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| MOUNTAIN JOURNAL 22 DAYS |
AUGUST 10
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| my Olivia |
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| Sherman's tent |
Camped at Millers 535 and woke up with the dawn. I must have fallen asleep at 10p and did not hear my night alarm go off. I putzed around-got my supplies in my tent and arranged them. I wore my woolens last night. This morning cut one of my plastic rolls and covered the tent for to retain body heat. Washed myself, brushed teeth and washed my socks out in the left over water. I guessed 8a and when I looked at my clock it was 8 past 8. My view is of a field or swamp. There is a dry creek full of big black rocks. Some horsewomen said the last time they rode by, it was running high and fast. I wonder when that was.
There are yellow, white and purple wildflowers and something with red berries. Chip monks and birds, dogs and horses. PM I pack up and hike to Clackamas Spring.
What a work day! I think that I will stay here-no more moving. I realize that my pack is too heavy to hike the trail.
This morning I was up before the birds-so waited for them to get up. I went to Clackamas Lake Campgrounds and got water. Walked back to the trail point. It didn't take me long without my heavy pack. I fixed pea soup and rinsed out socks and clothes in the lake. Took my bucket and soaked bark.
The noon was hot so I sat by the lake. I watched ducks and low and behold there was a huckleberry bush growing right in front of me. I picked moss off of the branches of the trees near by
and took my machete to the bark. I need to wash the tent tomorrow. First the tent and then the rain cover.
The following day I rinsed the tent and rain cover and canvas ground cover. I washed a bunch of clothes and the sun dried them.
I am very nearly out of water.
A couple came by my site and enjoyed the beauty of the spring. They had me take pictures of them, they really knew how to pose.
I was warm this morning when I awoke. Maybe the plastic cover or maybe just the temperature. I will get water tomorrow. I invented a 'stone stove,' an arrangement of stones around a candle so the pan can sit over the flame. I had nice warm soup for breakfast. My campsite feels so clean...what a gift this is, this being outside in the creation.
Thursday 14, 2008
It is almost 10a 9:45 to be exact. How lazy I am.
The camp is clean. The sun is shinning. I have three more weeks in this beauty.
I had a nightmare last night, old people, in a dark place-they hadn't had their pants changed for days, maybe weeks. Those poor old people.
I moved my camp to a big, fallen tree, lower in the forest so I have ultimate privacy. The ground under my tent is soft and it seems warmer. I may have more of a chance to see wild life. The work of beavers teeth are on the trees but I have seen no beavers yet. The dragon flies are aggressive.
I took a short, 30 minute hike south on the PCT. Still saw signs of man-an old service road with orange ties around certain trees to mark them for harvest is my guess.
AUGUST 15 (nineteen more days on the trail)
+ camped on the lake by a spring, close to fresh water at the campground.
- brought too much stuff to carry, so I couldn't hike the PCT
RULE 1 stay in bed until the sun heats up the tent. bring bowl of water in the tent and strip and wash up. feel good about yourself, start the day clean! pour wash water into 5 gal. bucket with soap and wash dirty clothes. brush teeth make tea measure out nuts and fruit for the day reconstitute bean soup for breakfast. I am starting my day out very tidy!! I will take a picture of my space then the tent then the site.
I think that it would be fun to make a kit for the little kids. Back pack/mummy bag/canteen/wind-up lantern/back packing tent/goodies-candy bars, nuts, fruit and coco maybe apple juice to reconstitute/a writing and drawing journal and pen/lots of pens and coloured pencils to draw with.
PM of the fifteenth
Just met Ningia Tortoise down by the spring. He has a little pen-like instrument that kills Giardia. One liter in 90 seconds he says. A solar operated thing. (later I find it is laser when I purchase one)
He is camping where I camped the past few nights. He suggested peanut butter, pasta and garlic and olive oil. He has been on the trail sence April. Started on the Cal/Mex border.
AUGUST 16
I think I will pack up and make toward Timothy Lake.
This is my pack arrangement-top of pack I have my tent then clothes, small heavy stuff, night clothes, books then food then sleeping bag. (when I did hike I took no books, wore one pair of shorts and packed long pants and four blouses, wore one blouse and tied a wool sweater around my hips. Left all small heavy stuff under trees and behind rocks, but that came two years after). I changed my mind about Timothy Lake and stayed put. I cleaned my campsite. I found a new spring closer to my campsite and built a table of sorts, stacking wood. It is beautiful here. Lots of water.
