The Big 40

After leaving Big Lake Youth Camp we had a couple of low key days in prep for our big 40 mile hiking extravaganza. Anticipation was building and I felt the need, as in prep for a big race day, not to over think or even talk about the strenuous event, so as not to psych myself out. I just wanted to do it. The night before we got in bed as early as possible. Excitement and anticipation impeded my rest and I spent the midnight hours tossing and turning. At 4 AM we hopped out of bed into the pitch black and icy morning air. With breakfast in our bellies and camp packed neatly away in our backpacks, we hit the trail at 4:55.

We had discussed only taking 20 minute breaks every 10 miles. Dawn was in full bloom and the sun just started to poke through the dense Oregon forest, as we took our first break with 10 miles under our belt. We were feeling good. The terrain was super flat – just as we had seen on our map’s topography and elevation profiles. Robert Frost’s poem about “the woods being lovely dark and deep but us having miles to go before we slept” began to echo in my thoughts. It was going to be a good day.

We cruised another 9 miles over flat ground and through moss drenched timbers. I heard Juneau ahead of me muttering under his breath “oh no. It’s Copper Tone.” An awesome trail angel we had met three times previously was set up at a road crossing, handing out root beer floats, cookies and bananas. Juneau was concerned about our schedule and loosing time if we got sucked in by the awesome trail magic. But, I knew it was too awesome to pass up so we told Coppertone we would only be there 20 minutes. He was so encouraging about our crazy plan and totally obliged, even shooing us away when our time was up. Powered my sugar, we pressed on.

Off to the West an amazing lake appeared. People were swimming and laughing. Water. It gets me every time. I just had to jump in that enormous emerald expanse. The boys agreed to let me stop for a bit after 5 more miles. They ate lunch and I got to go for an dip, twirling circles in the chilly depths and watching the colors behind my eyelids turn from red to black and back again as I circled from lake bottom to sunny sky. This 40 thing felt like no big deal.

Next, we motored further down the trail through more pancake-flat terrain. It couldn’t be amazing forever though and as we passed our 25 mile mark for the day, we began to climb. Views of Mt Hood appeared before us, majestic and snow capped. We were now a short ten miles away from our goal. 30 miles under our belts and it was only 4PM. The boys were feeling tired though, so we stopped briefly for a snack.

The last ten miles were mostly uphill as we approached Timberline Lodge. I hit a crazy runners high and rode an endorphin wave all the way to camp. I rocked out to CCR on my headphones and everything in my body hurt so much that it just stopped hurting. Endorphins are always my drug of choice. Unfortunately, Phil and Juneau weren’t quite as enthused as I was. My trotting pace wore two grown men out. Yeah, I’m a little proud of that. Juneau may or may not have collapsed in a heap of giggling hysterics as he mumbled something about his feet falling off. But, all jokes aside we made it! At 7:30 PM we pulled into camp after completing our first and only 40.7 mile day!

Wake up and smell the coffee. Timberline Lodge’s breakfast buffet was calling us. We woke up early the next morning so we could hike the remaining 2 miles to the lodge and be there at the opening of the all you can eat buffet. Eggs, waffles, coffee, fruit, yogurt, smoothies. Oh my!

we were joined by a guy named Buck Thirty. He hikes 9 months out of the year and works the remaining three. Buck Thirty has been on this schedule for the past 12 years and due to his financial savvy he’s still going strong. What can I say, the man loves to hike. He’s making his dream come true. Juneau was ecstatic to meet him, seeing as Buck Thirty had been featured on a podcast called “The Trail Show.” A fellow hiker from Israel named Signal also joined us for breakfast. All in all it was an excellent morning.

Later that afternoon we met up with Phil’s Uncle Don and Aunt Marylou. It was so wonderful to see them and spend time chatting with family. Also, a blessing to see Uncle Don in seemingly good health and high spirits. They were so kind and brought us a huge veggie meal. Salad galore! They must have known we love to eat.

Around 6 pm we hiked 3 miles out of Timberline Lodge and set up camp. We hiked a total of 5 miles on the day after we hiked 40 miles. Eh, you can’t win em’ all.