August 23, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Sisters Inn
Miles: 0

Adrian: Kirsten decided we needed a zero day and I did not protest.

We found out my family is going to meet us at the finish! The date we picked is September 25. I've done some calculations and we'll have to average 20 miles per day till the end to make the date. We've been doing lots of 25-mile days, so I'm confident we'll make it and still have a few zeros to rest and dry up after rainstorms. I'm very excited about them coming to Manning Park. It'll be great to have a cheering squad waiting for us. Now all we have to do is make the date!


We resupplied, ate, and rested. Tomorrow Lloyd picks us up in the morning, around 8 a.m. and we'll continue our hike north to Canada.

Kirsten: Sometimes you need to put your feet up. I'm looking forward to hiking again. I also spent most of yesterday running around Sisters and felt less than rested when awoke. So this morning I was relieved when Adrian agreed to a day off.

After breakfast at a nearby restaurant, we hit the grocery store to resupply for the upcoming 114-mile leg to Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon sorting through our food and more importantly, cleaning my funk-infested backpack. Beautiful and Gorgeous called and we all met up for lunch at Sno Cap, a popular hamburger and milkshake joint on Sisters' main drag.

On my way to met them I ran into Lil' Wrangler, who had a wild karaoke-blessed night with Yeti in Bend. Apparently they bought some tight-fitting duds at a thrift store and got a ride up to Bend. After a detour to Sears to have their family portrait taken with the 20-year-old guy who gave them a ride into town, they hit a hotel bar for karaoke. It doesn't surprise me that they had the entire bar singing along.

Adrian and I are full of marion berry milkshakes now and are watching the Olympics. The trail awaits.

August 22, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Sisters Inn, Sisters, OR.
Miles: 5

Adrian: The tarptent was soaking wet on the inside from condensation. Airflow was good enough, but the nearby lake produced too much moisture for the single-walled tarp. We did the best we could to keep our sleeping bags from brushing the walls.


The hike to the pass was awesome with more lava flows and huge views of the Three Sisters, Broken Top, Washington Peak, Jefferson Peak, Three Fingered Jack, Mt Hood and Mt Adams. Unbroken forests sweeping in all directions with isolated peaks standing like islands in the sky. Clouds left over from the last week of storms provided a mystic backdrop. Basically some of the best landscapes we've seen yet.

We arrived at the trailhead rendezvous and waited for a while before thinking we might be in the wrong place. As we walked up the road, Lloyd drove by and picked us up. Lloyd is a trail angel in Bend helping out hikers in the Sisters area. We'll give us a ride back to the trail tomorrow.

Sisters is a theme town based on the old west that's totally touristy but full service for hikers. We picked up our bounce bucket, went through it, and shipped it back to Tucson. The bounce bucket is no longer needed because we are so close to the end. It seems strange to be nearing the end but there still is 661 miles to go. After dinner we watched the Olympics and went to bed.

Kirsten: We're sitting in Sisters just 10 miles shy of mile 2,000. Did any of us, did any of you think we would make it? I never doubted Adrian's ability. I always pictured him here at this point and beyond.


I wouldn't say I expected to fail. I wasn't completely void of confidence at the beginning or along the way. I wouldn't say I was overflowing with it either.

Somewhere out here I started to believe it was possible. Not just possible, that it would happen. I will be at the end.

I still can't say when or how I turned the mental corner. Maybe it was the number of miles I completed. It's hard not to be confident when you start passing miles 500, 800, 1,000 and then hit the halfway point. I think at least part of my "transformation" began when I stopped counting miles. And it sure doesn't hurt that my hiking partner embraces my good moments and ignores any slips of faith.