Daily mileage: 6.5
Mile 1983.5-1989.5
I woke up not feeling well. Just tired and off, plus day 3...
Let's face it, I'm not feeling or looking good. My original plan of going into Sisters via Santiam Pass would require me to do 26 or so miles today. Something that simply sounded awful. Or I could head into town via McKenzie Pass, which would only be 6ish miles. Plus I could get someone to look at my eye which sounded pretty smart. Decision made.
Down I went, enjoying the view and appreciating that I would soon be in town.
My morning water at South Matthieu Lake. And then with less than 2 miles to go I hit the lava, oh lava you sure do make my morning tougher. When you have sore Achilles every time your foot rolls and that shoe hits your tendons, oh ouch does that smart.
And then the road appeared, and a note with my name on it. Joyous things. The thruhiking gossip chain is great. Someone had found out I was behind and left me a note to catch up with them when I got to Sisters. So I headed up the road towards the Dee Wright Observatory in hopes of talking up a ride. A cool spot if you make it up there.
Not to crowded at first but slowly got to talk with a ton of people. I love talking PCT so it was pretty fun. No luck on the ride though so after over an hour I cheated and called Trail Angel Lloyd. What an amazing guy, I would have to wait a few hours but had a ride all set up. With that off my mind I just got to enjoy talking to tourists. Some of them even fed me, win :)
Lloyd picked me up, updating me about what the trail is like up ahead. As we drove through town I saw Bo and then managed to catch up with Samwise and Sweet As. Town is so much more fun with other people.
Then it really became a town day. Laundry, post office and urgent care. Woohoo I officially have antibiotics. After wandering around Sisters and catching up with folks I convinced Sweet As and Samwise to stay the night. Found a place to stay (the Sisters Inn, super nice to hikers), and made plans for dinner.
A word about hikers in small confined spaces. There is a special smell that hikers all in a room seem to create. It's this horrible stench that's part wet dog, part fart and just plain foulness. So to all who give thruhikers rides I thank you in advance, and please there is no need to be polite; roll down your windows! And if given the choice, avoid our hotel rooms.
Headed into town, pretty darn spread out by the way. Found Buster, my note writing buddy, and got our fourth for the evening. Brew Pub burgers and spicy pizza, huckleberry shakes and back to our room for too many hours of tv. I love town days.
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