Molly and Clint wanted to get an early start today as well. Before we all went to bed, it was agreed that we would start getting ready 30 minutes after we heard Sassy talk. This was a tough alarm clock this morning. Usually it’s “Bear, I swear to god I’m going to kill you if you do…” whatever it is Bear is trying to do to wake her up. This morning, I barely heard a mumble “I don’t want to get up.” I wasn’t sure if I heard it or not, but I started my mental clock.
I prepared Bunny fresh ground coffee with lots of cream along with biscuits and gravy made from Scratch (or was it Mountain House, there’s too many backpacker meal companies these days). When her coffee cooled to the proper temperature, I gently woke her. I told her to take her time even though it was 7:15. I hadn’t even heard Bear light their stove for coffee. When she sat up, I looked outside and Bear was leaning on the log with his pack beside him. They were trying to trick us. They had a 30 minute jump on us. Game on!
Bunny likes the biscuits and gravy better than any meal, so that wasn’t difficult to get her to wolf that down. I told her they were playing us in front of Clint and Molly trying to appear they were faster at getting ready since we had talked about that last night. Bunny put on her game face and just said “They’re going down.” Bunny tries to present a laid back face to the world, but she’s not going to let the likes of Bear and Sassy make her look bad in front of strangers. Our tent was suddenly a whirlwind of packing.
I packed up almost as fast as Bunny. While she was digging her hole, I filtered water. I tried to convince her to dig a bigger hole to save me some game time, but she wouldn’t go for it. As soon as she got back, we took the tent down and folded it. Having that done, she handed me the deuce of spades and shouted “Go like the wind. I believe in you.” I headed down the windward side of the mountains (fearing a repeat of yesterday’s impulse swatting of mosquitoes) and I was smoking. I ran back up to the campsite just as Bear said “looks like we won today.” Where’s Sassy? Has Sassy been to the woods? I looked over at her and she looked thin and happy. They had suckered us! I knew they cut a corner somewhere, but I didn’t know where. It wasn’t until super that I learned Bear hadn’t brushed his teeth. I hope the cavity was worth the sham victory.
We haven’t seen very many thru-hikers since leaving Shelter Cove. I’m guessing we are past the leading speed bubble and in the gap before the main bubble catches up to us. We did meet a few outliers today starting with Mom. Mom was a very friendly German girl from near Frankfurt. We told her of our experiences with the front leading jerks and she immediately named the three trouble makers. She told us they had even been kicked out by angels along the way because they refused to wear face masks. She promised us that everyone else was friendly that she had met (which coincides with our experiences as well).
Next, we met Dos Equis from Edwardsville, IL. We spent a fair amount of time trading trail info with him including water spots and campsites. He told us about a huge campsite above Thielsen Creek where we were headed. He said it was right below the mountain and one of the most beautiful spots he had camped at so far. I saw the 2192 tattoo on his arm and asked him when he hiked the AT. He had just hiked it last year. Even though he was our age, he was putting in big miles compared to us. He’s gotten in quite a few 30s while we still haven’t even put in a 20 yet.
We had a goal of making it to the high point of the north half of the PCT for lunch, but the skies looked pretty threatening. Anyone who has spent any time with Bunny knows that she is not a rational Bunny in a storm. She quickly spirals down to an “every man for himself, get the hell out of my way” rampage as she runs away hysterically. Bear has witnessed this, so he calmly suggested we stop for a lunch break a few miles before the high point to allow the storm to pass. There was a small thunderstorm with some rain that passed us. It wasn’t that bad on this side of the mountain, but Bears weather app did report a lightening strike less than a mile from our location (he wisely withheld this information from Bunny). We later discovered Mt Thielsen is one of the most lightening struck mountains in the US with over 3500 strikes per year. We now just have to convince Bunny she’s passed the worst case scenario on the trail.
Upon reaching the high point of OR and WA, we discovered a lot of water on the trail and a lot less dust was getting kicked up as we walked. My memory is that we were close to 8000’ when we went over Goat Rocks in Washington last year, but we did take the higher (and longer) alternate route over Goat Rocks. On the bright side, it’s all downhill for the remainder of Oregon, definitely all the way to Thielsen Creek.
We were looking forward to the campsite Dos Equis told us about, so Bear and I climbed up opposite sides of the creek to find the spot. I was the unfortunate one to find it. I say unfortunate because there was a solo woman there that I can only graciously call a Complete Bitch. She had chosen the best spot in the site that could easily hold 20 tents. As a courtesy, I asked if she minded if we camped up here with her. No one, in over 6000 miles of hiking has ever said anything other than “sure, lots of room” or some other pleasantry. This woman said “I really would prefer that you didn’t. This is supposed to be a wilderness experience. There are lots of other places down in the woods.” I was shocked and couldn’t believe what she said. Bunny was behind me asking me if this was the spot. I yelled back “Hold on a sec.”
I was well over 50’ from the woman and couldn’t believe what I had heard. I said “Excuse me?” She said “there’s lots of other places down below. I don’t want you up here with me. It would spoil my experience.” I had heard right and now I was pissed. Bear, Sassy, and Bunny were waiting for an answer. I wished I had just yelled down to them to come up and not told them anything of the exchange, but I didn’t. Instead I said “if we do camp here, I promise none of us will say a word to you or acknowledge your existence.” I started checking out the huge area some more to piss her off but I didn’t give her a chance to say anything when I realized what a huge area she was laying claim to. “You know this is public land and you don’t own it.” She was glaring at me and said again “this is supposed to be a wilderness experience.” I walked to the edge of the clearing and yelled down to everyone “it’s a beautiful large area but there is an arrogant bitch up here so let’s look some more.” Apparently, we haven’t passed all the assholes on the trail.
We settled on a “less drama filled” camping spot on the other side of the creek. Bear and I wanted to camp in the big spot just to annoy the old bitty, but Sassy and Bunny don’t like even righteous confrontations. I finally cooled off when I put my feet in the melt water creek and all the heat got sucked out of me. We washed off and filtered water while turning our feet blue. We finished the day eating super, together, outside of our tents, without mosquitoes (or any other annoying bitches) bothering us.
We had enough signal that Sassy got a text that her father had been taken to the ER. She was able to make a call and discover that he hadn’t been drinking enough liquids and the pill form of chemo he is taking is too strong for him. I encourage whoever reads this blog to send positive energy, prayers, or positive thoughts his way.
We have covered 50 miles in the last 3 days and are will be just shy of 300 miles when we get to the highway tomorrow. We still haven’t knocked out a 20, but if we can consistently put in 16-18 miles every day, we will be able to start getting some 100+ mile weeks under our belts. It’s hard to think that we are under the gun when we are just getting started, but we’ve got to be mindful of snow in the Sierra in October. At any rate, this geriatric group is us getting up to speed. If we can only keep the weak link in line (sadly, the youngest, me) we will be able to finish this year. I’m hiking with some tough older birds.
EFG