Day 19 – Shimmiehorn Death

September 3 – Trail of the blue mountainsNe oregon

Darilyn’s second cache

Last night he didn’t cool much, so he was already hot in the morning. Another record day was barrel. And today’s route would be exposed without water. The good news was that Darilyn’s second cache was not far. However, I hesitated to finish all my water in case I could not find the cache or something that got into.

I found the water without problems! Another gallon. Again, I drank as much as I could fill my water bottles. Yay for Darilyn! While walking along Highway 31, it was actually becoming more important, no less. And there was an active registration operation in the neighborhood of my diversion in McDonal Ridge. From that moment on, along the way, he became more and more careless until I hit the Shimmiehorn and the road ended.

The upper part of the Shimmiehorn. The left side looks good, the right side looks challenging.

The Shimmiehorn

The Shimmiehorn is the name of the crest that falls to the crossing of Thomas Creek and the south of the shape of the Umatilla river. There is a relic of a path that was visible near the top. But every time he disappeared in the trees he became increasingly difficult to continue. I arrived at a decision point: I still have time trying to follow the almost nonexistent path through the brush, or remain outside in the meadow and follow the hits paths to the southern fork?

Still close to the top of Shimmiehorn. I still have left.

I decided to make the latter, which in retrospect was not necessarily the right decision. The fall to the river was approximately 2,500 ‘and only 2.2 miles on the map. It took me 3 hours.

A problem was heat. It was so hot and he was warming when he descended. It was also bright and I still had to deal with a brush hitting my face, so I really wanted to wear my sunglasses, but my dripping sweat made them more an obstacle than a help. Then there was the unstable base due to the earth and loose rocks. Sometimes I entered a slide where my only goal was to keep my feet downhill, so I did not enter a long drop in unofficial descent.

Halfway through the Shimmiehorn.

When I was halfway, I was out of the water. I could also say that I was coming out of my way when I was on the wrong shoulder of the main crest. Once, I tried to cross a brush drawing to enter a different shoulder crest, but that was almost impossible due to the entire brush, the steep slope and the hidden trees. I gave up and accepted the fact that the shoulder in which I was did not take me to my next point of reference, but at least it would take me to the river in the background.

Or would I do it? After a more uncontrolled slide that broke one of my favorite hiking posts of all time, I looked down and saw that it was a 30 feet fall to the river. He had dropped 2,500 feet and could not do the last 30. That was the drop that filled the glass. I broke. I ended. This so -called path had defeated me.

And yet, I still had to reach the river. Even if I was going to finish my walk, I couldn’t do it here. No one would ever find me. So I returned to uphill and found a passable route to the river. Then I soaked in him for half an hour.

South Fork Umatilla River

Water is very regenerating. I was renewed. And I soaked my hoodie in the river to keep me fresh when I went again. I was out of half a mile trace, but I knew where I had to go. There was supposedly a path along the opposite shore of South Fork, so I went to look for that. But if I thought the previous drawing was difficult, the riparian vegetation here was even harder. In addition, it was swampy and there was a fresh bear scatter. I was imagining to push through a thick brush and get face to face with a bear, then try to get away just to discover that my foot was stuck in a swamp.

What remains of Highway 32 along the South Fork Umatilla River.

I came to the conclusion that the path he was trying to find was another path disappeared by the forest service. The obvious option was to return to the river and walk through it. So that’s what I did. I was trying not to despair. At least my feet were happy. It wasn’t fast, but I got to the old road that was my next route. I saw many frogs and crawdades along the way. And there was a dead alce in the river: how appropriate for the day had been.

The old road along the southern bifurcation of Umatilla had clearly been dragged into a flood. Most still existed, but in some places I had gone totally where the river had started it from a cliff. Surprisingly, there were signs of recent topography, as if they were going to rebuild the road. I would have to cost dozens of millions of dollars to do that! And yet, there is no money or willpower to maintain hiking trails. The ridiculity of this situation quickly drove me along this old path.

Umatilla South Fork river.

Umatilla forks

My goal was the Umatilla Forks camp, where the northern and southern forks of the umatilla are merged. From there, the path goes up the northern bifurcation and enters the North Fork Umatilla desert. Ideally, that path would go up and find a good place to camp next to North Fork and in the desert. However, I wasn’t sure to do so. And I had no idea how far from North Fork I would have to get until I found a camping place. The vegetation is dense enough along the river that you cannot camp anywhere.

So, when I arrived at Umatilla Forks Campground, I decided to stop. It was a typical camp for this trip: not really there. It was more a collection of scattered sites than a real camp. Some campers were there. I saw a site that was removed from others and configured. When I went to get water out of the river, I saw another place with what seemed to be an abandoned tent. The door was open and some of the belongings were scattered.

I was still hot. The camp elevation was about 2,300 feet, probably the lowest that had been so far in the BMT. And I was exhausted. I didn’t like the atmosphere in the camp, but I really had no choice but to stop there. And I had a picnic table, so that was that. I went to bed to the dark to the sound of a barrado owl that uligated. They woke me up during the night for an old truck with a strong silencer who was driving from one place to another in Forest Road plus a vehicle that passed through my place around 11 pm and illuminated my store with his headlights. The perfect end to this day.

The South Fork Umatilla River by Umatilla Forks Campground.

Elevation tracker

Today: 1,653 ′

Total: 48,719 »

This website contains affiliate links, which means that the walk can receive a percentage of any product or service that you buy using the links in the items or ads. The buyer pays the same price that would do it differently, and his purchase helps to support the continuous objective of the walk to address his quality backpack advice and information. Thanks for your support!

For more information, visit the page about this site.