24hr Challenge - Days 104 - 114

Day 104

Zero Day

I woke up in my cushy hotel room bed with the sound of thunder and rain outside. I was lucky enough to be in town while this summer storm blew through the area. I got to watch from inside my hotel room rather than walk through it.

I spent the day relaxing, and getting errands done. It was such an enjoyable zero day! Myself and the guys I’m with realize that we are ahead of scheduled and want to make sure we enjoy the towns and the areas we pass through, so that’s what today was all about!

Day 105

Ashland to Mile 1750.6 ~ 15.1 Miles

Coming out of Ashland there was a fire closure. There has been a fire going on in Northern CA/Southern OR that forced the PCTA to close about 15 miles of the trail. Now the fire is about 80% contained but it still wasn’t enough to open that section of trail.

Leaving Ashland myself and the guys started walking towards he I-5 to get a hitch and a lady pulled over. Her name was Pricilla and she happened to be on the Board of Directors for the PCT. She offered us a ride to the trailhead and we got to hear how some of the inner workings of the PCTA works!

Once on trail, it was about noon and I was sluggish and tiered but cranked out over 15 miles. I am in a small bubble of hikers right now and we all ended up camping at the same camp tonight. The other hikers that are hiking near us we met before we got into Ashland and then we saw them when we went out in Ashland. There are 11 of us! I don’t think I have had so many hikers in one camp since early in the desert! It was fun hanging out and telling stories while eating.

Day 106

Mile 1750.6 to mile 1781.5 ~ 30.9 Miles

Today had a lot of exposed hot hiking. There were a lot of section with lava rock that made it difficult. Overall it was a fun enjoyable day.

When I was in Ashland I got the news that Ondrej aka 8-Ball was coming off trail for an extended amount of time. He hurt foot and it’s so bad that he is unable to hike. So I have been hiking without 8-Ball and it has been very strange without him. I hiked with him since the beginning so it’s a bummer we couldn’t finish, but I’m hopeful for him that his foot will heal and he can get back out on trail and finish his goal.

Day 107

Mile 1781.5 to mile 1812.0 ~ 30.5 Miles

What a roughy day... from the moment I stepped out of my tent I was swarmed with mosquitos. The first 15 miles or so were non stop bugs. There’s not much in this word that tests your patients more than mosquitos landing on you constantly while you’re hiking. I have tons of bites on my legs, hands and face. They even got me a few times on my back through my shirt while I was filtering water.

Besides the mosquitos, I also took a wrong turn at a junction without noticing and walked a mile off trail. I noticed it because I got to a lake and I knew there were no lakes near the trail today. So I had to walk my butt back to the trail.

I also heard that there are a couple fires near by and one of them is near Crater Lake. This is the number one thing I was looking forward to in Oregon, so hopefully the smoke isn’t too bad and I can still get some great views of the lake.

Now I’m falling asleep in a burn area. In Oregon there are a lot of burned areas from last years fires. The scary thing about this, is that the dead trees creek and crack. You can hear branches and in one instance a whole tree falling. It’s extremely scary and I just hope all goes well over night...

Day 108

Mile 1812.0 to mile 1839.2 ~ 20.2 (via Crater Lake Rim Trail)

The number one thing I was looking forward to in Oregon, maybe even of the whole trail, was Crater Lake! Today, I made it to Crater Lake!

First I had 9 miles into Mazama Village, which had a small restaurant and a general store. I had one of my resupply boxes sent there and I also had my stove sent back to me. I have been stove-less for the last 1800 miles and because of the food I packed in my resupply boxes I think it will be best to have a stove for the remainder of the trail. After sorting out my resupply and getting a hamburger and salad at the restaurant it was time to hike up to Crater Lake!

Once I got to the lake it was one the most breathtaking views I have ever seen. The lake is so extremely blue and the cliffs around the water are incredible. I spent some time taking some pictures and taking in the beauty of the lake. Then I went to the cafe to camel up on some water and refill my bottles. After I did this I was ready to hike the Crater Lake Rim Trail! The PCT is closed so it forces everyone to hike the rim trail, which I would have done anyways. Once I started hiking there was a TON of smoke that rolled in and overtook the beautiful lake. It was such a bummer that as I hiked around this stunning rim trail that there was so much smoke. Because I hiked the 11 miles or so of the rim trail and it was so smokey I made myself a promise that I will come back and hike this section of trail without the smoke.

