Waldo Lake

One pleasant aspect of a long journey is how serendipitous events lead you to unintended yet welcomed results. Because freezing rain in the Three Sisters caused a need to make up 22 miles of trail in Oregon, we came to Waldo Lake in September. Because Charissa’s car developed a flat tire in Cascade Locks we arrived at Waldo Lake a day later than planned. Because rain caused an extra rest day we stayed at Waldo for more than two nights. Because Charissa chose a coveted camp site at North Waldo Campground we were invited to stay yet one more. All these seemingly isolated events conspired to create a four night stay at the campground that surely will be remembered as a highlight of the trip.

As is typically the case, our wonderful experience centers around the people met. We met Mike and Mark Lane first, situated in the campground next to us, on the morning of our rain-induced rest day. They hail from the Oregon coast; Mike was bringing his son Mark back to school up in central Washington. I chatted awhile with Mike about a variety of topics, including Alzheimer’s. Mike was using this trip as a chance to visit an old high school friend who acquired the disease. Our encounter was brief, they had left Waldo for sunnier skies before we returned from our own field trip to Bend that day, yet meaningful.

 

The following morning, right before our final 17-miles of hiking in Oregon, we were approached by a different neighbor wanting to know if we were vacating our bit of prime real estate that day. Carolyn was the advanced guard for her friends Marnie and Stacey. The three women were going for their traditional kayak outing on the lake over the weekend; our particular camp site held some dear memories for Carolyn in particular. We informed her we would be staying one more night but she was welcome to set up whatever she wanted there.

 

Rather than preparing to fill our vacated site on the following morning, the three women suggested we should stay an extra night. By that time Carolyn was bringing us coffee every morning, while providing Cindy a dog fix with her Heidi, an Australian shepherd/border collie mix. As if that was not enough incentive alone for us to stay, the women also offered us the use of their kayaks for an afternoon.

We were able to get Cindy out on the lake by tethering her kayak to one I paddled. The water was calm and clear as glass for the time that we were out there. In the evening we joined together for dinner around their campfire and picnic table. They provided raviolis and salad while we brought a German chocolate cake we bought on a town run to Oakridge.

While in Oakridge we bumped into Susan, who was one of a group of people we first met at a stream crossing in Eagle Creek Canyon. As we shopped at the grocery store she hailed us with: “aren’t you hiking the PCT?” Coincidentally, after we returned to the campground and were walking on a trail, Cindy and I were hailed again with “aren’t you hiking the PCT?” This time the hail came from Kim, who was part of the very same group at Eagle Creek, and was spending a weekend at Waldo Lake independently from Susan. Small world.

 

We also met Bev and Patty, two health care professionals interested in our cause. Our final meeting was with campsite neighbors Steven and Maurya, two Oregonians whose attention our New York license plate attracted. We swapped information regarding prime wilderness places to visit in Oregon.

 

All told we had one of the most wonderful times during our journey, in particular with Carolyn, Marnie and Stacey, along with their dogs Heidi and Bobby (Marnie’s boxer mix). I’m sure we will keep in touch in the future. How fitting that we left our new friends at Waldo Lake to drop in on some “old friends” we met earlier in our hike, John and Gail Lyons down in Etna (and their Siberian Husky named Ty). We were ending Oregon and beginning our final push through California on a similarly high note.