Day 145, ~140 remaining

Saturday, September 14, 2013
Leg 26: Stevens Pass to Rainey Pass, Washington

Tomorrow our hikers reach Rainey Pass, where the entire Flanagan family (less Becca*) will meet them, whisk them away for a zero in Winthrop, and return them to the trail Tuesday morning.  And we mean all the Flanagans: Gil & Karen, Aunt Ginny (from England), Aunt Nano, Party & Emily with Hugo & baby Bode.

"But they're so close, why so now?" you ask.  The hikers are taking a zero at this point to push their finish date to Friday, September 20, allowing friends and family to meet them in Manning Provincial Park.  A couple days in British Columbia gently re-entering society before returning to Seattle and real life.

* Becca departs l later today for two weeks in France with close family friends.  An adventure more her speed, she will walk through her ancestral church (g-g-g...grandfather was baptized in 1644), visit the WWII memorials in Normandy, and explore small towns in the French countryside.  With Becca away, photos of the big finish are delayed until early October. 

Good luck and God's speed to our hikers.  Thank you for reading along this summer.  And thus we bid adieu.

Day 141, less than 200 miles remaining

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Layover between Legs 25 &26: Stevens Pass, (Highway 2), Washington

All is well on trail.  Our hikers are a mere TEN DAYS from ending the journey!  Leg 26 to Rainey Pass is 123.5 miles and leg 27 is about 67 miles into Manning Park.

Today the Mathes parents delivered the food cache to Stevens Pass, along with dinner for the boys, and chocolate chip cookies for Flanagan.  (Mathes doesn't like cookies; to much like cake.)  They are sleeping on a gravel patch at an RV park just off Highway 2.

The call tonight is the last conversation for Becca and Flanagan until well after Andrew finishes the hike.  This Saturday Becca departs for two weeks in France with girlfriend and family.  Quite suiting for this couple that one grand adventure overlaps another!

Day 138, mile ...

Saturday, September 7, 2014

Camping at Snoqualmie Pass with B9 boys.

Day 133, mile 2303

Monday, September 2, 2013
Leg... I lost count

Layover at White Pass on Highway 12

Becca meet Red at White Pass ski area.  Quick snack before heading into Packwood (Diva caught a ride down earlier in the day) for showers, laundry (fingers crossed), and a hot meal not out of a netbook jet boil.

Cache drops are necessary for supplying the next leg's food.  But cache drops are even better for the delicious food brought to the drop.  Today Red gets homemade chocolate chip cookies from his mom and the boys are sharing fresh zucchini bread also from Mama Flanagan.   Becca provided (via Safeway) Greek yogurt, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, tortilla chips, hummus, Ninkasi beers, orange juice, and bananas.  Yum!

Before dealing with packs, Becca and our hikers shared a few beers and onion rings at Blue Spruce Tavern with Seminole and Dinnertime (& his girl Rebecca).

Change of plans . . . 

Boys were convinced to take a near-o in Packwood.  They're splitting a hotel room with 

Seminole and getting a ride back to the trail  from Dinnertime in the morning.  Here's to   showers and laundry, made better by their being separate events.

Day 122, mile 2107

Thursday, August 22, 2013
Layover between legs 21 and 22: Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood, Oregon
Overnighting: on trail just past Timberline 
Friends on Trail: Mike "Beezy" Bascus and Chris "Wheezy" Wheeler

Welcome back on trail, Beezy & Wheezy!

Leg 22 is more of a walk to earn a weekend off trail than an actual leg.  A mere 45 miles after Timberline Lodge's white tablecloth, all-you can eat lunch buffet (today) is the siren of the Columbia Gorge, beer from Walking Man Brewery in Stevenson (dinner tomorrow).

Becca is headed to Timberline this morning to meet our hikers, shuttle Beezy and Wheezy to the trail, deliver resupply for the the party of four, and collect unneeded gear from the thru-hikers (e.g., cookpot, tent, heavy sleeping back.

[pictures to come after we see the hikers]

As Beezy just realized, these two "poachers" will have hiked the PCT in all three states.  They each hiked a leg in California -- Beezy's Leg 9 (Independence to Reds Meadow) and Wheezy's Leg 15 (Mount Shasta City to Etna) -- and this leg takes them from Oregon, across Bridge of the Gods, and three miles into Washington.

Day 118, mile 2015

Sunday, August 18, 2013
Layover between legs 20 and 21: Santiam Pass on Highway 20, Oregon
Overnighting: On trail
Milestone: passed 2,000 miles this morning

Flanagan reports all is well in Oregon.  Somms finished up his leg with the Andrews this morning, when the Sommarstrom parents delivered the next cache drop and collected Somms from the trail.  

All is on schedule to dine at Timberline Lodge Thursday afternoon -- there is a white-tablecloth, all-you-can-eat buffet at the Lodge -- before Beezy rejoins our hikers for another epic day on trail.  This time, the boys are hiking 40+ miles in about 24 hours from Timberline Lodge to Walking Man Brewery in Stephenson, Washington.  

Expected arrival time of 6pm (Flanagan) and 8pm (Beezy) at Walking Man allows for a couple hours of shenanigans before the brewery closes at 8pm.  All are welcome to join.

I'm hoping for a photo of "2000" in pine cones or rocks...

Day 113 from Command Central

Monday, August 13, 2013


Mom and I had a great time supporting our Andrews yesterday as they completed a 30-mile dry section of trail.  Today was a thoroughly enjoyable 9-hour drive home.  Mind you, Google says the drive is a mere 5-hours, but we know how to have fun!

We had a lazy morning and departed Chemult about 10:30am.

Our first of many stops of the day was for breakfast.  We stopped at Thrist Coffee in downtown Bend.  We enjoyed a latte and deliciouc breakfast roll (think croissant dough shaped like a sticky roll with cardamom in the swirls and sugar on top).

[INSERT RACCOON]