Short post out of respect for Carl

I just got word that my very good friend Carl Poston died the other day.  Among many other things he was the best listener and teacher

I have ever met.  I'll keep it short this afternoon. I am two days into an 8-day Trek from Paisley to Plush and all is well.   Here is a picture of my Paisley Airbnb host Jolee (sp?) and her bf Matt.  Great hospitality!

Visitors From Home

My extra layover day here in Paisley turned out to be just great instead of a boring clock watch when Road Warriors Bill and Mary Ann Jordens showed up around 10:30.  After some visiting Bill suggested we head north to Crack in the Ground, a very interesting geological feature outside Christmas Valley.  That was so much fun we went from there to Fort Rock and checked it all out.  Then we had a couple of beers from frosted mugs in Christmas Valley before heading back to Paisley for more beer and dinner.  Also, importantly, Bill gave me a pair of socks to replace some REI SmartWool ones that blew out on me. I started with two pairs. 

 Inside Crack in the Ground

One went out on the 4th day and the other one a couple of days later.  In both cases there were holes in the heels.  Diane sent me a replacement pair, not SmartWool, in the box I'm to pick up at the post office tomorrow morning before heading out again.  She would have sent two pairs but didn't know the second ones had blown out at the time I first asked for a replacement.  Bill and Mary Ann's visit really brightened up my day and I was so glad to see them.

Bataan Death March Without the Japanese Soldiers!

I had sunshine today on the 17 miles into Paisley but the 2 days before that was really tough.  Three days ago a violent thunderstorm started about 4 and didn't let up until the middle of the next day, only to begin again soon as heavy, heavy rain that lasted all night long and well into the next day.  I'm talking about the kind of rain that just beats down on the tent and pools on the ground, turning everything to mud.  In the thunderstorm I thought the tent might be blown away and had to hold it up at times.  The lightning was very close and the Thunder seem to rumble forever. It's like it would Rumble some and then get a second wind and Rumble some more.  Pretty cool, actually.  I spent over two days slogging through the puddles and mud going uphill with a heavy pack and lots of times with no Trail to guide me.  Because I had to set the tent up while it was raining things got a bit moist inside but I was able to sleep when warm both nights. I could have made it through a third but man am I glad I didn't have to.  Until today beginning on the outskirts of town I had not seen the tree for several days. All the junipers are gone replaced by nothing but Sagebrush now. I heard a drumming noise off to my right this morning and look to see two pronghorns Galloping by in the early sunshine. A Magic Moment.I am becalmed in Paisley until Tuesday waiting for the post office to open so I can collect my resupply box. I had always counted on spending one night here but forgot about the Monday holiday tomorrow. I'm ensconced in an Airbnb that I was lucky to find here.  It suits me well and The Price is Right.

 Before the rain

 It's hard to do blog posts in the tent.  Yeah, yeah. Sunscreen I know.

 Puddles and mud totally trashed shoes and rain pants.

 Leaning against a sagebrush on the long slog in to Paisley this morning.

And the road goes on forever.

Past 100 miles

I think I'm at about a hundred and ten. I haven' been able to post lately because of connection issues.  I hope this can get out tonight along with some pictures which seem to take forever to load. I lost a couple of posts I thought I had saved too. Oh well they probably weren't that interesting anyway. I still have the pictures to share.  I found my first water cache yesterday, notnot with difficulty at the Lost Forest.   Something with went wacko with the GPS Waypoint I sit there and it was way off. I ended up finding the water from memory and a picture I took.  I also ended up not needing all the water so used the extra to wash off with. Today I found my second cash stashed in the sagebrush off wagontire road out of Christmas Valley with no problem at all.  When we pulled up to deploy that one I remember Michael allender saying " you've got to be kidding" when he looked around and saw trackless Sagebrush for miles and miles and miles.  It was on a cross and Country section as was much of today's route.  And he was right, there ain't much out there.  Yesterdayrday afternoon I Met up with another hiker.  20 year old Danny Archibald was from North Carolina, and we walked together for a good half of the day. He is navigating mostly by map and Commpass uses his GPS very little.  Relying on him a bit saved

 Old juniper snags everywhere

me a lot of battery this morning in not having to check the GPS as often.  We may meet up again inin Paisley.  The XC isn't getting any easier and I still have lots of it to go including it almost 10 Mile continuous section tomorrow.  It's not so much the scenery for me though that is important of course.  I figured out my my main reason for being here is the challenge. I just want to see if I can do it.

