Fortunately, we had a friend’s house to stay at near Bend. We had a great time visiting. We were able to get a ride with another hiker whose boyfriend came to shuttle her past the closure. We did some barhopping in town with the other hikers, I got some new socks and a new water bladder, and we are resupplied for the stretch to Bridge of the Gods. We stayed 2 nights in Bend, and got back to the trail this afternoon. The final stretch to the trail was on a rough dirt road. The car we were in was not high clearance, so we hiked about 5 miles on the road to get back to the PCT. We are camped right outside the closure, ready to head North again tomorrow.
Days 95 & 96: Stuck in Bend
This fire closure has proved to be more of an inconvenience than we anticipated. About 40 miles of trail are closed, but to get around the closure requires a roundabout highway route of over 100 miles. It’s tough to find a ride, especially because every single other hiker in town needs a ride too.