Leaving Oregon

We left Bend after meeting some friends who did the Appalachian trail for some breakfast and got the three weirdest hitches on the trip so far. The first woman explained to us that the hands of God told her to pick us up that day. The second hitch we got was from a guy who "always picks up hitchhikers" because he was homeless in the area for three years. Then his sister, who looks like she's twelve, mentions to me that she works at stars. Knowing I've seen this  before, I wrack my brain when I realize it's the strip club that was across the street from our hotel. Uncomfortable,  I keep making small talk until they drop us off. The last hitch we got was from a 92 year old woman who couldn't figure out that her car was locked to let us in. Finally she got it and we hopped in. The next challenge was turning on the car. After trying to put the off car in drive for five minutes, she realized the car wasn't on. Unfortunately her new hearing aids weren't working so our helpful tips on the car we're lost. But we did make it up to the trailhead where we ran into two sets of trail magic. We didn't get too far from the bagels and doughnuts. We hit the trail the next morning and struggled over a long lava rock section with wind blowing the rain sideways at us. It rained hard that morning and we were soaked and cold. Luckily around noon we hit the 2,000 mile marker and the sun started to peek through.  To celebrate we finally drank the shots of fireball we had carried since mile 900 for this occasion. The day turned into a nice one and we made it 30 miles out. We woke up to an amazing sunrise lighting up the whole ridge but when we left the tent, the freezing cold air hit us and we realized the day wouldn't be the greatest. We got hiking fast to beat the cold and made it another 30 miles that day. After a few more long days we made it to timberline lodge where we got picked up by our friend sad fish and taken into hood river where he lives for a nice zero day. We got to go paddle boarding on the river and then were treated to the best home cooked meal I've had on trail. Unfortunately we had to leave and get back on trail. We left timberline and took a few days to get into cascade locks, taking the amazingly beautiful eagle creek alternate. There we met up with a bunch of through hikers and spent the day playing corn hole in the local park. We slept next to the Columbia River and woke up looking into Washington.  Today we cross the bridge of the gods and enter washington, our last state on this trip. Only 511 miles left until we cross the border into Canada.

We've Entered the Northwest

We left Ashland and headed up to Crater Lake, but not before we stopped by Callahans for the free beer and bottomless spaghetti dinner. We also met a bunch of amazing people in ashland who were so willing and helpful to us hiker trash. One women asked us if we needed a ride while we were sending off some resupply packages at the post office. It was great for us because the laundromat was across town and we were in serious need of clean socks. She not only took us there but gave us her number so she could take us back to the trailhead when we were done. Incredible.  The next few days after ashland were dull. We were stuck in a green tunnel (forested area) for what seemed like forever. We did get free ice cream from a campground store just off trail. We also came upon our first group of sobos (southbound through hikers) who were taking an on trail zero day. Instead of relaxing, they were filtering water for all of us north bounders which was awesome because the water coming out of the pump was brown and murky. Gotta love your sobos! The next day we took a break and ended up being joined by about 20 of our fellow through hikers. It was quite the treat since we've all been spread out for so long. Later that day we caught a helicopter dropping off some forest service workers about 50 yards from the trail. They were headed in to observe a nearby fire and clear some brush. We got into Mazama village (the Crater Lake campground) where we ran into tons of hikers and got a chance to resupply. That night we chatted around the campfire until hiker midnight (9pm). The next morning we were treated to breakfast by our friend Duke ' s mom who had flown in from Texas to help him, and us, out along the trail. We got up to the Rim Village and caught our first glimpse of Crater lake. Five minutes later, my camera died. We hung out at the lodge for the day, sitting on the porch drinking margaritas and looking out over the lake. We made it another few miles that day and were treated to some wine by some day hikers who had just bottled it at their grandparents vineyard. We celebrated the full moon over Crater lake in style. We left the lake amid sounds of thunder and clouds rolling in. It rained on us that night but, luckily, we had set up camp already.  We woke up to almost constant thunder and got hiking right as it began to rain. A few hours later the rain turned to hail and the lightning was getting closer. The marble sized hail pounded our heads and we took refuge under a large tree. The hail turned back into rain and we ventured on passing a ridge and the highest elevation point on trail in Oregon and Washington.  The lightning continued.  We had a brief period of no rain but it started to pour again hard just 20 minutes before we got to camp. Everything was soaked but because we didn't want to take breaks, we made it 28 miles that day, making it my longest day. We caught a lull in the rain the next morning and packed up quick. A few hours later the sun poked through and we took the time to dry out our gear. About ten minutes after we packed up again, the rain came down and soaked everything. It rained most of the rest of the day until we found a camp where a fellow through hiker gave us some beer and fresh homemade salsa. It was a great end to a bad day. We made it into shelter cove, a small lake resort, where we found a bunch of hikers. We also heard that the weather was supposed to let up so we dried out gear in high hopes. As we were about to pack up and get going, a man staying in one of the cabins came over and offered us some grilled salmon that he had caught earlier in the lake.  We ended up spending the evening around his campfire sharing stories. We even got to take a boat ride around the lake at sunset. Leaving later to head to the hiker campsite, I made it around the first horse shoe pit but the second one came out of nowhere and I toppled over, backpack and all. Surprisingly it's the first time I've scrapped up my knees on the trail. We took a leisurely day out and stopped by some lakes and a ski cabin. The trail was really busy the next day. We ran into a 100k race that joined the trail for bit as well as tons of day hikers and campers. Luckily the afternoon was much quieter. I pulled my first 30 mile day that day despite having to stop quite a bit for all the other people. We hiked into Bend the next day and planned for a zero day.  We got warmer clothes, lots of food, and are ready to get back on trail tomorrow morning! Mile 1989.5. Only 680 to go!