SOM-PCT

Derby & Road Toad reached the Columbia River at 11:00 AM this morning, Saturday, September 6th.

They began on July 25th and walked the entire Oregon portion of the Pacific Crest Trail.

They will be back in Salem tomorrow, and they will post more pictures and videos.

Outstanding Job!

This is Toads idea of a fire…..

Can’t even describe the weather. I have never been colder in August. We have been rained on and frozen for weeks now. We will not stop, but it has slown us down.

Blessings,

Derby and Road Toad

We are at 26. Weather sucks, but we will not stop. Rain never stops, and we just keep hiking.

Derby & Road Toad

We have had some very bad weather and it has slowed us some. We are just north of McKenzie Pass. The weather seems to have changed, and we can start getting down the trail a little faster. We got rained on for 50 hours non-stop. Just a little challenging 35-45 MPH winds. I got some of this on camera (http://www.youtube.com/sompct) so check it out and laugh. We have everything dried out and will be in Jefferson wilderness tomorrow. We are praying the snow has melted. We did hit a glacier in Sisters that we would have had to cross with an ice axe, but we were able to bush wack around it.

Blessings, Derby & Todd

I have gotten a little ahead of us, but we will be at McKenzie Pass in a day or so. Life is good, we are in a lightning storm right now. Might get wet, might not. Love ya’ all.

Blessings. Derby & Toad.

The hikers report that they are on the last third of the hike. They have about 130 miles to go before they reach the end.

You can check out all of Derby and Road Toads videos at:

http://www.youtube.com/sompct

07-31-08 - We had a good day after a day off. We hiked 26 miles across lava beds of Brown MT. in to Fish Lake. It was hot and long. We had hiked 14 miles by noon, and that let us get across the beds before dark. My sister had got a message from a friend we met on the trail, Gale (trail name Pheew). She had fallen ill at highway 140. My sister transported her to fish lake resort and she got a cabin for the night. Toad and I are cowboy camped in between many RV’s at the resort. We were not that impressed with Fish Lake. It was restful and we needed some of that after a 26 mile day.

08-01-08 - Short day. We had only 12 miles to do to get to Four Mile Lake. We did get there in good time but it was a struggle for Toad. The day before took it out of him. My sister and her husband drove to Klamath Falls for food supplies and took (Pheew) with them. She is camping with us at Four Mile Lake. I am guessing that she will continue on early in the morning. We will be heading out in to the Sky Lakes area in the morning, and will try to get to Luther MT. The trail seems to have plenty of water, and we will try to get 15 or 16 miles in. We will eat meat tonight and stoke up for the trail ahead. We will pray to have a good mileage day tomorrow.

08-02-08 - We hiked from Four Mile Lake to Snow Lake. It was 16 miles with a great deal of up and up. A very dry 16 miles, just one spring, and then we got water at snow lake. Sky lake country, and they mean it. The skeeters got bad today, and Toad got bit all over his back. Toad is still suffering from a lot of back pain, and ongoing blister issues. This is a nice little alpine lake, but it will get cold when the sun goes down. We have had food, and are both very beat. We are now in central Oregon, out of the southern part. We have 14 miles to do tomorrow to get into Jack Spring. This will be our last water as we head in to the Oregon desert. We hope to hit it early in the morning.

08-03-08 - Today was a good day on the trail, no new feet issues. We put in 15 miles and had made camp by 3:00 PM. We did have to pack 12 pounds of water each out of a canyon from Jack Springs. (Pheew) is back on the trail. She camped with us last night then blew by us. She had planned to hike over 50 miles in two days. The day started smoky but it has cleared some now that it is evening. We should be at Crater Lake tomorrow. We need food supplies and we will take a day off of the trail just to kick around this big blown up mountain. Well 6:00 PM seems like the right time to go to bed out here. Good Night.

08-04-08 - Arrived at Crater Lake campground. We hiked 15 miles by 2:00 PM. Ran back in to our friend, and found out that I have been misspelling her trail name. It is (Wheeew) not (Pheew). She is sick again and off of the trail. When we arrived at Crater Lake she came running out saying “I pooped my pants.” She came by our campsite and talked for a while. She is writing a book and we may be in it. My sister just got back from Bend, and we have tents set up. We have not yet seen the lake but we will get some good shots.  We will stay a day or two here. We need evening and morning shots of Crater Lake. Life is good and we have met a few other hikers that are going to the Bridge of the Gods as well.

08/05/2008 - “We will be leaving Crater Lake in the morning. We will be heading to Miller Lake just under 50 miles away. We will get supplies there.” - Derby