Day 50 – Bridge of the Gods

I stayed up until 2:30 finishing my blog after watching the final game of the NBA finals in my room at the Columbia Gorge Inn.

For some reason, I still don’t sleep well and awaken at 6:30. I try to go back to sleep for an hour, but that is no good. I walk down to the Bridgeside Restaurant. I have biscuits and gravy on my mind. I end up ordering eggs and corned beef hash instead with a Pepsi and a side of marion berry pie (for later).

The test

Like a lot of places these days, service is glacial because they are so understaffed. As I sit there simmering in anxiety for all the time I am losing, someone say, “Doolittle?” It’s Debbie Buns of the Dirty Debbies. I walked into Mazama Village with them. Debbie Z soon follows and we catch up on all our trail events.

We have been here for over 45 minutes and my order has not come out. I still have to go food shopping, box it all up, and mail it at the post office. I have to check out of my room by noon and the post office closes between 1 and 2 pm

This is another test. If I pass the test something good will happen. I do not complain about the slow service. An older couple that knows the Debbies from the trail sit down with us and starts chatting. Their names are Robert and Cindy. They are getting off the trail and going home to Washington. I introduce myself. They offer to help me! Out of the blue! I mention that I sure could use a ride to a anywhere after I tag the Canadian border in a few weeks. They would love to give me a ride. They could use a good adventure, they say. I must have passed the test, because this is a really, really good thing.

Resupply

My order comes and I wolf it down. Then I race down to the grocery store and fill a cart with dubious food choices. I am stunned when the cashier announces the total: $316. That’s like $15/day! There is so much food that I can’t carry it all. I have to steal the shopping cart so I can get all the food to my room.

I get it all to my room and organize the food into five areas for packaging. One pile goes in my bag, one goes to Old Station and three go to post offices up the trail in Washington.

It is now 1 o’clock. The hotel manager keeps looking into my room, and the post office has closed. I am disappointed but not terribly. Meeting Robert, Cindy and the Debbies is a net gain for the morning.

The post office is my friend

I still have to get everything back to the post office. So I load up the stolen grocery cart and trundle down the sidewalk like a homeless person to the post office where I unload everything on a bench by the street.

I wheel the cart back to the grocery store, so I am no longer a criminal. (By taking it back, is it unstolen?) I look up the addresses for all my destinations and pay a total of almost $100 in shipping. The highlight of this experience is the postal worker. Not only is she the nicest postal worker I have ever met, she is one of the nicest people, period! I am not the only hiker who says this.

I course, it wouldn’t be the Pacific Crest Trail if I did not run into the Wander Women again. They inspect my food and approve. They are staying another night in town, so I may not see them again until Trout Lake in a few days. But who knows? As far as I am concerned, they are ubiquitous.

Bridge of the Gods

I eat my marionberry pie and head for the bridge across the Columbia River to Washington – The Bridge of the Gods. Why it is called that is beyond me. Maybe it is because traversing it increases your chance to meet God after your violent death by inattentive motorists . You see, there is no sidewalk or bike path on the bridge. You have to walk in the traffic lane with the vehicles.

You can see the river below you as you walk.

The view down the river is cool. And then I pass into Washington. Good bye, Oregon. It was a pleasure.

Washington!

I talk to Patti on the phone as I start up the trail into the hills along the river. My legs are dining on the trail. It feels good to be here. And a new flower greets me. This looks like a kind of pea plant.

Washington wants to be a deciduous forest. Just look at the afternoon sun shining through these leaves.

I hike 7 miles before stopping along the trail for the day. Tomorrow I need to go 24 miles because of a large private section that does not allow camping. I feel up to it.

I have a strong urge to reach Canada. Can you see it in my face?

All I have to do is walk.

• July 21
• Starting mile: 2147
• Ending mile: 2154
• Daily PCT miles: 7
• Total PCT miles: 782