Day 161 – Mile 2574.6 – 2593.8

High Bridge to Rainy Pass

Miles to go: 61.4

Canada: 2655.2

I set my alarm for 5am hoping to be hiking by 6am. I actually made it up & out by 5:45am, it was dark. Head-torch fully charged I was off. Today would be mostly uphill all the way, but thankfully quite gradually.

Surprisingly the trail looked like some trail maintenance had happened, maybe last year, as the vegetation close to the trail had been cut back. Nice.

I was hiking as fast as I could, but the clouds overhead didn’t look as threatening as I’d expected. Thankfully the 90% chance of rain at 11am didn’t materialise. Another recently re-opened section of fire closure trail (The Blue Lake fire) was coming up. The 5mile section of closed trail had a 44mile detour so I was so glad this was now open.

As I neared the last 2miles I could hear the highway, I was so looking forward to town (Mazama); a shower, a hot meal, a comfy bed. The last town stop before the border.

I got showered & laundry done at the ‘Lion’s Den’ but as they only have camping I opted for a bed in a hotel in town. Dinner at the brewery was pulled pork sandwich with fries & a pint of IPA.

Hopefully only 3days to go! Fingers crossed for good weather for me (Well at least not rain/ snow/ hail/ strong winds [delete as applicable])

Water filtered: 502.0 litres

PCT Miles hiked today: 19.2

Nights under canvas current streak: 0

Max streak: 18

Total nights under canvas: 119

Total nights in a building: 42

Lake swims: 1

Showers: 37

Trail Magic: 19

Thought for the day: “And now, the end is near. And so I face the final curtain” – Frank