PCT Day 121 – Timothy Lake (2079.6) to Timberline Lodge (2100.1)
August 4, 2026
Total PCT miles: 20.5
Non PCT miles: 0.3
Total: 20.8 miles / 33.5 km
Total elevation gain: 4383 ft
Total elevation loss: 1778 ft
Steps: 50255
Remaining Distance: 554.9 miles
Today was supposed to be a simple town stop. Hike to Timberline Lodge, pick up my resupply box, enjoy a hot meal and an ice-cold cola, then head back out on trail. Instead, it became the first day on this hike that I truly felt the safest decision was to stop walking.
The promise of that hot meal had me hiking by 5:00 a.m. It wasn’t that long ago that I could start hiking without a headlamp, but the days are noticeably getting shorter now. The sun is rising later, setting earlier, and autumn doesn’t feel nearly as far away as it once did.
When I stepped out of my tent at Timothy Lake, I could immediately tell the wind had shifted overnight. The smell of smoke was much stronger than it had been the evening before. Instead of blowing away from the trail, the wind was now carrying smoke from the fires east of me directly toward where I needed to hike. The Grasshopper Fire was burning only about 10 miles from the PCT. To be honest, I was surprised the trail hadn’t already been closed.
The first few miles around Timothy Lake were peaceful. The trail was flat, the forest was quiet, and the orange glow of sunrise slowly filtered through the smoke. Most PCT hikers make the short detour to Little Crater Lake, but the trail is currently closed for repairs, so I continued north.
Thankfully I had cell service for most of the day, which meant I could regularly check wildfire updates and trail closures. I also kept an eye on my escape options. If conditions changed, both Highway 26 and Highway 35 crossed the trail before Timberline Lodge.
Echo, VanGoh, and Bump all passed me fairly early in the morning. I still wasn’t moving particularly well after yesterday’s long day. My legs felt stiff, my ankles were sore, and I knew I wasn’t hiking at the pace I normally could.
Then the day changed.
Somewhere between the two highways, tiny grey flakes started drifting through the trees. At first I wasn’t sure what I was seeing, but then I realized it was ash falling from the sky. It was an eerie sight, like a light snowfall in the middle of August. Only a few minutes later, my phone buzzed with an emergency alert. I had entered a Level 1: BE READY evacuation zone.
It definitely got my attention.
A Level 1 evacuation isn’t an immediate order to leave. It simply means conditions could change quickly and people should be prepared. The PCT was still open, I had a highway I could use to leave the area if necessary, and Timberline Lodge was only another five miles beyond Highway 35. After thinking it through, I decided to continue.
The higher I climbed toward Timberline, the worse the smoke became. The views that should have been opening up never really appeared. Somewhere behind the thick haze was Mount Hood, but I could barely make out its outline. The final mile to the lodge was slow going, climbing steep volcanic sand while breathing some of the worst air I’ve encountered on the trail. The Air Quality Index near Timberline was over 500, well into the “Hazardous” category, especially for someone hiking uphill with a backpack.
Timberline Lodge sits at roughly the 2,100-mile mark on the Pacific Crest Trail and is one of the most iconic landmarks on the entire hike. Built in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration, it’s also famous as the exterior filming location for the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. For decades, it has been a place where thru-hikers celebrate with its legendary all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. Unfortunately, the buffet was discontinued this year.
Reaching 2,100 miles should have been a celebration.
Instead, I arrived to find staff laying out fire hoses and positioning sprinklers around the historic lodge in preparation for the approaching wildfire.
Standing there watching that unfold, I had one overwhelming thought.
What the hell am I doing hiking in this?
There’s a difference between hiking through uncomfortable conditions and hiking through unsafe ones. Heat, sore feet, exhaustion, and even smoke are all part of the experience. Hiking uphill through hazardous air quality while ash falls from the sky, inside an active evacuation zone with a wildfire only a few miles away, felt like crossing that line.
So I made the decision to temporarily leave the trail.
