Scouts Backpacking 30 miles of the PCT
Scouts Backpacking 30miles of the PCT
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Attendance:
Youth – Pancake, Stinger, V and Explosion
Adults – Kris, Bill, Kandace/Elizabeth
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Distance: miles – 27.7 Thru hike (exc wahtum lake activities)
Elevation Gain: 3688EG/6972EL
Location: Mt Hood National Forest
Drive Time From Gresham: 52minutes
Trail Head:PCT @ Lolopass Road
Water Sources: a variety of creeks and Wahtum Lake
Weather: Highs Tue- 90, Wed- 85, Thu-82, Fri – 77, Sat – 83+; Lows – lower 50’s to lower 60’s
Day 1: We started the day with quite a detour because of road closures, that put us behind schedule. We ended up hitting the trail at 945am.
Though it was a great hike. It was mostly uphill, but not too steep. One of the boys V didn't get much sleep the night before so was really tired and struggled a bit. Even with that we made good time and arrived at camp at 230pm.
The camp spot eased on a ridge and the sky was filled with smoke si no great views. There was no water at camp but we heard there was a spring about 3/4 of mile up, so after seeing up camp we sought out water. We found it and packed it back with little effort.
We had the pleasure of a PCT"er join us. Get name was Magic (Niki) she got her trail name because she leaves treats on the trail for fellow PCT"ers for good karma. All of us really enjoyed her. She is from South Africa and is a school teacher. She's been doing the PCT with her best friend, but she got off the trail back at Timberline with a knee injury and is hoping to join back up with her in cascade locks.
We also had another gentleman join us early evening that was a previous scout leader with Troop 100 out of Boise. He quizzed the boys on the scout oath and law. They, of course, passed with flying colors. He had lots of great stories to share about their troops 50milers. He cowboy camped and left early in the morning.
A trail name was given to B that might just stick. 'Fancy pants' do to his convertible pants. We'll see, not 100% sold.
K did great for a first timer, very proud of her.
Day 2: Had a rough time sleeping, the smoke felt like it was suffocating me all night. Though the morning started off great, with lane time at 9am. The home was great with A steady uphill climb with some gradual drops. Today will be the most miles with 8.8 miles to complete. It looked like there were going to be some great views but the smoke blocked everything. The trail itself is absolutely gorgeous through here. The PCTA does such a good job taking care of the trail.
V did well most of the morning but was ready to quit halfway through. Complained of feet hurting. O was tired but did great. Same with D. Morale isn't what it usually is, I think it's from a lack of older boys.
We frog hopped with Magic all day. She's fast. D carved a stick for her that said PCT on it and gave it to her. She loved it. Numerous times she cheered on the boys today. We have really enjoyed her company. Had lunch with her at Indian Springs.
We had a hard time finding the spring at Indian springs because it's part way down the eagle creek trail which is closed. But we did, good thing because a couple people were out of water.
After Indian springs we had 3 miles to Wahtum Lake. It was mostly downhill. O got stung by a bee again. He now had a trail name of Stinger given by K. I think she's a natural on the trail. Stinger likes his trail name.
Wahtum was a blessing to find. We were all tired, even I got a little cranky about not having outside access on my new pack making access to map and water a bit of a challenge. This caused extra mileage today because I didn't know where camping was.
We got into camp around 3pm. I took a nap, got up had coffee, we made dinner and D begged to go swimming. So most of us went for a swim, even me. It felt magical and I got my clothes washed. Win win.
My favorite workout pants gave me a rash at my inguinal crease. I was not very happy, but I will get by. Looking forward to a day of rest.
Day 3. Couldn't sleep very well last night. I think it was because of the nap and coffee late in the day. I did take some magnesium so I wouldn't be sore, but I only took a small amount because I wasn't that bad.
Today we walked the lake and picked up garbage, and dispersed fire rings. There wasn't very much to clean up. There also wasn't any cairns to remove. We were able to drop the garbage off at the campground up by the road since there wasn't that much. We left signs for our crew that's joining us today.
Overall an easy day. Took another nap. Stinger got sick today not sure what from. He took a nap and woke up better. D and V swam a lot today. We saw a lot of PCT'ers come through but didn't get to talk to them. Overall many of us were bored but we're thankful for the rest day.
K left us, I miss her already, she was great to have on the trail though she got blisters and was uncomfortable in her pack that was too big I think she'll be a great backpacker.
