...hundreds of lakes, billions of mosquitos, sharp lava shredding my sandals, constantly wet from sweat shirt & pack-back.
It was a nice hike, though a bit on the hot side, and the biggest challenge yet for my cheapo Walmart Sandals on the post-glacial-period lava flow rubble the trail picked it's way through northwest of the Ststers, and long stretches of viewless forest between rare gems of spectacular vistas in the Diamond and Thielsen Wilderness areas. Passing by innumerable large groves of blooming bear grass accompanied by clouds of mosquitoes got me day-dreaming-up an elaborate sketch of a "Day of the Triffids" like tale that I ought to sit down and flesh out into a novel - if I were a novelist..
Made some mistakes learning the new Sony H300 camera, but overall the results are satisfactory, and actually, it only drained less than three sets of four AA rechargeable batteries, and didn't even fill the 32gb GB micro-SD card (in an SD-card adapter) that I initially placed in the camera. I had another 128GB SD card in reserve. My Canon 5DM2 shooting raw would have devoured the first 32GB in the first two days!)
The setup to the hike went pretty much as planned. Planted my "last" food cache (in a cylindrical screw-top plastic cooler designed for liquids, making it reasonably rodent-secure) at the trailhead at Elk Lake, Skipped the detour to Odell Lake running out of time, but picked up a foot-long Subway at the Pilot station in Chemult before hurrying on to the trailhead on hwy 138 just north of Crater lake, near where my bike was still stashed from my last day-hike of the northernmost segment of PCT in Crater Lake Park.
By then it was about 7pm. Hurried to get packed, brought along the uneaten half of the Subway Sandwich and two oranges, walked the mile from the trailhead parking to where my bike was stashed at the PCT road crossing, strapped my backpack to the rack, ate one of the oranges, was on the road by 8pm, just about as planned, to avoid riding in the heat of the day. Coasted the dozen miles east down to hwy 97 at near car-speed, then the nine level miles north to Chemult at a comfortable pace as the sun set and dusk cooled the air. Ducked into the woods just before the road cut at the last rise over a low ridge before the town came into view. Set up my "cowboy-camp" there in the woods, between the road and the railroad tracks, ate the 2nd half Subway, the 2nd orange, slept.
Left my bike there the next morning, walked with my backpack into town, to the Amtrak Station, left my pack there among some trees and shrubs next to the locked Depot building. Two hours early. Wandered around town with just my waist-pack. (Tm liking this combination of simple "ultralight" pack too short to have a waist-strap, and sturdy waist-pack that I can adjust to slightly support the pack, but can stash the pack and still have most of my "valuables" and "tools" and "first aid" and some water and water filter with me for short "excursions", or on the bike, split the load between the low center-of-gravity but un-sprung weight on my rear-wheel and the slightly higher COG but "intelligently-sprung" load on my waist.)
Visited the (closed) library - looks like it was designed to be a church - good re-purpose, I'd say. Chatted with the postal clerk at the post office near the depot - the Depot used to be left open at night but attracted squatters lighting campfires in the building, so now the first bus driver in the morning unlocks it, the last driver at night locks it. The depot has no bathroom. Fortunately for transit users, the Pilot Station across the street serves that purpose, and there are a hand-full of other gas stations and restaurants. Had a coffee at the Pilot Station, sat in the Subway dining area, saw a worker struggling to carry out a tall stack of folded boxes and helped hold the door and steady the load, felt I might have been hired on the spot had I indicated my availability.
Got back to the Depot just as the bus arrived, saw the driver unlock the Depot. She commented on the lack of bathroom as well. The train arrived, the bus filled with passengers, one asked whether she had time to use the bathroom, heading for the depot. The driver told her we'll stop at the Pilot Station across the street. So when we got going, the first stop was a minute later at the Pilot station, a long stop first to park the bus, then wait while a third of the passengers used the facilities. So it goes when planners don't have public transit experience, or have contempt for public transit riders, or something.
Arrived at the Hawthorne station in Bend, with another two hours to kill before my next bus. Realized I had forgotten a phone charger and USB-adapter. Found the charger at the nearby Safeway, but for the USB adapter I walked a half dozen blocks to a Radio Shack. Back at the Hawthorn Station, plugged in the charger, it didn't seem to work. Turned out only some of the power plugs in the waiting room actually work. A ticketing agent explained that this was intentional, as was the lack of actual internet connection for the wifi at the station, to discourage all-day occupation by non-riders. The station does indeed seem well-designed, has comfortable seating, a good-sized bathroom, and manned my ticket-agents over a wide range of hours including weekends. It did seem to have a community meeting place ambiance. But there was some damage to the seat cushions and arm-rest padding (perhaps caused by frustrated prospective wifi users?) There was a CET representative (Cascades East Transit) there in the lobby to explain to passers-by the latest plans for route expansion and adjustment, and listen to suggestions. I offered some suggestions. The CET representative wasn't aware that there had been wifi available and was "removed" to discourage usage. (Technically, I guess they can say they do have wifi, just no internet connection for that local network.)
...
No time to complete this post properly now, so just to sketch out the rest of the day...
Caught the bus to Eugene via Sisters, and guided the driver where to stop at Santiam Pass - specifically, a quarter mile after the top of the pass is a sign for the PCT trailhead in a half mile. But this is a road that goes north a half mile to the parking area, with no space to just stop the bus at the main road. But a half mile beyond that is a turnout for a snow-play area, which is gated shut in the summer but has a broad area for the bus to stop. So I just had a half-mile roadwalk back to the trailhead, where I had stashed by bear canister with most of my food and most of my water, and my ski poles, so I wouldn't have to lug all that on the bike and bus.
Repacked my bags, left my bike stuff etc in the bear canister and left it hid, got on my way. I'll relate the story of the hike once I can review my picts. In short, it was rather hot and dry, but not quite the 110degree heat of the valleys that week.
I'll flesh this out later.
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