Wed. June 15     Miles today: 22 PCT plus 2 more       Total so far: 580.3  Oregon section B

Good thing we rigged the tarp last night!  We were in Oregon, the land of the dew!  Quite a switch from the Mojave Desert!  It was a beautiful clear morning, but we noticed that the mountains “across the way” from us had snow on them.  Hmmmm!  But the PCT did not, and we hiked happily along, enjoying awesome views of snow-covered Mt. Shasta to the south.  We also went right past a very impressive rock formation I’ve often seen in the distance and admired while driving on Interstate 5. 

 But for me, the most marvelous thing was the wildflowers–totally different from southern CA, which also had lots of wildflowers, but of other kinds.  All along the PCT in Oregon were trilliums, incredible trilliums, and some of them were the biggest I have ever seen.  Wild strawberries were in full bloom, and there were alyssum, anemones, yellow violets, blue violets, camas and Queen Anne’s Lace, plus Solomon’s Seal and many more.  We met lots of “daisies” (dayhikers) who were out with wildflower guides in hand, also going nuts over the wildflower display.  Most of them immediately recognized us as thru-hikers and said, “What are you guys doing here so early?”

Well, I know one thing–our FEET are sure glad we are in Oregon!  Already they were looking much more normal–not so swollen and sore from desert heat and grit.  I figured out awhile back that rubbing Bodyglide between my toes really makes them feel better, too–a lot less chafing. 

And Bill made a marvelous discovery.  Lying by the trail, apparently abandoned, was a beautiful wooden hiking stick ( made from a slender tree trunk, I think)  that had Bible verses carved on it.  We debated whether to just leave it, or to take it, and finally decided that since Bill really needed a good stick…. maybe, as Brian commented yesterday, “This was meant to be.”   So Bill now has the help of a fine stick with an encouraging Bible text.

We spent much of the morning going through what’s called the “Green Springs”–a unique area up on the mountains near Ashland where there are many freshwater spings that run all year–a big contrast to the Ashland/Medford Valley, which gets very brown in the summer.  I also got a kick out of the Oregon version of big powerlines.  Instead of metal monster poles, the lines use enormously tall tree trunks.  The PCT itself was varied–sometimes it went through very green Oregon forest, sometimes through “Oregon chaparral” (huckleberry bushes!!), and sometimes through open, rocky terrain with lots of wildflowers. 

Finally we reached Little Hyatt Lake dam and took a rest to enjoy the view of the lake, but shortly after that, we got in trouble because we had no maps or guidebook (they were all in our  box that was supposed to go to Seiad Valley , our last resupply in California).  There were forest roads all over the place, and we could not figure out which one was the right one to get to “big” Hyatt Lake, our next official resupply.  We ended up wasting several miles of hiking on the wrong road before we got it right and finally reached the Hyatt Lake Resort.

By now it was 6:00 pm, and the store was closed.  Nobody was in sight anywhere, and there was no way to get any food.  So we ate a skimpy dinner of odds ‘n ends from our food bags, while sitting on the store porch with a view of the lake, and wondering what to do. 

 Just then, along came a man with a huge dog that turned out to be half wolf, half husky.  Her name was Brown Eyes, and she was so big that her head came up to my elbow!  The man told us he was the caretaker, out on an “evening patrol”.  He had no way to let us into the store, but he offered us a ride to the campground and a FREE campsite!  So we all piled into his electric mini-truck.  Brown Eyes seemed to think that Bill and I needed a wash, because she gave us both a good licking with her big wet tongue.  And she was right!  We were pretty grubby.  We took showers before crawling (still hungry) into our sleeping bags.  It was great to be clean, but I hope the store is open for breakfast!!   We are still just totally excited to be in Oregon, and very grateful to God for all His help so far!