Snow and suffering in the state of Oregon

Last night ended up being a pretty miserable night. I was extremely cold and it took hours for my body heat to dry all the layers I was wearing. In the end, my alpha team ran dry. And I actually had the great idea of ​​using Ziploc bags on my feet this morning. My shoes were frozen and the thought of putting my feet in them sounded miserable.

I didn’t get up and start packing as early as I expected. But it was very cold and there was still a pretty intense storm. But as the morning progressed, it slowly but surely subsided. I think it’s supposed to get a lot worse later today. And my hope is to make it to the trailhead so I’ll be in Sisters by then. In the end I packed my bags and put on all the layers. The Sprinter jacket I wore last night was still quite damp. But it wasn’t that bad. I was able to walk in it and be quite comfortable.

It snowed a couple more inches last night, but it wasn’t much at 5500 feet. Maybe only 4 to 5 inches. Which is a pretty manageable amount of snow to walk on. I continued down the trail and slowly descended even further in elevation. Which meant the snow was getting less and less as I went along. That was certainly a relief. After walking about a mile, I ended up reaching some footprints. Clearly someone else camped in the snow and was rescued this morning.

I walked about 4 kilometers until I reached the junction of the woodpecker trail. This would take me to the beginning of the woodpecker trail, where I could run out onto the road. And you could travel this route to the Santiam Pass. It would add maybe 6 miles total to the trail. But it seems like a more efficient scenario.

I was able to contact Sprinter and make plans to have them pick me up at the trailhead. But my plan was to get to the beginning of the woodpecker trail and then continue toward the road. Just to get a little more mileage in and make my day easier for tomorrow. If I was picked up directly from the trailhead, tomorrow would be a 30+ mile day. And the idea of ​​having a slightly rested day sounded great.

When I reached the junction of the woodpecker side trail, I was surprised to see that the tracks in the snow remained on the PCT. Although that would mean walking 30 more miles through this snowstorm until those people reach the next rescue point. I always wonder if people have extra maps and stuff downloaded in case of emergency. I imagine most people don’t know this and wouldn’t even have realized there was a side path they could take. It’s really good to keep your options open when doing trails like this so you don’t get caught in a scary situation. I don’t want to waste search and rescue time going out to rescue myself.

Once I reached the woodpecker trail, I had very little climbing to do. And there wasn’t much snow on the road either. I walked a couple more miles and arrived at the trailhead. The Sprinter was parked there waiting for me. Last night he was very worried about me. I woke up this morning, turned on my GARMIN, and it had sent me tons of messages. I turned off my GARMIN last night after telling him my plans for today. But last night he kept texting me asking if I was going to walk to the trailhead. Sure, it was only about 6 miles. But I was soaked and cold. The smart decision was to camp and wait for morning.

It was hard to imagine that this was what the trail was like before the storm hit completely. And at a lower height.

However, I felt bad because I was so scared and worried. And when I left the trailhead, I think I expected him to have hypothermia. Because I had hot food and things waiting for me. But luckily, since I stopped last night, I felt pretty comfortable. As comfortable as possible when walking through a snow storm and camping for the night in the middle of the storm. I let him know that I would like to walk a few more miles to the highway. So he drove there to wait for me. And it was all going to be a downhill road for me. I thought the weather would be very good.

There was no snow at the trailhead because it was closer to 5000 feet elevation. It might even have been significantly below that. Which meant those last 5 miles of the day were nice and easy. I flew down this dirt road and it was actually a very nice and pleasant temperature. Things dried out enough last night that today was doable. I’m so glad I stopped doing that last night. Continuing when you are so cold, wet and uncomfortable could create a dangerous situation.

I had wonderful weather and finally reached the old Santiam Pass road. Sprinter was there waiting and then we drove into Sisters together. Along the way we passed the Santiam Pass, so I got to see what the conditions were like. That part of the PCT remains about 5000 feet. And there was about 3 inches of snow when we passed. And it was definitely still snowing. It’s going to be very interesting to return here in a couple of days and continue south along the trail. I really wonder how much snow is going to accumulate.

Sprinter took me to Sisters and I checked into a room for the night. The hotel actually had a lot of alpacas on the property. Which was super cute and something I had never seen before. Apparently an older couple handed them over to the hotel because they could no longer care for them. Once I checked into a room, I unpacked everything and set it out to dry. Much of my gear was soaked. I knew it was going to be a time-consuming process and I wanted to get it started before I started walking around the city.

A good garage sale for hikers, drying everything in my room.

I also booked this room for two nights. I’ll stay tonight and make it a short day. So tomorrow I’ll just do the miles from the old road to Santiam Pass. Then I can continue with the PCT the next day. It seems like a perfect situation that allows me to rest a little, wait out the snow storm and still get the miles I need.

After drying and loading all my things into the room, I meet up with Sprinter. We went to a supply store so we could look for some waterproof socks. But I wasn’t at all surprised that they didn’t have any. This year I have walked into many convenience stores looking for waterproof socks. We ended up calling several places and none of them had either. I really hope I can get some before I have to go out in the snow again. Those will be my only saving grace when riding in snow all day.

The new base layers I just bought.

I did manage to get some extra layers and socks though. That way, if my clothes get wet, I can still be dry and comfortable at night. I think that’s probably a solid idea. Then Sprinter and I went out for pizza for a late lunch. They gave us this delicious pizza with pepperoni, caramelized onion and ricotta cheese. It was absolutely incredible. I also drink a whole liter of Pepsi and I’m very happy about that.

One of the best pizzas I’ve had in a long time.

Then I returned to the hotel to relax for the rest of the night. I ended up doing a lot of laundry and taking a nice long hot bath. I actually bought some bath products at a small store in town, so I was able to use them. It smelled really good and was really relaxing. Then later I went out and got something from McDonald’s. It was actually right across the street and I couldn’t help myself.

This was exactly what I needed after suffering in the snow.

For the rest of the night I just watched TV and did a lot of editing. Hopefully tomorrow I only have to do a marathon, so it shouldn’t take long. Although I imagine I won’t have the earliest start in the world. It seems like lately the days are long no matter how you move them. There is very little daylight left in the year. I didn’t stay up too late, which was a relief. And finally he decided to call it a night. I hope to get up tomorrow and walk around 8am if possible.

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