Last Post Before the End

Well I'm down to ~11 days worth of hiking. It's very exciting but I'm not there yet. I just went through 3 days of rain and everything was soaked; it can happen again before the end. A lot of other hikers are getting off because of injuries within 300 miles from the border.

The last 250 miles are going to be exciting. And I am looking forward to seeing everyone again soon.

Enjoy.

Long stay in Eugene

Well I'm finally off from Eugene. I will be heading into Washington in 6 days.

This area produces grass seed. And when I arrived they started burning ~120,000 acres of grass to the north. Also when I arrived my throat started acting up. So I had myself a nice strep scare. In the next 24 hours, back on the trail, my throat should clear back up.

Onward to Canada!

1989 Miles and a Minor Injury

I have made it to Eugene and am spending the next few days with some relatives. In the last couple of days on the trail I pulled some heavy mileage and slightly pulled my right hamstring. I walked on the injury for several miles and was planning on hiking 17 more the next day until I got into camp and started limping. Luckily there are two roads I could be picked up at and I made it to the first one. However I set up the pickup at the second road and no cell service with an almost dead phone. I decided to see if I could get a vehicle to stop and give me a hand in finding service. The first vehicle was another hiker. He has been hiking small sections and has his car in the area. After discussing options we decided to help each other out. Yesterday morning he started hiking north while I had his car all day and was going to leave it at the second road for him. He pointed out some hot springs, not very hot unfortunately, and I drove his car to the trail head and waited for my ride. It is truly amazing how quickly and easily problems on the trail get worked out.

I have lots to do in Eugene. The weather is just a little bit different up here then in California. I have been waking up in sub freezing temperatures and if it is cloudy that day I'm wearing a jacket and constantly moving. So I need to re-outfit with warmer gear. Buying food along the trail can be difficult throughout Oregon and Washington so I have to look at buying food here and mailing it to myself along the way.

Well time to get today started. Enjoy!

Oregon!

Hello from Oregon. Finally got Internet access but only have 12 minutes left. I crossed the border between CA and OR two days ago and am now sitting in Ashland. This is the last semi-big town on the trail. I have gone 1,726 miles and have 924 miles left.

At the border someone posted a fake border sign to fool us. I have yet to meet a hiker, who has never hiked this before, who realized it was not the official border and didn't take their picture with it, including me :-).

I have been having a blast and am looking forward to Crater Lake, Three Sisters, Mt Adams, Mt Hood, Mt Jeferson, Mt Saint Helens, Mt Raineer and everything in between.

As always I miss you all and am looking forward to coming home upon completion.

Enjoy!

1/2 Way!

Today I passed the 1/2 way point, 1,325 miles.

The last 400 miles have been a roller coaster. When I got back on the trail, after the strep bout, my moral was really low and I'm hit with rain and mosquitoes. I blasted through Yosemite where you couldn't stop to relax, literally hundreds of mosquitoes would flock to you in under 30 seconds. I remember looking down at my arm and seeing 40+ all preparing to bite through my shirt. Once I exited Yosemite the bugs got much better. Sonora Pass turned my low moral around.

It has been great hanging out with hikers I haven't seen for months and I have been making decent time. I'm in the small town of Chester resupplying and in a few days I will be hiking Mount Shasta with Justin. Tomorrow I will be making my formal exit from the Sierra Nevada's and entrance into the Cascades. Shasta is a 14,162' volcano standing more then 5000' taller than any neighbor peak.

Well my time on the computer is dwindling. Once again I have no idea when the next access to internet will be. Hope everyone is doing well, miss you all.

Hey Hey

Have to be quick. About to enter Northern Cali. Been meeting hikers I haven't see since the first 4 weeks. At mile 1265. Sorry for the brevity but I must be off. Enjoying the trail once agian.

Enjoy.

I'm Back.

Well after 12 days I'm going to be back on the trail. I'm heading out of the San Francisco area tomorrow back to Mammoth Lakes, and I will be back on the trail Monday morning.

A big thanks is in order to my Aunt and her family for taking me in for the last week. Driving 5.5 hours out to pick me up and drop me off. Room and Board. And a free seat to the Diablo Theater Companies performance of "Hello Dolly". They saved me from going insane at Mammoth Lakes.

I was looking forward to 4th of July around Lake Tahoe however this detour has put me behind. I'm not worrying about how being off the trail for nearly two weeks has affected my chances of completion. But I'm having a hard time not worrying that this episode might be just the first bout of Strep on the trail.

It's odd getting off the trail for this long. I watched myself fall back into some old habits while constantly cramming food into my mouth. I also am not as antsy as I thought I would be. I thought I would have a strong desire just to get back on the trail. In truth I do not feel different on and off the trail. It will be good to get back on and continue Northward, I still have lots to see and do.

As always I hope all is well and enjoy.