Somehow I managed to sleep on the uneven tent site. I guess it wasn't as uneven as it seemed. Jazzman woke at 5:15 AM and since his tent was just at the foot of mine, I woke at 5:15 AM. I did manage to fall back asleep and was woken by Brad's 5:45 AM alarm. Again I managed to fall back asleep for 15 minutes until I needed to wake at 6:00 AM.  I packed up my stuff and left the tent. Jazzman was ready to hike while it was still dark. Stitch left soon after. We were ready to hike right at 7:30 AM. 

It looked like it was going to be a nice day and when we popped out of the forest and got a view, it was confirmed:

We saw many of these slugs throughout the day...pretty big suckers. ​

Just before lunch we caught up to two hikers. It wound up being Ballou and Rembrandt. I first met up with them at the Big Bear Brewing Company 1,900 miles ago  Brad actually hiked with them down while I was recuperating from the rattlesnake bite. The actually skipped from Lake Tahoe to Ashland, so their thru-hike became a LASH (Long Ass Section Hike). It was nice catching up with them during lunch which we took right in the middle of the trail:

Except for the view in the morning, we spent the entire day under cover of the forest. It was green and lush and beautiful all day:​

It was so lush that a PCT sign had moss growing over it:

I love the wood and color of this PCT sign:

At 5:00 PM we still had over 6 miles to go. Share Bear and Brad was certain we would make it to our planned campsite before dark. I want too sure, but I went with it. When we were 2 miles out it was getting pretty dark. The last 30 minutes or so of the hike was pretty much in the dark. When we arrived at Panther Creek Road, Tim was there waiting for us. He brought us pizza and beer for dinner...so cool. 
Since will have the opportunity for a slack pack tomorrow for the first 16 miles, Tim will be back in the morning.  I guess I might as well go home with him then. So, that is where I am right now typing this blog...in an Airbnb in Stevenson, Washington while Brad and Share Bear are camped out on the PCT. We will be back there at 7:15 AM, so I better get to sleep now...until tomorrow...

I woke in the hotel room around 8:00 AM...how nice. I had a bit of trouble sleeping because of some foot pain where I have some rubbing marks from hiking all day yesterday with wet feet. Somehow when I woke up it felt a lot better. Today I will throw my current shoes away and start the state of Washington with new Brooks Cascadias. 

We had till 11:00 AM for checkout to sort out our food for the next 7 days.  We then loaded up the 4Runner and went to do some shopping. After shopping we went to the Fish Market where I had awesome sturgeon fish & chips and smoked salmon collar. Both were pretty outstanding. Then back across the street to waste some more time before finally being ready to leave for the hike before 2:00 PM. 

It was hard leaving town mostly because I think we were still pretty tired from yesterday's mammoth 28.50 mile day. There were other hikers we saw in town that were also stuck. We saw Stitch, Jazzman, Rainbow, and Pig Pen just to name a few. 

Once we started waking we were excited to get to the bridge. On the way I had to take a photo of the town sign: 

With all the delaying and finally going, we forgot to take the daily photo, but then remembered.

Today is a totally exciting day. On the other side of this bridge is Washington, our third and finally state.

When we got back on the trail, the sign said it was 507.2 miles to Canada. It is actually 505.2. So exciting...we will soon be under 500 miles to the end.

Wow...check out this PCT sign being eaten by a moss-covered tree:

Washington is so beautiful...it looks a lot like Oregon actually.

We were supposed to hike only 13.25 miles which should have been doable. However, with our late exit from Cascade Locks and the crazy up we have to do, we determined that we weren't going to make it. There is a campsite listed that is 3 miles short, but the notes say it can only hold 2 tents and is a bit tilty. Oh well, we will have to make it work. 

Just at 7:00 PM we made it to the site. It was tilty, but we should be able to fit the three of us. Then Stitch showed up and he set up his hammock and then Jazzman showed up and found a small space he could fit. So, in a tilty site for 1 tents we have 4 tents and a hammock...pretty cool. 

