D102-D108: Goodbye, California! 加州再見

Days 102 to 108:

Before jumping back on the trail, I decided to do a little shopping. Nearby was a Wal-Mart, which has far more selection at far lower prices than anything else I would ever encounter on trail. Also, in Oregon and Washington I wasn’t going to go through many towns so I would have to start mailing resupply boxes ahead to myself. I ended up buying almost all of my food for the next two states here. 

回步道前我需要先到超市補給，附近有一家Wal-Mart，他們賣的產品種類比PCT沿途的所有超市多，價位也便宜很多。奧勒岡州和華盛頓州不像加州在步道附近有很多小鎮，從現在開始我要常常靠自己寄的箱子來補給，很少有機會到超市買東西。今天在Wal-Mart幾乎買了最後兩州所有需要的食物。

Then I went to the tables at the Subway in Wal-Mart to take off all the packaging, divide up the food, repackage it in Ziplocs, and organize it into eight different resupply packages. After two and a half hours and some confused looks from other shoppers going by, I finally had my Oregon and Washington resupply ready.

東西買好之後我去Wal-Mart裡面的Subway把包裝拆掉 ，再來把糧食分裝到密封袋中，最後分成八分當接下來各段路程的補給包。超市的很多客人在我忙的這兩半小時看著我好像不懂我在做什麼，我只能裝沒看到他們盯著我。在Wal-Mart忙完我鬆了一大口氣，在奧勒岡州和華盛頓州走的時候幾乎不用再想補給這個問題了。

Then I had to figure out how to get all this to the post office. Maybe I should have done the math ahead of time. With each of my resupplies weighing 10 or 12 pounds, and 8 resupply bags, that was over 80 pounds I had to carry on my arms. I managed to get the bags onto the bus, but then it turned out this particular bus didn’t stop at the stop near the post office. In a panic, I got off as soon as I could, but by then I had about half a kilometer to walk carrying these 8 bags on my arms (and my full backpack on my back of course). It was very hot that day, too, and I was sweating buckets after about 5 steps. I ended up taking four bags ahead at a time, dropping them, then going back for the other four, and on and on down the street like that. Finally, a woman came by walking and offered to help! She took 2 bags and I took the other 6 and finally I was able to walk at something resembling a normal pace. I was very grateful for that helping hand. I got everything mailed off and to the next bus stop with 8 minutes to spare. The next bus going out to this trailhead was four days later. Close call!

東西準備好了但我還要想辦法把這些拿到郵局寄出去。每一袋都5公斤，總共8袋，也就是40公斤要提到郵局。我提這麼多東西勉強上公車，不過到時候我發現這班公車沒有停郵局旁邊的那一站。郵局過了之後我在下一站下車但從那裡起算我還得提著8個袋子走半公里，大背包當然也要背著走，那天天氣又非常熱，我沒走幾步就開始流大汗。補給袋太中了，我只能先提四個袋子往前走一點，再放下來，再回去提另外四個袋子，再這樣繼續往前。終於有一個中年女生走過說她順路可以幫我提東西。她拿兩個袋子，另外六個我自己勉強可以提，終於以正常的速度前進，好感激今天有這位幫手。東西寄出去後我走到公車站，而我到的8分鐘後公車就來了，如果那一班沒趕上下一班要四天後才回來，好險我今天辦事沒有浪費時間。

This bus took me back out to the trailhead where I had started my hike with Sana. It was near a town called Seiad Valley. Their town sign displays the flag of the State of Jefferson, which is not a real state but a proposed state. Many of the rural people in northern California and southern Oregon would like to break away from their current states and form a new one, and the idea has more support in this county than anywhere else.

這班車我坐到我跟Sana走的起點，跟她走是往南走而我今天要從那裡起步往北走。這個登山口在一個叫做Seiad Valley的小鎮附近，他們鎮前的牌子上有傑斐遜州的州旗，這不是真正的周而是南奧勒岡州與北加州的很多人民想要成立的構想中州，此縣的支持率最高。

There is a general store in the town that almost all hikers visit. Apparently the drivers in this area aren’t that careful, as the following sign on the store suggests:

這裡唯一的商店是一間雜貨店所以經過的登山客幾乎都會進去買東西。附近的居民開車技術似乎不太好，雜貨店外牆上有警告牌提醒司機不要讓車子撞上雜貨店。

This store is nice enough to hold packages for hikers at no cost, so I had a new pair of shoes sent here. I have worn two different models from Altra, the Lone Peaks and the Timps. Now I am going to try the Olympuses, which have the thickest padding of all. If I’m lucky, these will last me the next 1000 miles to Canada.

