Pacific Crest Trail Week Seven: At Least I Didn’t Lose My Pants

The Pacific Crest Trail is a thru hiking adventure, that stretches 2,600 miles between Mexico and Canada. While my partner has been hiking since March 18 when I dropped him off on the border of Mexico, my adventure started the first week of May, with my good girl Chloe Rue at my side. We had to skip north of the Sierra Nevada Mountains this year, and plan to end with them. Instead, we started where our pets can officially join us: Old Station, California. Follow along for stories, dog tails and things I am learning on the way- about my dog, my partner and life in general.

Fresh Snow on the Trail

It was a cold night near the top of Devil’s Peak. We knew it was supposed to drop below freezing here, at 7,000 feet (2133 meters) elevation. However, we did not know the forecast anticipated snow. Our campsite was beautiful, overlooking a ridge where the sunset and sunrise would both be visible. The downside was knowing our campsite did not have water access. We didn’t know how important that would be, until the next day.

We woke before dawn to a soft “shhh shhh” sound on top of the rainfly of our tent. It was a familiar sound for me, that put a spot of dread at the pit of my stomach: snow. The sound of snow is normally a comfort to me. It means snowboarding, warm hearth fires, sledding or skijoiring with Chloe. However in this situation the sound was ominous, knowing the only barrier between it and us was a small layer of tent fabric. We also knew it meant a difficult day ahead. The sound of snow was anything but comfortable.

The snow fell continously throughout the night, and into the morning. We had just 1 bar of cell reception, and no way to check the weather for updates. We thought the snow would be done by noon, so when the sky began to open up and the sun shone through the clouds we got VERY excited and packed up quickly to head onwards. We also knew that while it is most wise to stay inside your tent during snow days on the mountain for multiple reasons we had to move on as we did not have enough water.

We walked out into the snow storm. The dogs were SO excited about the fresh snow! They lept out of the tent and rolled, danced, ate, and spent a good amount of time off leash frolicking in the fresh fluff. The sun was shining and our first few moments were not so bad.

When we turned the corner of the mountain though, the clouds covered us again and the snow fell hard and fast. The wind was blowing so hard that the snow whipped against our faces, in a painful way. Chloe was protected by her trusty rain jacket, but the sound of snow hitting it was audible. It was basically walking into a Christmas nightmare.

Despite this, we pushed on. We knew there were lakes not far ahead, and at this point we recognized the day would be a short one. We were all feeling pretty miserable from the snow, and the dogs were hiding behind us to protect themselves from the wind. I feel like it’s a different kind of cold, when you are moving from a nice warm day, into a freezing cold snow storm. It makes the cold feel like it has an extra sharp bite.

Finally we wound our way down a side trail toward (ironically) snow lakes. This entire ridgeline was terrifying, as it was surrounded by a cloud. We could barely see to the side of the ridge, and over the side was covered in clouds. We trekked until a campsite was in our view and that is where we parked. In a whirlwind of wet snow we set up the tent, put our dry sleep gear inside, and dried off the dogs before shoving them into the warm space.

We use a 2 person Big Agnes Tiger Wall tent. Yes, all 4 mammals fit into it every single night. This tent is MAGICAL in fact that its advertisement of “3 season” should really boast 4 season quality. We stay so warm in that tent. I do have a 0 degree (-17C) sleeping bag, and Seth has a 15 degree (-9C) rated bag as well. However this night when temperatures fell to 22 degrees (-5C) our shoes froze, the lakes froze over, the tent had a layer of snow and ice over top- we magically all stayed warm in our Big Agnes tent.

It was difficult to manage tough snow traverses with the extra layer of complexity a slippery layer of snow provides. We had mountaineering dogs, climber dogs and just good dogs all in the same day. We did make it through, past the snow the next day. It was slow, and tough- but we absolutely made it.

Crater Lake

After the fresh snow-maggeddon on the Pacific Crest Trail; which stretched from Ashland all the way north of Crater Lake to Bend, Oregon (a good 100 mile blanket of snow across the lands) we trekked hard toward Crater Lake. We had a deadline, you see, to make it to Bend for a big gathering of friends on June 30.

We walked into town with our spirits struggling- after the snow, there was a burn zone with layers and layers of fallen trees we had to climb over; followed by MORE snow which was melting and created an impressive amount of mosquitos to complicate our hiking.

BUT guess what? We made it! It’s the best feeling to struggle toward a goal; and I mean struggle HARD. To slip and fall, to wince at mosquito bites, to feel like you’re going to cry because you just want to be there. And then- you get there! It really creates a sense of accomplishment if you allow it.

Mazama Village was a fun hangout for hikers. We met some awesome SOBO friends, shared drinks and food from the store, ate endlessly outside with our good dogs and with bottomless soda available, we sat there nearly all day.

Then the miracle happened. I was reading a sign that detailed the National Park’s rules and updates when I saw it. North Entrance Closed so- Pets. Allowed. On Rim Road. WHAT. It was SO exciting, because normally Rim Road is covered in vehicles, tourists, motorcyclists and on that wonderful day I found out it could be covered with DOGS (on leash with their human parent of course). I double checked with a Ranger the next day and we were clear to road walk across Crater Lake due to the North Entrance closure. Whooo!

