Northbound Again, With Canada in Sight

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Having friends spread out along the Pacific Northwest near the Pacific Crest Trail has been instrumental in the success of my through-hike. Walking from the trail and into a warm hug from friends and family has been the biggest morale boost, better than the coldest ice cream on the hottest day. 

Visiting the town of Bend, Oregon and walking along the rim of Crater Lake have been two experiences I’ve looked forward to since the beginning of the trail. Not only because Bend is one of my favorite towns with a few of my favorite breweries, and not only because of the deep blue of Crater Lake, but because of the great friends I was able to visit along the way. 

I reluctantly left the luxury of a warm bed, hot showers and home-cooked meals provided by Brian and Patrice, two of my former neighbors who became a part of my family over the past 15 years, to return to sleeping outside, wearing crusty socks and eating cold, soaked food.

The next stretch of trail was known as the infamous lava rocks section — 8 miles of walking on the jagged and loose screw of ancient lava flow near the Sisters Wilderness. My pace was slow and my feet ached with every step but it was only a few miles from Sisters, the most desirable section of Oregon and one of the most popular legs of the entire trail. 

The trail took me to nearly 7,000 feet through fields of obsidian, but at the end I was granted breathtaking views of all three of the sisters — views that are never quite captured in a photo. It was one of the only sections where I didn’t want to listen to music or podcasts but instead listened to nothing but the sounds of my footsteps as I made my way through the Sisters and into the forest.

I was about 150 miles from Crater Lake National Park and had one more stop before Crater Lake at Shelter Cove to fill up on real food and grab a few snacks before walking the next 80 or so miles to the rim of Crater Lake. 

The miles were somewhat monotonous as the forest created a green tunnel where everything looked the same, but the desire to reach the National Park kept me going. Before I knew it, I was just 30 miles from Mazama Village and Annie’s Cafe where I would meet up with Keaton, a friend from college and former coworker from our days serving pancakes at IHOP. She is now a server at the cafe. 

The night before I made it to Mazama, I camped at the base of Mount Thielsen and watched the sunset through the smoke of the nearby fires. Although the smoke is horrible to hike though during the day, it does make for spectacular sunsets. 

At 4 a.m. the next day my alarm began to buzz, the sun had not yet risen and it was cold. I usually let the sun wake me up but today was town day. I was excited to take in the views from the rim but just as excited to walk into Annie’s. 

I remember seeing Crater Lake when I was a kid, but we only passed through on our way back home from a family vacation to central California. It was a quick photo op and then we were out of there.



Coming back to the National Park as an adult was an entirely different experience. I was able to appreciate what I was looking at, the sheer drop from rim nearly straight down into the deep blue of the 1,949 foot-deep water below. I could only imagine the blast of 7,700 years ago when Mount Mazama blew its top and forever changed the landscape, similar to the landscape surrounding Mount St. Helens. 

After about 12 miles of hiking along the rim of Crater Lake, I made it to Mazama a few hours earlier than expected and walked into Annie’s Cafe where I was greeted with a hug and a pitcher of Coke from my old friend — there’s no better feeling than seeing familiar faces along a journey full of unfamiliarity. 

As Keaton finished her shift, I began my laundry in order to have clean clothes before grabbing drinks at the Crater Lake Lodge. We sat on the porch enjoying each other’s company as the sun set over the lake and shared stories of our summer adventures. She took the opportunity to work and live at Crater Lake for the summer and had many great stories to share. 

After drinks, we took a road trip to the east side of the lake with the stereo blasting “What’s My Age Again” by Blink 182. We made our way on the winding roads to a viewpoint on the east side with a clear view of the sun falling behind the west side of the lake. 

The afternoon spent at Crater Lake was one of my favorite moments on the trip. It felt good to take an entire afternoon from hiking to spend it with an old friend. I had such a great time the first day that I was tempted to stay another day but decided to push on with building excitement to reach Ashland and return to Stevens Pass. 

I had a hair over 100 miles left of being a southbounder and a flight to catch in four days. Nervous of missing my flight, I ended up hiking 100 miles in three days, making it my fastest 100 mile stretch of the trail. 

I have now hiked 2,464 miles with 188 left until Canada. As I leave Stevens Pass to hike through the early September rain, I am reunited with Kati and Cory, two friends I met in Northern California who I plan to finish this adventure with. 

It’s only been four months since I left from Campo but it feels like I’ve aged 15 years and can’t wait to apply all of the lessons I’ve learned from the trail and apply them to my everyday life upon my return. I left Stevens Pass heading southbound with nearly 800 miles to get back to Ashland — this time I’m leaving Stevens Pass northbound and Canada is in sight.