Central Oregon, getting off my feet while blisters (from shoes with 700+ miles on them, I suspect) heal and just getting a rest. Etna was some 300 miles ago now.
From Etna we climbed up back into the Trinity Alps, then dropped way down into Seiad Valley, an interesting place, hotbed of activist effort to create a new state of Jefferson from surrounding areas not well-represented by state governments. While we were whiling away the heat of the afternoon in the shade, one local was happy to air his grievances and tell us all about it.
From Seiad we climbed way up again, into the Marbles, a small group of rugged peaks just south of the CA/OR border. As the snow had only recently departed, the wildflowers were in full bloom, huge meadows of them. Then, eventually, after much winding here and there, we crossed into Oregon!
I stopped at Callehans, a lodge just off the trail which offers a package of showers, laundry, food, and camping space to hikers. Once fed and presentable, or as good as it gets these days, I set off to hitch to Ashland, as I had supplies waiting at the PO, also had to buy and mail food onward to a couple places in OR that had no stores. Well, after a considerable wait on a very hot afternoon, a retired gentleman pulled over for me. We got to talking, and turned out that he was quite a hiker years ago. To make a long story short, this guy took me to all my stops, waiting while I did my shopping, mailing, even trading in my old worn Darn Tough socks for new ones! He was so awesome, but said he didn’t have anything to do, and many people had helped him out during his travels worldwide.
From Callehans north wildfires started to dog me, and I kept hearing about threatened trail closures. Because of this, I stepped up my pace, covering the 100 miles to Crater Lake in just 3 1/2 days, and still got there just as the Park Service closed the trail behind me. The Lake was shrouded in smoke, all but invisible, and both the Rim and PCT were closed, so I got a burger, collected my supplies, and caught a ride to where I could continue north, some 12 trail miles but much longer by road. From then on I’ve been in thunderstorms every day, and a pall of smoke from fires is always present. After a few days I emerged from the endless pine and hemlock forest and got closeup views of first Thielsen, then South, Middle and North Sisters, Mt Washington to the north. The landscape here is all volcanic; some of the flows look like they happened last week! Two nights ago was another violent storm, and I could see a new column of smoke behind me as I limped over the lava toward MacKensie Pass and the highway. Only took a minute to get a ride down into Sisters, and the motel had 1 room left! Thank you, thank you!!!
The Flight of the Geezer 
Good karma for you. I love it when “pay it forward” comes your way. Keep truckin’!
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Good job Mike! Too bad about the blisters. I have found that “Darn Tough” socks are darn tough on my feet! Ouch! I don’t care how long they last. For distance hiking I will take my Smartwool every time.
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