Oregon Part 1

Our first meal in Oregon was at Callahan's near Siskiyou Pass.  For those of you that have traveled I-5, the PCT crosses this interstate just north of the Oregon/California border near Mt. Ashland.  We felt rather grubby and stinky to be served such an elegant breakfast.

Ashland was our first town stop in Oregon.  We ended up taking a zero day, which means we hiked 0 miles that day.  Zero days are not just lazy, lie-around-and-do-nothing-days though.  There was laundry to be done, dirt to be scrubbed, packages to be picked up, repairs to be made and clothes and shoes to be bought.  Tim and I were both in need of new shorts, new shoes, new socks, and for me, a new tank top.  We also bought food and shipped it to our resupply points in Oregon.  

After leaving Ashland, our loose group began to fall apart.  By the time Tim and I reached Crater Lake National Park, it was down to just him and I.

Crater Lake is breathtaking.  

The water is the same hue of blue as the water Tim and I work/play/dive/live in off of Maui.  The route we hiked took us along the rim of this ancient volcano, affording us views that left lasting impressions in our minds.  Tim claims this was one of his favorite parts of the entire trail.

Unlike the AT, the PCT does not have many shelters along it's length.  This is actually fine with us.  Rodents often inhabit the shelters, leaving chewed up wrappers and droppings all about the premises.  I personally would rather stay in my tent.

Up until this point on the trail, we had not encountered hardly any snow to speak of, even in the Sierra Nevadas.  However, Oregon and Washington had both experienced snow packs much greater than normal the previous winter, and much of the snow had not melted off by the time we reached it in late July.  The snow began before Crater Lake and we continued to hike through patches of it through much of Central Oregon.

The highest point on the PCT in Oregon and Washington is only 7,560 ft in elevation.

Mt. Thielsen

The mosquitoes were not as bad as they had been on my previous hike in 2009, but they still were around.  And huge.  And hungry.  For those of you who might be interested in a few mosquito facts...

Only the females bite. 

They cannot fly faster than 4 miles per hour.  

So it is possible to out-hike them if you are fast :)

Tim carried the maps this hike and was in charge of navigation.  For the most part, the PCT is well marked and easy to follow.  However, there are trail junctions that are unsigned, and the tread is not clear.  This particular day, Tim had gotten a ways ahead of me, so he left me a sign at the trail junction.