus at the store, picked up my food resupply, and Backtrack and I split a pizza at the restaurant. 

We're camped in the hiker spot at the campground with Boa, Knotts, and Baldor, three hikers who made it all the way through the Sierra and are the 3rd, 4th and 5th furthest north thru hikers at the moment. Tomorrow we'll hike up to the rim and get to see Crater Lake. 

Day 81:

Date: June 21, 2015

Progress: 26.5 miles - tentsite near Highway 140 (mi 1780.6) to tentsite (mi 1807.1)

Today Backtrack and I celebrated the summer solstice by walking a bunch. It's amazing how much shorter today's 26.5 felt compared with yesterday's 30.4. The long hours of daylight and shorter miles allowed us to take our time a little more.

We met Baldor and Knots, the 4th and 5th northbound thru hikers who didn't skip the Sierra. They are probably the last ones that are moving fast enough that we'll meet them before flipping back down to Lone Pine. 

Day 80:

Date: June 20, 2015

Progress: 30.4 miles - Hyatt Lake Campground (mi 1750.2) to tentsite (mi 1780.6)

Today was a pretty big day, and I found myself dragging through the last 9 miles or so, with nothing on my mind but mashed potatoes and sleep. We crossed a highway shortly before our camp spot, and there was a couple there in their car who spotted us and insisted upon giving us some food. We gladly accepted some chips and salsa, cheese, and a couple other things. 

I will fall asleep within about 5 seconds of my head hitting the pillow tonight. We didn't reach camp until 9:00 pm. 

Day 79:

Date: June 19, 2015

Progress: 24.7 miles - I-5 and Ashland (mi 1725.5) to Hyatt Lake Campground (mi 1750.2)

Today I woke up in Medford, and had to figure a way back to the trail. First I took two buses to get back to Ashland. Once in Ashland I tried and failed to hitch back to the trail. I think most people thought I was homeless. I eventually gave up hitching when even my cardboard sign didn't work, and called a taxi to get back. 

By then it was 11 am, and I was meeting Backtack at a campground a good distance away. I made it there by 8:15 or so, but I didn't take my time quite as much as I would have liked to. 

Day 78:

Date: June 18, 2015

Progress: 7.8 miles - Mt Ashland Campground (mi 1717.7) to I-5 and Ashland (mi 1725.5)

Today I covered the short and downhill distance into town quickly, and hitched into Ashland, OR, which was one of the biggest towns I've seen in a while. When we arrived, Chewie and I tried to find a motel or hotel or hostel, but literally every place in Ashland was totally booked. There must have been something going on, because we tried 12 or 13 different places and none of them had rooms of any kind.

I got lunch, a haircut, and went to the post office in Ashland, and ended up doing a lot of walking around with my pack on. Then I took city buses to Medford, where Chewie had booked a motel room. There I did my grocery shopping and went to the motel. I didn't end up getting to take off my pack until about 4:30. It's frustrating when town days don't end up being rest days.

Tomorrow I have the chore of getting back to the trail all the way from Medford. 

Day 77:

Date: June 17, 2015

Progress: 25.5 miles - tentsite near Mud Spring (1692.2) to Mt. Ashland Campground (1717.7)

Today we woke up and hurried our way over to Oregon, which was really exciting after having been in California for so long. We will of course be back in a couple weeks to complete the 400 miles of trail that we jumped over.

Oregon I had heard is much flatter than most of the rest of the trail, and hikers had told me that the miles would come easier once I got here. It definitely held true for a lot of today. There will I'm sure be sections that are difficult, but especially compared with yesterday's 5000 foot climb out of Seiad Valley, today was an easy 25 miles. 

We are camped at the Mt. Ashland campground, where we made friends with a few wonderfully nice girls who are on a road trip. Their names were Laura, Chesney, and Marilyn. (Hope I got the spelling close to right!) We had a fire and ate dinner together. They shared some corn on the cob and roasted peppers and brussel sprouts with us, all vegetables that I realized I hadn't eaten since before the trail.