Hiker Update

Since Will isn't able to update his trail journal regularly, I thought I'd post a little update to keep people in the loop.

They had a great time in Ashland, and stayed one night at Callahan's Lodge (which I came into contact with through Twitter of all things!). Callahan's actually looks really nice - I'd like to stay at the lodge some day, and they were excited to meet the guys - they had found his trail journal through my Twitter and had been following their progress. Ashland sounds like it was a lot of fun as well, and hearing about it only reinforced my desire to go there for a little vacation someday. Will sent me his program from Henry VIII, as well as a "Kings and Queens of England" coloring book. :)

After leaving Ashland, Chris had another minor knee injury, but was able to make it through their 19-mile day the next day with no trouble. They completed 19 miles with a 12oo foot elevation gain, and finished by 5pm! A very impressive day, if you ask me!

They are now officially back on schedule (having been 2 days behind after Chris' first injury and their added rest days in Etna), which is pretty outstanding. They've made up their time, and didn't even have to skip any of the trail! (Well, Chris missed that one 20-mile day that Will did alone, but he was injured) They arrived at Lake of the Woods on time, and are still going strong.

Last night, they had their first real "bear incident," where they heard bear-like noises coming from the woods around their camp. They made loud noises and the bear went away. It came back, however, 5 more times over the course of the night. Each time, they made loud noise and scared it away; but needless to say, they were pretty freaked out, and didn't get much sleep. Will just called me from the "saddle" where they are taking a lunch break (lunch is at 10:45am if you've been hiking since 7am!), and said they were very tired, but otherwise ok. Hopefully there will be no more bear incidents to follow!

They are due to arrive at Crater Lake on Thursday, where they will unite with Will's parents and brother for a night of camping and a day of hanging out at the lake. His brother will then join them for the rest of the trip.

So there you have it - not very well-written, but that's my little update! I will continue to post updates from the hikers as I get them, at least until Will has computer access and can update on his own.

Please feel free to visit his trail journal and read past entries - and leave him a comment in the Guestbook! http://www.postholer.com/will


PS - You'll notice that his name has changed from "The Boy" to "Will." I figured there was no use in trying to keep him totally anonymous anymore, since the trail journal is labeled with his name anyway. Also, as my mom pointed out, he's not really a boy ("boy" sounds very young) ...even if it is just an affectionate shortening of "The Boyfriend" ;-) So there you go. He has a name.