Author Archives: Magic Mike

October 4 day 132 camped mile 2200.8 hiked 26.8 miles today.
It was with some trepidation that I approached Snag Creek. I was happy to see that the flow was reasonable. The bridge had washed out. I only got a toe wet rock hopping. The rest of the day was pleasant. I met some mushroom pickers who helped me positively identify three types of Chanterelle mushroom: Pigs Ear, Golden and Lobster. I sampled all of these later in the day and my favorite was the Lobster. Toward the end of the day I summited Big Huckleberry mountain. It had great views of Mt Hood and Mt Adams. Camped a mile below the summit.

October 5 day 133 camped mile 2225.5 hiked 24.7 miles today.
Got going a little later than usual. I met many hikers along the trail today. Many were mushroom collecting. The weather was again fine. There was some snow on the trail around 5000 feet from the last storm. Took a detour on the Sawtooth Mountain and had stunning views of Adams and Saint Helens.

October 6 day 134 stayed mile 2237.1 Trout Lake hiked 11.6 miles today.
It was a short walking day today. Didn’t see anyone on the trail today on my way to FS Road 23 my gateway to beautiful Trout Lake. I stayed above the grocery store. Got the news that fellow thru hiker Rocket Lama was safe after having been “lost” for several days on the section that I will be doing next. There will be lots of snow to come.

October 1 day 129 stayed mile 2155.4 Stevenson WA hiked zero miles today.
Another very rainy day. Fortunately I was staying indoors at a motel. I spent the day cleaning sorting repairing and drying all my equipment. It was funny going to the laundromat because I wore a towel from the motel so I could wash everything. Fortunately there weren’t too many people watching the spectacle.

(editor’s note: On October 1, two PCT hikers were helicoptered out of waist-deep snow north of Trout Lake.)

October 2 day 130 stayed mile 2155.1 Cascade Locks OR hiked zero miles today.
Today was a fantastic zero day because my girlfriend Hillary drove down from Seattle to rescue me. We had an excellent day together. We drove out to Portland to have lunch at Pok Pok our favorite restaurant in town. It was as usual fantastic. We tried a squash dish which was a daily special — easily the best squash dish that I have ever had. That, along with green Papaya salad and a roasted eggplant dish made for a wonderful meal. We shared a Lychee and vinegar drink as well as a French style draft hard cider. The cider reminded me of Paris. We went to REI to get replacement rain pants for me but they were cleaned out [of stock] after the deluge of the last few days. I consoled myself by splurging on a full length Thermarest NeoAir pad to replace my 3/4 length ol’ school Thermarest. We headed back out to Cascade Locks in the evening as I was planning on getting back on the trail once more.

October 3 day 131 camped mile 2174 Rock Creek hiked 18.6 miles today.
Hillary and I had a great lazy morning I took her to the East Wind drive-in where I enjoyed my usual chicken fried steak with sausage gravy for breakfast. We later drove over to Stevenson to do a bit of resupply shopping for me. Hillary and I said our tearful goodbyes as I headed once more out towards Trout Lake. I managed to make it to Rock Creek and didn’t get a drop of rain. I was surprised by how good the views were — I had been on this route 2 times before and had seen nothing. The NeoAir is comfy!

September 27 day 125 stayed mile 2155.1 Cascade Locks hiked 31.7 miles today.
It was a cool misty morning walking towards the junction with the PCT alternate route along Eagle Creek. The first portion of the route was an incredibly steep descent along the Indian Spring trail. Eventually the trail mellows out and started following Eagle Creek along a trail carved into the the side of the creek. Unfortunately the rain started full force again as I walked a long this fantastic trail. At one point the trail went thru a tunnel behind a waterfall appropriately named tunnel falls. There were many beautiful water falls along this popular trail. At the bottom of creek I saw beat up salmon on their spawning run. I headed up the Columbia river to Cascade Locks. I met a cycle tourist and former PCT hiker Alex and we split a room at the Cascade Motel. Later we went out for a well deserved burger and beer at the Cascade Locks Ale House.

