Last night was by far the coldest night for me on this trip. It was snowing out and raining with temperatures in the low 20's. I kept waking up freezing cold throughout the night plus I had nightmares and a loud rifle shot went off at some point which woke me up out of a decent sleep. No matter what I couldn't get warm and around 06:00 I was up and it was still dark out. I waited for some sunlight and then I had to use some force to open my door. My window was frozen open and took a lot of effort to close. Once again I slept in all the clothes I had worn yesterday so I didn't have to change in the cold. Outside was beautiful with the forest covered in snow but still very cold. There was also a thin layer of ice over everything.
I went about brushing my teeth while using my backpacking stove to boil water for coffee. Brushing my teeth and combing out my greasy hair caused my fingers to go numb but I continued working. The mouse trap I had set the previous day didn't go off but the food was gone so I will have to try again. During all of this, I had my vehicle running with the defroster on high and when my coffee was done I sat in my vehicle and drove out on an ice covered road. When I reached the dam spillway it was a clear day and I could see the magnificent Mt. Hood overlooking Trillium Lake. After I pulled over I carefully walked on the icy road to snap some pictures and pray I wouldn't become stuck on my way out to the highway.
Thankfully we made it and as I drove back down towards ZigZag I called my older brother and spoke to him about the trip he is taking to Wyoming to go hunt Mule Deer and how I wish we could meet up. Before turning onto E. Lolo Pass Road I stopped to message a friend of mine Happy Birthday and respond to some of his text messages. Then off I went to a beautiful morning drive up a one lane road to the Ramona Falls trail head with no one else on the road but me.
The hike to Ramona Falls was 3.7 miles and absolutely stunning! Starting out, the sun was still climbing in the sky and the earth had a light dusting of frost with a few patches of snow. The trees were again laden with moss and the ground and rocks were all covered in moss also. When I reached the river crossing I found a thick snow covered log and scooted across that on my butt. Continuing further up the trial the ground went from being covered in moist pine needles and rich dark dirt to where ones footsteps made no sound to being covered in two inches of snow crunching under foot. It was a glorious hike and I was so happy to be here.
Reaching the waterfall it was deep in the woods and dark and cold but oh so beautiful. There were four other people there and one of the girls "Mo" asked if I wanted her to take my picture. Afterwards we got to talking and ended up swapping Instagram and blog information for she was from Florida and her and her companion were also planning on buying a camper in five years to travel and hit every state in the USA also! Hiking back 3.7 miles was not difficult and the first segment I ran to warm up. As I neared the trail head I saw more and more people and dogs.
Back at my camper I wanted to try and seal up my back hatch some more but my silicone was frozen so I put it under my front floor vent and turned the heat on high. In the meantime, I finally did my dishes using my solar shower which was easier to get too. Once my dishes were cleaned and my hatch was all caulked up I had completely lost feeling in my fingers. During all of this I was eating the last of my applesauce and made a protein shake. Climbing back in my vehicle where it was a lot warmer I drove back to the ranger station. By 09:00 I pulled into the station and parked and used the time that I had cell service to call and wish my friend a Happy Birthday. We talked for quite some time until he had to go.
It took me some time to figure out what I wanted to do next and in the end I decided to I wanted to hit up another hike. So I drove right down the road to Salmon River Road and drove five miles to the Salmon River trail head. This place had a lot more people and almost everyone I met had a dog which made me wish that I had one also. Starting out I was instantly blown away for the area was exactly how I would picture the rain forest to be. Every shade of green one could imagine was here and that was literally all one saw. All the trees were completely covered in moss to where one couldn't see any bark and didn't know where the trees ended and the ground began for it was all one. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face nor my surprise for I was not expecting this! The trail was 14 miles one way so I just went three miles in and turned back.
All in all I hiked 13.4 miles today and when I got back to the ranger station I went in to thank the woman for her wonderful advice and then filled up all my water containers. By now I didn't know what to do. A woman whom I had called earlier asking about the Rowena Crest Viewpoint had called me back and left a voicemail saying that the bridge to the viewpoint is out of commission for they are replacing it. I did and didn't want to hike some more but most importantly I didn't want to go back to where I had camped the previous night for I feared this time I would get stuck. There was no other free camping nearby so in the end I decided to go to a Travel Center in Troutdale where it was at least a few degrees warmer.
Once there, I couldn't stand my stench anymore so I went inside to the restroom and with my spray bottle full of hot water I stood over a toilet in the handicap stall and washed my hair. Then I took off of the clothes I had been hiking and sleeping in for the last couple days and tossed them aside. I used cleansing wipes to clean my body and applied some lotion. There you go I was now clean and snuggled back up in my camper for the night.
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| Mount Hood overlooking Trillium Lake |
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| Trail to Ramona Falls |
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| The log I crossed on |
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| Ramona Falls |
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| Salmon River Trail |
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