This season's section hike of the Pacific Crest Trail would start at Willamette Pass, Oregon, where my September 2013 section hike ended. Once again Cheryl, who had been a great help to me in 2013, picked me up at the Eugene train station and drove me to the pass to begin the hike. By noon I was on the trail, eager to complete this section and finally have fully completed the entire length of the PCT as it runs the entire length of one state.

The first 50 miles of trail wound through forest interspersed with many lakes and ponds. Because of this abundance of water, the PCT in Oregon is notorious for its mosquitoes. The first hiker I encountered was a woman who had started at the Columbia River. She was frustrated with the army of mosquitoes she'd been battling for the past week. My first night's camp was away from any water and relatively free of the pest. But the second night's camp was on Charlton Lake and as the evening approached the mosquitoes began appearing from their hiding places. Nothing is worst than trying to pee and keep mosquitoes off your butt! As soon as I had the tent up, and had eaten my dinner, I popped into my tent and watched the buzzing Vampires hanging on to the netting, wanting to get in to suck my blood!

I was up at 4:30 am the next day. Even before it was light the mosquitoes began to reappear. It was non-stop swatting as I hiked down the trail, stopping for breaks only rarely. As the day went on the mosquitoes seemed to become fewer in number and I was able to find a camp that evening in an open area, away from water, and mostly free of the pest. As the days passed the tormentors became fewer and fewer, indicating the end to their season. I thought about the woman I met on the first day, feeling lucky to have had only a few days of misery in the mosquito battle.

Most of the thru-hikers complete the transit of Oregon by August. Everyday 5-10 hikers passed me, all, by now, doing 20-30 miles a day, the Canadian border clearly in their sights. Each year thru-hikers face challenges to overcome such as drought, fire, and trail damage. This year, in addition to a fire at Crater Lake that closed the trail for a period of time, a section north of Mt. McLoughlin was totally inundated with blown down trees. With each hiker I encountered the number of trees kept increasing, 100, 199, over 200. Whatever the number, it took several days to transit that part of the trail. I met a young man heading to the area to head a work party responsible for clearing the trail of trees. A week later I encountered a half-mile section of trail completely covered with downed trees, and as I climbed over and under each one, I felt fortunate it was only for a short distance. I was pleased that I had completed the devastated area in southern Oregon three years earlier.

In August 2015 I encountered many PCT south bound hikers (SoBos) between Carson Pass and Lake Tahoe in California, more than 750 miles to the south. This year at the same time, the SoBos were only transiting Oregon. The years 2014 and 2015 were both drought years, and SoBos were able to leave the north terminus earlier due to the lack of snow. This year, however, SoBos were leaving at the more traditional time in early July.

The fourth night's campsite was atop a ridge overlooking Mt. Bachelor and Mt. Broken Top, the southern edge of the Three Sisters Wilderness, at the beginning of the Oregon Cascade volcanics. The Cascades are a volcanic arc of stratovolcanoes, formed around 1.6 million years ago, and part of a range stretching over 700 miles from British Columbia, Canada, south to Northern California. Within the range is a string of 13 main volcanic centers and thousands of small transitory volcanoes that have produced raised areas of volcanic debris and lava.

The Three Sisters Wilderness Area volcanics begin at Broken Top (9,175 feet) and is dominated by South Sister (10,358 feet), Middle Sister (10,047 feet), and North Sister (10,085 feet). The high, snowcapped Three Sisters contain 14 glaciers offering perhaps the best example of the effects of glaciation in the Pacific Northwest.

It was nice to be out of the forest, hiking under volcanic peaks, and through meadows full of wild flowers. Being a weekend, many of the hikers I encountered were doing the approximate 50 mile circuit around the Sisters. As I've hiked and experienced different sections of the PCT an inventory of potential future hikes is being noted, especially in areas so close to home.

North of the Three Sisters Wilderness Area, at McKenzie Pass, the trail enters a vast area of lava flows where the footing becomes more difficult as it climbs through the lava field. I took my time, being very careful of my footing, not wanting to stumble and fall in the abrasive rocks. When finally out of the lava, the trail improved, and I could pick up my pace. About five miles from that night's destination and my re-supply, a Seventh-Day Adventist summer camp, bam! I was face down on the trail. My nose and lip were bleeding as I got out of my pack, rinsed my face, and rummaged my pack for the "first aid" kit. The bleeding was finally gotten under control and band-aids applied, all without a mirror. Once on the trail I noticed that I had also banged my left knee but it didn't affect my ability to hike.

