Monday 9/10/12
Miles 1977-1989 (12 miles)
Yay, today was the first day I felt somewhat normal! Every day prior I've had to lay down on a log at various points of the day because I was so tired. Today I didn't have to. Whoo hoo!! :). It was just 12 miles to the highway at Mckenzie Pass where we were going to hitchike into Bend.
The hiking today was really cool. We went though a lot of lava fields. All the mountains here are volcanic in origin. Reminds me a lot of the big island.
By the way, there are/were so many forest fires in the area it's ridiculous. And I don't think a lot of them were started by lightning either. I don't think most people realize how much water you need to properly put out a campfire. Like the ranger in Yosemite said, if you're not comfortable sticking your finger in it, put more water on it. Burying it is not a solution. Dang, burn areas are gnarly.
So when we got to Mckenzie Pass, there was absolutely no traffic there. That's not good. :( there is an observatory down the street which a lot of people go to so we tried our luck down there. Most of the tourists weren't going our way. One of the last cars there said they'd give us a ride. Thanks awesome couple from Boise Idaho!!! :D. They were really cool and seemed to know a lot about the area and the local weather, etc. They dropped us off at the REI in Bend where our resupply boxes were.
The REI in Bend is supercool! They have a hiker box there and a trail register and a whole bulletin board pertaining to PCT info such as trail closures, etc. They are super friendly in there and many of the staff has done the PCT or AT. Thanks guys for being awesome!! :)
Oh man, I was so tired. Even though we only did 12 miles today, I think when I get into town my body just shuts down. It was really hard to walk anywhere. Lol! We got some food which was awesome!! I was sooooo hungry. Ive been craving cheese since Ashland, so we went to a pizza place. We made it in time for happy hour which was awesome!! It's called Flatbread Pizza Company. It was sooooo yummy.
We stayed at the Mill Inn B&B which is AMAZING!! If you're ever in Bend, you gotta stay at this place. It is walking distance from the Old Mill District and downtown Bend, which are the 2 area you'd want to be, and also walking distance from grocery stores. Its also walking distance from the library (which is HUGE, btw) and the post office. Basically, all the places a hiker needs to be. The place itself is awesome, it has free laundry machines and a hot tub in the back patio! Also the basement is a hangout area with a fooseball table, dartboard, flat screen tv, and a wax and tune area for skis. This is my favorite place i've stayed on the entire trip!
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