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.
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.
