Cloudy and rainy in Oregon on the PCT

This morning I was surprised to have started the day relatively early. I definitely want to put in as many miles as possible. I finally got up and started getting organized. Then I headed to breakfast before heading out. Normally, at Timberland Lodge they only do the buffet. But it didn’t start until 8am and I didn’t want to sit that long.

This year though I assume they will do some type of continental breakfast. So I ate cereal, pastries and coffee. Then he said goodbye to Sprinter and set out for the day. It was a cold morning, but the sky was clear. I also got to see the last sunrise, which was very beautiful. And I have very fond memories of hiking this section of the trail with my 2022 team. I had a great start to the day. But it wasn’t more than an hour or two before it started to rain. It’s supposed to rain a lot while I’m in Oregon. Frankly, I’ll be lucky if all it does is rain, based solely on time of year, elevation, and temperature. So any time the rain is even remotely tolerable I’ll take it with a smile. Because a worse and harder time could come.

I walked for a few hours and then arrived at the first intersection of the day. Before this I managed to talk to my mom for a bit on the phone, which was really nice. But they finally cut us off when I came in and out of the service. However, when I reached the next road, the Sprinter was parked and waiting. It was nice to have a brief chance to get out of the rain before heading back in.

I knew I couldn’t stay too long and get too comfortable. But I stayed long enough to drink two chocolate milks and eat two sausages with corn. And prepare yourself emotionally for the rain to come. At least the wind was light and I was able to use my umbrella. If I can use an umbrella, I can stay fairly dry and comfortable in the rain. That’s really the best case scenario. When I left there, Sprinter said I would probably be at the next trailhead near a lake. Which was maybe 12 miles away. That would be about my midpoint of the day.

I’m not sure why this says 2025 in stones. But I thought it was cute! 2025 is a year I will certainly never forget.

It’s always fun to leave a dry, wormy place and head out into the elements. But thanks to the umbrella I felt pretty good. I just kept my head down and kept moving. The rain was fairly light and would eventually let up a bit. Enough to get more snacks out of my backpack and do everything I needed to do. It certainly could have been worse.

As I approached the next trailhead, I was trying to remember what the area was like. But he had no memory of what was coming. I ended up passing the lake and recreational area that Sprinter had been talking about. But I didn’t see any kind of junction or anything to get down to the beginning of a trail. And I never saw it when I crossed a road or anything. So I continued because there were more trails and paths to come.

Even though it wasn’t very early, I was still able to see the sun rise a little.

Not long after that, I went through this really cool arc for the PCT. When I was here last time, we had a really strange magic trail. Someone had told us there was a magical trail ahead. So when we got to the trailhead and there was a van set up, we ended up talking to the guy and he gave four of us a beer to share. We thought it was some kind of strange trail magic because of that and other circumstances that arose. But the funny thing was that as we continued walking, we reached the real magical trail in the next half hour. We had simply misinterpreted the previous situation.

Under a really cool PCT sign.

This time when I crossed the road, there was no one around and I continued into the forest. But first I stopped to take a photo under the sign. By this time it was no longer raining, which was a great relief. Even if I could walk for a few hours without rain, that would be great. It gets a little tiring carrying the umbrella all day.

I’m quite worried about my health these days.

After that I would pass a couple more trails, but I didn’t see Sprinter again. And it was so incredibly cloudy that I had a lot of trouble sending my GARMIN messages. I thought about sending him a message just to let him know that I had gone to the lake and hadn’t seen him there. In case I was waiting and maybe I had missed the detour. But it literally took 1-2 hours for my message to send.

I couldn’t help but smile in the moments when the rain finally passed.

Finally he did and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I expected to cover about 40 miles a day. And Sprinter had said that if there was any kind of forest service road near that mileage, it would try to install it there. So I sent him a message telling him the expected end point for the day. Around the same time I finally started receiving all the messages I had received throughout the day. And apparently the Sprinter had set up about 35 miles into the day because the other road was not accessible. He said the one he was driving was also not accessible, but he made it work. He is an absolute legend.

This boardwalk was in perfect condition. But someone is worried about a lawsuit.

Originally, I was planning to walk until about 10 pm to cover 40 miles during the day. But that mileage is definitely not necessarily essential to my plans. So the idea of ​​stopping around 8 pm and doing 35 miles during the day sounded even better. Additionally, Sprinter said it had set up shop. Which meant I wouldn’t have to pitch my tent in the rain. And I would be much more comfortable in the larger tent if it rained. Those big tents are pure luxury. They are absolutely perfect for car camping and would make no sense for a hike like this. But being able to reap the benefits of one from time to time has been incredible.

I love my sprout!

That exchange gave me a big boost. To begin with, I now only had to walk in the dark for about an hour. Which was a major improvement over yesterday and the days before. And on top of that, I was thinking I was going to be walking until 10 pm tonight! So realizing I only had two hours left instead of four was also very exciting. I was 12 miles from my camp when I got that message. And then it turned out that it was actually only 5.7 miles from where the Sprinter was installed. That couldn’t have been a better situation. With my big day yesterday, I could certainly afford to make it a little shorter today. Funny that “slightly shorter day” now apparently means 35 miles.

Walking around the Timothy Lake area this afternoon. As the day progressed, the weather changed again and I wasn’t able to take as many photos.

When I left there I had a lot of energy and felt fantastic. I was so excited to continue into the night. I enjoyed that last ray of daylight and finally had to turn on the headlamp. But knowing that it wouldn’t need to be on for long was a delight. And knowing that I would have the opportunity to charge it again was great too. I’ve dismantled that thing like crazy every day.

I put my head down and kept moving and ended up arriving at this forest service road shortly after 8 pm It’s always nice to see the lights of the Sprinter vehicle off in the distance. When I got there, the tent was set up for me with the lights on inside. I threw my backpack inside and then headed to the truck. Sprinter was there looking at the shine! The film was filmed on the Timberland Lodge property.

One of my favorite photos of my 2022 PCT tram. This was most likely taken in the same section I’m on now. The haze from the wildfires made the photo look aged in a way.

It was very nice to be able to get in and out of the rain. Honestly, the timing was perfect. I joined Sprinter in the van to hang out and watch some of the movie. I love movies and I haven’t been able to see any this year. I would kill to sit all day or for several days and just lie in bed and watch movies. In my opinion, that is the most fun fall activity. I guess only after walking around the country for an entire year doing nothing does it feel like a fun activity. But it sounds like the coolest thing in the world.

I enjoyed dinner and had some drinks. And I spent some time having a good time. After a while, I knew I had to lay down, do some editing, and go to bed. But I would have loved to see the full movie! Once again I ended the day incredibly comfortable and warm and am very grateful for all the support from Sprinter. Lately it has made it very nice and easy to rack up these miles. And it’s a big relief, especially with the bad weather and more weather coming.

Once I got into the big tent, I took out the quilt and laid everything out. It’s so nice not to set up a tent, blow up my house, or have to do anything. I did my stretches and laid down for a bit to do some editing. But honestly, I was pretty tired. I didn’t have much in me and only did the bare minimum. Then he turned around and called it a night. The rain was falling on the tent and I didn’t feel any worry. It would be nice and dry and in the morning it would be easy to get out. Because I wouldn’t have to tear down a soggy tent. That’s one of the most interesting things in the history of hiking. I feel like the luckiest person in the world these days.

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