I first hiked the Pacific Crest Trail over the course of 1994 and 1996, then I hiked the whole thing in one go in 2013. During the latter hike I kept this website updated as I progressed up the trail. I still have about 45 hours of video to edit, but in the meantime there is a lot for you to look at here. Over the course of the 168 days I wrote 138,734 words and put 13,644 photos on this website.
Woke up around 8:30am and went looking for Kevin. I didn't pack up my stuff since I didn't know if I would find him.
I walked around Scout Lake and saw several people camped, but none were Kevin. Eventually I ended back up on the PCT where I had been last night. I was kind of bummed I couldn't find Kevin at all.
All of the sudden I saw a cardboard sign right there next to the trail, along with an arrow made in rocks, it was Kevin! I followed the side trail down, turning down the path with an empty Tecate can, then another sign for me. Here was Kevin sitting there reading a book. IT was good to see him again.
He made pancakes while I went off to fetch my pack. That ended up taking about 45 minutes by the time I got back to my camp, threw everything in the pack, and walked back to where Kevin was.
He said he was a little unsure about camping in that spot only because I might miss him. He wanted to camp there though since a little creek went by the camp and it was the only way to keep the beer cold. I thought this was a fine trade off. I ended up having my end of day beer at 9am that morning before I walked back to get my stuff.
On the walk back from my camp I ran into Two Hats. He had asked if I saw the signs for me and I told him I had. I also saw three other PCT hikers I didn't recognize. I briefly said hi to them and continued on.
Kevin had saved some dinner leftovers for me. Steak! I had these with all the pancakes he had made. Around 11:00am we started hiking north on the PCT. He was going to hike with me a few miles up to the divide.
Kevin and I hung out on the divide for a bit, drinking the last two cans of beer. I could finally see Mt. Hood! It was probably the first moment on the trail where I felt like things were starting to "connect" in that things from home were starting to appear now.
I said goodbye to Kevin and had an uneventful few hours. I decided I would probably just end up staying at Olallie Lake Resort and get a full day in tomorrow.
Got to the resort around 6:30pm. Two Hats was there along with the other three hikers. Their names were Bo, Siesta, and Hakuna Matata who was from Israel. (I later learned that Hakuna Matata means "No Worries" in Swahili).
The girl that was running the place, Sam, came by and said "ah, one more?". Two Hats said "no...this is the guy I was telling you about that would probably be showing up soon". She was making burritos for everyone. Woo hoo.
We all chowed down on the burritos. Siesta had asked me about how it was possible to hike through the desert in November...since nobody would be stocking the water caches. I told her that the water caches didn't even exist on the PCT in the 90's.
Olallie Lake resort has been there since the 30's. Sam said she has met people who had come up there when they were children and are now coming back there in their 60s. The road to get to it is a bit rough and there is no power/landlines/cell service back in there. No phones means the blog is going to have to wait yet again to be updated.
We all went and made camp at the hiker camp next to the PCT about 1/4 mile away. Sam said that she and the other guy that worked there, Zach, were going to go out on the lake when it got dark and watch the meteor showers. I was the only one who ended up going back down there. I had the option of taking my own rowboat, or riding along in a rowboat that had the beer cooler. You can guess what option I chose.
We had a good time watching the meteor shower from the middle of the lake. The three of us went back to the building and Sam made Jiffy Pop popcorn. We sat on the couch and looked at the lake. Sam told Zach and I stories of having to call on the satellite phone for help when people fell and got injured. One of the stressful parts was that the call would keep dropping, so imagine trying to call for help on a bad connection...then argue with the 911 dispatcher that an ambulance wouldn't be able to get up the road and they needed to send a helicopter.
Sam said I could sleep on the couch if I wanted. Zach and her went off to their sleeping quarters in the other building and I was out in no time. I think it might be the first couch I have spent the night on during this trip. It is also the first time I have set up my tent yet slept elsewhere.