Pancake joined us along with E. They got all settled in right before bob time. I'm excited to get back on the trail again tomorrow. More to explore. 7.5 miles with gradual climbs and drops. We will probably be climbing out of the lake and then dropping down the other side.
I'm excited to be back on the trail with pancake. He's such an inspiration to the boys. They've been talking about how much they've missed him. I've missed him as well as many others on this trip. Pancake is like is my other son and it just feels right having him on the trail. It saddens me that he's almost done with scouting.
B showed us a lot of his new gear and shared his excitement of backpacking today. We've decided to keep fancy pants as his trail name.
The weather has gotten windy tonight and temps are dropping. But the sky is clear, we can actually see across the lake.
Day 4: wow, today was a bit of a doozy. We hiked out of Wahtum lake, worked on navigation and cruised down the trail quickly. We got to our lunch spot by 11am, the boys wanted to push on to our camping spot for lunch. We got there but it was burned out so we decided to push on to Dry Creek Falls. This was a huge elevation drop and a lot of extra miles. Totaling 13miles today and a 3800ft drop. Yikes! The worst part was the rocky trail. That did a lot of us in, it's hard on the feet and hips especially with the downhill on noncompacted rock. We had some amazing views and the burnout from the eagle creek fire has definitely had an impact on the area. The camping area at dry creek falls is completely gone. It wasn't maintained and was rustic but it was perfect for backpackers. We struggled to find a place and ended up camping on the road up to dry creek falls. There was no way we could have completed those last 2 miles and we still needed one more day in the trail.
D earned his trail name. It's explosion, due to the nature of his pack erupting at camp and his motor butt skills.
We met another friendly PCTer named Reeses. She is from Virginia (I think) she loves candy and spent many days surviving only on candy on the trail. Not exactly a great example of a PCTer to the boys but was a pleasure nonetheless. She did explain to the boys that living on candy didn't get her very far.
Though it was a great hike. It was mostly uphill, but not too steep. One of the boys V didn't get much sleep the night before so was really tired and struggled a bit. Even with that we made good time and arrived at camp at 230pm.
The camp spot eased on a ridge and the sky was filled with smoke si no great views. There was no water at camp but we heard there was a spring about 3/4 of mile up, so after seeing up camp we sought out water. We found it and packed it back with little effort.
We had the pleasure of a PCT"er join us. Get name was Magic (Niki) she got her trail name because she leaves treats on the trail for fellow PCT"ers for good karma. All of us really enjoyed her. She is from South Africa and is a school teacher. She's been doing the PCT with her best friend, but she got off the trail back at Timberline with a knee injury and is hoping to join back up with her in cascade locks.
We also had another gentleman join us early evening that was a previous scout leader with Troop 100 out of Boise. He quizzed the boys on the scout oath and law. They, of course, passed with flying colors. He had lots of great stories to share about their troops 50milers. He cowboy camped and left early in the morning.
A trail name was given to B that might just stick. 'Fancy pants' do to his convertible pants. We'll see, not 100% sold.
K did great for a first timer, very proud of her.
Day 2: Had a rough time sleeping, the smoke felt like it was suffocating me all night. Though the morning started off great, with lane time at 9am. The home was great with A steady uphill climb with some gradual drops. Today will be the most miles with 8.8 miles to complete. It looked like there were going to be some great views but the smoke blocked everything. The trail itself is absolutely gorgeous through here. The PCTA does such a good job taking care of the trail.
V did well most of the morning but was ready to quit halfway through. Complained of feet hurting. O was tired but did great. Same with D. Morale isn't what it usually is, I think it's from a lack of older boys.
We frog hopped with Magic all day. She's fast. D carved a stick for her that said PCT on it and gave it to her. She loved it. Numerous times she cheered on the boys today. We have really enjoyed her company. Had lunch with her at Indian Springs.
We had a hard time finding the spring at Indian springs because it's part way down the eagle creek trail which is closed. But we did, good thing because a couple people were out of water.
After Indian springs we had 3 miles to Wahtum Lake. It was mostly downhill. O got stung by a bee again. He now had a trail name of Stinger given by K. I think she's a natural on the trail. Stinger likes his trail name.
Wahtum was a blessing to find. We were all tired, even I got a little cranky about not having outside access on my new pack making access to map and water a bit of a challenge. This caused extra mileage today because I didn't know where camping was.
We got into camp around 3pm. I took a nap, got up had coffee, we made dinner and D begged to go swimming. So most of us went for a swim, even me. It felt magical and I got my clothes washed. Win win.
