Day 117
7/28/14
25.1 miles to Santium Pass
2007.4 total miles

Bright, beautiful morning….

Looking forward…. Mt Washington,  3 Fingered Jack,  Mt Jefferson…..

Looking back at the Three Sisters….

Mt Washington

Met up with Grasshopper who walking toward me. Dumped most of my pack contents into her car at McKenzie Pass.  She drove around to Santium Pass to walk south to me. We met at Big Lake Youth Camp, a 7th Day Adventist Camp which is very welcoming to all thruhikers. HazNoHorse was there with a huge spread of food for the other Grasshopper and Breakman and any other hikers. The most awesome salad, spaghetti,  fruit, beer, cookies, pie and more. Thank you, HazNoHorse. 

I was exhausted by the time we got to Santium Pass. I needed a shower, clean clothes and chill time. Motel in Sisters was just what I needed.

Sunset in Sisters

For the past week we have been hearing about fire closures in the next section. One goes around Jefferson Park, which is a gorgeous area around Mt Jefferson. The detour was on busy paved roads. The other was about a 35 mile road walk. Add to that the probability of smokey skies and not surprisingly most hikers I knew ahead of me were skipping this 100 miles of trail. I had planned to do the same. Then a few days ago the Mt Jefferson closure was lifted and the other road detour was reduced to about 15 miles. Mentally I am ready to skip. I think what I need is a zero then a drive to Timberline Lodge skipping around the fires. I’m getting off the trail for a family reunion August 3rd to 8th so I’m trying to time my hike around that. I’ve already done a thru hike of the pct so skipping this doesn’t bother me.