AUGUST 17 SUNDAY
Yesterday was hot! I imagine it boiling in the Willamette Valley. Last night I slept in my halter top and shorts. It was still and warm. I wanted it to rain. I heard a thunder storm in the distance. I listened to the sounds of the forest. I heard a deep voice, an animal's voice, going deeper and deeper into the forest. I saw the rear of a big deer butt running away from me. She saw me first. WATER 1 gal. per day. NUTS 1 cup per day. DRIED FRUIT .5 cup per day. OATMEAL .5 cup per day. MILK 1 or 2 cups per. day. 4 dried figs for vit B6 and magnesium.
Last night I had a significant dream that I remember and that had to do with my real life. In one dream I worked in a restaurant. There was a lot of machinery that I kept making mistakes in using. And I was slow, I couldn't keep up with the work. I'd get preoccupied with the machinery and couldn't get to the customers. I couldn't do the work anymore.
The next dream I was with a group of women and there were men in the dream too, and sometimes a school bus with children. There was a friendly dog too. And a patriotic ceremony where certain women got up and went through a ritual-much like saluting the flag. I said, "Who are those women?" and someone said, "That is what this gathering is about, to honor those women." In my mind, it was about gardening. I thought, because of my interest, I am in the wrong place again, among people that are interested in what I am interested in, but the whole event is about something more, something more than gardening. And I don't belong here. And I will be more careful from here on out.
I think that it is going to be a hot one again. Sunday, how quiet it is. No riders circling Millers Rd. A thunderstorm is threatening so maybe that is why it is 5:29p. I woke,did my chores, washed my hair and self, washed and rinsed my clothes and poured the dirty water over bathroom places to wash out any smell. I hiked up to the intersection of the trails and met two hikers who were there. A man and a woman. He called his woman Cruiser and we talked about food on the trail and the experiences that they had had. They were hiking the PCT for the first time, starting from the California/Mexican border but were Easterners starting from Boston. They had been on the trail for four months, destination Canada. About 30ish, a real cute couple. They talked a lot about how it was a 'green tunnel' coming from Mt. Jefferson. How Mt. Jefferson still had snow on the trail, but was easy to find. (He kept lathering tortillas with peanut butter). They didn't think much about nutrients or calories. They averaged 20 miles per day and said that they started out doing 12 miles a day at the beginning. She said that she grew up hiking the North Carolina trails and just knew she wanted to hike this one. Both had hiked the appalachian trail and they were proud of it!
His trail name was 'Reason'. He was a software professional and she worked for art galleries, having a B.A. degree. They told me that they had stayed in many Trail Angel's homes and that at one place in California the trail angels serviced up to 50 hikers at a time.
They said that they had two experiences with bears. One was just walking along and one while they were cooking dinner. Two bears sat and watched them for a while and then started to circle and they were forced to scare it away. I forgot to asked how. They had a lot to say about bears, too much to write. They actually talked quite a lot. We said our goodbyes at 2:15p. They said that the food that they carried had to equal 100 cal. per oz, and that they only carried four days food at a time.
I never ran into a horse rider to give Olivia's phone number to. Tomorrow I will get a message to the kids that I am fine and happy.
MONDAY AUGUST 18 16 more days on the trail
I am almost out of drinking water. Yesterday afternoon the thunder and lightening began and lasted til this morning. I opened up my rain cover for more light. I will go out for water, just for something to do. I tried to make my tent more water friendly-spread one of my plastic sheets across the entrance and lifted the rain cover with sticks and bungee cords. Went to the spring for a bucket of water. Then I went to the campground for drinking water. I found a tent pin on the ground and brought it back to add to Sherman's collection. Rain beginning again. I hear the traffic on 57 and the horsemen talking, the creaking of the trees, the shatter of the chip monks, yelling. I brew some green tea.
Thru-hikers just pass by about 5:06p "I hiked with them past Donners Pass and they went on. (I heard them say) 150 miles in four days. I liked hiking with them, even though I didn't hike with them a long time."
Last night I dreamt about Carl and Laurie. We were dancing and laughing with old friends. Really having a merry time-they were young. Of course I was young too.
TUESDAY AUGUST 19 15 more days on the trail
I came to the forest to be healed. The trees, water and sky took my sickness away. The wildlife too, conspire to make me well.
I want to market a product by the name of FOREST CAKE.
The weather is windy and dry, but not warm enough.
