The Wonderland Journal

Miles hiked: 21.3

Mile marker: 1608.8

Total ascent: 3400 ft

Total descent: 4000 ft

I wake up to a glowing orange sunrise and pack up my things. 

How’d I sleep?

So kind of you to ask. 

I woke for what felt like every hour. The sky was beautifully lit with an arrangement of stars. 

However, I was all sorts of sloped and couldn’t seem to stay asleep. 

So it’s 5:15 and I’ve got to get up, all tired and what not. At least my hips aren’t popping like they did yesterday when I started walking. 

We wrap around the side of a ridge. Through the trees, the mountains rest in the cool blue of the morning. The tip of one mountain is pink from the sun. 

The path is white and next to a wall of white rocks. 

We walk on for 13 miles. We soon reach the trailhead. It’s hot by now. Rafiki spoke with Voyager on the phone and hoped that a shuttle would be there to get us at the trailhead as it had for her and Bumper. 

But it’s hot, sunny, and two other hikers from Australia are already here. 

Not ten minutes later and a lady pulls over in a pickup truck. She’s got two dogs, one of whom growls at me, and the strong scent of marijuana leaks from her truck. We all pile into the bed with our packs. It’s tight in here. The road winds through mountains. 

It’s a pretty ride, but soon our driver speeds up. I begin to feel nauseas. 

We finally arrive in Etna. The day begins with an iced latte and a Nutella danish with a cream cheese filling that I try off of Rafiki’s plate. 

They’re all out of the Nutella danishes and I don’t think I’ve regretted not buying anything more on trail than this!

We go to a little store for our resupply. It’s wicked hot outside! I feel like I’ve walked into a steam-filled convection oven!

We go to a hardware store for some masks. I get a free water bottle here! Yay! I really need a new liter Smart water bottle since I gave mine to Rafiki when he lost his on this last section. 

We pack our stuff and head to lunch. Burger and pizza! And it’s all good! Surprise!

A new challenge awaits us. 

It’s something that could kick me off trail, too. 

The fires are getting bad. The northern terminus is closed because of them. That’s the ending point of the PCT where everyone gets their iconic photos taken. 

The smoke is so bad in Oregon that people are getting off trail. 

It might be bad for us too. Rafiki says, “I might hop on the Oregon Coast Trail if it gets bad enough.”

“I’d be down to do that,” Bumper says. 

We’re sitting around the wooden table of the fancy brewery with brick walls and its own distillery visible through a long window. 

“Voyager might get off too because of the smoke,” I say. 

This has me a little worried. I don’t want to miss hundred miles of the trail due to fires. 

 That’s the truth I face, though. 

After this, we head to the local pool for a quick rinse in the shower and a dip in the cold pool. It’s so nice! I’m surprised us hikers haven’t melted into a puddle in this heat. 

I’m very sad to leave my remaining sandal on the table. But I ran into a thrift shop earlier today and scored some basic flip flops for 50 cents. Granted, they are very, very used flip flops. 

So here I stand, the sun burning my back as I say goodbye to my Teva sandal that has traveled with me 1600 miles on my backpack. 

This is a very sad day. 

A couple hours ago, I called a shuttle for a ride. So we hide from the brutal sun until Smalls, our driver, shows up. 

Her one year old baby is in the car. He has curly blonde hair and looks like a plastic baby doll with chubby cheeks and deep blue eyes. He stares at me until I become nauseas from the windy ride and he falls asleep. 

We make it to the trail! It’s rocky and I push up 1300 feet through my nausea. The sun sets as we walk. Rafiki rounds a corner and a deer stares at us. She meanders off the trail. 

I pushed hard to keep up with the group, breathing loud as if I’d been sprinting. I hope walking fast gets easier. 

We set up tents in the wind. I make rice roni, which takes up about 10-15 minutes of my fuel! And it never even boils! But I have an avocado to eat with it. I don’t know what I was thinking doing pasta this late. I should have done ramen. 

A deer comes to eat grass as I wait for my water to boil. 

The avocado is delicious! Flavorful! 

The sky is full of stars that glitter the sky. The wind flaps my tent gently as I lay in bed. We’ve got some more big days ahead.