Mission is “sitting” on the fence today, uncertain whether to say goodbye to California, the land of his birth and embrace the rainy green of Oregon or just stay in the Golden State. He is trekking a long detour around the Hendrix Fire PCT closures, adding some bonus miles. He crossed into Oregon early this morning, then at 1 pm found himself back in California and hopefully soon will once again cross north into Oregon. Mission Control received a detour plan from him as advised by the PCT association because detours are not often marked well and may not show up on maps. Mission reports that, so far, he has been able to navigate the forest logging roads of the detour with no trouble. Meanwhile, Oregon has certainly sent mixed messages to this PCT thru-hiker who has been longing to reach her lush green forests.
Mission Control was excited to send off the first two Oregon mail drops, one to Fish Lake Resort near Medford and the other to Mazama Village Store in Crater Lake. Granny Hat paid a visit to the UPS store to mail Mission his Fish Lake Resort care package, his first re-supply in a place where there is no U.S. Postal Service. The past week has been hot, sticky, dusty and smoky so Granny added some essential oil for skin irritation and bugs, doTerra Deep Blue, extra Juice Plus supplements and brand new socks for those extremely tired feet. For encouragement, she inserted some cut & paste “you can do it” cards that she loves to make. Mission’s next trail angel, cousin Holly has been comMISSIONed to pick up shoes and supplies at REI in Medford on her way to meet up with him at the next Interstate 5-PCT crossroads. “Wait! What?” my readers ask, “didn’t he already cross Interstate 5 going west?” Yes! yes he did and after making what seems like a pointless, wandering westbound loop he is returning east to the super highway. It is the Pacific CREST Trail after all, so the hiker has to dutifully follow the backbone of the mountains.
Mission has been hiking alone most of the time since leaving Castle Crags, he is a bit ahead of the bubble and then many thru-hikers succumb to yellow blazing to get around PCT detours. Mission considers this to be a little like cheating so for now he hikes alone, even at night which keeps Granny Hat awake. He hasn’t spotted Sasquatch yet but has his camera ready just in case. After hiking all through the Sierra Nevada, Emigrant Wilderness and Tahoe Wilderness without even one bear sighting, Mission finally encountered a bear in the Trinity Alps and it was a big one. 
He heard loud foraging in the shrubs, stomping and thrashing. Just when he told himself that this was one oversize deer, up popped a huge bear face just 30 feet away. The two of them sized each other up, then Mission decided not to grab the camera or offer the bear a Blueberry Pop Tart but instead backed quietly down the trail and gave that bruin some space. As soon as the distance widened to about 50 feet, the bear bounded over the trail and down the other side of the mountain, crashing through the underbrush as he fled. Reminds me of that camp song we used to sing,
“The other day (the other day), I met a bear (I met a bear),
Out in the woods away up there,
The other day I met a bear, out in the woods away up there.
He looked at me (he looked at me), I looked at him (I looked at him),
He sized up me, I sized up him……..”
PHONE ANGELS
When Granny Hat called the 1 800 REI phone number to order Mission his fourth pair of trekking shoes, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself talking to a genuine PCT Trail Angel named “Santana Bandana” who works her trail magic on the Chinook Pass in southern WA and established the Chinook Pass Trail Angel Network. Granny enjoyed her chat with this incredibly helpful and cheerful angel. Santana Bandana was full of tips and information about the trail, about what the hikers need and what to expect in Washington, including how to be a successful Trail Angel, something Granny would like to do someday. The time passed so very pleasantly that we almost forgot to order those shoes together! So besides the fact that she loves Carlos Santana and wears bandanas just like Granny she also promised to look out for Mission when he gets to WA and I feel like this PCT mom has a friend out there.
Life’s journey is full of detours. My dear family, framily and tramily, many of you may be feeling like you are trekking alone through fire and rain. When it seems the trail is a trial, take courage! Hope looks forward, taking a step through the dark, through the fire and the rain.
HOPE by Danny Gokey
I’ve been running through the rain
That I thought would never end
Trying to make it on faith
In a struggle against the wind
I’ve seen the dark and the broken places
But I know in my soul
no matter how bad it gets
I’ll be alright
There’s hope in front me
There’s a light, I still see it
There’s a hand still holding me
Even when I don’t believe it
I might be down but I’m not dead
There’s better days still up ahead
Even after all I’ve seen
There’s hope in front of me
There’s a place at the end of the storm
You finally find
Where the hurt and the tears and the pain
All fall behind
You open up your eyes and
Up ahead there’s a big sun shining
Right then and there you realize
You’ll be alright
There’s hope in front of me
Even when I don’t believe it
I’ve got to believe
I still have hope
You are my hope
Bubble or Pack : The bulk of through hikers who are hiking within a few hundred miles of each other. As interest in the trail grows every year, the size of the pack increases, causing problems for trail angels, businesses and resources in southern California. By the time the pack has reached northern California, many hikers have dropped out, and those who remain are more spread out and have less impact on local resources. Also known as the herd.
The Pacific Crest Trail Association issues permits for people attempting to hike 500 miles or more in one season. The have limited the number of permits available for starting near the Mexico border to 50 per day in an attempt to spread the pack out in southern California.
Adding to the pack effect is the fact that hikers like to congregate at trail towns and trail angel’s homes, and tend to leave these places in groups. So, rather than spreading out on the trail, hikers tend to hike in clumps.
Yellow Blazing: Another term for skipping. The term yellow blazing is used more often on the Appalachian trail where white blazes mark the official route and blue blazes mark alternate routes. Yellow blazes are the lines down the center of the road that one follows when one leaves the trail and travels by car or bus.
An interesting irony about the term “yellow blazing” is that blazes along the Pacific Crest Trail are yellow.
Granny Hat 
Glad that bear was equally scared of Mission! Hope he is not bothered by too many more fires.
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‘Tis always better to see a “bear behind”, than “face to face”!!! Mission certainly proved that HE IS “smarter than the Average Bear”!!!
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Loved the sweet inclusion of the illustration from Blueberries for Sal. That’s a classic & favorite of mine! Glad to hear the “long & winding road” is going northward soon.
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When Mission can’t send photography, Granny Hat has to improvise!😂
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