Day 122: ⛺ next to HW 140 - ⛺@ mile 1'804.3

Date: 07.08.2018 Miles hiked today: 30.9 Miles / 49.72km Total Mileage: Mile 1'804.3 Today is Parmesan's 30st Birthday! I secretly bought a homemade chocolate muffin and some glow sticks (they didn't had candles!) yesterday at the Fish Lake Resort. I also wanted to buy some beers - Parmesan loves beers - but he bought himself already a couple of beers. We waited till we all packed up until we surprised him. It's only a small gesture, but on trail you're limited. And soon later we took off. It's a 1'200 feet uphill climb within the first 4 miles but it feels rather flat than a climb, which is nice. It's 11 miles to the first water source from camp, where we meet up again and make sure to fill up our bottles. I initially filtered 2.7 liters of water but then dropped one liter cause of weight reasons. It's 13.3 miles to the next water source but I don't really drink a lot of water, also because it's not that hot. What a miscalculation, as I will notice later! After 17 boring miles hiking (through forests with loads of fallen trees and brunches, nothing nice), it's already 1pm, I stop for lunch. About half an hour later also Duchess and Parmesan arrive. I had to cook ramen noodles as no tuna was left (I was sure I had one more package left!). There is nothing wrong with ramen for lunch, but it needs water and is quite salty so you get thirsty from it. I have only about half a liter left for about 8 miles, that's not much. It has become much warmer at lunch and the upcoming uphill climbs are real climbs, as they were in California and mostly exposed to the sun due to burned areas. Luckily there is a pond 0.2 miles off trail after 3.4 miles. I just make it there with my water and then have to refill. It sucks hiking off trail miles and the pond is for sure not the nicest source of water But it is water! I drink 1 liter straight at the pond and filter 1.5 liters more. Just in case! It's one more uphill climb before the downhill starts and the next water source is luckily in 3.4 miles. I don't known whats going on with me but lately I'm missing energy, I'm tired and not much motivated. To hike 30 miles should actually not be such a thing in Oregon (still mist people hike between 20 and 25 miles a day), but it seems to be for me! At the moment there are a lot of burned areas, some of the trail has only recently been opened again, which makes hiking not that fun. Also we mostly walk in the forest with little views, which is not so diverse. Also, due to the current wildfires there is a lot of smoke and smog, we often can see hardly anything. (Touch wood, we have been very lucky so far. The wildfires ahead of us are so far under control that the PCT could be re-opened again (some sections where closed). And some places we just passed, e.g. Mt. Shasta, before the smog became really bad. Perfect timing) The main reason however i feel is that the sun rises much later (about 6am) and sets much earlier (it's dark at 8.45pm). That shortens the actual hiking time a lot. A couple of weeks or even days ago I used to get up at 5am (when the sun was just rising) and start hiking latest by 6am. Now we try to get up at 5.30am and start hiking between 6:15am and 7am. But there is light in the dark, I heard that the first about 200 miles of Oregon or rather boring, but that the scenery thereafter changes and it's supposed to become nicer and more diverse again. So while taking a short break after filling up my bottles with water also Duchess arrives. She is also rather short on water, but as I've got enough I can give her some of mine. Its hot now and we're walking through a just recently burned down area. I'm not hungry but don't feel well. We start with the second last climb, but I start to sweat immediately and feeling unwell. So on the top i have to break. I'm dizzy. I steel don't feel hungry but I must eat to get some sugar and calories in. My hands are shaking and that's not a good sign. So I eat a snickers and a granola bar, when Parmesan arrives too. I hike the last uphill behind him. It's roughly 6 more miles to camp, but I currently don't know how I shall do it. I feel so weak, and that annoyes me! Step by step I hike downhill and fill up my water again at the last water source for today and tomorrow! There is a 20 mile water less strech until we reach Crater Lake. Shortly later also Duchess arrives and we decide to cook dinner here, so we can fill up the water needed for our dinners again. I only have a capacity 2.7 liters at the moment, because I lost one liter at the lunch spot 2 days ago, silly me! But Parmesan could give me a 0.5 liter bladder. 3.2 liters will be fine, specially if we cook dinner here. While cooking also Parmesan arrives (I passed them on the downzhill again) and joins us. At 7.15pm we start our last 3.3 miles hike to the camp. It will most likely be dark when we arrive but at least We don't have to cook dinner anymore. And with propper food in my belly I feel so much better! It's crazy the difference it makes. These miles are hiked easily and we arrive at camp just when it gets dark at 8:45pm. Pitch the tent, clean your dirty legs and feet and by 9:30pm I'm about to fall asleep! What a hard day, but we did it, more than 30 miles and we also passed the 1'800 mile marker, which again I didn't notice!