OREGON: This Land Is Your Land

Before leaving California, hikers have one last challenge to surmount. It's a challenge that's near and dear to their hearts...and stomachs. On the trail, the average person burns 4-6,000 calories a day. Depending on your pace and metabolism, you may double that lower number. Either way, the pounds tend to shed nearly as fast as the hair grows. Food becomes something of a fixation.

Imagine the look on their faces when someone puts a plate of giant pancakes under our hikers' noses and tells them if they can eat them all in one sitting, they're free. In Seiad Valley, this surreal proposition becomes a reality for many. And as they cross over into Oregon, this is the last memory they take with them.

But the volcanoes that began with Mount Lassen in Northern California, continue to dot the skyline. And the lava flow underfoot is to remain the hallmark of this portion of the trail. 65 square miles of it, actually. That's a lot of years of volcanoes blowing their tops. By now, our hikers are back to trail running shoes, leaving their hard-soled heavy boots behind them with the granite. And more than likely, they've worn through at least a pair or two already. The dry, craggy lava may not be as hard on the feet as broken granite, but it's not exactly good for the soles.

Walking through smog-damaged and clear-cut forests and passing by open-pit mines is also not so soothing for the soul. This isn't the promised land of clear blue lakes and waterfalls that we think of when our thoughts turn to Oregon. Oregonians the state over are painfully aware of the complexities of an economy built around the logging industry. Passing through here on foot, may afford us new insight into the issues on both sides of the fence, so to speak.

Thankfully, the path through here is relatively effortless. And before too long, the desert of southern Oregon gives way to those crystalline lakes of our imagination. For some, it comes even faster. Not feeling that the commercialized areas are worthy of their time, many a hiker will practice what's called slackpacking to get to these more pristine woods of the north. Slackpacking is essentially tossing your pack in the back of someone's truck and hitching a ride to where you'd rather be. And the trailhead offers several of these opportunities, with trail angels posting flyers and offering transportation to the weary foot soldiers.

Crater Lake, the deepest in all of the United States and the seventh deepest in the world, is perhaps the most photographed of all the major destinations in Oregon. But, in fact, it is just one of many lakes and ponds to be found along the way. At last, we've arrived. And it's not hard to imagine why these mountains, and the deep waters at their base, have been revered by Native Americans for centuries. It's altogether appropriate that the only way into Washington is to cross over the Columbia River Gorge on the Bridge of the Gods.

It's autumn now. The days are shorter, the nights a bit cooler. As our hikers reach the WPA-constructed Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, the leaves may just be hinting at the different hues of this impending season. There's no time to waste now. With autumn come the rains. And at higher altitudes precipitation means snow.