Miles Hiked: 32
Start Location: Mile 2062
End Location: Mile 2094
End Loction GPS: 45.33288, -121.71141
Easy day of hiking up until the last 4 miles, which was an excruciating ascent up to the base of Mt. Hood where the Timberline Lodge is. The lodge is all stone and timber; a massive and old structure that looks more apt to house Vikings or Knights instead of weekend tourists.
The thing to do is camp right above the lodge on the PCT, so that’s what I did when I got there. The lodge caters mostly to rich tourists and a room goes for roughly 300 dollars a night. There are multiple overpriced restaurants as well, one that serves pizza, one that has deli sandwiches and one that is a real fancy 30 dollars a plate dining experience.
I went to the upstairs bar and ordered a beer for 7 dollars and had a small sandwhich that ran me 15 dollars. I don’t know why I ordered that. I guess I would have spent any amount of money to avoid eating cold ramen noodles and dehydrated refried beans for the umpteenth time.
It’s windy and exposed where I camped. Many hikers here. If I blow off the mountain hopefully they will rescue me or call in for a helicopter or other similar search and rescue vehicle.
