August 1

2109-2137

I realized before bed that I had left my hat at the river crossing last night. I can’t lose this hat. It has 5,000 miles on it, a long 4 different trails. It deserves to be memorialized when this is all done. I backtrack a mile and find my hat where I left it before returning to camp.

Today is a big day of climbing, almost 5,000 vertical feet. After a relatively easy stretch of trail through Oregon, our legs get tired from the steep slopes.

This is a superior waterfall day. We pass by some of the best waterfalls Oregon has to offer, starting with Ramona Falls.

The northwest is in another heatwave. It is supposed to reach 100 degrees today, and we feel the strain of the temperatures as we walk. I drink copious amounts of water.

We pass by and active fire that has closed a small stretch of trail, but we are easily able to detour around it in the very scenic Eagle Creek trail which parallels the PCT. This area has suffered a terrible fire in 2017, and we walk through the scars of it as we descend to the Columbia Gorge.

The Eagle Creek fire sparked off in early September 2017, burned 50,000 acres, and wasn’t able to get controlled for 3 months. It smoldered until May of 2018. It was started by a group of teenagers throwing fireworks into the gorge of Eagle Creek. A 15 year old from Vancouver was found guilty in court.

“On May 21, 2018, a judge ordered the 15-year old to pay more than $36 million in restitution, which includes more than $21 million on behalf of the U.S. Forest Service, $12.5 million to the Oregon Department of Transportation, more than $1.6 million to the Oregon State Fire Marshal, more than $1 million to Union Pacific Railroad and varying amounts to Oregon State Parks, Allstate Insurance and a woman who lost her home in the fire.”

The eagle Creek trail is blasted out of the side of the canyon, following the length of the creek as it descends to the Columbia river.

It passes by numerous gorgeous waterfalls.

The pièce de résistance of the trail is the aptly named Tunnel Falls-

The trail is blasted through the side of the canyon behind the waterfall. It is a magical, otherworldly, place.

We find camp next to the creek, and cool off in the water. My legs are again covered in heat rash. At night I take off all my clothes and sweat throughout the night, even out of my sleeping bag. We almost at sea level, and it is hot as hell.