Day 122, Water World

Part 4, Oregon, Day 122

Water World

Miles: 19.1

Total Miles: 2113.10

Last night was violently windy. I stealth camped behind the Timberline Lodge with a bunch of other hikers, and all of us had one thing on our minds; the Timberline breakfast buffet. It felt like Christmas Eve. I woke up at 6am and started packing up. At 7, I walked to the main lodge and sat on the couch until the restaurant opened. There was a great coffee bar. There must have been half hikers and half tourists waiting for the buffet. It's big to us hikers because we talk about it for hundreds, even thousands of miles. I sat at a table with Diogenes, Claire, and Tex. The dining room was very fancy:

got in line and was NOT disappointed.

Everything had exotic or top line ingredients in them. Eggs

Apple cinnamon pancakes:

Potatoes:

All kinds of sausages and such:

Little quiches:

There was a waffle station, yogurt and fruit station, pastry station, smoothie station... Really just a lot of stations. Here's my first plate:

Holy fucking shit people!!! This was amazing. That's sweet cream on my pancakes. I want to rub that stuff all over my body. It was so good. Here's my second plate, though I forgot to photograph the waffles.

I took a lot of heat from my fellow hikers for only finishing about 2.5 plates. I was full. Best breakfast ever. The waitress gave us all shots of Apple cider vinegar mixed with whatever to help with digestion, or something. 

I didn't care for it, but played along. After breakfast I couldn't move for awhile. I sat on the lodge couches and surfed the net on my phone. The weather was horrible outside, and it was so cozy inside. I finally built up enough nerve to hike out by 10am, though other hikers didn't fare so well. Few would hike out this day. 

As you can see, the weather was crap; Cold, windy, and rainy. 

I rain proofed my pack and planned to hike as far as I could with a late start and an over full stomach. 

The forecast called for rain all day. Today was much colder than I could remember. I had to layer up.

I crossed lots of streams and creeks today. I also began to see water falls.

I came to my first tricky creek crossing today; Sandy Creek. It was really easy actually, but I had to walk upstream a bit.

I crossed and quickly lost the trail. I walked too far down stream and into a bunch of bushes. It took me 15 minutes of bushwhacking to find the trail. Soon I was at an alternate trail junction for Ramona Falls.

I saw a lot of day hikers, unusual in poor weather, so I knew it was a popular trail. The falls were huge!

I looked for awhile then moved on because it was cold and wet. The rest of the alternate was beautiful. 

Back on the PCT, I hit my next tricky creek crossing; Mud Creek. 

There was a rope on a fallen tree, so I crossed that way. 

I almost dropped my phone in the water here!

I kept moving to stay warm. A long and steep climb came next, the second big climb of the day.

When I was near the top, I began to feel sick. Not just sick to my stomach, but dizzy. I sat down a couple of times, but the dizziness concerned me. 

With the bad weather and sudden sick feeling, I found a camp spot early. 

This is the first time during my hike where I've not eaten any food after hiking. I have no appetite, but it's the sick feeling that's grounded me. I couldn't stand anymore. I hope everything is ok. I really need a rest, and that will come in 2 days.