PCT Days, Thursday-Saturday, Aug 14th-16th, Cascade Locks OR.
Day 1, Thursday Aug 14th: Trail Angel and friend Otzi (Randy), who I stayed with while I was hiking the San Diego Trans County Trail, reached out to say he could give me a ride to Trail Days this year. He was driving all the way from San Diego, and even offered to pick me up at Shelter Cove. But I figured I could easily hitch to Eugene instead, saving him a 3 hour side trip. So in the morning, 2 other hikers and I posted up at the highway, thumbs pointed west. It took a surprising hour and a half to catch a ride, but I was in no hurry since Otzi wasn’t getting to Eugene until late in the day. We got dropped off at Trader Joes in Eugene, where I enjoyed getting reacquainted with all my favorites from the store (I’m a long-time patron). I also went to a Hawaiian plate lunch place across the street, which had some delicious and filling food. We 3 hikers lingered there for perhaps longer than we should have, when the manager came out to ask some questions. But he wasn’t trying to shoo us away, rather he wanted to take our picture…they don’t get many PCT hikers in Eugene, I guess.
Otzi picked me up around 5 pm and I offered to give him a much-needed break, driving his truck the rest of the way to Cascade Locks. It was rather jarring going from the peaceful trail to navigating treacherous I-5 and getting stuck in Portland rush-hour traffic. But we survived this ordeal and it was nice catching up with Otzi. We got to CL just in time to set up tents in the fading light. Instead of camping on Tent Island, as I did in 2023, we shared a space in the campground with Otzi’s fellow Trail Angel friend, Ghost (Ed). This was much more to my liking, as I wanted to avoid the crowds and noise of Tent City. I also dislike getting tripped-over and peed-on in my camo tent. Unfortunately the campground is directly next to the train tracks, so I enjoyed that noise all weekend, instead.
I had just enough energy to check out the pre-game party at Thunder Island Brewing, where I ran into the first of many friends and acquaintances over the weekend. Obviously there were mostly 2025 PCT hikers and Trail Angels there, such as Fab, Akuna, Undecided, Handstand, Shenanigan, Legend & Bee (trail angels who did the spaghetti dinner and pancake breakfast at Scissors Crossing and many other locations). There were also many repeat offenders, like my 2019 CDT alum and 2023 ride to PCT days/trail angel Mr. President (VP of ALDHA West). I couldn’t miss Fire, a guy I first met hiking the PNT, then gave a ride to from Miami to the FT terminus earlier this year. He’s one of those guys that’s always hiking and shows up everywhere (kind of like how some describe me, just less colorful).
I stayed until the event closed at 10 pm, but only had one beer the whole time. I had no interest in partying this weekend. I was here to just see all the people, check out the vendors, replace a few gear items, and maybe even score some free stuff.
Day 2, Friday Aug 15th: It rained overnight and the forecast called for a lot more throughout the next 2 days. The umbrellas would be selling well this weekend, but thankfully I already had mine. There was a hiker breakfast in the morning, which was great for bumping into more friends. I met fellow SOBOs Bad Sherpa and Pickles (who oddly was already in my DMs from years prior, when she reached out to me with a question about the GET?). Australian Hannah (Chinook to White Pass) was also there, who informed me that she’d taken the trail name I gave her: Bullseye! She had a rip in the butt of her pants that was just so perfectly aligned…use your imagination. I just couldn’t resist suggesting the name after hiking behind her a ways. Yay, another trail name to my credit! Many familiar NOBO’s were also present, including Purple, Geodude and Superglue…our second time meeting in Cascade Locks! We shared a spot on the grass while we ate, then went back for seconds, maybe even thirds. My friend Shep @adventurepreacher was one of the guys doling out food. Shep and I, along with other volunteers, had previous ripped apart about 30 broiled chickens for the hiker feed we did back in January, as part of the annual FT kick off. He also runs a hiker hostel in TN, south of Damascas, off the AT. I stayed there in 2024 when I went to AT Trail Days. Shep is all about serving hikers and it was great to see him again.
The rest of my day was spent at the vendor field, playing with gear, catching up with a few of my vendor friends, and entering lots of raffles…sadly I didn’t win anything big. Some of the vendors I’ve been seeing since my first trail days event on the CDT in 2019, others I know from social media and email interactions. To name a few, there was of course Mandy with Purple Rain Adventure Skirts (my all time favorite), Allgood, Gushsa (Nashville Packs), Field Trip (Zpacks), Jolly, Glen Van Peski (GG), along with so many others. There are a lot of familiar faces at this point, but not many know for certain who I am since I don’t do much social media and don’t chase the gear sponsorships. But I can often catch a glimpse of recognition, since some of these people have seen me at dozens of events now. I also saw a number of long-time, well-known veteran hikers from the PNW such as Snorkel, Dropnroll, and Greg In Wild.
