Oregon is sneaky. It’s definitely not pretentious; no, that’s probably California. Oregon is more like the Golden Retriever puppy that absolutely did not destroy that roll of toilet paper. Sneaky.
- Oregon is a cruise and pretty easy to hike through. Mostly digging it.
- mosquitos
- yay poptarts??
Additional details:
It’s hot and humid, yet for some reason there’s no water. We’ve had regular 20-mile and 30-mile water carries. All the seasonal creeks were dry through a section of trail, so I had only 1/4 liter of water to go 15 miles. I haven’t been this dehydrated since the California desert.
Meanwhile, the mosquitos haven’t gotten the memo that there’s no water. Oh no, the air is thick with mosquitos! I mean thick! I’m having trouble sleeping because of the loud buzzing around my tent. In the middle of day in direct sunlight I’ll have to whack mosquitos off my arms every 5 seconds (I wish I were exaggerating). How did you native Oregonian survive out here? Are there anti-mosquito tricks?
I certainly hope DEET is less toxic than the warnings on the back make it seem. Maybe it’s a health tonic that’s okay to have spread on your body for 7 days between showers. Residual DEET in food is surely nutritious? I’m going to the REI in Bend to grab a mosquito head net (also new shoes and to replace my Sawyer filter). There’s a trumor circulating that around Sisters the mosquitos die down. I’d rather not risk it.
I’m making pretty good time, and am hopeful that my tent won’t fail in the next 25 days!
With all sorts of lov—bzzz (fuck, mosquitos),
Jeff