DAY 139: TIMBERLINE LODGE & POUR DOWNS

miles: 20

Those are some comfy bunk beds. I took top bunk, even though I knew it would freak me out.

Let's talk about the breakfast buffet. The Timberline Lodge breakfast buffet is killer. It is all thru-hikers past/present/future talk about. It is all you can eat fancy food. We immediately sat down for breakfast and had a heart attack at the deliciousness of it all: Fresh belgian waffles with every topping you can imagine... and basically anything and everything you can think of.  I won't even bother listing it all here. You get the gist. It was heaven.

Our bunk beds.

Ben fixing the tent again.

Uh-oh.

Where I hung out and drank coffee for a while.

Against better judgement, we headed out into the clouds at 11:00am. Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain was in the forecast, but we felt we had no choice but to keep walking. We wanted to make it to Cascade Locks the next day. Plus... the wispy thin cloud cover was not threatening... at first.

This is where my camera got turned off. No more photos for the day, I am sorry to say.

Visibility left, clouds came in, mist turned into downpour and lightning began around noon.

Mt. Hood also had some pretty gnarly river crossings I hadn't known about which shook me to the bones. I was so shaken up by the end of the day I was threatening to evacuate any way I knew how (we passed a few roads). First it was the Sandy River crossing, which normally seemed okay but after the heavy rainfall of the past few weeks (relatively) it was a rushing river. Lightning was happening overhead, we were in an exposed riverbed a half a mile wide and I was DONE. But we made it across, eventually. Both of us opted for walking straight across the river, shoes on and all. This was probably the best decision.

Then there was the Muddy Ford. Instead of fording we crossed on a giant log. This was more than nerve-racking for me. All the while there is a serious thunderstorm actively making it's way over top of us. Then there was a climb! climbing climbing climbing. There was more climbing than descending it felt like. Weren't we supposed to lose thousands of feet of elevation in order to make it to the gorge? The Columbia River gorge is less than 500 feet, how are we still climbing??? Will it ever go down?

So in summary: river crossings, thunderstorms, drenched, climbing, no camping, and getting to camp at 9:30 at night (a record late hour for us). Luckily our packs, clothes, and all of our gear managed to stay completely dry thanks to our pack covers PLUS cheap rain ponchos.

I love my poncho.