About 1:13p I went up at the intersection of trails and waited until 4:30 to connect with a horse rider to get an o.k. message to Olivia. No rider. At about 1:45 John came walking out of the woods, a very nice man, just spending a week hiking, he had spent the night at Warm Springs River and said that it was beautiful. Around two-ish GQ came out of the forest. An Israeli that started from the California/Mexico border in April. He told me that about 500 start there and half that make it to Canada. He had a flippant attitude about water safety. He made some remark about running the water through a bandana. A bit later a perky young yuppy hiking from Ashland, spoke briefly. She was all business, said her name was Rachel. Very nice, just on her way. She seemed afraid to me, but that was just an impression. I dreamt last night about oatmeal with raisins, nuts, and milk. I have this meal and I wondered that I wouldn't dream about stuffed turkey instead.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 20 14 more days on the trail
The rain has not let up. It started about 5p yesterday. It is now 10:09a. I had a nice breakfast of milk, fruit and nuts. I am reading the book of Acts. I am glad that the Bible is sustaining.
I dreamt that I was camping and I woke up and someone with a lot of 'stuff' that he had brought in a van was all over the ground around my campsite. His name was Eric. There were two women in the dream. All three were wealthy.
11:45 the weather breaks. I take care of business-tidy up-wash my breakfast dish. Hike up for drinking water. Find a small scull off the trail and bring it back to camp. (Later I take it into the taxidermy on Foster in Portland and the taxidermist tells me that it is a fawn. The hole in the the scull is not a bullet hole but a hole made from a cougar's tooth.) I make some tea. Raining again 12:14. Just enough time to take care of things. Lunch is .5 cup dried fruit nuts and seeds. Back to Saul of Tarsus, his baptism in Damascus.
THURSDAY AUGUST 21
Last night was a silhouette show on the sides of the tent. There must have a full moon, the light was bright like the headlights of a car. The wind blew through the trees and the sound of the swaying trees was sublime. By morning all was calm, pretty much chilly though, no sun, sometimes a sprinkle. The hikers are back out on the trail, trying to make time, bundled up in rain gear. I hear them or see them when I go outside my tent.
I got up-went outside, moved my clothes line and made it out of bungee cords farther away from camp. Started a shelter out of thick branches against a fallen tree. Came back in the tent. Chilly. A bird landed on the tent. I take my machete and bang it on the floor of the tent. I would like to have a big green salad, a thick slice of flax seed bread with heaps of butter and a glass of apricot juice. YUM! Next year I need to pack B vitamins. The sun is honestly trying.....but I feel chilled to the bone. I must have been awake a long time last night.
FRIDAY AUGUST 22
Well, the sun is not doing a good job warming up. Ate breakfast and am drinking my tea. I am gathering the things in the tent into the backpack so I can tip the tent up and clean it out. I am considering leaving the heavy things hidden in the brush here and hiking on to Warm Springs River. I took a long walk around Clackamas Lake. It was a nice walk, I walked through Joe Graham's horse camp and over to the Old Ranger Station and visited with the Ranger a long time about the history of the place and got a brochure. He told me to go to the horse camp and the camp hosts there go back to town every night and they could call Olivia. The little white truck with '2000 trails' on it. The Ranger said that it was 36 degrees this morning. The fire in the wood stove was still warm in the station. It was about 2:30p
My pack is still too heavy to hike 8 miles. But I wonder what it is like to walk a 'green tunnel.'
The forest was gorgeous today. The weather warmed up. I spread my sleeping bag over the limb of a tree to dry it out. No wonder I felt chilled. 36 degrees-wow!
SATURDAY AUGUST 23
Last night was really cold. I struggled all night against it. Even though I had my woolen long johns, sport pant, woolen sweater and leather jacket. I was still cold all night. It just went through me. I think I will get up and work on my shelter to warm up. When the sun heats my tent I will bathe then.
I can't believe that the kids found me today. It was a miracle and a surprise and a relief. Olivia brought me candy, lettuce, apples and bananas, washys, gum, toilet paper, cola, crackers, pens. She is a good daughter to bring me good things and they are a blessing to come and find me. It was so good to see little Charlie, too. And Sherman, who loves the outdoors and was wearing a superman hat, whose S probably really stands for 'son-in-law'.
I had just washed out Sherman's tent, clipped the tent on the frame, tipped it on it's side. I sat on a log drinking hot tea and then I heard, "Mom, mom." There was Olivia coming off the trail to me. Those kids just headed out to the woods to find me because they were afraid of the storm. "I called the Ranger and tried to get him to find you, but he said if you didn't come back on the date you planned, he would look for you then." I showed them a beautiful spot by the lake I had found. There were trees chewed down by the beavers and huckleberries were fat and ready to eat. We spent the afternoon together, then they left. Sherman had to work that evening. What a good time!
I have been thinking a lot about Kimmie and how that little girl loves the woods.l How she took me to the woods by her house out there in Fern Ridge that day and we had a fun time. I guess she will be six years old come September and as much as I have tried I have not spent much time with that little girl-my grand daughter.