It rained on and off all day, but wasn’t terrible. The same thing happened all weekend at AT days and we didn’t let it stop the show, in fact, it kind of added a signature mark to the weekend. Unfortunately the rain became heavy enough in the late afternoon that all the evening events were cancelled. I went to the brewery, where I saw Crib, Superglue, D&D and their giant gang of friends all trying to get a table. The place was obviously slammed and I didn’t feel like waiting for 2 hours, so I went back to the Mexican Food Truck to grab a burrito. After this, I was finally able to link up with my long-time pal Skybird. My 2018 SOBO PCT alum and 2023 Oregon Coast Trail Angel was herself hiking the PCT a second time this year. She was going NOBO and started well after I did in the spring. While we wouldn’t be passing each other on trail this year (since I was skipping NoCal), it was so great to see her again at Trail Days! Sadly I neglected to get a picture of us, damn! I turned in early, anticipating a long and possibly wet night in my tent.
Day 3, Saturday Aug 16th: I woke up feeling less enthusiastic about the event in the morning, contemplating an early departure if I could get a ride to Bend or Eugene. Perhaps it was the moody weather, perhaps I reached my socializing limit, but I was kind of over the whole thing. It somehow felt less about the community this year, and more about the commodification of hiking. It’s become a big business, with Social Media influencers galore, somewhat overshadowing the regular hikers on the trail. It’s hard to explain, but it makes me feel a bit icky after awhile. I hike for my likes, which are simply a love of the forests, deserts, craggy mountains, cold streams, and wild critters. Here I felt the focus was mostly on hikes for likes, as in boosting Insta followings, You-tube channels and TikToks. All the gear pitching amplifies this. I know, I’m sounding like sour grapes and acknowledge that I need and use the gear as much as anyone else. It’s hard to find a balance.
The clouds began to dissipate and the sun came out, which helped break me out of my funk. I went back to the vendor field and hung out with more hikers. There were some new people here today, with the weather being much nicer and it officially being the weekend. I ran into 2 hikers I met on the Hayduke, Why Not and Fancy Feast, so that was cool. I also saw Kai and Thomas, the 2 German hikers I shared a ride with from San Diego to Campo. This was their last day on trail, as they had to fly back home, so it’s neat that I was there with them both at the beginning and end of their hike.
My main goal was to find a ride back to trail. Otzi was continuing north to Mazama WA to help with rides for all the NOBO finishers, thus wasn’t an option. So I made a sign to wear on my backpack, advertising my need: Ride to Bend, Eugene or Shelter Cove Please! I almost struck gold with Mr President again, as he was going to Crater Lake and figured Shelter Cove wouldn’t be too much out of his way. But then some other hikers he’d first offered a ride to got back to him, confirming their space, so he didn’t have anymore room. Although, he was the perfect person to give my resupply box to, so once again he did me a huge favor. He also bought me some raffle tickets, which was really nice. He’s such a great guy.
I had my umbrella up this day, not for the rain but rather for the bright sun. A guy noticed my “Hiker to town/trail” writing on it and commented that he and his wife were traveling back to Bend at the end of the day and could give me a ride. This was perfect! I thought he must have also seen my sign, but when I turned around to point at it, he laughed and exclaimed, “what a coincidence!” It’s funny that my umbrella did the trick here…it’s so invaluable! I took a picture of Robert’s contact card, as I still hadn’t quite made up my mind. But by the late afternoon, after bumping into Robert a second time, I was ready to split. Then began the long process of saying goodby to as many people as I could.
I became acquainted with Robert’s wife Jill, and we really hit it off, as we are both huge fans of Purple Rain skirts and dresses. Jill even had a cute hand-made Ranger doll (as she was a ranger herself) that was wearing a skirt. We left around 6 pm for Bend, which then got me thinking about finding a place to stay that night. There were 2 other hikers getting a ride with Robert and Jill, and when we brought up the topic, Jill matter-of-factly said, “why you can all just stay with us, if you like.” I smiled at the ease in which all these travel logistics worked out. Perhaps the best part of Trail Days for me was meeting Bright and Story (Jill and Robert), as I learned what prolific hikers they are themselves and how connected they are to the thru-hiker community. They personally knew all the OG hikers I’d ever read about or met on trail (Snorkel, Arrow, She Ra, Blisterfree (Brett Tucker), Tree, just to name a few). In fact, Brett used to reside in their spare cabin. I felt so lucky to meet them, as I have high hope of doing many more hikes around the Bend area in the future.
The drive to their house was very pleasant, with nice views of Mt Hood. Their home was so lovely and they went out of their way to accommodate us, offering showers, food, and beds, couches, etc. I opted just to inflate my sleeping pad and sleep on the carpeted floor…after 37 days going without a bed and or roof over my head, this was still a luxury to me! I stayed up way too late chatting with Story…he lives up to his name…and finally crawled onto my pad around midnight. I was so happy to be getting back on trail the next day but also grateful to all the people who stepped up to make Trail Days possible. Special thanks to Otzi and Ghost for the ride and campsite, plus also helping me out with mailing a box home (my new shoes and all the souvenirs I collected at Trail Days). And of course thanks also to Robert and Jill for their generosity and hospitality. It’s great to now be a part of their ever-expanding hiker circle.