A Break in the Action

Woke this morning with several miles of lava fields still to navigate on Brown Mountain. For me, it's been the most amazing thing we've seen so far. Knowing that all these huge rocks were spit out of the earth; that the landscape was alive. Being in the middle of that kind of geological history was humbling. 

Also, snakes! We were told this little guy was a rubber eel. Not nearly as interested in us as we were with him!

Our original goal was to make it to Crater Lake for our first resupply. Since we aren't making as many miles as we anticipated, we stopped at Fish Lake to get more food and other supplies before we continue. 

 

Burgers and Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. Ice cold diet Cokes. I packed some yummy stuff, but this was a thing of beauty. It probably helps that it wasn't cooked by a squatting, stinking hiker!

It was also a great treat to be able to was the stink off and wash our clothes. We feel almost like humans!

But the best part about stopping at Fish Lake was connecting with other hikers. We read the journal and found that Whitney, who blew past us on the first day and is doing Oregon as a section, is still going and made it here way before us. ManBearPig stopped just long enough to sign his name. And the trail names of the older couple that also passed us on day 1 are Oak and Cypress, married 40 years! Talk about inspiring! And I just think it's cool that I got to sign the same journal as Trauma and Pepper, 2 hikers who managed to do the hike southbound (SOBO) in the winter and are a bit trail famous!

We chatted a while with Pilgrim, from Toronto. Recently retired and taken with long walks, he hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain last spring as well. 

Also happened to be in the cafe when thru-hikers Data and Larb came through. They are in their 30 mile a day zone, and we talked to them while they ate. They have met many of the hikers that have passed us, and we chatted about everyone's progress. 

Not a bad spot to call home for the night! 

Going Rogue

The gentle pitter patter of rain that started off so welcome and relaxing last night turned into drops so big, it sounded like we were trapped in a popcorn maker. But our tents did their job, and we woke up dry. (Thanks, Mountain Hardware!)

We found water early, and started hustling. 

The world is still soaked and feels like Oregon should feel. Grey and drizzly. We are sad for hikers not energized by this!

Clouds. Praise Jibbers. 

In the Rogue River National Forest, the Army National Guard has built a lovely little cabin complete with water pump. We relaxed for a bit, and shared stories with a hiker named Milkjug. 

In this section we also came to the Brown Mountain lava fields. This must have been one mother of an angry volcano. The huge swaths of rocky devastation take over the landscape like nothing I've ever seen before. 

Also met a hiker named Cat Whacker. Sometimes we are told the meaning of trail names, sometimes we're left with a mystery. Your guess is as good as mine on this one! 

I Stink, Therefore I Am

Three days in, and most pretenses of being ladies are kinda out the window. Nature is our toilet. We're crop dusting the poor ferns. And we have developed a distinct hiker's aroma. I'm not sure why the smell of a sweaty, hard working dude is kinda pleasant. That's NOT how we smell. 

Home is where you hang your hat! Last night's campsite was adorable, and right near a reservoir. Downright cozy! 

Beauty everywhere, again. Of course. We  missed what sounded like a few serious rainstorms and had great weather until the evening. 

(Grizzly Creek)

We're having a fun time remembering the trail names of everyone we meet. Fluffy Star, Walkie Talkie, Monk (doing Oregon in 9 days!), Ladybug, Two Dots (and Two Dots' Sister), Sheep Wagon, and ManBearPig. 

The rain finally caught up with us, and after the heat wave we just left in Portland, we're not even complaining about hearing the pitter patter on the tents. We're in bed nice and early after over 12 more miles behind us. Onward!

Creature Comforts

Comfort, it turns out, is a relative term. 

Normally, all sorts of things disturb my comfort. The dog is taking up space and I feel squished on the couch. The sun has been shining for too long in Portland and my head hurts. The opening music for Freaks and Geeks is unbearably loud on Netflix. 

But this afternoon, when we had gone a couple miles, we realized we were relatively comfortable. Our hip flexors are tight, our shoulders are achy, shirts are damp, one of us has blisters on our poor pinkie toes. But all in all? Relatively? Comfortable. 

Taking the pack off for a little snack break, of course, is even more comfortable.

It's not so bad getting through a few aches and pains when this is what's waiting around the corner. 

Hiking through the wooded areas is great, but I love breaking out into these sunny meadows. 

Another 11 miles today. Most of them comfortable. 

Just going for a very long walk

Last year, my good friend and I read the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed. When we also watched the movie, we (like many other women, I'm sure) were inspired to attempt to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. We talked about how amazing it would be to try it together. After all, it IS right in our back yard!

But there is so much planning to do. So much money to spend. So much time. It was fun to talk about, but come on. Who are we kidding? It's not going to happen. 

Except it's totally happening. 

My amazingly supportive and slightly impulsive husband told me to go for it. Seriously. 

After exhaustive of reading approximately 3,000 blogs from brave souls who attempted doing a "thru-hike" (all the way from Mexico to Canada or vice versa) and consulting realistic financial goals, I decided to hike through the gorgeous state of Oregon. 

The best part? Cory was able to join me! She'll be with me for a few weeks until we get to Sisters. 

