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People and Oregon

5/9/2015

Time flies and so did we.. We are already halfway Washington. Oregon went by in a blink of an eye. We calculated two weeks to get from Ashland to the Colombia river, with 30miles for every day. We heard that Oregon was flat and that it was easy to walk, easier at least.

We totally underestimated the beauty of the state. Oregon indeed was easier to walk, and still very pretty. And it was fun to almost run over the hills.

Again also in this state we encountered very nice and helpful people and we have a lot to tell. Maybe to much to sum it all up in one post. So what I'll do now is to post a bunch of pictures and tell you about Dave & Annie and team gnargnar.

We met Dave as he walked with us for 4 days in Northern California. Here he invited us to come and visit Portland. At this point we weren't sure if we would have time for that. But a few days before we were about to arrive at the bridge of the gods, we send him a message. Yay! We were most welcome and he had a surprise for us.

After we walked through the very very gorgeous eagle creek, we saw the huge river that separates Oregon from Washington. Goose skin, mann...another state, crazy. Here along the river, we met Annie. Annie is the wife of Dave and we were both impressed by here appearance. She picked us up with the car which was filled with chocolate, drinks, popcorn, fruit,.... Before we started to go for Portland, she took us to a brewery for a home made cool cider drink.

In Portland she showed us our room. This room was filled with a 2 by 2 meter bed and had a bathroom with a long (enough for us!) real bath. This room turned out to be the sleeping room of Dave and Annie. During our stay, they would sleep in there daughters room, so we would have the most comfort. And it was. I soaked myself in the bath for about two hours (still the feet didn't looked fully sand cleaned haha). While Felix scrubed himself in the shower.

After this, Dave came home. It was fun to see him again. Big smiling face as always :).

They organized us healthy snacks and took us to the best Indian restaurant they knew of. The next day we were busy with our resupply for Washington. What a work....(see picture, than you will understand).

In between, Dave told us to be in front of the supermarket around 4pm. Here he first picked me up and brought me to a.... Tatatatata WELLNESS CENTER! He had organized two one hour full body message scheduled for us! O.M.G!! This was SUCH a good idea for our stiff and sore bodies!!

Totally shiny and slippery from the essential oils, we tried to finish our resupply in the evening, which we didn't do. We decided to leave it and instead go into Portland to eat at some food trucks. Their son Bakus joint us (they have three absolutely beautiful kids, I'm no exaggeration)

The next day we decided to stay one more day... :)

Again Dave took us to porque no? A super nice diner cafe. Here we drank mageritas, got a bit tipsy, laughed a lot,...just having a good time.

The next morning, after making us a pancake breakfast, Dave brought us back to Cascade locks. As we walked over the famous bridge on the Gods, he waved us goodbye.

Such a bummer that they don't live more close by. They are such fun and sweet people to be with, really.

After a few miles on trail, Possum caught up with us. Possssum!!!!! Yaa!!!

In Oregon we became closer with a group that signs the register as team gnargnar. This group of funny, crazy, badass, sweet ultra marathon runners bumbed into us a few times and as time went by, and we started to blend in.

Here we met Alpaca, chicory, leopard sauce, possum and hoho.

Alpaca and chicory are brother and sister who both are amazing hikers (they all are though). When ever we walk, how fast we walk, they always will be the first to arrive. Crazy fast. Hoho travels around with a little windmill and became a couple with chicory on the trail, leopard sauce adds some crazy absurd fun in the group and possum brings warmth in chocolate and coffee form. We play games, swim on black tubes, frisbee, frickbee, sing and of course walk and camp together. We might even finish together. Here in Washington we stayed walking together, but more of that in the upcoming washinton post ;)

So... You might think; nice al these people and trailmagic, but what about the trail!? Well I can tell you, that what i can say about the trail is that we are in gorgeous nature every day. In here we walk in between 25- 30miles every day. This hiking is very tough and special at the same time. We have a shower and washing machine every 4-5 days. We live from nuts, bars, instant beans and rice and water. Because of this you get close to people more quickly and you appreciate the comfort of an daily life even more. This makes a experience like in Portland extra special. Something that you remember very very well. As well the community on trail which sometimes feels like a walking village with only nice people in it. I bet that this is going to be one of the biggest things that we are going to cherish and miss when we are back home.

So... Enough words. Time for some pics, I can not add so much to it I guess... It was again a superlative.