Boomerang texted me: get excited about Sisters. I’ve been trying not to be too excited about any town, but I was hopeful about the little hippy mountain town that everyone has been talking about for forever.
We woke up early, at 5.17am exactly.
“Pine Nut!”
“Huh?” I asked, full of sleep.
“It is raining.”
I asked if I could sleep in Felix’s tent, but she said it was too small. Then I checked the time and realized it was when we agreed to wake up, so we could get to town in time for pancakes.
We didn’t wake up though. We just wrapped our shelters over our sleepy frames and slipped off into deadline for a while longer. Then it was 6am, and I was immediately awake.
I am annoying, as anyone who has spend any time with me can attest to. Instead of suggesting Felix wake up gently, I stuck my face right in hers and blinked at her, sometimes poking, until she was forced up and out of bed. Was I remorseful? Not in the least — there were pancakes waiting!
Alas, when we finally left camp (7.12am — a record for us), it was a hard hike. 12 miles shouldn’t be hard at this point — especially when there are only 1,500 feet of elevation — but we were walking though the lava fields. Strange crusty, jagged rocks were strewn about, making it impossible to just walk.
When it wasn’t the lava gravel (you should look back through my Bike & Build blogs to figure out what I really feel about gravel), it was deep sand sucking our steps back away from us. When it wasn’t deep sand, it was larger rocks all piled together. When it wasn’t that, it was flat and glorious, but it was never flat and glorious for long.
I talked to my mom for almost an hour, taking my mind off the struggle. When I came back to reality I was about to head up a steep, steep climb. I looked up and saw Felix stoically taking on the loose gravel giant. I grumbled to myself, my feet feeling like a million pounds moving through thick jelly.
At the end of the climb, Felix started slowing down, a train losing steam quickly. She told me she wasn’t mad at me, she was just mad.
I immediately sympathized. I have been hangry more often than not on this trail. I told her about the time I refused to eat on an into town day because I just wanted normal food — I simply couldn’t stomach another bar! But the anger grew inside of me until I felt like I could rip apart Rainbow Dash and Boomerang with my bare hands — and then lick their salty, warm blood from my ruined palms.
Instead, a mile before town, I threw off my pack. I snatched pepperoni from my bag, and angrily stuffed the package inside my face. Aaaaarg! I hated everything!
Only moments later I felt humanity returning to my limbs. I was okay. I was okay. I wasn’t going to commit a double homicide. I was going to make it.
Felix finally was convinced to eat, and started walking faster and faster. She could talk again. She didn’t seem so hopeless. She was going to make it.
We did make it. We made it right into town and to the first eatery we saw — Sno Cone, a drive thru delight. We didn’t have to drive, they let us sit right inside and eat burgers, milkshakes, fries, chicken tenders, and something called fry dip (from Salt Lake City, just like Felix, we were told).
Sisters is even better than the expectation. It has a movie theater (Mr. Holmes is amazing), coffee shops, and adorable graphic design. The Pacific Northwest is home, it just feels right.