After the huge lunch and the long climb I wasn't in the mood to cook, so I ate some of Sarah's banana bread and a peanut snack and was ready to hit the tent. Tomorrow we will have to make up the 3 miles we didn't hike today, so we need to get an early start and I am pretty exhausted, so, until tomorrow...

We definitely made the right decision to stay in the cabin last night. When we got back to the trail it was still raining. It would have been a miserable night in the tents, plus we would still be soaking wet and cold and having to hike with a full bag. Now we are clean, dry, and able to slack pack the 29 miles to Cascade Locks. Wait...what...29 miles?!?  Since we decided to slack pack it, we have to make it since we don't have our camping gear with us. We thought we should be at the trail by 7:00 AM, but we ran late and was finally ready to hike just before 7:45 AM. 

It seems that our last full day in Oregon is going to be a dreary one. At least we have a hotel room to look forward to at the end of the day. Today's hike is a two-parter. The first 14 miles gets us to the Eagle Creek alternate trail. The next 15 miles is the much anticipated Eagle Creek trail that is supposed to be amazing. 
For the first 14 miles the rain never tapered. We were forced to eat lunch in pouring rain not allowing us to get the proper break we needed to hike another 15 miles. 

The Eagle Creek trail started out with a steep 2 mile downhill where we lost 2,000 feet of elevation.  I was quite happy we didn't have to climb that hill. After the sharp decent, the trail continued to decline, but not as drastically. As a matter of fact, by the end of the day, we will be down to about 200 feet. I don't think I have been down that low since leaving Florida six months ago. 

Wow...it may be raining, but this trail is just amazing. 

Just before 4:00 PM we made it to the part of the Eagle Creek trail that makes it what it is.

Just after 4:00 PM the sky actually opened up to blue skies...great timing.

And then the waterfalls started appearing. This one was just incredible:

And then, at 4:15 PM we made it to Tunnel Falls:

Why is it called "Tunnel Falls"?  Because you walk behind it through a tunnel:

Just after hiking past Tunnel Falls, friends of Share Bear's met us on the trail. Sarah and XXXX were awesome people, plus, they brought us some homemade baked goods that were so good. 

I scolded Brad some for taking so long and threatened to banish him from the morning picture, thus his face. 

Today we confound hiking through Mount Jefferson Wilderness Area and have the longest climb we have had in a while. It is 8.3 miles long and 3,223 feet of climbing...woohoo. I just keep telling myself and Share Bear sometimes that the climbing is good for us and good training for the Cascade Mountains ahead of us...in case we need more training. 

 While headed to the start of the climb we had some great views of Mount Jefferson:

Today's trail was mostly marked with wooden squares with the PCT emblem embossed on it:

Our notes warned of a possible dangerous river crossing of Russell Creek. The crossing wasn't too bad, but the river was pretty cool. It came from way up the mountain and was somewhat milky white that  is caused by glacial silt. 

Another great shot of Mount Jefferson:

We were 1.5 miles from the top of the climb. This is where the climb got the steepest. We talked to a couple that just came down it and they pointed at the saddle we were about to climb up. Just like the Sierra Mountains, I am able to point out where we are climbing to:

It was pretty cool seeing Mount Jefferson getting further and further away as the day went on.

At the top we were rewarded with an incredible view with the highlight being Mount Hood:

We woke up today with the temperature not too bad, but the wind made it feel cold. Digging a cat hole was definitely a priority when I woke, so I quickly dressed, packed my stuff, and emerged from the tent. Due to my emergent escape from the tent I was ready to hike just after 7:00 AM, however, it took the others the normal amount of time and we were ready to hike by 7:30 AM.

First stop on today's hike will be a trailhead with a picnic table and a privy just 3.90 miles away. We made it there and was very happy with the table and privy and hung there for a bit. This was a very busy trailhead with many other hikers and many hunters. It seems that Saturday was the start of deer season, so the hunters are out in full force. 

