I woke early this morning at the backpacker campground. Legend was there and made us pancakes and coffee. Shit Kicker and I decided to leave and hike together. We stayed close as we hiked to the approach of the Rim Trail. We stopped for water at the visitor center and had our first glimpse of Crater Lake. It was gorgeous. We took photos and hiked along.

We stopped for a snack on the rim and took in the views. We didn’t really see any other hikers for the whole day. We took one more break and then I pushed on another 7 or 8 miles to a water cache. My toes were so numb. My shoes are way overused and so I’m causing nerve damage to my toes by the continual pounding of my feet. I know this is common but it’s still very uncomfortable. I should’ve had my new shoes sent long ago.

I stopped at the cache and met someone who had hiked this year but had to get off because his father wasn’t doing well. He was in a sprinter and waiting to meet friends later in the night. He gave me a seltzer water and I drank it despite not loving the carbonation. He gave me a tour of his sprinter and I waited about an hour for Shit Kicker to arrive. I decided that I wanted to hitch to Bend tonight. I have 60 miles to do in 2 days and I am beat. I’d rather get to town tonight and worry about those miles later.

I walked to the road and heard a car coming. Before I even got on the road I raised my thumb above the embankment hoping the car would see it. Sure enough the driver stopped and drove me an hour and a half to Bend. Just like that. I’ll be flying out two mornings from now to head home for my cousin’s service and for family time.