Twisted Sisters

Hi All!
I'm currently resupplying in Sisters, OR and doing a quick update at the public library- sorry no pics or video this time :(

I hiked from Hwy 140 to Crater Lake with my friend Nate and we had a nice time although there was an ever-present swarm of ravenous mosquitoes dive-bombing our heads pretty much the whole way.  I gave Nate the trail name "Ghost" because out of desperation to escape the humming little vampires he took to walking around camp draped in his large hammock mosquito net as if it were a black funeral shroud.

Crater Lake was stunning as always although there was still a good amount of snow on parts of the rim so I ended up road walking for part of the way around the lake.  It was a toss up between taking my chances traversing steep snow fields or walking on the side of the busy, shoulder-less road.

I've spent a considerable amount of time in the snow while hiking North of Crater.  It seems that although I breezed through the Sierras without too much snow I now have to pay my dues in the Pacific Northwest.  Many hikers use GPS to navigate these days but since I'm so "hardcore" I choose to do my route-finding the old-fashion way with a topo-map and crossed fingers.  Well, that and I'm just too poor to afford a GPS.

I've found it both exciting, challenging, and sometimes very frustrating to navigate in the snow.  In the Sisters I ran into about 20 miles of almost continuous snow which slowed me down quite a bit as I was forced to check and recheck my map, back-track, walk in circles, and sometimes accidentally take the wrong trail for miles.  It can be a huge confidence-boost to find your way through conditions like that but also pretty nerve-wracking.  Sometimes I'd just have to stop, sit down and take a few deep breaths and perhaps a few muttered curses and more often then not when I resumed hiking I'd discover that I'd been sitting just a few yards away from the trail.

I met a friendly local at the post office who works as a chiropractor in Sisters and has very kindly opened her home to me, bought me a huge hamburger at the local burger joint, and is allowing me to use the shower, laundry and spare bedroom!  She recently attended a talk at the library by the author of the PCT autobiography, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail,  and so is excited at the opportunity to help out a thru-hiker.  Once again I find myself amazed and uplifted at the kindness of strangers.

Next stop: Cascade Locks, OR.  I expect to be running into more snow going through Three Fingered Jack and Mount Jefferson- yipee!