Day 108 Aug 4

Up early, pink sunlight reflecting off the big mountains in the distance was just beautiful. We could see Mt. Hood in the far distance. Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson were there too, closer and with snow. Hiked down to Rte 242 (which was closed for construction) and through more lava fields, lots of black rock to twist your ankles on. Cruised right along, hiked through a burn area where there were purple lupine everywhere and it smelled like grapes. Around noon, we crossed the 2,000 mile mark! Yeah! Neighbor, Slider, Thrust, Flippy and I were all there taking pictures! Then 1 mile later, Neighbor and I took a left turn to the Big Lake Youth camp where we had mailed ourselves some food for the next 4 days. We got our box, sorted through stuff and were going to stay there but they don't let people stay anymore, so we decided to hike on a few more miles to Rte 20 and hitch into the town of Sisters. Yeah, town! So, with fully loaded backpacks, we hiked to the highway where cars were flying by and within 2 rides, we were in the very touristy town of Sisters. The library was only open for another hour or so, so we went right there and caught up on stuff. We have not had internet access since Ashland (30 trail miles into Oregon) After that, Neighbor made a few phone calls and got us a room at the Best Western, it wasn't cheap, but it includes breakfast and we are here now (internet in the common room) We showered and there is a grocery store across the street that we bought some food at and we are calling it a night! We will stay until about 11am tomorrow and head back to the trail. 4 days to Timberline Lodge (where we mailed ourselves a food box) and 2 more to Cascade Locks (which is the LAST town in Oregon!!!) Washington state, here we come!