After leaving the trailhead we soon entered Mount Jefferson Wilderness:

Then, just 1.15 miles further we hit a huge milestone...2,000 miles!!

After some celebration and a small break we continued hiking. Today's hike is a bit challenging since it has more climbing than we have had in a while. Today we have to climb over 4,000 feet to reach our campsite for the night. At least we had some amazing views today.

Onward we hiked as Three Fingered Jack got closer:

Much of today went through a 10-year-old burn area. Here is Brad taking a little break:

I don't know what lake this is, but WOW!

Here is a pretty nice PCT sign:

For some reason, in this area, the mountains seem to get closer and further from us as we hike. Looking back we could see the Sisters fading away, and Mount Jefferson grew larger pretty quick. This photo of Mount Jefferson was taken by a campsite with this tremendous view. It would have been awesome to camp there, but the wind got worse as the day progressed and the spot was up on a shoulder...not good.

My watch alarm went off at 6:00 AM on my one day I get to sleep in. To make things worse, I left it on the dresser so I had to get out of bed to shut it off. I just want to sleep in till 7:00 AM...is this to much to ask?!?  Oh well.  I did manage to fall asleep for a little bit before 7:00 AM and then got up. There is a lot to do in little time, so I better get started. 
I went into the kitchen where Carol greeted me and began cooking fresh eggs and toast and hot tea...just what I need. Stormy, her husband then came in and managed to entertain us with his crazy stories throughout breakfast. After breakfast he gave me a tour is the rest of the house followed by a tour of his garage with classic BMW motorcycles....interesting guy. 

OK...time to get to work. I prepared 7 days worth of food to get me to Cascade Locks, Oregon, just south of the Washington border. It amazing that we will be in Washington in one week!

We then drove to Annemarie and Dean's house, stoping at Albertson's for a few things, to get Brad & Share Bear. We were supposed to be there at 11:00 AM, but got there closer to noon...not too bad. But then we were all hungry for lunch, so took the time to eat and then took our time to pack up the 4Runner. We finally got out of there around 1:00 PM...it's starting to get late. 
Before leaving Share Bear realized that she needed fuel and Tim left the fuel in the trailer, so when we got to Sisters on the way to the trail, we stopped at the hardware store to buy some. We got to McKenzie Pass after 2:00 PM, but had to make time to check out the Dee Wright Observatory just before the trailhead. Check out this cool structure made of lava rocks:

The cool part of the building is that you go inside and look through openings labeled with the name of the mountain you are seeing through it. Here is Mount Washington:

We got back to the 4Runner and drove the 2/10 mile to the trailhead and was finally ready to hike just before 3:00 PM.

The original plan was to be back on trail by noon and slack pack 17 miles to Highway 20. However, now that it is 3:00 PM we had to shorten the slack pack just over 13 miles to Old Santiam Wagon Road. This is still pushing it to get there before dark, but we decided to go for it.  Unfortunately the hike started out very difficult with the first almost 3 miles walking over a lava field.

This is where we entered Mount Washington Wilderness. Here is a cool photo of the sign with Mount Washington to the right:

As we left Three Sisters Wilderness we got a great view of two of the sisters.

When we finally got through the lava fields we entered a burn area with an awesome trail. Actually, any trail would be awesome at this point after walking through the miserable lava field. 

We hiked right towards Mount Washington:

At this point we have come about halfway and it was after 5:30 PM. We still had 6.5 miles to hike. Luckily the trial stayed smooth and slowly descended for those 6.5 miles. Plus, luck seemed to be on our side when we came across this PCT sign with a lucky horseshoe:

We made it to the road just after 7:30 PM before sunset. Tim was there waiting for us and hung out until we had our tents setup to ensure that we had everything we needed. We will see him the morning of the fourth day for a slack packing day. 

I got a photo of my campsite as Tim left to go back to the log cabin he is staying in.