I encountered almost no other people on trail today, giving me the impression that we had to be in a dead zone. The trail registers told a different story however. A horde of people passed through before us on the same day and the day before. Many of them we knew: Guardian, Remedy’s group, Shiny, Favourite and Double Stack amongst others.
Pinch and Twinkle Toes took on an odd new style of travelling: trying to skip as many trail miles as possible by hitching and taking shortcuts. This so they could hit every resort along the way and chill out there (going to every resort in Oregon is a popular trail challenge apparently). And here I am, hiking the trail like a nerd.
Lavalamp went to the resort as well and hit the next campground afterwards for a shower. He’s living the high life.
So far I’m loving Oregon. The trees are as awe-inspiringly tall as before, but they are slightly more sparse, giving the undergrowth and lower-hanging leaves a chance. This creates a much more lush forest than what I was used to in NorCal. The contrast between the ancient moss-covered tree trunks and the youthful plants springing up all over is both beautiful and hope-giving, after the lack of new growth in NorCal.
On a more down note, my mom is having a really hard time. By the end of the day I had to carry her pack up the hill, because she was so exhausted. At first I thought this was merely due to exhaustion from hiking, but this seems like too much. Even on our day hikes in the past she was more energetic than this. I really hope she doesn’t have a stomach bug. I want her to have a good time here, but I also can’t slow down too much. From tomorrow she’ll try to take it slow on her own.