Day 146 Zero Cascade Locks

0 miles
From/To Cascade Locks (mile 2150, elevation 184)

Last night I had trouble using my ATM card at the local supermarket. Their systems reported that it had expired. Sure enough, it expired at the end of August, but I never tried to use it after Crater Lake at the end of August. Well, that’s not entirely true. I tried unsuccessfully to use it a couple of times at Timberline Lodge to withdraw some cash, but I didn’t get a specific error message, so I assumed there was some kind of network issue.

I called my credit union this morning about my expired ATM card. They said they could send a new one to my house (7-10 days). You could also go to a nearby sister branch to withdraw cash. The closest branch is across the river in Stevenson, WA. With no option to quickly get a working ATM card, you would have to get enough cash and make it work.

Before heading to Stevenson, I did a couple of things in Cascade Locks. I picked up my resupply box at the post office, had lunch at Brigham Fish Market (fish and chips), and mailed some souvenirs home that I picked up along the trail. And since my paper maps weren’t at Kathleen’s house, they weren’t included in the resupply box. Becky mailed them to me separately; He thought it was easier than trying to get them to Kathleens. But he included a surprise in the box: chocolate-covered cherries, which actually lasted him quite a few days.

Stevenson is only 2 or 3 miles away, but crossing the river into another state with public transportation is a challenge. Google Maps did a good job of suggesting when and how to get there, but it didn’t provide any links to the underlying transit pages. So I had no idea what the fee is or how they expect it to be paid. He didn’t even tell me which agency ran the bus. So I had to dive into the local transit websites, which happily talk about all their special services and the names of the different routes, but don’t make it easy to find routes/schedules/fares.

While at the bus stop, I ran into AKA and Mirthful. They arrived at Cascade Z Lakes yesterday around noon (with Firefly) and are staying there three doors down from me. They plan to return to the trail tomorrow morning.

I arrived in Stevenson and found the credit union. Unfortunately, they now have a withdrawal limit for sister banks. I was hoping to get a little more than they allowed, but at least it’s close.

The bank was not busy, so after explaining my situation, I was able to have a nice conversation with the teller, who was curious about the PCT. He said he sees a lot of PCT hikers around town, but never gets a chance to talk to any of them.

Looking across the Columbia River from Stevenson, WA

Looking down the Columbia River from the bus

Looking upstream to the Columbia River from the bus

Yes, I was almost laughing while writing the above. I had another conversation with a complete stranger. I can hear my acquaintances ask in disbelief how I can be an introvert and still talk to so many people. I respond by saying that being an introvert doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate interactions with others. It means I need time to recharge. On the road, I may have days where I don’t see more than 3-5 people all day. I have a lot of time for myself. I’m also kind of a teacher and perpetual student. I love learning from the experiences of others. I also enjoy sharing mine so others can learn a little from me and maybe get a little inspiration.

On the way back to the bus stop, I had extra time, so I took advantage of the shops to run a couple of errands.

At the pharmacy I bought more Voltaren to relieve the pain of arthritis in my thumbs. I also bought another travel toothbrush, since mine is starting to lose bristles. Seeing a microfiber glasses cleaning cloth gave me the idea to use the extra as a patch for the hole in my hoodie.

Finally, I stopped at the grocery store here, which is a little bigger than the one in Cascade Locks. I picked up dinner, breakfast, ice cream (another 1.5 quart container), chocolate milk (for now), and toilet paper.

With those errands completed, I can head straight back to my room and start heating up dinner when I get back to Cascade Locks.

Eating all the ice cream was a little more challenging tonight. The dinner I bought was a frozen family lasagna. That took up enough space in my stomach that it was harder to finish the 1.5 quart container of ice cream. I still finished it, but it was harder than the night before.

Tonight’s portion of ice cream.

Firefly texted me to tell me that AKA, Mirthful and him were going to dinner at Thunder Island Brewing, the same place I went to the day before. I walked the two blocks and joined them at the company table. While we hadn’t really spent much time together, we had enough in common to make the conversation a lot of fun.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at the market and bought a couple of things for breakfast the next morning. I also looked to see if they had thread, since I had used up all the thread in previous repairs. Not only did they have thread, but they also had iron-on patches. I wasn’t convinced that an iron-on patch would work that well, but there are irons in the hotel room, so it would be much easier than trying to sew on a patch by hand.

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