  360 view from two nights ago

A long day

I started walking around 6:30 today, the latest yet.  The difference was because I had a sit-down breakfast instead of on the Run.  I'm not sure how far I went but it has to be further than yesterday, as was my goal.  2 miles of cross-country made it really tough.  It must have taken me almost 90 minutes to make those lousy two miles when usually I would have done themt in 40 minutes.  And that's the way the other cross-country sections have been too.  I was snaking through the sage, junipers, and rocks sighting from one tree or bush to the next with my compass.  The ground was crunchy too, though not the kind you're supposed to keep off of.  Things have so far have been uncrowded as promised.  I saw two dog walkers the first day, no one the second day, two small groups of ATVers yesterday, and no one today.

 Lovely water at Sand Spring

 These are everywhere

 A welcome oasis.  Below, water filtering

Sing Your Camel to Bed

It wasn't midnight but Sand Springs sure was an oasis today.  It has the only water around for miles and miles and I needed it. Though the water didn't look too appetizing I spent probably 2 hours there filtering it, resting, and eating. I had I similar hour-and-a-half delay at Pine Mountain Observatory where I topped off my backup battery and loaded the food and water from the cache there.  My pack is pretty heavy now with five and a half days food plus a gallon and a half of water. I explained earlier that the three extra days of food are because of a mix-up I made leaving boxes.  The Observatory got one with more food than I needed.  Now I'm paying for it.  About five miles was downhill today and all the rest was on the flat.  15.2 miles.  Maybe I'll do more tomorrow since I don't have to stop anywhere.  I can't get the pictures to upload so won't't have any tonight.
 

On Pine Mountain

The lower slopes that is.  I wanted to make it all the way to the observatory at the top today to pick up my food and water cache but I'm about 3 miles short of that. I started walking shortly after 5:30 this morning an stopped at 3:30 after about 17 miles.   I had time left to get all the way to the observatory but not the energy.  The going was pretty tough with a couple of cross-country sections and mile and a half extra done because a map reading mistake, plus a pretty good elevation gain.  I'll do the rest of the 2200 hundred foot elevation in the morning.

 At what turned out not to be the trailhead

 First night to camp.

 I started way the other side of the peak in the upper left-hand corner

 Tonight's camp.

 So tired yesterday

 Tonight's camp

Showing Pine Mountain my destination today

A Hiker Without a Clue

Well, not really.  It sure felt that way for a while this morning looking for the trailhead though.  I finally found I had old directions, but not until after having Michael and Murray do some extra driving and me some extra steps.  Oh well, everything went very well after that.  I was pleased that the navigation skills I practiced so hard worked fine on three cross-country sections though the going through loose soil and sagebrush was very slow and I am super exhausted tonight.  17 uphill miles to Pine Mountain Observatory tomorrow.  Sleep now.  Oh, I did only 11 miles today.  Pictures are taking too long to upload so nothing tonight.

Into the Great Wide Open

Murray and Michael helped me get all the caches placed yesterday.  Two were on cross country sections just out in the middle of nowhere.  Sure hope I can find them!  I marked them with GPS waypoints and took notes and pictures.  I also made the first of what will probably be many mistakes by leaving the wrong food box at my first drop-off.  Now I get to carry three extra days of food I won't need all the way to the next drop-off.  Woohoo lucky me!  I'll be coming from the top of Pine Mountain at the University of Oregon's Observatory so at least it will be all downhill.  We spent last night at Green Mountain campground near Crack in the Ground outside Christmas Valley.  It is incredibly nice with an expansive view of the valley below.  No water and just a vault toilet but I recommend it anyway.  I was pleased to get a call from Bill Jordens yesterday afternoon while we were on the road. He and Mary Ann want to come meet me somewhere along the trail so I suggested Paisley. If all goes well I should be there in 11 days or so. Maybe Mary Ann will bring brownies! They wanted to rendezvous with me on the coast trip last year but it didn't work out.  Can't wait to start making miles today.  Here's a picture of my caching buddies from last night.

May 11th Update

I labelled most of my water cache jugs today and have posted a picture here of one with my message on it which includes "I NEED THIS TO STAY ALIVE".  Kind of brings home what I'm attempting.  I have one jug in the freezer to see if it will burst when frozen.  Don't think it will and don't know if temperatures will get down that low but you can't be too sure.  