Fortunately, Timberline Lodge has a straightforward escape route. I caught the shuttle down the mountain, transferred to a bus, then onto the train into Portland. It wasn’t how I imagined today ending, but sometimes the smartest decision on a thru-hike is knowing when to stop.
The trail isn’t going anywhere. The wind will eventually shift back to the west. The smoke will clear. The fire situation will improve.
And when it does, I’ll be right back where I belong, walking north.
PCT Day 120 – Olallie Lake (2048.7) to Timothy Lake (2079.6)
August 3, 2026
Total PCT miles: 31.1
Non PCT miles: 0.0
Total: 31.1 miles / 50.1 km
Total elevation gain: 3360 ft
Total elevation loss: 5072 ft
Steps: 68417
Remaining Distance: 578.2 miles
The wind must have shifted overnight because I woke to the faint smell of smoke drifting through camp from the nearby wildfires. It was another cold morning, just 4°C, and getting out of my sleeping bag was a slow and painful process. The one reward for finally crawling out of the tent was looking east to see Mount Jefferson glowing in the first light of the day. The morning sun lit the mountain with that same soft alpenglow I remember from the Sierra, which somehow already feels like a lifetime ago.
Eventually I managed to pack everything up and was hiking by 6:30. It was cool enough that I started the day wearing both my fleece and rain jacket. I should have known better. Less than a mile later I was already stopping to strip them both off. No matter how cold the mornings are, hiking uphill with a full pack warms you up in a hurry.
Today’s goal was ambitious: 35-plus miles. The weather was perfect and the trail profile was about as friendly as I could ask for. Unfortunately, my body had other ideas.
The first couple of miles finished yesterday’s burn scar before the trail entered the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Almost immediately the trail transformed into one of the smoothest stretches I’ve hiked in a long time. It was beautifully maintained, nearly free of rocks and roots, and the miles seemed to disappear beneath my feet.
I crossed paths with “Bump,” whom I’d briefly met back in the Sierra after he sold High Stakes a set of tent stakes as she had left hers in town. I ended up leapfrogging him and his tramily for most of the day. By noon we’d already covered 19 miles, so we stopped together for lunch. Naturally the conversation turned to the recent closure of the northern terminus because of the Ptarmigan Fire. Everyone seems to be weighing different options for how they’ll finish their thru-hike if the closure remains in place. It’s strange to be less than 700 miles from Canada and not actually know what the finish line is going to look like.
After lunch everything changed.
Somewhere after the 20-mile mark I completely bonked. Looking back, I simply didn’t do a good enough job eating and drinking throughout the day. That’s on me. My energy disappeared, my ankles started complaining with every step, and suddenly those smooth miles I’d been cruising through all morning became a grind. I kept pushing toward my mileage goal, but each mile required a little more determination than the last.
Late in the afternoon I entered Mount Hood National Forest and eventually reached Timothy Lake. By then the wildfire smoke had noticeably thickened, turning the afternoon sun into a deep orange disc hanging low in the sky. The forecast says the smoke will be even worse tomorrow, which isn’t exactly encouraging.
When I reached the lake, there was no way I was walking past without taking a swim. I found a quiet little spot along the shoreline, dropped my pack, and dove into the cool water. It washed away the sweat, dirt, and grime that had accumulated over the last few days, and for a few minutes I forgot all about my aching ankles.
One thing that’s taken an unbelievable amount of self-control is the can of cola I’ve been carrying since Olallie Lake. It’s been sitting in my pack all day, and I’ve resisted drinking it because I’ve promised myself it’s for tomorrow. Honestly, avoiding it has almost been harder than hiking.
There weren’t many views to speak of today after leaving Olallie Lake, but after yesterday’s endless burn scar, I didn’t mind being back in Oregon’s famous green tunnel. The smooth tread and quiet forest made for easy walking, at least until my legs decided they’d had enough.
To top it all off, the zipper on the inner mesh of my tent finally gave up after two weeks of acting up. If I get really lucky, I can still sometimes coax it shut, but it’s definitely on borrowed time now. Thankfully there have been almost no mosquitoes the past couple of nights. Hopefully that streak continues until I can figure out a more permanent fix.
