NorCal is notoriously hot and dry, especially in contrast to the Sierra with water everywhere and beautiful views all around. A lot of hikers find this section incredibly tough, many become demotivated and even drop out here. After returning south from Trail Days, I was well behind schedule. I arrived in Dunsmuir on the Amtrak from Portland at 1 am. Sleeping rough and making a move to Seiad Valley, I got a taste of the dry, hot and exposed trail in NorCal. From talking to others at Trail Days, I didn’t feel too bad about missing the major burn sections from Truckee to Dunsmuir, although there were some gems in there I’d heard.
I began this section far behind the bubble, the solitude and barren landscape was a totally different atmosphere to what I had just left behind. There were still hikers with me this far back, but most of them were crushing 30-40 mile days. I was astonished to see what these guys could do and I pushed as hard as I could, just wanting to cross the California/Oregon border – my daily mileage paled in comparison though. I have to admit that I felt uncomfortable with my position while I was hiking up through NorCal. The trail was lonely and the days were long, this was the part of trail where I spent the most nights setting up cowboy camp after dark, and leaving camp before sunrise. They say that the middle part of a thru-hike is mental, and for this piece I had to keep myself together and just push forwards with good strategy.
Throughout Oregon, I continued to push hard to catch up with the bubble and hit Washington with enough time to beat the end of season weather. I encountered a small group of hikers in Oregon who I’d spent time with at Trail Days, and initially met at the end of the desert, Mango, Cook and Wow. These guys were the Party Turtles, their style was to hike the good stuff, not to sweat over daily miles, and to have a great time in town too. Their style matched mine perfectly, and I carried on through the end of Oregon with them.
There were some large wildfires in Oregon, as with most years, and we skipped around a few smoke affected sections. While logistically interesting, the fires helped us to further catch up with the schedule. Its tempting to stress about circumstances here, but one thing I learned was to take things as they come, it all works out so much better when you don’t force it to.
I reached the end of Oregon in early-mid September, with almost three weeks until the generally accepted target date to finish trail. I still had some pressure to get through Washington before the snow, but I had caught up significantly and felt confident that I could make it to the end before any big storms locked me out.
-
Day 132, 1 September: Shelter Cove
I completed the alternate route to Shelter Cove today. There was no smoke on the trail until I reached Odell Lake, in the afternoon it rolled in quite thick. I spent the afternoon hanging out at Shelter Cove, and was lucky enough to get a ride to Bend with Devilfish, the same trail angel who
-
Day 133-135, 2-4 September: Bend, Oregon
I spent the last few days in Bend at a really cool hostel called Bunk+Brew. Walking in here straight off the trail is a dream, they have really cool people working there, good vibes, great showers and an awesome courtyard out the back with food trucks and a bar. I hung out in Bend and
-
Day 136, 5 September: Back to Trail, Santiam Pass
I joined up with Mango, Cook and Wow today and we all got a ride out to Santiam Pass from Bend. Our ride left at 3:30 pm, which gave us plenty of time for last minute organization. When we got out to the trail head, it was 4:30 pm but we still managed 4.3 miles,
-
Day 137, 6 September: Entering Mt Jefferson Wilderness
We hiked into Mt Jefferson Wilderness today and had a great view of Three Fingered Jack as we traversed under its scree slopes shortly after leaving camp. The tail passed around Porcupine Peak and over Minto Pass before dropping past Rockpile Mountain to the lake. We climbed up onto a ridge overlooking Mt Jefferson just
-
Day 138, 7 September: Mt Jefferson
We made our way around Mt Jefferson today. The trail circled around the mountain all day, dropping into Milk Creek along the way. Just before reaching Jefferson Park, we met two trail angels, Fancy Ramen and Knorrmaster, who were hanging out and giving away snacks right in the middle of the trail. One of them
-
Day 139, 8 September: Timberline Lodge
We spent the day enjoying Timberline Lodge today. Any time we can wake up casually and leave our tents set up is such a relaxing start to the day. From our campsites above the lodge, we each had excellent views across Oregon. The first thing we wanted to do was visit the breakfast buffet which
-
Day 140, 9 September: Mt Hood/Wy’East
We left the Timberline Lodge behind us today. Like Jefferson, the trail wrapped around Mt Hood all day today. There weren’t any clear views, but the fog all around the mountain was very dramatic. The trail had an alternate route past Ramona Falls which were flowing well from recent rainfall. After visiting the falls, I
-
Day 141, 10 September: Last Night in Oregon
After yesterday’s steep climb to camp, I had a very flat day today. I spent most of the day walking along ridges and sidling around small peaks, with just a couple of moderate descents and ascents. The trail took me over Lolo Pass, around Hiyu Mountain and Sentinel Peak to Salvation Spring. I stopped at
-
Day 142, 11 September: Tunnel Falls
I started the day today high in the clouds with a fairly strong wind. Packing up quickly, I headed 10 min up the trail for breakfast at a sheltered campsite. After breakfast, I began the very steep descent down to Eagle Creek on the blue-blaze alternate trail to Cascade Locks. This trail takes us past
-
Day 143, 12 September: Portland Zero
After hanging around Cascade Locks for a while, picking up my bounce box, and catching up with a few other hikers; including Pie Guy, Lunatic, Random, Cook, Mango & Wow, I headed to Portland. One of the guys from Trail Days, Eli, was kind enough to share his place with me, even taking me to
Trekkin Weka 
Leave a comment