I got to admit, upon waking, I did not feel good. My sleep had been poor. I felt that I was awake part of the night and I was always aware of my location. I was uncomfortable and a little bit burned out. Still, I was up at first light and moving before 6 AM. Even moving was painful, though. My feet had been so abused from the day before that they were actually in pain. My last day and every step, especially with my right foot hurt. My Achilles tendon was so tight that it was now painful. I was hoping that it would loosen up, but every step seemed to hurt. It became so bad that I resorted to taking a couple of ibuprofen to make the pain go away after trying to work through it. The scenery was nice as undulating forest was the view for the morning. I passed Salvation Spring where other tents were parked for the night. Nothing any more remarkable than my spot.
My impatience with the Oregon experience was hitting its breaking point. The forest was great, but there was not much to break up the view. Even a small lake along the way was so obscured by the amount of trees that it was not much of a sight to see. I wondered why this forest did not burn and really with how dry it currently was right now, I knew it was only a matter of time. My foot was slowly loosening up, but the pain was not completely leaving. I knew I could not be doing too much additional damage to it, but my body was telling me it needed a rest. Still I plodded on spending most of the morning in thick forest until I came to a more open view.
Here I could see the Eagle Creek drainage start to open up. I was high above it, but knew that this drainage was my passage to the Columbia River and my completion of the PCT through Oregon. I decided to take the Indian Springs trail. This would allow me to access the Eagle Creek drainage. I could go a little further to the northwest and drop down at Wahtum Lake, but this was the fastest route to my way out and I knew that this was going to be another 25 mile day. In all, I would have to finish 166 miles in 6 days. No wonder my feet were hurting. When I left the PCT to travel down the Indian Springs trail, it was sort of bitter sweet. As usual, there were some hipsters talking to each other, but here I was just going downhill.
The trail went downhill fast. I knew that the Eagle Creek drainage had been burned in a fire and this trail seemed to get the brunt of it. There were down logs to climb over everywhere and just a generally steep downhill grade. I seemed to be the only fool that was using this trail until I saw a very tired, sweaty guy come up the trail. He seemed tired, but he was friendly. He talked about the steepness of the trail. Each step was sort of painful, but it was now just about getting down. I did not lose the trail, but it was not one I would ever fondly look back upon. Finally I came upon the junction with the Eagle Creek trail and I was relieved to be done with that one. It suddenly became less steep and burned out. I promptly found a nice spot for lunch and took the pack off with an amazing view.
Now it was time for waterfalls. The trail seemed to be a bit busier at this point, but still, I was far enough away from the trailhead that it was quiet. I got to see Eagle Creek from the opposite perspective. Since it was right near the Interstate, most people hiked up, sometimes to the first waterfall, sometimes a little bit further. I got to see the waterfalls from the top down. I could see why there were so many waterfalls, because this drainage was steep. I was dropping elevation dramatically since taking the Indian Springs trail as I had to get down almost to sea level. I also was getting my first taste of raindrops on the entire PCT. I was welcoming them, though, as the overcast skies were such a nice break from the relentless heat that had been the norm on the trail thus far. It never rained enough for me to get soaking wet, though. I know all the forests of Oregon could use the rain because if there was a theme, it was that this place was dry. Waterfalls were starting to appear around every bend. I am not sure the grand total of waterfalls that I was to see, but it was definitely in the double digits. At first they were little and so were the crowds.
The first truly dramatic one was a waterfall that seemed to twist around a bend in the rock. I never got a great picture of this one, partially because there were people all around, but also because I would have had to lean myself out on the edge of the trail. Trail construction here was quite amazing as there were paths cut out of the sheer walls. Some places you could tell it took some engineering to forge a path through the valley, but this was an important spot to Oregon's history. For over a hundred years, people have been trekking up and down this area to see these waterfalls. Sometime the path became very steep and exposed. It seemed like at least once a year there was a news story of a person dying in Eagle Creek. There was nowhere where I felt unsafe, but there were so many people making the journey up that I knew it was possible. Huge waterfalls began to appear and I was glad I went this way even though the traffic was much different than if I would have stayed on the PCT. If I would have been on the actual trail, all I would have been doing was counting down the miles until the journey was over. At least here, I was seeing some sights that I would remember for a long time.
As I neared the end of this trail, though, I was starting to get impatient. Boy did my foot hurt and there were so many people. It was relentlessly downhill which was not helping. I checked my watch endlessly as I avoided the piles of people. The stream was so pleasant and the people so excited to be there, but I was just thrilled when I finally spotted the parking lot. Here I used a bathroom with running water for the first time in I don't know how long. I then walked a road which took me to a campground. All day I had been hoping for cell service, but I was finally able to communicate with my wife. She was on her way to the trailhead, but she had spent a lot of the day in Portland and would be a little bit late. There was no reason for me to hurry.
Still I was just so happy to get the pack off my back that when I saw the sign for the Columbia River Gorge trail and it telling me that I only had 2.5 miles until I met up with Pacific Crest trail again, I was happy. This looked a little bit funny to have a guy with an overnight pack on what essentially was a bike trail, but I knew I had to finish in Cascade Locks. This is where I told everyone that I was going when starting the trail 19 days previously in Ashland. I had walked 420 miles and even though Jacqueline could pick me up at the Eagle Creek trailhead, I needed to finish this section. The paved bike path took me to a trail through the woods that hugged the Interstate. Here huge trucks and passenger cars went by at speeds of 60-70 miles per hour, while I slowly plodded my way on tired feet.
It was almost anticlimactic when I popped out to a trailhead in the town of Cascade Locks. Here I met up with the PCT again and I took off my pack to use it as a seat. This lonely spot at the edge of town with a few cars parked and no people around was the crowning achievement of my hike. I felt relieved that the journey was over. A half an hour later my wife showed up and she brought the kids along. I was proud of myself with following through with my plans and that my kids could see that something challenging could be accomplished. I was so happy to go home though. The shoes that I was wearing were so trashed by this point and my feet were in so much pain. It would turn out that the following day, my Achilles on both ankles would be so sore that I could barely walk around the house.
420 plus miles and the last day had nearly done me in. I was so happy to see my kids and family. I was very tired, though, and even though I was usually the one to drive, I let my wife do the driving. I was hairy, dirty, grimy, sore, but refreshed. Something like the PCT is only exciting because it is so different. Most of life is waking up in the morning and attacking the to do list. Even more of the time, that to do list is filled with activities that you do not want to do such as a job. This job can not become my life. My life needs a balance. One thing that I discovered on the PCT is that I really did not spend a lot of time soul searching. I realized that I had it pretty good. I had a house by the river, two wonderful kids, an amazing supportive wife, great friends and family, an enjoyable career, and a happy existence. I lived in probably one of the most beautiful places in Oregon and I was happy. A journey such as this allowed me to keep the balance. I was now rather satiated on the adventure part of my life and was ready to settle in for the long haul that would be the school year. Still it would not take me too long to start thinking what it would be like to hike the PCT through the state of Washington?
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