Thursday, July 4
Bethani’s sister graciously shuttled us to the trail after a “zero” in Medford on Wednesday to heal up from knee pain and lingering sinus symptoms (I am now a proponent of sinus rinses! Wow! No more details, for your benefit). We opted to ditch our packs 3 miles along the trail to take a side trail up (and up and up) Pilot Rock. Jessica’s knees got wobbly from the view, and she could not let go of the rock wall – what a view!

The rest of our hike was primarily through low-lying bushes, including lots of spit-bugs (the slimy eggs laid on leaves, scientific name undisclosed), and lots and lots of newly forming salmon berries…too bad we weren’t here in August. Finally reached out campsite to find the promised water “faucet” was a small puddle in the field, resulting in more silt than water making it into my water bag. But water is water, and we do everything we can to gather it!

Friday, July 5

The sun continues to shine, while the breezes have shifted from cool to warm. I am finally feeling as if I’m earning l’eau du hiker. We still haven’t developed our hiker hunger, so the fact that our stomachs were growling by suppertime was very exciting, as was our dinner of salsa beans and rice with tortillas. YUM. We enjoyed hot drinks as we watched the sunset over the reservoir – one of the sacred moments of the journey thus far. I took a throwback Friday night bath by washcloth and water bottle, and luxuriated in the feeling of sliding into my sleeping bag without the grind of grit.

Sabbath, July 6
We slept through aspirations of waking up in time to see the sunrise, but Bethani was on the trail by 7:15, and I was shortly behind. We stopped at 9:30 for a trailside brunch of scrambled egg and hash brown burritos – a deluxe meal for a high Sabbath day!! Then we pressed on to Howard Prairie Lake for a Sabbath siesta and rewarding ourselves with free showers and running water (which equals clean undergarments!!!!). We enjoyed two hours relaxing lakeside before hitting the trail again, but knee pain stopped us after just 1.5 more miles.

Sunday, July 7

Long distance hikes are not all sunshine and mountain views. I am in a foul mood this morning, grateful to be leaving our makeshift campsite in the Woods of Three Leafed Dangers.

It was a sudden stop to make camp due to a sudden increase in knee pain, so we made do with a relatively flat spot covered in sticks and pine cones. Hanging the food bag was an episode of woe, as my initial throw bag weights of sticks were not sufficient, and I had to turn to the antics of a woodland hen, scraping the ground with my foot to scrounge up a few stones. Then, my accuracy was such that I hit the branch, the trunk, the needles…everything except the targeted area over top of the branch (plus a 15 minute struggle retrieving the throw bag from a very tenacious twig just out of my reach).

Bethani and I took an early sleep after skipping supper and a new knee tape job. I awoke to find that some sharp-toothed rodent had taken a fancy to my trekking pole handles, which I did not appreciate. Then, a rapid bush break left my pants and fresh undergarments less than clean. The ground that previously refused to give up stones for throwing now balked at having a cathole dug.

Blah blah blah, I’m a (stinky and tired whiner), blah blah.
The sun is shining, I’m in nature, and I have working body parts. Life is good. I also ate a bagel, so that helps. 😉
Sunday afternoon was MUCH better. We found beautiful, fern-filled forests of towering ponderosa pines, sunlight-dappled forest floors, and perfect hiking temperatures. We enjoyed a trailside lunch of penne with alfredo sauce, then carried on toward the Brown Mountain shelter, arriving by 3, but not pushing on due to mileage and guarding against sore knees. I spent the greater part of the afternoon jury-rigging a water pump missing its handle. I’m now 15 feet of Paracord lighter and 3 oz pine pitch heavier, but with three people and a pine branch, we got water, and I got the trail name “Clever” from Coach and his friend Phoenix.

We also enjoyed meeting Rabbit and Captain, PJ and the Finns, and hearing tales of Tippy-Toes (trail culture is a bit of a shock, and I’m still adjusting) as we sat around the fire ring (sans fire) before retiring for the night cowboy camp style. Jessica heard many more bumps in the night without tent walls to guard against them – funny what 20 denier nylon can do for your sense of safety! 😉

We also enjoyed meeting Rabbit and Captain, PJ and the Finns, and hearing tales of Tippy-Toes (trail culture is a bit of a shock, and I’m still adjusting) as we sat around the fire ring (sans fire) before retiring for the night cowboy camp style. Jessica heard many more bumps in the night without tent walls to guard against them – funny what 20 denier nylon can do for your sense of safety! 😉