PCT Day 119 – PCT Mile 2020.7 to Olallie Lake (2048.7)
August 2, 2026
Total PCT miles: 28.0
Non PCT miles: 0.0
Total: 28.0 miles / 45.1 km
Total elevation gain: 3865 ft
Total elevation loss: 5351 ft
Steps: 64260
Remaining Distance: 606.3 miles
It was a cold wake up this morning with the temperature just above freezing. A stark contrast to how it’s been for at least the last month. Normally it’s been too hot every night even with my tent door open and barely sleeping under my sleeping bag. But last night I had my tent closed up and my quilt firmly secured. Fortunately even without my warm sleeping clothes that I mailed up to Timberline I was plenty warm.
Because the temperature I waited until the sun started hitting my tent until I got ready for the day. I was treated to a beautiful sunrise in the east and to the west cloud inversions in the valley below. I started off at 630 with an ambitious goal of reaching Olallie lake before the store closed at 1930.
The morning hike was beautiful and great trail. I believe there is someone attempting a FKT going SOBO and they passed me this morning. After Milk creek, probably the nicest water source I’ve seen all of Oregon, started a 2000 ft climb with many added decents over 10 miles most of which was in burn, exposed trail with lots of blowdowns. I’ll say there was very little to be enjoyed for most of this until entering Jefferson Park.
Jefferson Park is a 3ish mile section of the trail that the PCT permit does not allow you to camp in. There are several of these sections in Oregon. It goes around Mount Jefferson and provides some beautiful views of the mountains and miraculously is not a giant burn scar like the surrounding areas. It ends with a steepish climb to almost 7000 ft when you get your first view of Mount Hood some 60 miles north.
From here the trail is almost either rocks or burn scar all the way to Olallie Lake. I fell once slipping on rocks and bashed my knees twice trying to climb over logs. There is a “shortcut” via a forest service road that I ended up taking because I was tired of the blowdowns. I don’t think it was any shorter but I was able to hike much faster on it. The road walk was still in the burn area and had a very post apocalyptic feel to it. Because of the road walk I got to the store about 45 mins before it closed and was rewarded with cold cola, chips and cookies.
I had a real hard time falling asleep last night. I tossed and turned in my tent until at least 2300 hours before I finally fell asleep. Fortunately I wasn’t planning an early morning because I wanted to enjoy breakfast pancakes from Magic Mike but when my alarm went off I certainly did not want to get out of bed.
Pancakes and French toast are the perfect way to start a long hiking day. This was amazing trail magic and I’m very greatful to have been fortunate enough to arrive here before they leave this weekend. It was great to meet Magic Mike and his gang and chat with the various hikers last night and this morning.
I said my farewells and was on the trail around 0730 hours.It was less than an hour before I reached the 2,000-mile point on the PCT. There’s no official monument here, but someone has built a large “2000” out of sticks beside the trail that’s impossible to miss. I stopped for the obligatory photos and took a few minutes to appreciate the milestone.
Although I’ve skipped a few sections because of injuries and time, it still feels surreal to have made it this far. I’ve hiked roughly 1,700 miles to reach this point, and that’s a distance that’s hard to wrap my head around. When I started this journey back at the Mexican border, 2,000 miles seemed almost unimaginable. Now, with just over 600 miles remaining, Canada finally feels closer than Mexico.
Continuing along the trail the rest of the day was a mix of burn scared areas and green forest. The temperature was much cooler than it has been with a high of only 14 degrees and cloudy. Unfortunately the wind was also blowing hard which I’m sure is not helping the many forest fires. For much of the day I could see the smoke rising from a fire that are fortunately for me quite far away to the east.
The day brought me around Three Finger Jack, had great views into some of the valleys below and finally finished in a campsite where if there were no clouds would have an amazing view or Mt Jefferson. I leapfrogged a few north bound hikers and had 5 or 6 southbound hikers go the other way.
It’s going down to 2 degrees Celsius tonight which will make this the coldest night since Sonora Pass. Unfortunately I’ve sent most of my warm stuff to Timberline lodge but fortunately my sleep system is so warm I should be pretty comfortable.
