Day 112 - Cascade Locks

Wednesday August 5

What a night! Deb and I camped on a ridge last night. I assumed that the wind would die down overnight. It didn't. My tent made a flapping noise as the wind gusts hit it. I tried pushing on the sides of the tent and even tried changing the length of the tent pole to quiet the flapping. Nothing worked. I was very tired in the morning. 

We arose at 5:15. I realized that one tent stake was missing but couldn't find it. In addition, fog had rolled in and water started dripping from the trees. It was so cold I could see my breath. 

We headed up the trail at 5.45, glad to be moving so we could warm up. The trail followed the ridge-line, so it climbed and fell for much of the morning. 

Deb had not eaten any dinner last night and was sick to her stomach. There wasn't anything I could do for her other than suggest she try eating something with carbohydrates. She decided to eat a Fig Newton bar. 

I think all of the stress of hiking so many hours really affected her. However, she kept hiking because we wanted to get to Cascade Locks today. 

It was six miles to Indian Springs where we would take a trail to the Eagle Creek trail. Just before the trail junction, the fog cleared enough to see the surrounding hills.

We took the Indian Springs trail down to the Eagle Creek trail. The trail was really steep. Deb fell a couple of times. 

By 9:30 we were on the Eagle Creek trail, which had a much more gentle slope, but had more rocks on the trail. The waterfalls along the way were fabulous!  And, like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae, Tunnel Falls was fantastic!  Can you spot Bobaroo?

It was 7 more miles to the Eagle Creek trailhead. The closer we got, the more people we saw. We often could smell the young ladies coming up the trail before we saw them!

I arrived at the trailhead shortly after 2. I finally had phone service again!  To my surprise, my wife was in Cascade Locks!  She picked up Deb and I and we went to eat at the East Wind diner. We enjoyed hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes. Deb's husband, Bob, met us there. I got my resupply boxes and we all had a cold beer to celebrate Deb finishing her hike and me finishing the PCT through Oregon!

Our friends, Cody and Jenessa, invited us over for the night. We were treated to a barbecue dinner with delicious steak, salad, beer and wine. Their friend, Erica, also joined us. Erica has been following my blog for some time and had many thoughtful questions for me. We spent several hours talking about life on the trail. It was wonderful!

Jenessa did my laundry for me and even went shopping to get some snacks I needed. It was simply amazing! 

I am so thankful for such kindness!

I will be back on the trail tomorrow morning, walking in Washington!