Murray and I hope to leave next Thursday, the 17th now.  A sleeping pad on order from REI is supposed to arrive by the 16th or else we might have left that day.  As related in the last post Murray will help me place the water caches required on the first parts of the trail and then drop me off at the trailhead.  It is possible Michael Allender may ride along too.  What great friends!   

I only have little things to take care of now, like putting together a needle and thread to bring, being sure I have a Ziploc bag for my maps, getting a new battery for my small LED squeeze light,  finalizing/shipping food boxes, taking myself off the dog-walking schedule at the shelter where I volunteer, and making sure my bills are paid ahead.  I have corresponded with the guys at Pine Mountain Observatory, Peters Creek OHV Park, and the Hart Mountain Store in Plush about accepting my boxes.  Still need to reconfirm with the lady in Plush who will take the last one to Hart Mountain Refuge for me.  

Status as of May 1st

Objective:  Hike half the Oregon Desert Trail from south of Bend to Frenchglen, 375 miles. 

Good overview if you haven't seen it:  https://www.opb.org/television/programs/ofg/segment/oregon-desert-trail-hike-bike-ski-owyhee-steens/

I'm just back from another conditioning hike with a pack full of mostly water bottles. I go 8-12 miles most every day.  I figure the pack is about 30 lbs.  Actual trail weight will vary depending on how much water and food I have to carry.  Today I was at Eagle Fern Park, which has some good uphill though it's not long.  I'm also using a closed to cars BLM road about seven miles from my house.  It has more opportunities for distance and uphill.  I'm not in as good a shape as I would like to be because of having to baby a foot injury I got months ago.  I've been walking a lot with the trekking poles but only recently added the full pack.  I'm feeling good though and think I should be fine.  I had never used the poles before but really like them.

Done:

All maps and waypoints downloaded for use offline.

Familiarization with GAIA GPS app for smartphone.  It wasn't intuitive for me!  I think I have it down now, though I continue to practice.

Printed hard copies of all maps with distance between water caches/sources noted as well as that of food resupply points.  I also took compass bearings of all the cross country sections and noted them on the map.  It was much easier to do that here on a table with good lighting than in the field with no flat surface and the possibility of wind, rain, etc. messing up the accuracy.  About 79 miles will be off-trail in short sections of mostly less than 10 miles each.

On recommendation of the very helpful Wilderness Navigation 3rd edition from Mountaineers Books I'm using to review my map & compass skills I affixed a narrow, pointed piece of Gorilla Tape to the bottom of my compass.  It points 14.5 degrees east, the magnetic declination of the area I'll be in.  I'll use this declination arrow to "box the needle" (line up the north end) when taking bearings so I don't have to do math in the field.  More expensive compasses have an adjustable arrow built in but mine does not.

Food boxes mostly done.   I'll collect the first from the supervisor at U of O's Pine Mountain Observatory.  That will also be my first water cache.  Other boxes will be mailed to Peters OHV Park just off the trail, post offices in the teeming burgs of Paisley and Plush, and to a nice lady in Plush who will bring my last box from her house to the headquarters of Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge.  From there it's about 63 miles to Frenchglen, my final destination.  The longest period between resupply will be six days.

Stalwart friend Murray Johnson will take me to cache water in five places along the first part of the trail then drop me off at the trailhead the next day.  I'll conceal the caches as best I can and mark their locations with a GPS waypoint.  Faithful daughter Casey will make the long drive to Frenchglen to pick me up when I'm done, which I hope will be after about 25 days.  That assumes I can average 15 miles daily.  The cross country sections will be slow going but maybe I can make up time in-between.  Not that I'll be in a hurry, but when you're alone you can do a lot of walking in a day because there's not much else to do.  

Still to do:

Set a definite departure date depending on a good 10 day weather forecast and snow being gone from the high spots.  I'm shooting for the week of May 14th.

Fine tune food and mail the boxes.  Talk to the people at the observatory, Peters OHV Park, and the Refuge HQ on where/what hours they will be available to pick up.

Continue conditioning hikes, map/compass and GPS practice.

Get more familiar with using this blog.  Cell service is supposed to be pretty good along most of the route but not data.  I'll be writing posts most evenings but not always be able to get them out.  Even if no one reads them they'll still serve as my journal.

If all goes well I may go back next year to do Region 3, from Frenchglen through the Steens to the Owyhee Canyonlands.  Region 4 is the Owyhee Canyonlands.  I've seen that country from the river several times and video of people hiking/wading/swimming it doesn't look too appealing.  I may never do that.