September 28 day 126 stayed mile 2155.1 Cascade Locks zero miles today.
It was another rainy day. I had a wonderful breakfast of chicken fried steak with sausage gravy and a cup of coffee at the East Wind drive in. After a wander around town and picking up some resupply food I headed back to the Ale House for a beer. I ran into the local Rocky for the second time today. I returned to the motel to clean and organize so that would be able to hit the road tomorrow.

September 29 day 127 camped mile 2174 Rock Creek hiked 21.1 miles today.
I had a slow start today. It was still raining so I wasn’t too excited to get going. Stopped by the East Wind drive in for another chicken fried steak with sausage gravy and coffee for the road. I ended up meeting Rocky once again and ask him to mail a few things for me as the PO hadn’t been opened for the last few days. Got a high five from the Bridge of the Gods attendant after I told her I was a PCT hiker. It was a drenching slog today. I was greeted by numerous newts along the trail. It was apparently perfect weather for them. I camped right near the raging Rock Creek. Before I camped for the night I checked whether the bridge was still intact. Had a wet cold night. Slept with earplugs to drown out the roaring river and heavy rain drumming on the tent.

September 30 day 128 stayed mile 2155.4 Stevenson WA hiked 23.8 miles today.
It was a disappointing day. It was still raining as I got up. I ate a large breakfast as I figured that it might be a long wet day. I had only gone 0.4 mile when I got to the raging torrent of Snag Creek. The bridge over the creek was either under the water or had been swept away. I didn’t see any possible place to cross either up or down river. The stream course was so steep that I would need a natural bridge like a tree fallen over the river to have any possibility to cross. I knew that there were several other river crossings that I would be encountering today and was concerned that I might get trapped between impassable fords. Thus ended my forward progress on the PCT. I retraced my steps but decided to stay on the Washington side of the river and ended up at the Roadway Inn in Stevenson, a 2.7 mile highway walk.

September 25 day 123 stayed mile 2107.1 Timberline Lodge hiked 25.6 miles today.
Finally a decent weather day. The forest slowly turned into a temperate rainforest. The highlight of the day was seeing Mount Hood with a fresh coat of snow gleaming in the afternoon sun. It was gorgeous. It also meant that I was near Timberline Lodge — the Shangri-La that I had been journeying for days to reach. I got a bunk room for the PCT discount of $85 not including taxes. However I did not have to share with anyone. The room was simple but lovely with all wood paneling, hooks galore for hanging and drying gear a comfy bunk bed, two dressers, table, comfy chairs, sink and mirror. After a long hot shower I went up to the Rams Head Bar and had a great dinner. i started with a great clam chowder. Then had a main course of Elk and Huckleberry sausage with fingerling potatoes topped with julienne sliced marinated apples and fresh mustard along with a fabulous sauerkraut and juniper berries. That accompanied by a pint of the Mt Hood Brewery oatmeal stout made for a fantastic meal. Afterwards I did my laundry and while waiting had a great dry sauna.

September 26 day 124 camped mile 2123.4 Lolo Pass hiked 16.3 miles today.
Today was half rest day half walking. I got up about 8:30 almost two hours later than normal. Went to the Cascade Room for the all you can eat breakfast. It was excellent. Highlights being a hand operated automatic Prosciutto slicer. The Prosciutto along with honeydew melon was fantastic. They also offered a cider vinegar with seltzer digestive. I thought a nice touch. Reminded me of Pok-Pok in Portland. Afterwards I picked up my parcel of food and equipment and started packing to leave as the weather was finally nice. Finally got going about noon and finished hiking at 7:00. It was just getting dark.

September 20 day 118 camped mile 1980.7 hiked 23.5 miles today.
The day started beautiful and progressively got more threatening. Traveled thru some lovely country. I fortunately made camp before the storm came.

September 21 day 119 camped mile 2001.5 Big Lake Youth Camp hiked 21.6 miles today.
Great scenery today with spits of rain now and again. Passed thru barren lava flow areas below the peaks of the Sisters. Got to Big Lake Youth Camp pretty early. Never saw anyone from the camp. Picked up a resupply package I had sent there, showered and laundered my clothes. Met Wonderer another thru hiker and we hung out in the PCT area outside the laundry room. Not much but it was a relative heaven for us warm and dry.

