Day 122: Back At It
August 10, 2017
Mile 1740.20 Hyatt Lake, OR to Mile 1752.74 Campsite
For the first time in four days, we are both healthy and ready to hike. After slowly waking up, we woke up to the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen and Jen was getting ready to cook the three of us pancakes and eggs. She didn’t have syrup, but she did have homemade apple sauce that we had the night before from apples that grew in her garden the previous Autumn. She also added home grown squash to the scrambled eggs. It was delicious. Glowworm and I are now fully convinced that we both want our own garden one day, although the work needed to create, plant, maintain, and harvest such a garden may need some time to manifest.
After breakfast we somehow were overcome with weariness and managed to take a two hour nap. Upon waking up I was at first concerned that Glowworm had started feeling sick again, but I think our bodies just weren’t all that used to having so much food being shoveled into ourselves at once and needed a rest to digest it all. We eventually packed up our gear, said goodbye to the dogs, Willy and Dusty, bid Patrick farewell and wished him luck healing from his spider bite, and then got a ride back to the trail.
It was around 2:00 when we got to the trailhead, but even though it was later than I would have liked, I still felt so rested and relaxed. As I’m sure you have read, this does not happen to me very often and this return to the trail may have trumped them all with how peaceful I felt. I think staying with Jen on her property with the garden and the dogs allowed me to get a glimpse of a life that could be mine in the near future and that gave me a great sense of calm.
The hike itself was pretty nice. We only did about 12 miles, but the terrain was mostly flat and I could let me mind wander again and was able to get back to listening to Moby Dick which I’m really enjoying so far. As has been the case since leaving Ashland, there was another afternoon thunderstorm with about an hour of light rain. I honestly don’t even mind it. It’s very serene and warm enough to enjoy the change in climate. It really feels like we’re in the Pacific Northwest now.
We should be in Fish Lake tomorrow and then getting a ride to north of Crater Lake where we’ll continue until Bend. We’re hoping to take a zero again there and then skip the next fire. So hopefully the next week or two should continue to be very chill and we can just enjoy being out here without having to stress about everything.
Glowworm and Gummies with a gummie worm, e.g. a “Gumworm”.