這間店會幫我們免費保留包裹所以我新買的鞋子寄到這裡。我已經穿過Altra的兩種越野跑鞋，Lone Peak和Timp，現在要試底部最厚的Olympus。我希望這雙鞋可以穿到加拿大。

After waiting out the heat in town, I finally set out on the last section of California in the evening. If you’re wondering what kind of places we typically camp at on the PCT, here is a perfect example. Any spot that’s mostly flat and has nothing growing on it will do.

我在小鎮等天氣變涼一點，傍晚前終於踏上PCT加州最後一段。有人問過我們在PCT都睡什麼樣的地方所以隔天早上我拍了營地的照片，只要地是平的且地上沒什麼植物就很適合紮營。

The next day started out in a really dry area following a ridge, but I did find some delicious blackberries.

步道沿著很乾燥的稜線前進，但沿途有黑莓可以摘下來吃。

This was to be my last day in California, and even got my first glimpse of Oregon this morning.

今天預計可以走進奧勒岡州，早上在遠方就看得到了！

The water sources were very small, but someone had gotten creative with some leaves, making it much easier to fill up here.

水源的流量都很少但有人插葉子的技術很好，裝水還算方便容易。

While I was walking, I heard a rattling sound right beside my legs. It sounded like a rattlesnake and I jumped! I looked behind me carefully but couldn’t see the snake anywhere. A few minutes later, I heard another rattle and jumped again. I looked around and still didn’t see a snake hiding in the grass. A few minutes later, it happened again! This time, I finally figured out what was making the sound. There was some sort of pea plant growing here and the pods were fully dry already. The rattling was just the sound of the seeds inside the pod! I felt pretty silly for jumping, but relieved at the same time.

今天走的時候又聽到熟悉的響尾蛇聲音，在我腳旁邊響了害我大跳避開蛇，但我後來回頭看也沒看到什麼。幾分鐘後我又聽到響尾蛇的聲音，又大跳了，後來看看附近也沒看到蛇。幾分鐘後我又聽到一樣的聲音，回頭看終於看到聲音的來源。有一種豆子長在步道旁邊，豆莢已經乾掉了，我腳撞到的時候裡面的豆子會搖來搖去發出像響尾蛇的聲音。當下覺得自己很蠢，被豆子嚇到，不過我也鬆了一大口氣。

Late in the day, I passed some nice meadows and an old cabin. The app said this place was almost destroyed and unusable, but that was old information. Some people have been out here repairing the cabin and making it livable again. The sign above the door said this was Donomore Cabin, but the new sign against the wall said something entirely different. Don’t ask, because I don’t know what this was about… probably just some lonely hunters who stayed here having a good laugh.

下午接近奧勒岡邊境的時候我經過很漂亮的草地還有一棟老舊小木屋。手機app的資訊說小木屋已經毀掉不能住了，但我發現資訊有一陣子沒有更新，最近有人來這裡修理，已經可以住人了。 懂英文的人仔細看會發現兩個牌子寫的小木屋名稱不一樣，其中一個應該只是寫好玩的。

I was eager to walk one more mile and get into Oregon tonight, but this cabin was too good to pass up. There was a new cot to sleep on inside, a table, chairs, and even a TV tray. I decided to stay put for the night and enjoy the amenities. There’s nothing like a real chair and table to make you feel like a person again. Oregon could wait.

奧勒岡州的邊境在前面不到兩公里處，雖然我很想要今天就走到下一州但我捨不得睡小木屋的機會，裡面有輕便床、桌子、椅子、還有一個移動式的個人桌子。我決定明天再進奧勒岡州就好了，今天要享受小木屋的環境。在步道上遇到這種地方是很難得的，可以坐椅子，晚餐可以放在桌上，暫時不用像野蠻人一樣什麼都在地上做，我好感激有這個地方。

The next morning I passed the last road in California.

隔天早上我走過PCT加州段最後一條馬路。

On my 104th day of the trip, I finally reached the end of California and a brand new state.

旅途第104天我終於走完加州段，走進新的一州。

California seemed like it would never end. It’s so big that well over 60% of the entire PCT is in this one state. From the Mexican desert, to the high Sierras, to the volcanoes of northern California; after 1692 miles, I finally entered Oregon. And I’ll tell you something, it felt pretty good!

