Welcome To the Green Tunnel

Oregon, Section B: Highway 5 (near Ashland, OR) to Highway 140 (near Fish Lake)

Section C: Highway 140 to Highway 138 (near Cascade Crest) (the beginning of the section)

Charles and I are now 1821 miles down the PCT. We got off the trail at Highway 62 in Crater Lake National Park to take a zero day with my parents. We have started Section C of Oregon and have about twenty-seven more miles to complete.

Oregon is known for being “relatively flat” compared to what we’ve hiked through and so far that statement has mostly held up. The Oregon Challenge, taken on by many hikers, is to complete the state in two weeks. They have to average thirty-three miles a day to finish’s this task. Hikers often find Oregon challenging and sometimes a bit boring due to the “green tunnel”, a fairly constant enclosure of trees. This green tunnel is one of the reasons for starting the Oregon Challenge. While we’ll not take part in this challenge, we hope to achieve several of our own thirty mile days.

We’re also starting to run into more south bound traffic as PCT hikers starting in Canada begin to make their way to Mexico. These hikers start about mid-July. Only a few hundred hikers go south bound each year, as the time frame to complete the trail is shorter and the water carries are longer.

Oregon started off well with a productive stay in Ashland. We attempted to replace our trekking pole tips by boiling them (to melt the glue) in our trail angels’ kettle and then prying them off with pliers. Unsuccessful, we ended up taking them to the store.

Our hike started off with a view of Pilot Rock and pine trees amongst rolling, grassy hills. We hiked through Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and passed Hyatt Lake Resort. We enjoyed lunch one day next to Little Hyatt Reservoir Outlet.

Back on national forest land again, we stopped at South Brown Mountain Shelter, where hikers get their water from a water pump.

We also hiked through lava fields as we started to approach Crater Lake National Park. It was so cool to see reddish colored trail winding through fields a black rock.

Despite being know for flatter terrain, Oregon occasionally does go uphill. We had some beautiful views of mountains against a smoky sky one evening after an afternoon climb.

Leading up to Crater Lake hikers walk through a large burned area. While many hikers dislike the burned areas, I will always find an eerie beauty in burned landscapes. And despite all the destruction, we could see pine regeneration at work, a positive effect of a seemingly negative initial impact.

Mom and Dad picked us up from Highway 62 in Crater Lake National Park, from which we drove to La Pine, OR to spend a zero day. We went into Bend to resupply and get my pack fixed (the frame was popping out and some of the straps were badly worn). We also spent a couple hours in Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Now it’s back to Crater Lake to hopefully get some good views of volcanoes within volcanoes. Mom and Dad we’ll be hiking with us for a bit as we continue on our way.