Santiam Pass divides the Mt. Washington Wilderness from the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness. While the pass was known by native peoples, the first recorded crossing of the pass was in April 1859 by an expedition searching for a cattle trail over the Cascade Range from the Willamette Valley to Central Oregon. The opening of the pass in 1861 with the Santiam Wagon Road facilitated settlement and cattle ranching in the grasslands east of the Cascades.

Forty miles of the PCT pass through the Jefferson Wilderness beginning with Three Fingered Jack (7,841 feet) as the southern boundary, with Mt. Jefferson (10,497 feet), the 2nd highest mountain in Oregon, and Jefferson Park marking the northern extent. Another 60 miles and I arrived at Timberline Lodge on the flank of Mt. Hood. For two weeks I had been hearing of the Lodge's famous buffet breakfast, said not to be missed. I set up camp close to the Lodge with a great view of Mt. Hood under a full moon, with thoughts of breakfast.

The wind began blowing by 10:00 pm and kept increasing through the night. About 1:00 am one of the tent stakes came out, weakening the stability of my hiking poles that are used to hold up the tent. I held the poles in place, and when there was a lull in the wind ran outside to secure the stake. About an hour later I could feel the tent collapse on me and realized that the critical stake had come out. Now I had no choice but hold up the poles and once again run out during a lull to secure that stake. I was not going to get to sleep again so at 4:30 am packed up and went to the lodge, which didn't open until 6:00 am. At this point the buffet breakfast, which didn't start until 9:00 am, was not important. I had left my camera charging in the lodge the night before and as soon as I could get inside and retrieve my camera, I returned to the trail.

My camera is a Canon "point and shoot". I had a problem charging the battery the summer before and thought it was just a fluke when the charge only lasted a day. But after attempting to re-charge the battery on this hike three times, I now know that it can't be done at a facility that uses a generator for power. I've talked it over with people much smarter than I; it's a puzzle to everyone. The battery doesn't take a complete charge and I'm left with less than 10 pictures before it's dead. So once again there are big gaps in my pictorial record. I now know to only re-charge that battery with regulated power.

Timberline was only three days hike to the Columbia River, the end of this season's hike. My plan was to reach the Bridge of the Gods, on the Columbia River by Saturday, August 20th. A festival known as PCT Days was being held that weekend and I was hoping to find a ride into Portland without having to hitch-hike out on the highway. Also, several hikers that I had met over the last two weeks were planning on getting off the trail to attend.

The PCT association hosts two events during the hiking season, "Kick Off" at the end of April at Lake Moreno, 20 miles from the Mexican border, and "PCT Days" in late August on the Oregon side at Bridge of the Gods. Both events feature the latest outdoor recreation gear from exhibiting sponsors, raffles of great products, food and beverages, and fun activities. Camping and showers were available.

I arrived Saturday afternoon and immediately began to run into hikers I had met earlier on the trail, including one woman I had met only three days earlier. On the trail I had talked with her for less than five minutes, yet when we met at "PCT Days" it was like we were long-lost friends. There were several hikers I had met at the summer camp after my accident who were seeing me for the first time looking semi normal. It was fun. My main goal was to try to find a ride to Portland, but by Sunday morning I still hadn't secured one. So I stood at the exit to the park where the event was being held and after about 15 minutes got a ride with a great guy all the way into Portland. Thank you Brian.

After 1100 miles I'm retiring my Keen boots and bringing out their replacement. Once I knew that the origiinal boots were winners I immediately bought the same boot and have had them waiting patiently in their box. They will make their debut fall 2017 on my next section hike.

Except for 18 miles from Ashland to the California/Oregon border I've now finished the trail as it runs through state of Oregon. I have 540 miles from Donner Pass to the CA/OR border to complete, as well as 366 miles from White Pass to the Canadian border in Washington. Three more seasons and I will have completed the PCT. Hard to believe I've stuck to the plan of completing the trail by the time I'm 70 years old!