Today was a classic long distance trail experience. We faced a long day of at least 30 miles, followed by the necessity to exit via a forest service road, due to the Blanket Creek Fire. Our plan was to hike to a junction touted as the last, and best place to exit the trail in order to get around the fire and get to Crater Lake. Based on our research we felt pretty good about our chances of getting a hitch and eating burgers by sundown.
We started out the day early and with a gentle climb as we entered the the Sky Lakes Wilderness. In fact, most of the day was moderate and went by quickly. We didn’t stop for lunch until we had already gone around 26 miles. We walked on volcanic rock and traversed over exposed vistas that were truly amazing.
After lunch we walked for a little while longer and I noticed that someone had marked the 1800 mile marker. This is a huge milestone for us. The end feels so near and obtainable. We were feeling a little mixed however because there were rumors that we were going to have to miss Crater Lake due to the adjacent fire.
Soon we reached the Seven Mile Junction where we planned to exit the trail and noticed that there was a sign that said that the trail was closed from the Crater Lake National Park. The signs for the closure were very confusing, especially since there was no clear indication where the park officially begins on the maps. Luckily, the trail provides and there was flags indicating that we needed to exit at our planned junction.
We hiked briskly the couple of miles down the side trail, which was largely pleasant due to it being mostly flat and slightly downhill. We reached the forest service road and to our surprise it looked as though it was a very infrequently travelled road. The only indication of what we were supposed to do was in the form of a hand drawn map on a pizza box, made by god knows who. Sherpa was very annoyed with the trail organizers / fire service for closing the trail and providing no assistance as to how to detour beyond a contrived pizza box map.
I could see her point because it could be really easy to get lost in such a remote location, especially since the pizza box map indicated areas where you would have to bushwhack to save time. It is a perfect scenario for a confused hiker to get lost and become another statistic and a news story. Regardless, I didn’t mind as much and I suggested that we unpack and camp by the road and figure it out in the morning.
We had already hiked 34 miles and I felt that, even though it was early, it was probably going to be a suffer fest if we continued. We decided instead to lallygag a few more minutes and check out the surrounding area to see if we could see any signs of civilization. On the map we saw a campground nearby but we realized quickly that it was a very primitive and rarely used campground. I walked down the road a bit this way and that and just as I was about to give up, I saw something that made my heart leap.
There, a few hundred yards away, was an Australian Shepherd bounding down a nearby trail. I called to Sherpa to prepare herself to trap some day hikers. Clopping down after the dog was a beautiful horse, followed by another horse and more dogs. On the horses were two cowboys. I jogged over to Sherpa and asked her if she would talk to them, which she did. They seemed confused as to why we would need a ride because we were standing right next to a car, but we explained that we were hiking the PCT. The two cowboys, Jamie and Hera, agreed to take us and we said we could follow them the mile back to their truck.
We were so excited and got a chance to talk about it on our way down the forest service road a couple hundred yards behind them. The trail always provides. The PCT is a logistically challenging trail, but you wouldn’t know it because of the generosity of these two Mexican-American cowboys.
After a mile or so we rounded a corner and found Jamie and Hera standing next to their truck and they offered us Gatorade and beers. We gratefully accepted. They were so delicious! We talked for a little while about our experience and asked them a lot of questions about cowboy life. Hera breaks in ponies and horses for a living, and Jamie shoes horses. They have my dream profession, I told them, and I meant it.
We piled in the car and began our descent into the valley. The valley was very flat and it reminded me of the Oregon Trail. It was grasslands as far as the eye could see. I wish I had taken pictures because it was an amazing sight to behold.
We chatted along the way and then made a quick stop to drop off Hera and his horse, then continued on our way to the road junction where Jamie would drop us off to continue our hitch to Crater Lake from Fort Klamath. Jamie was heading in the opposite direction but offered to wait if we wanted to. We declined and thanked him again and Jamie gave us another drink for the road, which I promptly stuffed into my bag.
We crossed the street to a hotel that advertised hotels and camping but it looked as though the front desk was closed. We tried to hitch for a while, but without success and we started to get worried, though my beer wasn’t even empty yet, but it was getting dark. We started to try to find accommodations where we were by calling any hotel within a reasonable distance of the intersection. We tried every number in google but all were booked or busy. The Inn, right next to us, turned out the lights when I rapped on the door.
We kept trying different numbers till Sherpa made a connection. Heidi, at the Aspen Inn, graciously offered to give us a ride to shelter. She scooped us up in no time and we had the one of the most memorable 15 minutes of the trail with a complete stranger. Second of the day.
Heidi told us all about how she had purchased the Aspen Inn with her partner and then moved out here. Sometime after her partner passed. It was a heartbreaking and sweet story. She had a new partner, who, she seemed to indicate, she loved very much and it was going well.
She also got down to business as soon as we entered her cool, old truck. She said there is a great shelter that we could stay at but we would have to hitch in the morning. We said that would be wonderful. We had no idea. She pulled into a drive that was littered with campers parked here and there and up to a log cabin with a plastic door. We thanked her and said our goodbyes and she invited us to come see her.
We pushed aside the hanging plastic and we heard dogs barking and at first were to shy to barge in, but desperation took over and we pushed our way in. The cabin was amazing. It was clean and dry. There were picnic tables, outlets, a fireplace, lights, and plenty of room to lay our pads and gear. The porta-potties were only 50 feet away and we were set for the night.
It was an amazing end to a potentially complicated, but ultimately simple and rewarding day. We set up our pads, watched a show, turned out the lights and slept like little hiker babies.