The Best Hitchhike Yet

We had to road walk up to the Visitor Center because of our dogs. That was not fun. There are no pet friendly trails from Mazama up to the Rim, and the shuttle bus also does not allow pets. Hitchhiking would be our best option, but since we wanted to make it to the Lodge in time for breakfast we were leaving pretty early. Traffic was FLYING past us, which was not doing any wonders for my road walk anxiety. We waved, the dogs waved, we gave thumbs up, we held up our “Hiker to Trail” signs and yet it was almost 2 hours before someone stopped.

A truck stopped in the middle of the road because there was nowhere to pull off. “Did I see a thumb sticking up from you guys?” He yelled down to us, as we did the classic backpack-weilding waddle-run towards him. “Yes!” We yelled back, nearly arriving to the truck. He said “Alright, humans on the endgate, dogs in the backseat.” My whole heart relaxed with relief. I always get SO nervous that trucks will ask the dogs to sit in the back- but with a couple dirtbikes strapped down there would not have been room. However the truck’s back seat was dekked out with dog beds and a Hammock, where they usually keep their own pets. The girls got the VIP seat, and we got a scenic ride, sitting on the endgate with our packs on for a tour of Crater Lake. We made it to the Lodge in time for breakfast. We had only 5 minutes to spare, yet they welcomed us with open arms! Our Crater Lake experience was turning around for the better.

Rim Road was absolutely iconic from a walking vantage point. Having the dogs with us every step of the way meant the world to us. They met so many people interested in our journey, and then the people cleared away and Crater Lake views were all ours. Lunch was quiet and stunning. While we loved this walk, it only took a day for us to fly past it, and onto the next journey.

Lakes Region and Peat’s Story

I have a secret to share with you. It’s incredibly embarrassing, rather humiliating and yes once more, it has to do with poop- but this time it has to do with dog poop.

The Lakes area of Oregon is stunning. Due to our time constraints, we flew right through it. Charleston Lake and the Cedar Creek Fire areas stand out to me most vividly as the most beautiful, and the most haunting areas we walked through.

As we trekked, we made friends with another man from Czek named Peat (alias used here). We met at Shelter Cove, while we waited for a storm to pass. It was beautiful to see the waters turn from blue to haunting gray and the rain come towards us until it arrived. We stayed safe in a warm tent designated for PCT hikers that had charging units, a resupply box and an AMAZING salad from the store that was loaded with fresh fruits and veggies.

For some context to this story, I have to mention how I usually pack out Chloe’s poop. I started the trail carrying an empty gallon sized jar that used to be peanut butter. I had “bedazzled” it with leave no trace jargon. I used bright pink and green duct tape to emphasize the bedazzlement, and jerry-rigged it with hot glue, a drilled hole in the middle of the lid, shoe laces and seal to ensure it would stay attached to my pack. However during that horrible time on Grizzly Peak, it became very heavy from dog poop. I had tried to strap it in tight, but when it fell off my pack and I didn’t notice right away, I walked back through the horrible snow almost a mile trying to find it to no avail. Now, it lays there, embarrassing me forever and reminding me that even those with the BEST intentions to leave no traces, will occasionally leave a trace. That trace might unfortunately make its way into the mind of a mighty man from Czek as possibly Nutella and be the biggest disappointment on the trail.

Peat arrived and we chatted for some time. His English was spotty but it was great to hear about his snow adventures, knowing we weren’t alone out there in the storm.

After meeting Freyja and Chloe, he asked us how we manage their dog poop, if we pack it out or bury it. I explained how we pack it out as it’s best for the environment, and we don’t mind carrying out the poop.

He goes on to explain how he was hiking in a treacherous area (come to find it’s the area from our first week, by Grizzly Peak). He was running low on food, energy and spirits. So when he saw something laying ahead, he got excited thinking it was trail magic. Peat saw it was a large jar, that looked like Nutella. He said it was like a mirage glowing in the distance. He began to drool, imagining how incredible it would be to have an entire gallon sized jar of Nutella.

He approached excitedly. When he opened the jar, he retched! Peat realized quickly it was a massive jar full of dog poop and not the Nutella he had been dreaming about. He quickly closed the jar and put it back where it was on the trail feeling “extremely disappointed.”

During this story telling, my face began to turn the color red, as deep as a tomato. I couldn’t laugh. I COULD NOT. Because I felt so horrible for poor Peat, and it was ALL my fault.

The kicker is that I could NOT tell Peat it was mine. Never. He must NEVER know because it is SO absolutely humiliating. The lesson I learned here, is that even someone who picks up trash, and does her best to leave no trace, will make a mistake. It teaches the importance of not judging what is left behind; and instead just picking it up. Buuuuut let’s just keep this a secret between us anyway. 😉

Now we press onward into week 8! Make sure to tune in as we enjoy a staggeringly beautiful trek through the Three Sister Mountain range and an amazing rest break in Bend, Oregon. I hope you all enjoy the stories. As always, happy trails and happy tails to you!

Barking Embarkers