My favorite workout pants gave me a rash at my inguinal crease. I was not very happy, but I will get by. Looking forward to a day of rest.
Day 3. Couldn't sleep very well last night. I think it was because of the nap and coffee late in the day. I did take some magnesium so I wouldn't be sore, but I only took a small amount because I wasn't that bad.
Today we walked the lake and picked up garbage, and dispersed fire rings. There wasn't very much to clean up. There also wasn't any cairns to remove. We were able to drop the garbage off at the campground up by the road since there wasn't that much. We left signs for our crew that's joining us today.
Overall an easy day. Took another nap. Stinger got sick today not sure what from. He took a nap and woke up better. D and V swam a lot today. We saw a lot of PCT'ers come through but didn't get to talk to them. Overall many of us were bored but we're thankful for the rest day.
K left us, I miss her already, she was great to have on the trail though she got blisters and was uncomfortable in her pack that was too big I think she'll be a great backpacker.
Pancake joined us along with E. They got all settled in right before bob time. I'm excited to get back on the trail again tomorrow. More to explore. 7.5 miles with gradual climbs and drops. We will probably be climbing out of the lake and then dropping down the other side.
I'm excited to be back on the trail with pancake. He's such an inspiration to the boys. They've been talking about how much they've missed him. I've missed him as well as many others on this trip. Pancake is like is my other son and it just feels right having him on the trail. It saddens me that he's almost done with scouting.
B showed us a lot of his new gear and shared his excitement of backpacking today. We've decided to keep fancy pants as his trail name.
The weather has gotten windy tonight and temps are dropping. But the sky is clear, we can actually see across the lake.
Day 4: wow, today was a bit of a doozy. We hiked out of Wahtum lake, worked on navigation and cruised down the trail quickly. We got to our lunch spot by 11am, the boys wanted to push on to our camping spot for lunch. We got there but it was burned out so we decided to push on to Dry Creek Falls. This was a huge elevation drop and a lot of extra miles. Totaling 13miles today and a 3800ft drop. Yikes! The worst part was the rocky trail. That did a lot of us in, it's hard on the feet and hips especially with the downhill on noncompacted rock. We had some amazing views and the burnout from the eagle creek fire has definitely had an impact on the area. The camping area at dry creek falls is completely gone. It wasn't maintained and was rustic but it was perfect for backpackers. We struggled to find a place and ended up camping on the road up to dry creek falls. There was no way we could have completed those last 2 miles and we still needed one more day in the trail.
D earned his trail name. It's explosion, due to the nature of his pack erupting at camp and his motor butt skills.
We met another friendly PCTer named Reeses. She is from Virginia (I think) she loves candy and spent many days surviving only on candy on the trail. Not exactly a great example of a PCTer to the boys but was a pleasure nonetheless. She did explain to the boys that living on candy didn't get her very far.
Day 5: The boys insisted I get them up early so they could get off the trail, so I did. They weren't as excited about this morning as they were the night before. lol. Explosion required some coffee to get moving and was wound for sound after that. We decided to mosy up to Dry Creek Falls and check it out since were so close then packed up and hit the trail. It was more burn out, and for me was the hardest part to see. I've hiked this 2 mile section many times with my kids when they were younger and it doesn't look anything like it used to. We hit the trail by 749am and were off the trail at 844am.
We decided to have breakfast at Bridgeside in the morning instead of cooking breakfast and it was a nice treat to not have to cook or clean. Mitch and Lisa C picked us up, we tried to convince them that we washed our hands before breakfast but you sure couldn't tell. We also ran into Reeses and Magic, what a treat it was to see them. We made a big scene seeing Magic and I think it made her day. She was sooo proud of the boys and their accomplishments.
After breakfast was supposed to be PCT days and Ice Cream but many of the boys opted to go home and take a shower instead. It's funny how ice cream motivated them the whole way but after they got off the trail they didnt care if they got any. Explosion was still ready to go and have some fun I wonder if it was because of the coffee? Lol. Either way we went to PCT days and Explosion participated in the crab walk race (with a pack on), the pinata, and a tug of war (on a bucket) just for fun. We went to ice cream and then headed home.
Though this trip did not go together as planned in the end it was a complete success. There were no injuries outside of a bee sting, the trail was not hard, everyone had a great time, and our experience with the PCTers was fabulous. I wasn't ready to get off the trail and was ready for another 30 more miles.
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