7/28/18 - Day 20 (Zero Day # 3) - Bend, OR

Daily Miles: 0.0

Total Miles This Hike: 299.9

PCT Miles Covered: 2001.0

Today I needed to get some “business” done.  Whenever you take days off in town you never really get a day off, as you are constantly doing all the chores you need to do to get back on trail.  When I got into town last night I had used the rental car to go to the post office and get my bounce box, and had gone and bought my resupply to get me to Timberline Lodge.  This morning I quickly got my resupply in order and my bounce box packed back up because I had to get it mailed out today as the post office closes at Noon, and wouldn’t reopen until Monday after the time that I needed to be on the bus to Sisters.  With that done, I now had to get the rental car back.

Last time I rented the car and drove to Bend it was through Enterprise which was about 1 mile from the hostel.  This time however it was with Budget, and the rental office was about 5 miles away.  Unfortunately there wasn’t anyone who could bring me back from the rental drop off, so once I got there, I started walking back.  There was a Best Buy nearby, so I stopped in there and was able to pick up a small 2nd battery pack to give me a little extra juice to charge my phone.  Right next door there was a Panda Express so I had some lunch as well.  

At this point walking all the way back on my day off was not in my best interest, so I called an uber and sucked up the cost of that.  Back at the hostel, I decided to put off my last chore, which was to get to REI and buy some new trail runners and fuel for my stove.  I had all day tomorrow to do it, and there was a movie theatre near the REI so I would plan that trip tomorrow.  

Bend has a lot of breweries, so I figured if I was going to partake in discovering some of them, today and tonight was the best day to do it, as I would have all day tomorrow to work off the consequences of that decision.  I was lucky enough to run into a few hikers at the Hostel who were in the same mindset as me, so as a group of 6 of us we wandered the downtown streets of Bend that night jumping from bar/brewery to the next.  It was a good group of guys, and I would love to continue hiking north with them, but I also know they are all going back to MacKenzie Pass instead of Santiam on Monday, so I will be ahead of them by about 20 miles to start.  I’m sure it will take them no time at their full Mexico-Canada thruhiker pace to catch me though.  Hoping I can time it right to meet up with them at Timberline Lodge for one last meetup before they take off faster than me to the north.  

The day did go by fast.  One more day of rest and then back on the trail on Monday...

Keep on keeping on,

Patch

7/27/18 - Day 19 (Zero Day # 2) - Medford, OR to Bend, OR

Daily Miles: 0.0

Total Miles This Hike: 299.9

PCT Miles Covered: 2001.0

I was up at about 4:30 in the morning as I had to be back at the Greyhound Station by 6AM to catch my bus back up to Bend.  The first leg of the trip would take me to Eugene, where I would get on a different bus which would take me over the Cascades to Bend.  

I haven’t had a lot of luck with Greyhound in the past which is why I try to stay away from them most of the time, however this was the most economical choice for me as I have spent a lot of money the last few weeks on hotels and rental cars and need to start cracking down on expenses if I plan to make it to Canada and back home without going too far in debt.

As soon as I got to the station though, I realized my Greyhound luck was going to continue once again.  Using their live tracker I soon realized that the bus which was coming up from California was about 3 hours behind schedule.  The fires down by Redding had closed roads and affected traffic causing the delay. This essentially made it so I would miss my connection in Eugene.  There is only 1 bus a day from Eugene to Bend, so I was looking at another unplanned night in another unplanned spot.  I had also already booked 3 nights back at the hostel in Bend and it was past the point of cancellation.

I decided that I would rather get to Bend as fast as possible and instead of spending money on a hotel in Eugene, I would just get another rental car from there and drive it to Bend.  The costs worked out roughly the same as getting a hotel in Eugene and taking the bus the next day, but this way I would already be in Bend, and I wouldn’t jeopardize my hostel reservation.  

The actual ride from Medford to Eugene wasn’t that bad once the bus actually showed up.  Getting into Eugene, I was told that there were 3 of us that missed the connection to Bend and that Greyhound would pay for a taxi all the way there for us.  The idea of sitting in a taxi with 3 (including the driver) other non-hiker strangers for multiple hours didn’t excite me, so I told them I had already made other arrangements and proceeded to call  my own cab to get me to the Eugene Airport where the rental car office was.  

About 4 hours later, I was passing the trailhead at Santiam Pass where I started the hike south this year, and would be hitching back to in 3 days time.  I had hoped there might be a hiker or two to bring into Bend or Sisters, but alas nobody was up there.  As I came down the hill into Sisters however, I saw two guys with their thumbs out heading towards Bend.  I pulled over, picked them up and headed into town.  

One of these hikers was from Bend, so he knew exactly where they wanted to go, and drove me directly to this small taco and beer place where he knew someone who worked there.  I hung out with them for a beer, wished them luck and headed over to the hostel.  3 nights here, and I will take the same bus to Sisters on Monday morning and hitch back from there to the trail.

I definitely feel like I have spent more time travelling by car and bus than I have hiking so far this year, but hopefully on Monday all that ends and I can get back to just plain walking again....

Keep on keeping on,

Patch