Oct. 29 and 30: Mt. Thielsen, Crescent and Gilchrist

Oct. 29

Not a super eventful day. Cold morning, clear day. Don’t remember seeing anyone else. The views from the side of Mt. Thielsen were great. Came into the trailhead campground near state highway 138 right around sunset. Had the camping area to myself, even though there were multiple campsites. Another relatively cold place to camp, but it did have a picnic table.

Total distance: 18 miles

Oct. 30

I needed food, and I was at the highway that could get me to it.

I held out hope that I could get into town, resupply, and get back to the trail in time to lay down a few miles, so I completely packed up and hiked out to the highway.

I stood on the roadside with my thumb out from 8 to 9, dancing to keep warm. Eventually, an older gentleman, formerly a firefighter in New Mexico and now a pastor picked me up. He was headed to Bend for something to do with an oral surgery that he had paid for in advance before the business left town, leaving him to deal with another franchise 50 miles away. He had a lot to say about churches and spiritual calllings. I had very little to say on the subject.

After an in and out of a small store that had none of the food I needed in Chemult, he took me further north and dropped me in front of the Dollar General in Crescent, then refused to give me an email address to thank him later. So… thanks for the ride, Bob!

I was able to get almost everything I needed at the Dollar General and unpackage and pack it up right there in the parking lot. And I got a new phone charging cable and three pairs of headphones (since they break so easily). But the store didn’t sell any fresh food, so I walked 20 minutes up the highway to Gilchrist to purchase limes at the Gilchrist Grocery, Liquor, and Deli.

I also took advantage of those other things. I bought lunch in the form of a sandwich, a slice of pizza, and some potato salad. And I bought a rum and a Rumpelminze airplane bottle to mix into my Swiss Miss at night. (The Dollar General had no apple cider mix, you see.)

I ended up spending three hours in that store working on this blog while my phone and battery charged, then I went out to the highway to hitch back.

I was there for an hour again and it was getting close to dusk. Since it seemed more likely I would find overnight accommodations in Crescent if I needed them, I started walking backwards down the highway back to Crescent, keeping my thumb out.

Eventually, halfway back to Crescent, a minivan pulled over, and I got a ride from Maggie and Shawndell, a very eccentric couple. They were returning from washing all of their laundry, and some of it didn’t get dry. They freely shared that what they had in common was brain injuries that affected their memory, and that they were on social security disability, living on a relative’s land for no rent.

The next part of their plan was to stop at a trailer park in Chemult to use the coin-op shower. Who was I to get in the way of a good plan? It had been some three days since my last shower and what did it matter really that I would just be putting dirty clothes back on, right? They actually provided the quarters for me to get the first shower.

I only used half the shower’s run time, but it took twice as long to get dressed again as it did to shower.

While M+S took their shower, I popped back in to that store that I’d declined to try to resupply from that morning, which just happened to be next door. I bought the last bit of leftover fried chicken they had at the deli counter and a tallboy top drink while I waited.

You see, the writing was on the wall at this point that the day was going to end up being a zero. So why not end the day with a brewed treat?

After I put $20 of gas into their van, M+S took me all the way back to the trailhead, some ten miles out of their way.

I ended the night where I began the morning. I unpacked and set up my tent exactly where I had the night before. But this time I had no need to cook dinner before bed. I tucked myself in straight away.