走加州的時候感覺怎麼走都走不完，PCT全程有六成在加州。從墨西哥邊境一帶的沙漠走到內華達山脈的高峰再走過北加的火山，走了2723公里才終於走進奧勒岡州。走到這個里程碑只有一個字能形容我的感受：爽。

This was more exciting than reaching the PCT midpoint. It might even be more exciting than reaching the Canadian border, as I now only have 962 miles left, whereas California was nearly double that. I say “only” 962 miles because after starting with 2650 miles to go three months ago, to suddenly see only three digits in the distance remaining seems like I’ve got most of it done.

我在這裡比我到PCT中間點還開心，或許還會比走到加拿大邊境時開心，畢竟我現在只剩下1548公里而加州幾乎是這個距離的兩倍。雖然1548公里這個距離還是很長但以英里來看我加州時剩下的距離都是四位數而現在已進入三位數了，前面962英里就是加拿大的邊境，少一數位就感覺快結束了。

My first views in Oregon were of course similar to Northern California.

剛進奧勒岡州風景當然跟前面的北加差不多。

I had another gear failure today: the chest strap on my backpack broke. Also, my foot was starting to really hurt from the new shoes. There was too much padding and it was pressing up very hard on the bottom of my foot. Still, I was too happy being done with California to get upset about these things.

今天又有裝備壞掉了，背包的胸帶斷了。我腳在新鞋子裡也開始痛，好像是底部太厚了讓我腳底要承受的壓力太大。不過我剛走完加州，心情很好，這些小問題我其實不是很在意。

My first stop in Oregon was near Interstate 5, which we already crossed once in California. Most people got a ride into the city of Ashland from here, but since I only started back on the trail a couple days ago, I didn’t need to go in and resupply yet. I did, however, make a stop at Callahan’s Lodge just off the Interstate. They have a menu so pricey that I normally wouldn’t have stopped here. However, they have an incredible deal for PCT hikers. You get a free beer, and for $16 they have bottomless spaghetti with a side salad. I had been craving a nice tomato sauce for over two months already, and $16 was a great value considering how much I was going to eat. I ended up sitting down with a trail couple that was there at the same time, Seer and Galaxy, and fully enjoying the beautiful patio at the lodge. I ordered three plates of spaghetti and couldn’t quite finish the third one. I am not one to waste food, but I was FULL. I was so full that if I took one more bite of food I was sure I would throw up. It was one of the best meals I’ve had on trail!

奧勒岡州的第一站是州際公路5號，在北加已經接觸過一次了。大部分的人會在這裡搭便車到附近的一個城市Ashland，但因為我兩天前才剛回到步道上我還不需要補給。不過公路旁邊有一個度假山莊 Callahan’s也很值得一去。室內裝潢很舒服，髒髒的我走進去就覺得豪華的環境被自己破壞了，但他們很歡迎登山客來吃飯或過夜甚至有優惠價。菜單上的東西都很貴，我平常不願意花這麼多錢吃飯，但他們有提供給持有PCT許可證的人一杯啤酒免費，然後只要16元美金就有一個沙拉和吃到飽的麵包和義大利麵，對一直都很餓的登山客來說超級划算。我最近兩個月也一直想吃番茄醬的義大利麵卻都沒有機會，今天不但吃得到而且還能吃到飽。這時候剛好有另外兩個PCT登山客來叫做Seer（先見者）和Galaxy（星系），所以我們三個到外面的露台一起吃。我點了三盤義大利麵，兩盤吃完沒問題，第三盤我真的吃不完。我總是幫別人吃完東西的那個人，很不喜歡浪費食物，但我那天很確定再吃一口吃到飽就會變成吃到爆，嘔吐的話三盤都浪費了，只好留下一點點不吃。東西多，沙拉品質佳，環境漂亮，跟其他登山客一起吃，的確是我PCT中很難忘的一餐。

I walked back out to the highway and did a few more miles that evening, watching a gorgeous sunset as I set up camp for the night.

吃完飯我回到公路上，接到PCT本身之後又走了幾公里。晚上搭帳篷的時候看到特別漂亮的夕陽。

I continued on through more very dry trail the next day.

隔天步道一樣很乾燥。

Today, I went to Hyatt Lake Resort, just a couple miles off the trail. The resort owners like hikers coming in to spend money, and they will actually come pick you up at the trailhead and drive you to the resort if you just call them. I had some pizza here, but more importantly, I had to go here and pick up the first of my resupply boxes that I sent to myself. It wasn’t there when I arrived so I was a bit nervous, but the UPS guy came a couple hours later and had my box.