Our first day really couldn't have been much better. Our packs were heavy. (Questioning the need for body lotion and selfie sticks? Don't judge us.) The heat and hills of southern Oregon were humbling. But this state is more and more beautiful every corner we turn. 

And although the trail an be a perfect escape and a chance for solitude and reflection, we've already met some folks out here that had us literally chatting around the watering hole. Walkie-Talkie had stories galore and knows the best camp spots. Fluffy Star is a student from Germany thru-hiking solo and making about 30 miles a day. Inspiring! She gave us our trail names! Cory is now Neon, for her brightly colored shirt and hat. I am Muffin, for my cupcake tattoo. 

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Oh Christmas Tree....

Hot Mess

 Yesterday I was scheduled to complete an 18 mile long run.  I was actually feeling somewhat confident about this, despite the typical response of "you're crazy" every time I announced my intentions. Two weeks ago, I finished 16 miles and felt wonderful!  Without even needing to refill my water bottles (worn dutifully on my super sexy bat-belt), I practically breezed through my 16 miles.  The day was cool, the rails-to-trails path was shady and flat, and I finished the second 8 miles faster than the first!


So after my usual ritual of stalling--charging all my gadgets, eating, drinking, peeing, liberally applying Body Glide and baby powder, peeing again, tweeting about running--I was confident that I could conquer another 2 tiny miles on top of my previous success.  So what if it was 20 degrees hotter and I had no idea what this new trail was like?  I mean, it's called Riverfront Trail.  How bad could it be?

So long, suckers!

The St. Louis Gateway Arch is about 3 miles from my apartment.  This makes for a great 6 mile loop that I've enjoyed many times.  I had heard that if you follow the Mississippi River just a bit north, there is a bike trail that runs along it.  Cool!  Got to see this great statue of Lewis, Clark, and their dog Seaman.  These guys were amazingly smart.  They got the hell out of  St. Louis to get to Oregon before Oregon even existed.

Looks welcoming, doesn't it?

As promised, a quick run north took me to the start of the Riverfront Trail.  The neighborhood it was next to would have prompted me to roll up my windows if I were driving, but there was a guy just starting to ride his bike when I got there, so at least I wasn't alone.  There was a sculpture park around the first bend, and I was hopeful that there would be more artwork along the trail to break up my run along the river.


Uh-huh.

Don't think of scary movies, don't think of scary movies...

That was my view for pretty much the entire flipping run.  Industrial yards, shuffling rocks, salt, dirt, and I do believe just plain dust from warehouse to boat, or from train to truck.  I have no idea what was floating around in the air I was breathing, but it was unpleasant, to say the least. I guess maybe I should have seen that coming.  I looked up a map of the trail, and it runs directly between the train tracks and the river.  But the unending scrap metal yards and industry weren't the least scenic of my run...

St Louis's tent city

Oh.  Hi there.  This attraction wasn't mentioned on the Parks Department's webpage.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that poverty exists.  I am aware that sometimes the homeless are really and truly homeless, and don't take advantage of shelters. And I do take precautions when I run...I always let Rob know my route and check in along my run. I only have one headphone in and turn the music down so I can hear what's going on around me.  I just wish I would have been aware that this was on the trail so I could have decided beforehand if that was OK.  If this trail had any redeeming qualities otherwise, it might not bother me.  But it really didn't, and so I won't be returning.


Other fun stuff I saw...
When confused about a detour, I stopped for a minute to collect my thoughts so that I didn't get lost in North St Louis.  There was a man standing next to his van (parked on the trail where cars aren't allowed) holding a cat.  He told me how to get back around to the trail, but as I ran off I got the sense that I had interrupted him from launching that cat into the river.
A little closer to my turn around point, I saw the back of a man's head in the woods.  Looked like he was just sitting down, but I kept my eyes on him anyway.  Then a woman's face came around and it was apparent she was sitting on his lap.  Yeesh, I'm spoiling everyone's fun down by the river today!


I hit the 9 mile mark and headed for home, much slower than I would have liked.  All the water fountains served up water so hot I could have made tea.  What little water and Gatorade I had left was too warm to be any relief.  I started taking walk breaks around mile 12 or so, and finally made it back to the Arch, which meant I still had 3 miles to go before I got home.  The lovely woman at the food cart was kind enough to give me ice water after she ascertained that I was a runner and not just a bum.  And then I had to do this:

Oh no...

Yeah.  I had to climb these steps back up to the Arch.  That was pretty much my breaking point.  I sat down in the shade with my ice water and had a little heatstroke breakdown.  I was dry heaving, shaking, and not really seeing to clearly.  I checked in with Rob to let him know where I was and that I was taking a little break until I felt better.  Luckily, he had some time open in his schedule and came and rescued me.  I really don't know if I could have even walked those last 3 miles!

I've signed up to raise money for the American Cancer Society while I'm training. $1250 seems so much easier to me than the hundreds of training miles I'm putting in. But even though there are people encouraging me to run, in the end it's up to ME to lace up and dig deep. For the fundraising, I have to encourage YOU! So please, I'll endure the heat and rain and blisters and pain. It won't hurt that much to open your wallets, I promise!