Irish Lake to Santiam Pass- 70 miles with Jaclyn

So after a fun weekend of mushball, my friend Jaclyn decided that she would like to go with me for the next 4 day stretch before my sisters bridal shower.  So we made it up to Bend on Sunday night and made a plan to meet up with Matt, Dane, Lizzie, Adam, and Katie.  We holed up in a hotel and got one last good shower and filled ourselves on Taco Bell before getting to sleep.  In the morning we met up with the Eastlick/Christ/Kraus clan for coffee and made an even better plan.  Matt took us up to the trailhead in Adam's Jeep and Dane, Lizzie and Matt dropped my car off for me and Jaclyn at Santiam pass.  After a quick stop at REI for me to get my pack replaced we headed out.  We made it to the trailhead at around 3 in the afternoon and managed to get 13 miles in the first day.  Jaclyn felt good but could already feel some blisters forming.  That night we camped with 5 other hikers, had a nice campfire, and made some great buffalo chicken wraps from a mountain house I had been saving for about 1000 miles... it had been my extra dinner.  The next day we decided to do 25 so that we could line ourselves up to be out early on Thursday.  Jaclyn kept up the whole day, we went through some great meadows with really nice views, passed by Sisters Mirror Lake and I went for a swim.  We treated all of our water which was new for me but I really didn't want to give Jaclyn Giardia on her first backpacking trip!!  That night was incredibly cold, and the sleeping bag that we had dug up for Jaclyn didn't zip so she didn't get much sleep.  The next day we did a 20 miler, ran into one of the Indiana boys, Matt who I had met in the desert and his girlfriend Kerry and hung out with them for portions of the day, it was nice to see him again and meet his girlfriend.  We also ran into Oneton and Anchorman that day and ended up camping with them that night.  Anchorman is from Bend so he was knowledgeable about the burn area we were walking through and the lava field, so he was interesting to have around.  Jaclyn's feet really started to bug her this day, with blisters and walking on lava rock!  She did a really good job not complaining though, and keeping going even though she had to be hurting.  We got to camp early that night and settled in for a nice night chatting by the fire before heading off to bed, Jaclyn staying up to be by the fire longer than the rest of us since her sleeping bag wasn't the best.  Just for the record I did offer Jac my sleeping bag but she wouldn't take it, either because she is just to nice or it smelled to bad, not sure.  The next day, me and Jaclyn finished off the last 12 miles of our hike together, making it to Santiam Pass, going by the 2000 mile marker and going past the 3/4 mark of  my hike!!  At Santiam Pass Anchorman's dad had was waiting with fresh fruit and cold beer, which was a great reward for Jaclyn, and her first birthday present!!  It wasn't all that bad for the rest of us either.  This was a great section for me because I had a friend with me and it made the time go by much faster during the day and the camps were nice at night even though we had to squeeze into my little tent.  After getting off the trail we drove to the Zanotti's and they were nice enough to provide us with much needed showers and a place to stay and celebrate Jaclyn's birthday with Christa, Ben and Carly!!  The next day we all headed down to Etna for Kari's wedding celebrations.  I am planning to head back out to the trail on Tuesday, only 150 miles left in Oregon!!

Ashland to Bend

So I ended up taking a zero day in Ashland highlighted by a picnic in the park with about 12 other hikers put on by spuds parents (mr and mrs potato head).  The next morning snausage and I got a ride back out to the trailhead and we both managed a 23 mile day to make it to Hyatt lake, where they have a great campground with flush toilets and everything!!  The next couple days Oregon lived up to its reputation of being 'the green tunnel'.  The tread was great and I was shaded most of the day.  After 4 days of hiking we arrived at crater lake and had the treat of hiking along about 5 miles of the r with magnificent views of the lake the whole time, although it was a very populated part of the trail this was definitely a highlight for me!  After crater lake is a long dry stretch and my friend Chris wanted to come meet me somewhere, so I talked him into doing a little trail magic and he met me and 3 other hikers at a road crossing that night with 30 gallons of much appreciated water!!  It was great to see Chris again, he did the first 5 miles with me that morning then ran back to his truck.  We hiked by mt. Thielson and numerous lakes for the next couple days and were treated with great views and a lot of swimming!!  On Thursday afternoon I was picked up off of the trail outside of bend and made my way back to etna for the 1st annual Nick Gordon memorial mushball tournament, where I got to see a lot of old friends and play a little mushball:). Now I am going to head back to the trail with my friend Jaclyn who will be doing the next 3.5 day stretch with me!!

Made it to Oregon!!

Okay, so many things have happened since Etna!  First off I met up with a group of hikers Wednesday morning and about 10 of us decided to cook a communal dinner that night on the trail, so the first day we all went 11 miles to a camp in Shelly meadows.  A group of 15 ended up enjoying sausages with onions, sauerkraut, garlic, peppers, etc., some biscuits, potatoes, and a 5 liter bag carried out by honey bear!!  The next day was a 31 miler through the marbles, highlighted by a side trip to shadow lake and a midday swim I paradise lake, ending up at the first crossing of grider creek. With 14 miles to go to get to Seiad I got up early on Friday morning and made my way in, a nice hike crossing over grider creek multiple times followed by a 6 mile road walk, but I made it in time to do the pancake challenge... Which I am not so sure was a good thing!  I made it through 2.5 pounds of the 5 and that was all I could do!  Needless to say, no more hiking happened that day.  Saturday morning I was up early ready to tackle the climb out of Seiad.  It ended up not being to bad, a group of us actually managed to get 30 miles in.  Sunday was incredibly exciting due to the fact that we entered into Oregon!  I spent about an hour at the border celebrating with 18 others:). After that we all headed up the trail to investigate rumors of trail magic... About 10 minutes later we came upon balls, butterfly and sunshine handing out beer, soda, hotdogs and party hats to celebrate the border crossing!  We all spent another hour there then got goin again.  After those long breaks it is a wonder that we all managed to get 25 miles in that day, ending up at mt Ashland campground with incredible views of the north side of Shasta at sunset.  Then on monday(today) we only had 9 miles to go to get to Ashland, actually Callahans, where we showed up around ten and had some breakfast.  Then we hitched in to Ashland where I am sharing a hotel with 5 others