PCT Day 117 – Zero Day Bend (1985.3) to PCT Mile 1998.7
July 30 & 31, 2026
Total PCT miles: 13.4
Non PCT miles: 0.0
Total: 13.4 miles / 21.6 km
Total elevation gain: 1936 ft
Total elevation loss: 2566 ft
Steps: 35190
Remaining Distance: 656.3 miles
Zero Day In Bend
I had the continental grab and go breakfast with Caddy Shack, Oscar and his friends and bid them farewell. They are all returning to the trail today but my plan was to enjoy a semi relaxing day in town. Fortunately since I sent resupply boxes throughout Oregon I didn’t need to resupply.
I hit up a few gear shops hoping to replace my lightweight sun hoodie that now has two holes in the back. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything suitable. Hopefully I’ll find something at PCT days. I accidentally stumbled upon the last Blockbuster Video store in existence which is located in Bend. What a time warp. You can rent videos or purchase merchandise but there is also a small display about its history. Apparently there is a documentary about this store. Not hanging a DVD player or a desire to carry anything I found a postcard which I later mailed to Mel back home.
After this I grabbed a bunch of food from the nearby Safeway and relaxed at the hotel and spend some time in the hot tub. I also finally got a chance to update my blog. It’s been challenging in Oregon to keep it up to date and schedule posts as I haven’t stopped for long or when I have the internet has been less than ideal.
I managed to sort out a ride tomorrow back to Mackenzie Pass from Bend with someone who is staying in town for a week helping out hikers. Score!
I went to bed a little later than planned but oh well.
July 31st Back on Trail
I woke up this morning feeling very stiff. Maybe I walked to much yesterday on my “zero” day. My ankles, calf’s and knees did not want to move. But alas it’s time to go the miles will not walk themselves. Trust me I’ve tried the best I can to will it to no effect.
I was picked up my Mike at 930 along with 2 other hikers that were going to Santium pass (the next exit from trail into Bend). Mike is planning on hiking the PCT next year and the only payment he wanted was advice for his trip. I provided all the advice I could think off on the hour drive from Bend to Mackenzie Pass.
At the trail head I took a few moments to visit the Dee Wright Observatory which provides views along the surrounding lava fields and mountains and was on my way. I don’t get far because at the actual road crossing Trail Angel Tod (TAT) was set up with cold drinks and snacks. I stopped in and stuck around for a while because I was trying to avoid the next section for a little while. Turns out he massively helped out the hiker who set the FKT this year on the trail. Their support vehicle broke down so he lent them his truck. What a legend!
The trail from here starts on a lava field and is generally miserable but beautiful in its own way. Every step could be an ankle sprain and there is no shade. I deployed my sun umbrella that I am surprisingly still carrying because I haven’t used it much and did my best to embrace the suck. My legs and ankles were screaming at me for the entire 5 miles of lava and my pace was slower than anything I’ve hiked in a long time. I was shocked to come across a forest service ranger out on the trail. He even checked my permit. It’s the first time I’ve had to show it to a ranger.
Eventually the lava field turned into a mix of lava field and burn scar before changing into just burn scar.
I arrived at Big Lake Youth Camp around 1700 hours. This is a popular stop on the PCT. They hold boxes, have showers and laundry for hikers at no cost. You can even join them for breakfast and dinner. I had sent a box here but didn’t need to shower or do laundry and I’ve been hearing about this amazing trail magic just 0.7 miles from here for days so I was in and out as fast as possible.
I got to Magic Mikes trial magic at around 1800 and it did not disappoint. He and Goddess along with friends and family have been doing trail magic here for the past 11 years. Every year they come down and spend about two weeks here feeding and providing drinks to hungry hikers. I had the best burger I’ve had on trail here. Meat patty topped with pulled pork, fried onions and cheese. Absolutely amazing and great conversation. I even met another Ontario Paramedic here by the name of Curious George. What a small world.
I am camped super close the the trail magic because tomorrow morning there will be pancakes and I am not missing that! But hopefully my legs will be a little more cooperative and less painful.
