We mostly chose our campsite based on the 50 mile mark from the previous day, but the view we got in the morning was pretty astounding.
Because the Timberline Lodge breakfast started at 7:30 and we were only a mile away, we actually got to sleep in a little. Good thing too, since, you know, we hiked 50 miles the day before!
The lodge has an all you can eat breakfast that is legendary on the trail. We arrived right and 7:30, with about 20 other hikers. The lodge is actually pretty fancy and seeing so much hiker trash in such a nice place was really funny. They liked hikers there though. I felt almost like part of the ambience.
The reputation the buffet had was well earned. It was probably my favorite breakfast on trail. The fruit was fresh, the pancakes were good, and they even had pitchers of smoothies sitting out for us. We stuffed ourselves and then sat in the lodge, enjoying cell phone service. We met up with some other hikers we hadn’t seen in a long time and then hiked on. Lots of people were staying for the eclipse.
There was a short side trail today that led to Ramona Falls. There was a trailhead nearby so access was easy and we saw a lot of people. There were a lot of people all over Mt. Hood today.
After getting away from the volcano the crowds thinned. We hiked into the Bull Run watershed that provides most of the water to Portland where signs asked us not to bathe in the water. We only hiked 23 miles today and it was a hard 23 miles. Sure, we had lots of steep climbs and descents, but we could tell the 50 mile day took a toll on us. Still, it should be an easy(ish) 28 miles into Cascade Locks, the town right on the border of Oregon and Washington.
