Day 127- Zero In Cascade Locks

Sept 06, 2016

Cascade Locks(2144.4) 0 Miles Hiked

Bridge of the Gods 

I had originally planned on taking a zero day today, but yesterday I decided to just hike a half day out of town instead. When I woke up this morning it was cold and rainy again. I began rethinking my plan about taking a zero day. I still had a lot of things that I wanted to get done, but I ran out of time yesterday. 

I went to breakfast at a restaurant next door to the hotel called, Bridgeside. Since the Best Western doesn't serve breakfast they gave me a voucher to eat at Bridgeside. The menu was small, but the food was decent. I had a short stack of pancakes, peppered bacon, and a cup of coffee. The main attraction of the restaurant seems to be the great view of the Columbia River. I was able to get a table next to the window. I enjoyed my meal as I watched large barges move through the fog on the water. At this point I still hadn't decided if I should zero or if I should hike out. One of the locals told me that if I hiked out today I would miss out on a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Saint Helens, and Mt. Jefferson. That sealed the deal, I was definitely staying. 

Breakfast

View from breakfast

Once I finished eating I ran into Mozart, Todd, and Sterling. They were hiking out and asked if I would take their picture as they crossed the Bridge of the Gods.  I traded my photographic skills for their help taking a picture of me. It is tradition for me to recreate pictures where my Aunt and Uncle have been. Last year they were in Cascade Locks. I had Sterling help me recreate a picture of my
Aunt Liz on the pct. 

Aunt Liz 2015

Yoda 2016

Uncle Tom 2015

Yoda 2016(I had to selfie this one)

It looks like they had better weather. I always enjoy trying to recreate their pictures. They always seem to get to places before me. Maybe they will have to recreate a picture of me when I beat them to the CDT. Once I was done playing in the rain I went back to the hotel. I was in luck, my room was available for tonight. I called and spoke to my mom for awhile before I went and sat in the hot tub. It was nice to just relax. I didn't have any pressing matters to attend to. I have stuff that I would like to accomplish today, but nothing that has to get done. 

After my hot tub time I went back to my room and piddled around. I sewed up some holes in my shoes, set out my tent and sleeping bag to dry, they were a little damp from the humidity. I repackaged my food and took the time to count out my daily calories ingested. I was dismayed to find out that I'm only eating about 2,300 to 2,600 calories. I should be eating a minimum of 3,000 calories. I guess that is why my brand new pants are already one size to big. With colder days in my future I'll be burning even more calories. Oh well, I could stand to lose a few more pounds. 

I watched tv for awhile, although there was nothing that appealed to me. I don't miss the boob tube. Usually I don't even turn the thing on when I'm in town. My friend Touley the Optimist stopped by for awhile. He needed to use my bathtub to find a hole in his sleeping pad. He found several holes and decided that it was better to replace the pad instead of trying to patch it. Jules, the amazing trail angel, just happened to be in Portland today and offered to help him out. All he had to do was call REI and prepay for the new pad and she would pick it up. I decided to get in on the action. I needed a new pair of Darn Tough socks and I also wanted to get a polar fleece buff. REI was very helpful and took great care of us. I also ended up getting some waterproof gloves. Unfortunately, the ended up being a little too small, but I'll just have to make do. I sent home some odds and ends that I have collected. I got rid of almost one pound, including a pair of Darn Toughs with a hole and my old warm weather buff. 

I went back to the market to buy a little more food. My food bag is already completely full so I'll have to get creative packing it. I wasted an hour and a half trying to upload GoPro videos onto my blog. It will just have to wait until the end of the hike. Next I spent a few hours planning out my post-trail road trip. I'm really looking forward to spending some time on the coast. It looks like there are tons of cute little towns to check out. I'll have to scale it down a little bit though. Right now my tenative plan has me driving almost 1,400 miles. It is weird to be making post trail plans when I still have five hundred more miles to hike. As is usually the case, town days fly by in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it the sun had gone down and my zero day was almost done. The Optimist brought me my REI goodies and decided to split the room with me. That really helped me out. I downloaded a few new audiobooks, finished a few blog posts, and caught up on a few emails. It was a fairly productive and very relaxing day. I'm looking forward to starting Washington tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice for the next seven days too. 

On another note...with this hike coming to its conclusion my PO box will be shutdown. My last few boxes are packed and ready to be sent out. I appreciate everyone who donated to the cause. My blog readers are the best! If you would still like to do something to help me out please send me an email and I'm sure we can arrange something. If anyone has a connection with the airlines I wouldn't say no to a buddy or companion ticket :-)

"The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same. – Carlos Castaneda