Distance hiked today: 30.6 miles / 49.2 km.
Today is a resupply day, but still demands big miles for day 9 of the Oregon Challenge. I had planned on taking my next Zero day in Bend, so I sent my food box there. But since I'm not stopping anymore, I just made my life more difficult. It's an hour drive away from the trail, from a small windy road and past the closer town of Sisters. A tricky hitch for sure, as it was unlikely one person would be going all the way.
To give myself enough time I was hiking by 5am. We've got snow, mountains, and lava rocks which makes for a great morning! There's also been shiny black obsidian rock on the ground, sunlight glinting off the pieces like diamonds in the trail. But I couldn't photograph it.
17 miles to the road, and we got a ride in about 15 minutes. Giggles was just going to Sisters so we dropped her off there, and I got a ride all the way to the post office in Bend which was incredible.
I got my box, walked to the grocery store for a few things, and hurried to get my stuff done. I'd arranged for a trail angel to give me a ride back to the trail because hitching back from the center of town would be really difficult. After being in town for about an hour I was on my way to trail again and hiking by 3:30.
It was a hot afternoon, amplified by the huge field of black lava flow I had to go through. This morning's lava rocks were just a teaser. Now it was never ending - round and uneven, it made for tricky walking, sore feet, and a lot of sweat. There was one pine tree somehow growing in the middle of the flow. Finally the lava gave way to dirt and burned forest, with some blowdowns.
Just before 8pm I took an alternate trail to the Big Lake Youth Camp, where they have a building dedicated to PCT hikers to hang out with charging, a kitchen, showers and laundry. I met Giggles there, but we were too tired/lazy to shower or do laundry. At this point it's almost "no shower Oregon", except for my cold rinse at Crater Lake. Just a few more days until we reach the Washington border.
We hung out until 11pm, enjoying a brief rest indoors, and then hiked out a mile to camp.
Total trail mileage: 1997.1 miles / 3213.3 km