July 23, 2016 - Once again it was nice to sleep on a bed. Got to bed a little later than normal but slept great, all through the night. Also I was able to sleep in until like 7:30am.
I took another hot shower just because I wasn’t sure when my next one would be. Then packed up all my stuff then Ken and Kathy took me to breakfast to one of their favorite spots, Casey’s Cafe. I couldn’t decide between pancakes or biscuits & gravy so I had a little of both. Kathy talked me into have pie afterwards because it’s one of the best thing on their menu so I had a slice of banana cream which was really good.
After breakfast I loaded up my pack in the car and Ken drove me back to where he picked me up yesterday afternoon.
It was hard leaving and heading back to trail. I felt like my body could’ve used another night off trail and have a chance to eat real food however I find it hard mentally getting back into the hiking after a trail stop. Ken and Kathy were kind of trying to talk me into stay one more night but I knew the longer I stayed the harder it would be to leave. You just don’t realize all the little things you miss while on trail. It was so great of Ken and Kathy opening up their home and treat me so well.
I got going around noon which is a little late in the day to start when trying to hike 23 miles but the trail had been pretty easy in this section so I figured it was doable.
The hike from Dead Indian Road to highway 140 was as about as flat as you could get so it was an easy 12 miles except through the volcanic rock fields which lasted awhile but was cool to hike through, very different.
Filled up on water right after crossing highway 140 as I had a 4.5 mile climb before the trail leveled off. The climb wasn’t bad except there were so many down trees to climb over. Also the farther I got past the highway the worse the mosquitoes got, had to put my pants and jacket on to avoid being bit so much.
After 2.5 miles out from camp I stopped to eat dinner. I ate all the leftovers from last night’s dinner that Kathy gave me to pack out.
I got to camp and set up as quick as possible because of the mosquitoes. Then head down to the spring to get water where the mosquitoes were even worse.
Got a big day planned for tomorrow, 38 miles to the base of Crater Lake. If I can get there early enough I can get pizza at the cafe.
