Day 106 - Wednesday, August 11

Sleeping on the couch at Frank's sister's apartment in Portland (left PCT at mile 1847.8). Walked 8.6 miles today plus 0.4 non-PCT miles.

We woke up and Frank best me out of camp by about 5 minutes. I walked to the junction of the PCT and the Rim Alternate where I met Chaparral. We walked together for a bit before I hiked ahead.

I hiked alone through an open wooded forest with a lot of deadfall and after 9 miles, reached Highway 138 at just after 9:30, in plenty of time before my cousin Dana was to arrive at 11 to pick us up. I sat down and not 10 minutes later, Frank turned up. I didn't know how I passed her, but apparently I did. She sat down and I boiled some water for her to make a backpacker meal.

We hung out as hikers passed by and said goodbye to Chaparral, who is getting off the trail soon to start a new job. About 10:45, I went to the road to wait for Dana and a few minutes later, he pulled up and Frank and I got in the back with Dana and his wife Marta up front. We chatted and caught up as he drove us to Eugene. I think it's been like 15 years since I'd seen him, so it was great to catch up.

When we got there, we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and then he took us to REI for a few things before taking us to the train station. We hung out here and charged our phones while we waited for the train. Finally, we boarded and were off and slowly rolling to Portland. The countryside here in this part of Oregon is surprising flat and we passed through several small towns and larger cities before arriving in Portland.

We disembarked and met Frank's sister, Kaurine, along with Frank's dog Laddie and Kaurine's dog Skye. Photo: Frank and Laddie.

Photo: Skye

We walked the 5 minutes to her apartment and got settled. We ordered pizza, ate, took showers, and chatted before turning in about 11: surprisingly late for us.