Miles: 11
Trip Miles: 65/2690
“You ready for that charcuterie board today?” Mousetraps calls out to me. It’s 5:40 a.m. and both of us are already out of our tents. The excitement of the possibility of reaching the town of Mazama today feels palpable. This tiny town has an epic general store, with wines, cheeses, and meats. I’ve only spent 5 minutes going through the store on my way to hiking, but it has been built up to legendary proportions in my mind. Describing it to Mousetrap the night before, I tell him it makes Whole Foods look like Grocery Outlet. We are going on Day 7 of being out here, so everything is relative. I’m sure any fresh and cold food is going to be amazing.
Mousetrap gives me swig of his hot black coffee and then heads out before me. After an hour or so, I catch him and we finish the ascent up Robinson Pass. We climb through meadows and parts of the trail open up to gorgeous views of the mountainous Cascades. It’s great hiking and spirits are high when we stop for a break.
During the break, I’m startled by a large rustling behind me. I immediately think bear of deer. I turn around and see a female who looks to be about 30 years old standing behind me. “Scare you?” she asks, with something of a European accent.
The hiker’s name is Evon and she is doing a little weekend trip. She’s from the neighboring town of Winthrop, only 10 miles from Mazama. She gives us the scoop on Winthrop, best restaurants, local bars, good rivers and what not. After a good chat, we depart and wish her best of luck on her weekend loop.
Mousetrap and I hike hard, taking only one short 10 minute break. By the time it’s 10:30 am, we have already hiked 8 miles. I’ve stopped taking off my shoes at river and stream crossings, foraging ahead wet shoes no problem. I have noticed a strange odor being emitted around me, and think how strange it is that something is rotting out here in this lush vegetation. All of the sudden it dawns on me that the smell is being omitted from my pack. I’m storing 6 and a half days worth of garbage and things are turning ripe fast. Gross. We need to get to town as soon as possible.
The last descent is warm and we pass by day hikers. One guy warns us about the upcoming heat wave that will be rolling in over the next week. “Suppose to be over 100 degrees in Mazama all of next week. It’s unprecedented.”
Well future heat waves be damned, Mousetrap and I make it to the end of the Robinson Creek Trail at 1:30 P.M. We made great time and have officially accomplished the border tag and return. Now, we are 10 miles away from Mazama and are praying for a hitch to get us there. Mousetrap walks past a van in the parking lot trailhead and asks the guy if he is headed into town and if so, can we please have a ride? The guy tells him that he is heading back in a bit and will keep an eye out for us. He picks us up and introduces himself as Tom and the passenger as his partner Danielle. I’m shocked when they tell us that they also are SOBO PCT hikers. They have been on a four month road trip leading up to their hike. They are going to put their van in nearby storage and start walking once the snow melts a bit more. Smart.
Tom and Danielle drop us off at the Mazama general store and I promptly proceed to buy two La Crox’s, a block of cheese, salami, dark chocolate, a ready to eat charcuterie pack, an apple, and an avocado. After purchase, I sit down and eat nearly all of it, sparing only half the block of cheese.
Late afternoon rolls in and out and other hikers begin to join us. Several have just gotten arrived from Seattle and we tell them the conditions of the trail. A million different plans are discussed and finally it’s decided we will head over to the town of Winthrop and stay at hiker friendly hostel called North Cascades Mountain Hostel. The hostel that has a bunk room that will fit up to 8 people for only $25 a head per night. We all cram into Tom and Danielle’s can and head over to the hostel.
The night is a whirlwind of activity and conversation. I won’t go into painstaking detail here but at some point, Mousetrap and I buy steaks and grill them on the hostel’s outside BBQ. Also, I lose in chess to a hiker named Dr. Dab who then proceeds to lose to Victor. I go to bed in my twin bunk thinking about steak and chess.