今天又走到一個度假地點Hyatt Lake，離步道有幾公里遠但是只要我們打電話跟他們說一下他們會開車來仔我們到餐廳。我在這裡吃到披薩但我進去的主要原因不是為了去餐廳吃，是因為我第一個補給箱寄到這裡。我到的時候箱子不在害我很緊張，但吃完飯一小時後UPS人員來送包裹而其中一個是我的。

My feet were really hurting today from these new shoes, so after I left the resort I decided to pull out the Crocs again. Of course they didn’t hurt my feet at all, so I did the rest of the day in them.

新鞋底部不知道是太厚還是太軟了， 反正我的腳今天更痛，離開Hyatt Lake後我決定暫時穿塑膠鞋，當然穿這雙鞋腳一直到晚上紮營時都不會痛。

With no one to talk to and nothing to do but walk all day long, I was finally running out of things to think about, so I decided to start listening to audio books. The first one is Stephen King’s The Stand, perfect for this hike because it’s over 47 hours long. So far I am loving the way he writes and it is helping pass the time faster.

因為走路的時候旁邊無人也沒其他事可以做而且路程這麼遠我終於快沒有東西可以想了，所以決定要開始聽有聲書了。第一本要聽的是史提芬金的『末日逼近』，長度超過47小時，很適合這種長途登山旅。我很喜歡他寫作的方式，邊走邊聽時間真的過得比較快。

If you’re wondering what a typical trail meal looks like, it’s just a quick sit down in the dirt, eating whatever random things I can find in my food bag. Rarely, you find somewhere with a real picnic table and you can really spread out like in a real kitchen. Lunch and supper locations from today:

有的人很好奇我平常在步道上會吃什麼，通常白天會隨便找個地方在地上坐下來，看食物袋裡有什麼東西想吃就吃什麼，偶爾遇到有桌子的地方可以像家裡的廚房一樣把東西全部擺出來煮菜。這是今天的午餐和晚餐地點：

I ended up meeting an Israeli guy named Chocolate Chip and an American named Addison and camping or eating with one of them quite a few times. One day a whole bunch of people seemed to stop at the same place because there was a picnic table there and a water pump. Another Israeli guy that they knew, Croc, happened to show up that day and he shared some Israeli food and drink with all of us. One of these items was the best tahini ever, according to both Israelis, and after trying it I agreed. The other was coffee with cardamom in it, which is now my absolute favourite kind of coffee.

在奧勒岡州我認識了一位以色列人Chocolate Chip（巧克力碎片）和一位美國人Addison，很常在吃飯或紮營的地點遇到。有一天很多登山客都決定在同一個地方用餐，這是因為有桌子和手動水泵。那天剛好還有另外一個以色列人同時來到這個地方吃午餐，是Chocolate Chip和Addison早就認識的Croc。他跟我們分享以色列的食物和飲料，包括世界第一好吃的芝麻醬，還有含小豆蔻的咖啡，這種咖啡我沒喝過不過喝了一口就愛上它了，真的很推薦大家喝喝看這種做法。

One of the characters in the book I’m listening to got sick and was told by the doctor to go home and get a good night’s sleep. Imagining this character going home to a shower, a soft bed, and a long night of uninterrupted sleep in a dark room with nothing to wake up and do the next morning made me insanely jealous. That’s right, I was jealous of a sick fictitious character. I am trying to do more miles now to catch up to where I should be, and to meet my cousin in Washington as he is going to hike with me for a few days. This means I’m doing 30 to 35 miles each day and not sleeping in. I’m also dirtier right now than on any other section of the trail, with black lava fields and volcanic dust all around.

有聲書有一個角色生病，醫生叫他回家睡個好覺。這個人可以在家裡洗澡，躺在軟軟的床上，整夜睡在黑暗中，隔天早上可以睡到自然醒沒任何事要做，想到我就很妒忌他。沒錯，步道生活讓我連小說裡面生病的角色也會妒忌。我這幾天都延長一天內走路的時間，要趕上我原本的進度，而且下個月我表弟要來跟我一起走一小段所以我不能晚到我們的集合點。因此我最近每天豆走五十幾公里，沒時間多睡一點。這一段有很多火山灰塵和黑色的熔岩平原，害我現在變得比以前還髒。

At one of my snack stops the next day, I finally saw a new kind of animal. A badger was waddling up the trail but once he noticed me he quickly turned around and ran away. I also took a picture of a typical snack to add to the blog: Rice Krispies squares dipped in Biscoff cookie butter, Goldfish crackers, dried fruit.

