Day 111 & 112: Let the Oregon Magic Begin!

(Mile 1802.5 to 1829.3, Crater Lake + 1.2 = 28 miles; 1829.3 to 1835 = 5.7 miles)

Stormy morning.  These clouds are for you, Steve Shunk!

111:  We started the day in the tail end of a storm and are ending it under a cool, starry night at Crater Lake.  28 miles before 7 PM!  This is not a record in miles, but surely in timing.

Thank you, Jim Knight, for the care package!  I love the Friends of Silver Falls. :)

112:  Well, I got too tired to write any more!  It'll be a short one tonight, too.  It's an hour past hiker midnight.  But!  We are on the rim of Crater Lake tonight, and it is absolutely gorgeous.  I do love Crater Lake.  Perhaps more than Yosemite?  Shhh!  I think I love the simplicity of it.  It's about the lake.  Sure, there are a handful of other pretty areas, Annie's Creek is very nice, but it is still about the crater and the lake.  I will never forget when I first saw the lake over the rim.  It was my first summer in Oregon, and I was on one of many solo roadtrips around the state.  I pulled over and leapt out of my car.  The feeling is hard to explain, but was an overwhelming joy.  The same one I had upon first seeing Kings Canyon in the Sierras and my first spectacular northern lights in Sandstone, MN. 

Medals from Gym Jesters gymnastics club in Michigan!  We LOVE it.

 As for the Oregon magic I intended to write about...both Gumby and I received amazing care packages here.  She got one from her gymnastics gym--we LOVE our medals!--and one from her significant other.  I got a package from a volunteer I work with at Silver Falls, Jim Knight--along with a letter that had us both in stitches.  And then!  Wired (2011thru-hiker) left me a note at the store that has directions to a water supply she left us.  Heck, yes!

Handstands for Crater Lake.  Our first Oregon resupply.

We wound up neroing, but we have had a good day at Crater Lake.  We've caught up with a bubble of hikers, and it's been good to feel like a part of a larger community.  It's been a cross of Mellow Yellow's group and Siddhartha's.  Which happens to include a number of women!  We had a ladies' lunch today--seven of us women traveling sans significant others.  Pretty inspiring, eh?

Sunset at Crater Lake.

And now, to sleep.  We have big miles all through Oregon.  Tomorrow is no exception.   Although today apparently was.

Thank you, Wired, for the water, notes, and reroute info!  We are so hooked up!

Day 87 & 88: Belden, Braatens, and Blogs, Oh Yay!

(Mile 1265 to Belden, 1289.5 = 24.5 miles, 1289.5 to 1303.5 = 14 miles)

Dan and me at Belden Town. Dan's a southbound section hiker who'd read this blog! I was thrilled to meet him.

Well, we hit Belden a day early, rolling in right around 5:30 pm.  We tackled the long downhill with Siddhartha and U-Haul -- both if whom we had met at the Red Moose Inn.  We all but ran down the big hill.  And rewarded ourselves with drinks and dinner at the Belden Town Resort.  Kindergarten Cop was taking off with Problem Bear just as we left.  Enough time for a quick catch-up.  And then we called the Braatens, local trail angels, and they took us all in for the night.  Knees, Threshold, Washout (?), Siddhartha, U-Haul, Gumby, and me. 

Gumby and U-Haul on a fancy-shmancy bridge. Silver Falls?

The Braatens run "Little Haven" and have an entire house for hikers.  A house!  Their daughter said that's part of why they got the place.  Close to the Trail and a space for hikers.  Yes, really.  It was wonderful.  A shower, a bed, cold cereal snack before bed, and pancakes and coffee in the morning.  Oh, and a lift to the PO and back to Belden Town.  Huge thanks to Laurie and Brenda Braaten for such a low-key, relaxing stay!  We could not have asked for a more perfect stop.

Botanist friends, what IS this gorgeous bloom?!

We spent the first half of the day doing errands -- PO, sorting resupply items, doing laundry, eating lunch.  While I was sitting at the resort, struggling a bit with a hard morning emotionally, a hiker arrived and stopped in front of me.  I looked up, and he greeted me.  He asked my name.  I replied, and he grinned.  He thought so; he'd been following the blog!  We talked a few minutes, and then he went in to the restaurant, saying that if I was still around, perhaps we could get a photo. Of course!  What Dan didn't know was that I was secretly on the verge of tears when he arrived.  (Nothing big; I think I am just emotional this week!)  And he was actually a bit of trail magic for me at that moment.  A smiling face full of warmth and good energy.  As soon as my food was ready, I found Dan and joined him for lunch.  He is a southbound section hiker from Washington, so he had all sorts of good information and advice.  It was quite a treat.  And brought me to another realization this afternoon.  Which I think I'll try to write about tomorrow.  But it is LATE!  And so I'm off to bed.

Holy buckets! Check out this huge cone!

Today's thanks go to Dan and the Braatens of Belden.  You angels always pop up at just the right moment.

1300 miles. Almost halfway!