Just after 6am I heard the sound of footsteps above me, obviously Mike getting up to get ready for his work week. At 6:30 I popped upstairs, said good morning, then headed over to the shop for a hot shower and to pack up my gear. After showering and while packing, Mike brought over some freshly brewed coffee for me and Tabasco. Soon Kim called us back to the house for breakfast; scrambled eggs with Tillamook cheese (the best!), thick fried bacon and sourdough toast and milk. We ate, then quickly put our packs in Mike’s truck, thanked Kim for her love and hospitality toward us, then piled in for Mike to take us back to the trail.
About three miles from the house Tabasco remembered that he forgot his poles, so we turned around, then drove up to the trailhead. We thanked Mike, a great guy, then began our hike for the day. The trail was in beautiful forest almost the entire day and we enjoyed the morning sunshine. Unfortunately we had seen the forecast for significant rain coming in during the afternoon hours. The hours and the miles flew by and just before 4pm, we reached the crossing of Wind River Road, where we agreed to road walk to Cascade Locks. My calf muscle continues to bother me on climbs and the right heel just won’t callous over, since we hike constantly. Tabasco was suffering shin splint on the right leg today and his feet are very swollen.
For the first time on the trail, our road walk shortens the distance from point to point, rather than taking the trail, but I’m ok with that, given our health and the amount of time left to finish Oregon. We stopped at a burger shack on the way to Stabler’s Country Store, about a mile from the trail, where Tabasco woofed down a burger, while I enjoyed fresh homemade apple pie. At Stabler’s Country Store I found a fresh garlic bulb, a huge yellow onion, and a stick of butter. Tabasco and I were happy to stay on the store’s porch for the night and the owner (via a phone call from the store’s clerk) was willing to let us stay on the property, but not on the covered porch.
With certain rain coming in soon, we were trying our best to find a dry place for the night. The clerk’s husband, Issac, was hanging around the store and he offered to set up a large blue tarp for us in a parking area used by fishermen, about a mile and a half down Wind River Road from the store. We gratefully accepted the offer and Issac promptly left in his car to retrieve the tarp and to set it up for us. As Tabasco and I walked the highway to our camping spot, the rain began. We scurried with putting on raingear and pack covers, then continued until we saw Issac off the highway, about 40 feet down in a gravel parking lot, setting up the tarp. It was obvious he had an idea, but didn’t quite know how to execute it, so we took over with hiking poles and sticks to set up the four corners and cup up my bear bag line to stake everything out. Issac left and the rain became steady as we sat under the tarp in two camp chairs Issac left for us.
We only had brief daylight left, so we both worked on our evening meal provided by Mike, about 3 or 4 pounds of elk steaks. I cut up the onion and garlic while Tabasco cut up the meat. Then we sautéed, in batches. the meat and veggies in butter. Once done, we feasted on amazingly fresh and tasty elk, which I think tastes far better than deer meat and better than beef, as well. We sat in the dark under the dry tarp while rain continued. After dinner and cleanup, we wasted no time setting out our air mattresses and sleeping bags under the large tarp to cowboy camp.
Unfortunately, the rain was so hard and ongoing, that eventually rivulets of water worked their way under the tarp, heading right for us. We dug some channels to divert the water, but still had lots of water running under our ground cloths and we ended up somewhat wet, despite the 15x20 tarp over us. I did some journaling, then went to sleep with rain pelting the tarp. Today’s weather: clear to rainy. Low 35, high 63. Today’s miles: 17.5; cumulative 1788.9.
