Day 106
August 16, 2013
29 miles
Mile 2102

Woke feeling ungrumpy even though I had slept on a hump that left my head and feet equally dangling. Packed fast in a non-thinking rhythm that comes from doing it the same way every morning. Out of camp first and on my way. Tried to look at the forest in a new way but it insisted it was the same. So I tossed around old ideas and came up with old solutions. Stymied, I finally just walked.

The forest had an industrial feel to it. Like a crop, it had either recently been harvested or was waiting to be. Logging roads bisected the PCT regularly. The wildlife steered clear of this agricultural approach. Came to a lake that was popular with Oregonians. The path followed the shoreline then turned up an arm. Unsettling to be weaving through so much human activity. Got run off the path by two mountain bikers, which are prohibited the entire length of the PCT.

Came to a massive spring and sat down for a 10-mile snack. Orbit caught up full of numbers and hiking strategies for the September 3 plan. She had been crunching numbers all morning. So involved with her phone calculator that she had walked into a low hanging branch. The forehead snap so violent that she was reversed and ended up walking south for a few paces. I listened intently and asked her a few questions about adjustments that would feed her enjoyment through the afternoon. I left her to it and returned to the trail.

Stopped by a southbound day hiker named Rob. He handed out apples and Kit Kats in exchange for conversation. Happy to oblige. Still at it when Veggie and Orbit caught up for their rations. Onto it and lunch after 20 miles at a spring. There I adjusted my hiking plans a bit. The result of which I was I was able to eat two lunches in one sitting. Eating to reduce pack weight and not for pleasure made this an amazing meal. Emperor from Germany showed up for introductions.

Another six miles and a highway. There, Tallboy trail magic beers begged for consumption. We obliged. Then Veggie and Orbit hitched the two miles to a Chevron for carry out dinner. I hung out at a picnic table under the shadow of a bizarre multi story pull-up bar and journaled. I worked long as the hitch back proved tough. American distrust of hitchhikers is pervasive and cemented by the media. Got in my work out, just as delivery showed up. We ate the bizarre combinations that only a convenience store can provide for dinner. It was after eight and still seven miles to go. Through the shadows, charging towards the famous Timberline Resort breakfast buffet, a full moon assisting our headlamps. After a few miles we came to another picnic table and pull-up bar combo. It’s charisma acted as a non-passable gate. We called it a night. Make up miles belong to another day. Asleep to the low watt glow of a steady moon ball. The whirl of Orbit’s number crunching barely audible.

Steve Halteman
On the Pacific Crest Trail
Hiking the PCT for the Kids of Escuela Verde

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