Every few years NEMO and I reunite to have a hiking adventure. There have been hikes on the Arizona Trail and Northville Placid Trail, the Sunshine Coast Trail and Appalachian Trail, but this time we would be returning to the scene of our friendship. We would be returning to the Pacific Crest Trail.

We both agree…there is something about the PCT that shines a bit brighter in our lives.

Maybe it was our age?

We both turned 29 that summer.

Maybe it was the community?

With a class of only 300, 2006 was an intimate time to hike and get to know some incredible people.

Maybe it was the landscape?

Yes. It was most definitely the landscape. We walked the length of mountain ranges from the Sierra to the Cascades, and each mountain meadow and chilly tarn was more dramatic than the next.

We fell in love on this trail: with the world, with ourselves, with possibility. We can do anything, and believed it. Still do.

Nemo was out for a week, and the plan included trail and river. After a 4-day jaunt on the PCT we would head to the lower Deschutes River for a splashy few days. It’s summer baby!

I put her on a bike for a margarita lunch date and cruise along the river before we hopped on a piece of inflatable pizza for a float.

When in Bend!

The first day was topped off with some Olympics and snoozing on the couch.

Nemo threaded the needle of family vacations, summer sicknesses, and a bursting garden to arrive in Central Oregon and our smoky skies. We were in the thick of fire season, and the toxic air was a risk factor to our plans. We watched the AQI and headed out the door with levels below 100. (Not far over the mountain though, Oakridge was well into the 400s. That’s poison air).

Kirk took us up to McKenzie Pass, and planned to pick us up 60 miles to the north in four days.

Tomorrow,  we hike.