Tabasco woke me at 6:30 this morning. I told him to get me up at 7am. He woke me again at 6:55. I could tell he was ready to get going with the day, even though it was still dark. We both hurriedly packed and were on trail at 7:25am, the earliest on trail in quite a while. We were motivated to get the miles done and get to Bend. It was cold and clear and we had great views of South Sister as we wound around her west face. Middle Sister was next and as we reached her west face we could view the snow covered glaciated north side of South Sister. I was exhausted even as the day began and I was frustrated by the fast pace Tabasco was setting. Not frustrated with him, just frustrated that we have to push so hard all day again.
Eventually the trail became so beautiful I didn’t care about the pace. I just wanted to slow down and take it all in, the three large volcanoes and cinder cones with open meadows and views north of Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson and just the top of Mt. Hood. We took a quick break at 10am where I filtered water next to a waterfall. Then we continued north, hiking up and down some steep, short climbs and descents on lava fields.
After another very brief break for a quick, non-cooking lunch, we continued on trail through miles of lava fields. Finally at 3pm we reached McKenzie Highway and McKenzie Pass. This two lane, curvy road snakes through the Belknap lava fields which cover hundreds of acres. There was virtually no traffic and we had no cell phone coverage so we hiked a few hundred yards to the D. Wright Observatory, where just a few tourists were walking up the gentle incline to the observatory. Rain clouds were moving in quickly and we both were working the crowd to find a ride to Sisters. Unfortunately the tourists were heading west toward the coast, not east to the town of Sisters.
After 40 unsuccessful minutes trying to get a ride, we saw two retired couples walking up to the parking area from a paved side trail. I asked them about their hike and they asked about ours. Fortunately, they were headed east, had a minivan, and offered to put us in the back. They were actually headed almost all the way to Bend, so we rode almost 40 miles down the highway. They dropped us off 5 miles from Bend, OR. I called Julie (Jumpback) who said she would pick us up in about 15 minutes. I couldn’t pass up the strip mall down the street for a soda. There was a NY style pizza joint on the small strip, so I popped my head in the door and asked if they sold pizza by the slice. They did, there was a huge pizza in the oven, and it would be ready in three minutes. I grabbed a couple Dr. Peppers, they brought out two huge slices of pizza, and I walked back to bring Tabasco his slice and a soda.
We gleefully ate the tasty pizza and just after we were done, Julie showed up. We piled in and she drove us to her new home in the suburbs of Bend. Husband Kevin (Pepperman) was on business in NYC, so Julie was our trail angel for the evening. She and their new pooch, Shaggy, showed us the house, which is beautiful and brand new. We caught up on trail news and gossip for a couple hours, got nice hot showers, then headed to downtown Bend for beer and food at Deschutes Brewing Co.
After dinner we drove to Albertson’s for pints of Ben and Jerry’s to finish out the food frenzy. Back at the Donnelly estate, Julie got our bedrooms ready and I spent some time on the internet catching up on emails before getting into the dry, warm bed that awaited. It sure has been great trail magic tonight from fellow hiker, Jumpback Julie. We have decided to take a zero mile day off tomorrow to rest our weary bodies. Well deserved and I relish the thought. Today’s weather: clear to cloudy skies. Low 30, high 52. Today’s miles: 23.3; cumulative 2133.0.