Up early this morning, Jumpback Julie made coffee and Tabasco and I packed up our gear. The four of us, Tabasco, me, Julie, and Shaggy piled in the car and drove the 45 miles from Bend, OR through the town of Sisters, OR and up to the desolate trail crossing of the road through McKensie Pass. On this very cold morning (16 degrees in Sisters) there was heavy frost on the lava fields we were about to hike through and a fresh blanket of snow was just a few hundred feet above on Belknap Summit.
Tabasco and I started hiking at 9:30am and figured we would knock out the 17 mile slack pack in just 4 1/2 hours. The hiking itself didn't come easy for the first couple miles as we ascended a thousand feet on the frost covered lava rocks. As we climbed from 5100 feet to 5700 feet we hit the snow line and from 5700 feet to 6100 feet there was plenty of fresh snow on the trail. After we reached the summit of Belknap the north face of the peak had two to three inches of the white stuff on the trail and in several spots the trail itself was difficult to identify. This gave us pause to wonder what the trail would be like for us up ahead the last 100 miles, especially the next 40 miles after Santiam Pass when we would be hiking at elevations above 6,000 feet for several miles.
It was a cold hike but once we got over Belknap Summit and began a slow gentle descent below the 5700 foot line the hiking became easy and we covered miles very quickly. Just after noon we ran into our trail angel Julie with Shaggy who were hiking southbound from Santiam Pass toward us. The four of us hiked together the last 4 miles back to the car which was parked at the Santiam Pass parking area for the PCT. By the time we arrived a little after 1:30pm at the Pass, the sky was looking threatening with an approaching storm moving in quite rapidly. We ate some snacks at the picnic table provided next to the parking area and debated about whether to continue on another 12 miles today or to instead go back to Bend with Julie and come back tomorrow morning so we would at least sleep dry tonight and would have dry gear to start the rainy/snowy day tomorrow.
Our primary concern during the discussion wasn't so much about getting wet as much as it was about the fact that snow levels would be fairly low with the approaching storm and already we had some difficulty finding the trail where snow blanketed the mountainsides. After quite a bit of discussion Tabasco and I decided to acquire some maps for alternate road walks or for other alternate trails at lower elevations. Our amazing trail angel Julie shuttled us to Sisters where we stopped at the forest service ranger station and inquired about maps and trails. Fortunately the Jefferson Wilderness which we are about to enter does have several miles of trail which average 4,500 feet to 5,300 feet. We bought a map of the area then returned to Bend for another evening with good food, great company, and dry warm quarters.
All four of us were tired so we opted for pizza delivery at Julie's home converted to hostel and we enjoyed pizza and beer while watching another movie. After the movie all of us went to our respective rooms to get some much needed sleep with plans to be back tomorrow at the Santiam Pass trailhead early to begin our slog through the wilderness for the last 100 miles. I am so thankful for having met Pepperman and Jumpback on the trail and for their hospitality and kindness to us with all the shuttling back and forth and for putting us up in their place for three nights in a row.
Today's weather: Clear to Cloudy, rain/snow on the way. Low 16 High 42 Today's miles: 17.4 Cumulative miles: 2,150.4
