I'm in Bend - Starbucks near Best Buy (will leave that ugly story for anotehr post - later...)
A few loose ends left before I can begin my planned hike from Santiam Pass
NW of Sisters back maybe 120 miles? south to the north end of Crater Lake Park.
Just got done leaving my ski poles and bear can full of food etc. at the
Santiam Pass trailhead NW of Sisters on hwy 20/126). A traffic jam of
returning weekenders made the mile through Sisters a much longer drive
than assumed. Earlier today I verified that there is a bus running that way
from Bend - even talked to the likely driver who said he would be willing to stop at the
trailhead to drop me off. I still need to solidify details of the other connections (3 bus
companies involved and they don't give out each other's info.) Potential mis-connections may well strand me overnight without a car in Bend - not sure yet how I will deal with that.
Ultimately, hopefully Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, I will
bicycle down from the north end of Crater Lake (hwy 138) east to hwy
97 then north to Chemult (20 miles total.) Chemult has an Amtrak
station with bus connections north to Bend (possibly w/ transfer in
LaPine to a different bus system - not sure yet.) Then in Bend I'll
catch the "Community Connector" bus through Sisters headed to Salem
Or. hopefully stopping at the PCT trailhead at Santiam Pass. Not sure
where I'll leave the bicycle, maybe in Chemult, but maybe take it all
the way so I can use it in Bend to get around (I may have a necessary
shopping errand on Wednesday - ugly story to follow.)
Right now my bike is hidden at the trailhead at hwy 138 (north end of
Crater Lake.) I left there yesterday evening, and left some food
caches (in plastic screwtop oatmeal-cylinder shaped coolers at two
intermediate road crossings, one at Windigo Pass (a gravel road),
another at Willamette Pass (hwy 58) and another near Elk Lake (hwy
46.) Not exactly sure yet what the tolat trail miles is, but
roughtly 30 miles (2 days) apart or 120 miles total, one of my longest
walks yet. Near Willamette Pass is a resort on Odell Lake I hope to
be able to recharge camera batteries at.
I guess I last posted from the Bend Library on my emergency bike tire
replacement mission. Back at Crater Lake thereafter, I took three
days to get around the lake and down the north side. First day parked
at The Watchman parking area bicycled south down to Mazaama hiked back
up and around the SW quarter of the Crater Rim. 2nd day, again from
The Watchman, bicycled north down to the Equestrian PCT road crossing,
hiked back up and around NW quarter of the rim. (Actually that
afternoon I had time left so drove around to explore and ultimately
leave a food cache at Windigo Pass and Willamette Pass.) 3rd day, from
the Equastrian PCT crossing, bicycled north down to northern park
boundary and a bit east to PCT Road crossing on hwy 138 (where my bike
is stashed now) and hiked back up to the Equestrian Road Crossing.
Finished that by midday yesterday, so headed to Cleetwood Cove at
north end of the lake and hiked down to the lake and had a swim. That
was fun - a crowded "beach" of large boulders, with other weekenders
claiming every other boulder at the water's edge. The water was not as
cold as expected (warm surface layer.) I was intending to climb Mt
Scott the next morning, after paying for a night at the nearby
campground on the Pinnacles road at east end of the lake, but it was
full by the time I got there at 4pm that Saturday afternoon, so I
decided I was done with Crater Lake for now, and drove back to the hwy
138 trailhead to overnight (my base-camp for the last few nights,)
cooked myself a meal at the picnic table there, then decided it was
still too early to just sit there, so I drove on to LaPine, did some
grocery shopping there, and overnighted on forest land just east of
town. This morning I checked out the Elk Lake trailheads but haven't
yet left a food cache (undecided exactly where there, expect to do
that on my return run to hwy 138 back at Crater lake this Monday
evening or Tuesday.)
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