Day 40 : Timberline Lodge

Start – Timberline Lodge (1830 m)
Finish – Timothy Lake  (990 m)
Daily Distance – 31 km
Ascent – 375 m
Descent – 1220 m

The late evening sun glistens on the clear lake water, dragonflys are dancing low above the surface, and a family of ducks occasionally stops by to check if I have dropped more crumbs. But in all honesty my heart isn’t in the scene.

I didn’t feel like hiking today. Through a combination of wind buffeting my tent, a restless leg (need to raise my magnesium intake again), and an overactive mind, sleep took a long time to come last night and was rather less than restful. The only saving grace was a slightly relaxed morning as I had agreed to drink a farewell coffee with Art, who will be staying at Timberline until his Mt Hood to coast relay race on Friday.

Reclining in armchairs, sipping free-refill coffee, talking over the road shared and future plans seemed like a fitting departure. Given the uncertainty of US state department postings it is impossible to know which country he will end up in next, but it is not impossible that a european reunion could happen in the next few years.

My rucksack is once again stuffed with food and weighing me down. Honestly, given that I had leftovers from the previous section, I didn’t need everything that was in my resupply box, but didn’t want to waste anything and leave it behind. This state of affairs wasn’t helped by the company who packed the box bulking out the contents by adding 6 expired cinnamon buns in lieu of packing material. A polarising decision which has drawn reactions from, “genius” to “eww, disgusting”. They are stuffed full of so many preservatives that I imagine left unopened they would outlive me, but nevertheless, carrying an extra two thirds of a kg of expired baked goods was not in my plans.