Pacific Crest Trail

Must remember... Always TRAIN for big days. I knew 25 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) would be painful, as I never hike, but I had no idea my feet could hurt that much! Jason and I drove from Seattle down to Sisters, OR, on Thurs night, left our bikes at McKenzie Pass and crashed at the hotel at about 1am. Up at 5, drove through Bend to the Devil's Lake trailhead near Bachelor and started north along the Sisters. Now, for background, Jason has hiked 1600 miles of the 2600-mile PCT already, so I knew I was going to be outclassed on the trail. It started off great - felt good, light pack, plenty of food and water - and great views. You start south of South Sister and wind your way through forests, open meadows and high alpine past Middle Sister and North Sister before reaching McKenzie pass. The weather was 80 and sunny, and you reach about 6000 feet, although there is not much vertical gain on this stretch of the trail. We passed snow fields, lava rock deposits and old glacial moraines; all in the shadow of the three 10,000 foot peaks of the Sisters. While the scenery was nice, after about 15 miles I started to pay the price for lack of training. My feet started to feel every step, just plain sore after all that walking and not being used to it. 10 miles of feeling every step is not fun! At one point I was so delerious I had to yell out to Jason to stop so I could eat a sandwich and get off my feed before passing out. Alas after 12 hours we made the other end of the trail and our waiting bikes. Although a 15-mile bike ride might not sound good after the hike, it was heaven just to get off our feet. We enjoyed a couple of margaritas in Sisters before meeting our families for the camping trip the next day. That story will have to wait for another day...