Day 4, 2022 - Back on her journey and my moving day.

July 20th

In the morning Runningbird drenched all her clothes and body with OFF Deep Woods mosquito repellent (and killer) and tended her wounds. Beau had his walk and we packed up and put Runningbird back on the trail in high spirits and ready to tackle the day. Beau and I returned the 1.5~2 hour drive to La Pine and the trailer to find everything in order. We packed everything away, said goodbye to the one other neighbor friend we made while there, had some lunch, and hooked up to move to Elk Lake near Mt. Bachelor on the Cascade Highway. The drive was beautiful and only about an hour with light traffic. We found our reserved spot at the Elk Lake “Campground”. It’s a nice site amongst the trees with enough exposure to get some solar input to the panel. The camp host was present to watch me maneuver into position and came out to complement me on the one shot back-in. She was quite pleasant and we chatted a bit about other camping options for my day 3 in the area. Unfortunately, do to reservation logistics and the coming weekend, we were only able to reserve for one night and will have to move to the Elk Lake “Resort” next door for one night. And twice the price. Then things are up in the air.

Three minutes up the highway before arriving here I had 4 bars on cellular. Now I have 1 bar. What’s the deal? I like the 4 bars better please. On the way up here I pulled over (with 4 bars) and phoned the Detroit Forest Service for an update on the closed section of the PCT ahead of us. We had expected it to officially open in the next couple of days but things have not changed. Runningbird had received info from other hikers that it had opened and had just hiked on by the trail workers. Well that apparently wasn’t the real story. There is still a Federal Ruling in place and some hikers had been ignoring the FS workers when told the trail was still closed and to turn back. Now the rangers are diligently patrolling and ticketing anyone found in the area (a fine of up to $5,000) and pulling their PCT permit. Good thing we checked. Back to plan A.

In the afternoon Beau and I walked around the campground and to the lake. I could see a couple sail boats anchored so we walked on a very short distance and ended up at Elk Lake Resort. It was a full-on resort with a marina. They had sailboats, paddle boards, canoes, the works. They have a full on restaurant with deck seating and party lights, ice cream, a pizza booth, a beer garden, burgers, and lots of people. Evidently on weekends the place is even more of a zoo. It’s a frequent hangout for Bend residents. They even have a couple of interesting snow limos.

I spoke to Runningbird in the afternoon and again in the evening and she is doing great. She met up with another woman who was a hiker and climber and had climbed in areas Peggy was familiar with. Sounded like they were getting along well. In the early evening after putting in over 20 miles Runningbird settled down at a place between TAYLOR Lake and IRISH Lake. Seems appropriate. I know she wanted to go on further but I’m glad she stopped herself. I hope Taylor and Irish Lakes ends up being a better experience for her.

Just in case anyone was wondering about the Wingman, today was coffee, a banana, and muesli with yogurt, soy milk, and blueberries for breakfast. For lunch there was tuna on a bagel, fish crackers, and a Gatorade (its hot here - 94). Caesar Salad for dinner. Beau? Dog food.

Things get fairly quiet here early. I think everyone goes inside early to get away from the skeeters. Yep, they’re here too.