Day 109

Mile 1839.2 to mile 1872.1 ~ 32.9 Miles

Well the new normal here in Oregon seems to be 30+ miles. It’s amazing the growth and endurance I have gained. I remember when hiking 18+ miles was a good day the first couple weeks. Now I feel like a hiking machine. I wake up, hike, eat, hike, eat, sleep, wake up and do it all over again. It feels normal, it feels right.

Today I also hit the highest point on the PCT in Oregon. It is a whopping 7650ft. To put that in perspective when I was hiking in the Sierras I didn’t get below 9000ft and got as high and 14,000ft.

Day 110

Mile 1872.1 to Shelter Cove ~ 27.6 Miles

Today I did a lot of thinking and mostly about this journey coming to a close soon. I still have 750 miles to go but I know those miles will come quickly. I have so many mixed emotions about this being over in about a month or so. I want this life and this adventure to continue forever. I am having so much fun pushing myself and exploring the amazing parts of the western states. I am also meeting and having so much fun with amazing people. On the other hand I am so pumped to get to Canada and accomplish my goal. I want to celebrate and look back on what I have done. I also miss my friends and family and am really excited to see everyone. I guess I’ll just soak up these last 750 miles the best I can...

Day 111

Shelter Cove to Mile 1921.5 ~ 15.3 Miles

I spent the morning in Shelter Cove, which is a campground on Odell Lake. It was beautiful! It’s a big lake with lots of fishing boats. There is a general store with tables and rocking chairs outside. Plus there are lots of families spending the weekend camping in their RV’s. I got a nice breakfast burrito and spent the morning relaxing and enjoying the morning sun. I then set off at about noon to do 15 miles.

The reason I only did 15 miles today was because I set myself up in a good spot to take on the 24 hour challenge. This is a challenge I have wanted to do ever since I knew I was doing the PCT. The challenge is to see how many miles you can hike in 24 hours. So at midnight I am going to set off and start hiking. I will hike all the way until midnight the next night. I am so excited to push my body and more importantly my mind to its limits and see what I can accomplish. I really want to get 70 miles which is a very lofty goal but I’m going to see if I can pull it off. I’m lying here at 8pm finishing up my journal so I can try and get 3-4 hours of sleep before I start the mad dash!

Day 112

Mile 1921.5 to mile 1993.6 ~ 72.1 Miles

I completed the 24hr challenge! I can honestly say it was the most difficult yet most rewarding days on trail!

It started right at midnight after getting about an hour of sleep due to horrendous mosquitos. I started out the blocks quickly. For the first 4 hours or so it was pitch black but I was able to crank out some big miles due to the easy terrain. Although I was hiking big miles this was extremely challenging for me mentally. Knowing I had 20+ hours left of hiking and knowing how tired I was I was getting a bit discouraged. Then at around 5am the sun peaked out and I felt soooo much better. By 9am I had already pumped out 30 miles! By this time of the day I was feeling really great. My body wasn’t in too much pain, I was ahead of where I thought I would be and the weather was great. Then around 11am it all turned for the worse. The weather got brutally hot, my feet started to throb and the exhaustion set in. I knew it was going to be a grind and from lunch to dinner it was exactly that. I just tried to keep a steady pace just keep putting one foot in front of the other and it seemed to work. By dinner I had hiked about 57 miles! After dinner I battled the lava field and the darkness settling back in and pushed and pushed until I eclipsed 70 miles! At midnight I had hiked exactly 72.1 miles.

It felt so amazing to know I pushed my body to the limit. I love when my body is telling me to stop and I am able to not listen and push on. It feels so great to have that control. I know I can do anything if I want it bad enough and challenges like this prove that to myself.

Day 113

Mile 1993.6 to mile 2000.9 ~ 7.3 Miles

I woke up this morning and I was in PAIN! My feet were very swollen and every step hurt. I knew I only had about 7 miles until I hit the highway where I could hitch into Bend, OR.

I got a ride from a wonderful couple named Sue and Dana. They drove myself and a couple other hikers the 40 miles into Bend. Once in town I went to REI and got new shoes, shirt and shorts.

I ended up staying at a trail angels house. Their names were Peter and Liana. They were so gracious and allowed 7 hikers to stay in their back yard. We all had a great time and went out to dinner and enjoyed getting to know the trail angels who were hosting us.

Day 114

Zero Day

This zero day was much needed to allow my feet and body time to recover from hiking for 24 hours straight. The day for the most part was in eventful but I enjoyed every bit of that. I went to the grocery store and resupplied and spent time stretching. Then in the afternoon a group of us hikers went out and hit up a few breweries. There are 21 breweries in Bend, OR!