Rain continued over night and when I got out of the tent at 3am to pee, the fog was so thick I could barely find the tent after venturing about 10 feet away. When morning came, the rain had ended and the cloud deck had lifted just above us. Tabasco and I got an early start, just after 7am. My ankle was very swollen, but fortunately, the sprain/strain was located high on the foot and my shoe fit just below the major swelling. Eight hundred milligrams of ibuprofen, with my tasty, yummy, delicious breakfast bar (ok, so I’m a bit sick of backpacking food) was enough to get me hiking again.
We set a very quick pace (4mph) and surprisingly, the foot responded well, despite its ugly appearance. Seven miles into the morning hike, we took a break at Indian Springs and we basked in the sun breaking through the dissipating cloud cover. A steep two mile descent on a side trail brought us to the Eagle Creek trail, the much preferred alternate trail to the PCT, the balance of the distance to Cascade Locks.
Once on the Eagle Creek trail we were able to really cruise with a steady, gentle, down sloping grade for many miles. We crossed several creeks and passed lots of small waterfalls nestled in deep woods, covered with moss and ferns. Around mid-day we reached Tunnel Falls, a marvelous engineering feat, in which the solid basalt rock was dug out behind the falls, allowing the hiker to hike up to, behind, and out the other side of the falls. Beautiful hiking along the wild scenic river continued and we had to stop several times to shoot photos along the trail.
A few miles later we passed Punchbowl Falls, which I had actually visited a few years ago with Paula when we first visited Eric and Ashley in Portland. Upon reaching a trailhead parking lot I called Debi, who was already en route on the interstate to come pick us up. The last 2 ½ miles to Cascade Locks were on a paved bike path. Seems Tabasco and I have done more than we want with paved road hiking, which is really hard on the joints and bottoms of feet. Eagle Creek had hundreds of huge dead salmon in the water as we passed their spawning grounds.
Just after 3:30 we got to Cascade Locks where Debi was patiently reading and waiting for our arrival. We drove to Portland, a 41 mile drive, then wound our way through the city to Beaverton, avoiding interstate highway rush hour traffic. Ashley and the lovable, crazy pooches greeted us warmly at the door and we were back at the Portland home away from home. After hanging out the wet gear to dry and hot showers, Ashley, Debi, Tabasco and I went out for Thai cuisine. Debi’s great friend, Venessa, joined us for the delectable dinner. Tabasco and I did a great job devouring, not only our meals, but all the leftovers from the other dinners as well.
We returned to Eric and Ashley’s for a fun evening of conversation before the gals had to leave (some people actually work for a living!) to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a logistical planning and prep day to get ready for the last stretch, 380 miles in Oregon. Today’s weather: cloudy to partly sunny. Low 40, high 62. Today’s miles: 26.3; cumulative miles 1870.7.