September 22 day 120 camped mile 2030.6 hiked 29.9 miles today.
Rain all day. Passed a number of wet hikers and two section hikers. It was a very hard day. Everything was soaked and my tent pole had broken. I kluged a repair that kept failing durning the night. I would snooze and find that it had broken and then fix it again. It was a hard cold wet night.

September 23 day 121 camped mile 2054.2 Head Lake hiked 23.9 miles today. The rain was only intermittent today. I got moving pretty early and was moving fast to warm up. There were some beautiful forest sections but mostly I was just trying to stay dryish and warm. I was wearing nearly all my clothes most of the day. My Marmot rain pants had started to delaminate and thus fail yesterday. They will need to be tossed out. Hoped to get a cabin at Olallie Lake Resort but they were closed for the season. Camped nearby.

September 24 day 122 camped mile 2081.5 hiked 27.2 miles today.
It was raining hard this morning. I considered staying where I was but eventually motivated to move. Had to keep up a pretty good pace to keep warm enough. Didn’t really stop for more than a minute any time during the day in order to stay warm enough. Ate and drank on the move. Got a speck of sunshine before the rain started up again. Saw 3 south bounders today.
I plan on having a zero at Timberline Lodge. That should dry me out.

I just passed the 2000 mile mark!

Sept 19 day 117 camped mile 1958.4 near Elk Lake Resort hiked 28.4 miles today.
Another day with fine weather. Headed out just before sunrise. It was cold! Enjoyed the rolling terrain and lots of small lakes and ponds. Decided to get a meal at Elk Lake Resort. It was a bit of a push but I did make it. Met a couple of other hikers. Enjoyed an expensive but delicious burger fries and a couple of good beers. It was all worth it.

September 18 day 116 camped mile 1931.2 Charlton Lake hiked 19.3 miles today.
It was a great day today. I had managed to find a dry spot to camp for the night under a clump of trees. I packed up and got coffee at the store. Talked with a trail runner from Eugene before heading out at 8:30. Got to the Maiden Peak Shelter an excellent octagonal solar cabin about 2:00 for lunch. Met a couple of section hikers. The weather was fine. Walked to Charlton Lake. Fantastic camp. Watched the full Harvest moon rise over the lake. Chit chatted with the section hikers in the evening. It was a very cold night.

September 16 day 114 camped mile 1886.3 hiked 25.1 miles today.
It was mostly cool today. I only saw animal prints on the trail for most of the day. The exceptional ones were elk. I was surprised to meet a couple of hikers BreastFed and Treney at Six Horse Spring especially because it was past noon and they still had their tent up. BF was a thru hiker who started May 20th and T was joining for a section. Her feet were trashed from a 25 mile first day. My feet were feeling tender after such a long break. I felt tired but satisfied that I managed a 25 mile day.

September 17 day 115 camped mile 1913.1 Shelter Cove Resort hiked 28.1 miles today.
It was a long wet day today. It was a lovely cool and misty morning. I had just finished lunch on the beautiful shore of Summit Lake when it really started raining. I climbed up into the sleet and finally snow. The trail was in places a giant slushie. I descended toward Willamette pass and on to Shelter Cove Resort. Got there just before closing time and got my package a pot pie and quarters for a shower and laundry. The laundry was a comically small space for the two other hikers with their packs and resupply boxes who were laundering and eating a pizza out of the rain. I squished into the shower room with all my stuff.

September 15 day 113 camped mile 1861.2 hiked 20.6 miles today.
I was back on the trail after a long hiatus. It felt good but strange. I saw no thru hikers today. I don’t suppose there are many this far back. It was mushroom heaven. I saw hundreds of enormous King Bolettes and many others. Mount Theilsen was gorgeous. I met a couple of guys who had just climbed it. Fall was in full swing. It was much colder than when I left the trail.