Day 2 – 8/26/19
13.1 miles / 33.4 miles total
Oh what a day.
Our morning miles were slow, all cross country. It was clear Bubs was struggling in the hot, exposed terrain.
I cannot overstate how critical the umbrellas are. There is simply no break from the sun in this country. I don’t know the exact temperature, but I’d guess 90s, and not a cloud in the sky.
We dropped down the very scenic Juniper Gulch with somewhat of a trail to an actual BLM trailhead, leading us to a maintained road down to the Owyhee reservoir.
We were eager to reach the BLM campground by the boat launch, with its shady picnic tables and potentially people in vehicles. By this point, we’d been discussing bail out options for Bubs if her condition didn’t improve. This was really the only accessible point before Rome, another 55ish miles away.
No one in sight. After taking some time to cool off and think things through, but still unable to eat and immediately feeling worse when we went to grab water in the lake, Bubs knew she had to bail.
We used my inReach to contact our friend Allgood back in Portland. He hiked the ODT last year and understood exactly where we were and how remote it is out here. Through a series of phone calls back in civilization, and extraction was arranged. Sammy with Friends of the Owyhee was on his way!
While waiting for the ride, a pair of campers arrived and we immediately chatted them up and found them to be wonderful people. We were thrilled to pass the afternoon with Sam and Juanita, talking about all kinds of hippie and hiker trashy things. They also showered us with food, including fresh produce from Juanita’s garden.
Just a few hours after our inReach exchange, Bubs was picked up.
It was evening, but Dan and I decided to keep on hiking now that I had somewhat cooled off.
We had 3 miles of lakeshore to walk, and the maps/guidebook not that at high lake levels, the cliffs can be impassible, requiring swimming or going high on game trails. Sure enough, there was an impassible cliff. No game trails in sight, but it looked feasible to go up and over the blockage. Long story short, we had to keep going up, and up, and up until we found a way, like 1400’ up steep loose crap. No game trails. In hindsight, I wish we’d swam.
We made it down just before dark and camped along the lakeshore.
Your pictures are beautiful. Worked out well to get Bubs a way out. Hope she can join you again soon.
You never know until you know; sorry you had to do 2,800′ gain/loss just to keep moving.
Your exceptional photos all imply constant success (better than National Geographic!) — contrary the struggles you describe in words.
Poor Bubs. I hope that she’s OK and that her spirits aren’t too tarnished.
She’s off hiking the Oregon Coast now – cooler temps for sure! She’ll see how she is feeling and maybe rejoin us at Frenchglen.
So sorry for Bubs – always a bummer when you have to give up on something you want to do so badly. Hopefully she will recover quickly. Probably not the best trail to take when you are not at the top of your game as you are always so exposed to the elements. Good luck to you!!