隔天在休息吃零食的時候我終於看到新的一種動物，有一隻美洲獾在步道上朝我的方向走，一看到我馬上轉身逃竄了。我也特別拍零食的照片給讀者看正餐之間會吃的零食大概是什麼，今天是美式米香沾焦糖餅乾奶油、金魚餅乾、水果乾。

Pretty soon I was under 900 miles to Canada, and passed another hundred miles of the PCT.

不久後又過了兩個重要的里程碑：加拿大離我的位置在900英里以內，PCT的1800英里也已經走完了。

On my last day, I decided I would just keep walking until I got to the next stop on the trail, Crater Lake National Park. This would mean a 37-mile day and hiking until after 10 p.m., but then I could set up camp and actually *sleep in* the next morning! There was a large burn area this day. I finally saw why they had to keep the trail closed even after a fire is out sometimes. Look at how the trees have bent down and now almost block the trail in the second picture. I’m almost surprised this section isn’t closed.

這一段的最後一天我決定直接走到下一個休息與補給點，火山口湖國家公園。今天就走到那裡要走60公里且晚上10點後才會到，這樣不簡單但有一個重要的好處：我隔天早上可以睡到自然醒，不用早起走最後幾公里到國家公園。今天的路途中又經過火災區，不過這裡比較特殊一點，看完我能了解為什麼火災區有時候要經過整理才可以重新開放。看看第二張照片裡的樹有多彎曲，已經擋路擋得很嚴重，或許這一段不應該開放。

The smoke was pretty heavy this day, which made for a spooky sunset and does not bode well for the views of Crater Lake tomorrow.

今天的煙很濃，夕陽有點詭異，明天看火山口湖的時候能見度高的機會似乎不大。

At about 10:30 p.m., exhausted and hungry, Addison and I walked into Mazama Village, one of the tourist service areas in Crater Lake National Park. We ate our dinners and went to set up camp in the campground. I went for a walk to the shower building down the road and found it to be open. Also, the water was hot. Also, it wasn’t coin operated! Free hot showers with no time limit are almost impossible to find on the trail but here was one, and it was now midnight and no one would be waiting in line behind me to shower, and I was also the dirtiest I’ve been on the whole trail, and I could sleep in the next morning. This night couldn’t have ended more perfectly. After a good half hour scrub, I went to sleep warm, clean and happy.

晚上10:30，身體疲勞，肚子餓，我和Addison一起走進火山口湖國家公園裡的Mazama觀光村莊。我們馬上煮晚餐，吃完就去露營區找位子。搭好帳篷後我去走走看淋浴設備長得怎麼樣，而我發現這麼晚設備還開放中，水又是熱的，又不用投硬幣，是免費的。免費沒有時間限制並有熱水的淋浴設備在步道上是極少見的，而且半夜不會有人在外面排隊要洗澡所以我可以洗很久，加上現在是整個PCT旅程中我最髒的一次，明天又可以睡到自然醒，今天的結尾好完美耶！洗了半小時後身體乾淨又溫暖，也沒有早上要早起走路的壓力，入睡時覺得自己好幸福。

The next morning I had breakfast at the nearby restaurant. I had the chance to speak Mandarin again as two of the girls working there were students from Taiwan! After breakfast, I did my laundry and got my next resupply box that I had mailed to myself from the campground store. My clothes were so dirty that after the washing machine finished with them, there was still a film of dust all over the wash tub, just like the outside of a car after driving down a gravel road.

隔天早上我在觀光村莊的餐廳吃早餐，在裡面竟然有機會講中文，服務生有兩個是台灣來的學生。吃完早餐我去雜貨店領取寄給自己的補給箱，也在此洗衣服。我的衣服在這一段弄得太髒了，洗完後洗衣機內還殘留一層灰塵，就像車子開在土路上後也會有一層灰塵。

Crater Lake is one of the highlights of the PCT for most people, and is probably one of the most famous natural tourist attractions in the US. Unfortunately the sky was very smoky from forest fires today and the views probably wouldn’t be very good. With everything taken care of in Mazama Village, it was time to start the hike up to the lake.

火山口湖是很多走過PCT的人認為最值得看的景點，也是整個美國很重要的自然景點。可惜今天的天空霧霧的，附近的森林火災產出的煙很多，風今天剛好吹向火山口湖這裡，湖邊的視野應該會很差。村莊的事都辦好了，要開始往上爬到火山口湖的邊緣。