SUNDAY AUGUST 24
I feel kind of punk today. Well, I am disappointed that I didn't get to hike.
MONDAY AUGUST 25
The soft fingers of the rain woke me. At daylight I fixed a quart of milk with 1 tea. sugar, drank down two cups and poured .5 cup oatmeal into my vessel, set aside. Ate a red apple that Olivia brought me.
I spread a sheet of plastic between the tent and rain cover and another over my sleeping bag, so I was warm last night. I will wait for the sun to shine. I built a stone stove, but it was so damp and wet that I decided to make a stick fire and kept it going a lot of the day. I brought a warm rock in the tent from the fire and it is heating my back and was warming my feet. It is great.
TUESDAY 26
seven more days on the trail
It feels and looks like a warmer day. The sun is peaking in the bottom of my tent and it is only a little after 8a. I am going to work on a bigger stone stove and move my table to a different place. Bring stones up from the spring.
In the early evening two men came to my camp to say that they were PCT hikers. In a demanding tone, I might add. They had been hiking all day and were just exhausted. One had little bottles of water hanging all over him like tree ornaments. I felt sorry for them but I wasn't sharing my camp with two strange men. "Well," said the young one, "it looks like you have THE camp!" I think they thought that I was a Trail Angel, and was there just for them. (Well, I thought, I made it, go make your own.) They continued down the trail.
WEDNESDAY 27 6 more days on the trail
I am wishing that this camping experience would end. It is raining again today. We will see what the day brings......
THURSDAY 28
This morning was still and dry. I got up early, built a morning fire. I got busy cleaning my camp. Emptied the tent, spread things out to dry. I did a lot of hard work. Got more water from the spring and drinking water from the campground.
I cooked oatmeal with raisins, nuts and pumpkin seeds and milk and had a deliciously cooked breakfast. It will be one meal a day now til the Youngs come for me. I am fine, it will be o.k. There seem to be more hikers on the trail. Last night a loud mouth bunch came by about dark. They shined a light by my tent. They walked all over the forest, up Miller's trail and along the POT. Finally they moved on.
All the folks have been quiet souls up to now. Quiet, gentle souls.
I finally was able to dry out my sleeping bag over the hot rocks of my morning fire. I had a wonderful day today. I laid in the sun on my plastic sun deck. My plastic sheet. The sun was wonderful. The riders are out on the trails. Lots of them today.
IT IS NOW FRIDAY AUGUST 29 four more days on the trail. Unless they come today, which would be nice.
A hiker just walked by me tent this am. Which felt very scary. What a rude person.
I sat up at the trail head and met four hikers. Sweet Pea and Tourist, two gals that started from Olallie Lake. A couple, man and woman were headed south to the Warm Springs River and had a Basset Hound and a Golden Lab on a leash. (Tree girl is now Huckleberrieblue)
The day was warm and green and windy and wonderful. I walked around the lake again and walked back up to the trail head and lay down on a fallen tree and watched the branches of the tall pines wave in the wind. A helicopter flu low and I saw an Eagle and smaller birds-the forest is full of birds. The Woodpeckers were busy today and I hadn't noticed them much before. I saw a lot of little orange butterflies. I am not sure they are monarchs. I spoke to horsemen riding on the trail and a woman walking with two small children from the Clackamas camp ground. The horses went around and around today, one group after another. I walked by the old Ranger building and there were a lot of tourest for him to talk to. I took photos of Clackamas Meadow and finished off my raisins and only have pumpkin seeds left. Those and oatmeal and dried milk and tea.
SATURDAY AUGUST 30
This morning was spent washing out clothes and keeping the fire burning. I let the fire go out and the air and wind was cold although the day was sunny. Before starting another fire I chopped wood until I got tired and stacked it in my log table. I had a wonderful day! I just poured water on the fire and covered it with dirt. I brought in a hot rock and it is wrapped in muslin and I am resting on it as I write this journal. When I dug my fire pit a few days ago, I dug it about 8 inches deep and two feet in diameter. It is oblong shaped and rocks line the sides and edges with openings at each end for vent.
No one bothered me today, thank goodness. They kept to their own business, what ever it was. Hikers kept straight on the trail. I kept thinking about Colin Fletcher and how he liked to go it alone. I don't think that he was the PCT hiker type. Maybe I don't know enough about thru-hiking. I know that he is a great inspiration for many hikers, including myself, just a solitary camper.
Well, it is only 5:33p but I am bushed.
Huckleberrieblue signs off for the day!
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