Lava fields and Portland.

Day 104-111:

This has to be one of the most wonderful cards I've received, on it says:

"She was never meant to be a common creature - extraordinary takes time. The question is not " will you find your wings?" It's "what are you going to wear with your magnificent feathers?" "

I am most certainly feeling the love and aloha from family, friends and supporters. My biggest take home lesson from this journey is not about the wilderness but about people. My faith in humanity has sky rocketed due to the fact that I have received so much love, support, random acts of kindness and generosity non-stop since embarking upon this walkabout. I am truly amazed and humbled by it all.

I hitched back to Elk Lake to resume the trail where I left off, getting there via four different rides from wonderful people. 

The trail meandered through forests and meadows and gave me beautiful views of the mountains South and Middle Sister, both snow speckled and have glaciers. 

I eventually camped on the banks of a creek beneath the Sisters in my wonderful new tent which I can actually zip closed again. 

Day 105:

A day of lava flow hiking in the Obsidian Basin of central Oregon in the Three Sisters Wilderness.

 I woke up to the view of South and Middle Sister mountains and soon came across Obsidian Falls, 

beautiful meadows filled with wild flowers, creeks and ponds. 

Black Obsidian rock is a volcanic glass formed when lava cools rapidly was evident in abundance.

 The Three Sisters themselves are three volcanic peaks, each higher than 10,000 ft. The North Sister, Faith, is extinct. Hope, the Middle Sister is dormant and Charity, the South Sister last erupted 2000 years ago and could erupt again.

 It was awesome to see the glaciers on the slopes and in the distance I could see Mnt Washington, Mnt Jefferson and the mountain called Three Finger Jack. I spent a bit of time with day hikers Michael and Barbara who had got a little lost.

 The trail cut through lava fields and it reminded me of walking through a lava trail in Maui called The Kings Highway and it really brutalized my feet.

  I reached the highway that the trail crosses over in the evening and was met with trail magic in the form of Pop Up Trail Angels. 

Here. I got a bean burrito and decided to make my way to Portland for a long weekend off trail, as Josh was meeting me there for a four day mini trail vacation. He is flying in on Thursday night and I'm so excited ad Portland is a fun city and I'm sure we'll have a great weekend. On monday I'll return to the trail where I left off. 

Day 106-111:

Portland is amazing, I love it! I started my long weekend away from the trail by catching a bus called "The Breeze" to Union Station where I was picked up by my dear friend Sabine and her friends, Alyssa and Jay, and was driven to my motel. Sabine just happened to be in Portland on this day! It is another demonstration of the wonderful way the universe lines up.

At midnight on Thursday, Josh arrived and it was so fabulous seeing him again. We stayed downtown, in the heart of everything at the Embassy Suites and had a completely magical vacation. 

Some of the Portlandia experiences we had included exploring Old Town and Chinatown, browsing in Powell's Books, a bookstore that takes up an entire block and drinks on the 30th floor of the pink granite and glass building (Bancorp Tower) with stunning views of the city, surrounding countryside and Willamette River. 

Then we went on the "Beyond Bizarre" ghost walking tour of downtown at 11pm at night, which was fun and interesting in terms of learning some of the history of Portland and part of the tour included eating Voodoo doughnuts at midnight. 

The saturday market was interesting and entertaining to stroll through and we even found a wine tasting booth and bought a bottle of very tasty Blackberry wine from a winery in Salem Oregon which we'll add to our collection. 

 We enjoyed a variety of ethnic cuisines including Lebanese, Japanese Sushi and Thai and also listened to a Bagpipe band at Kells Irish Pub. We strolled along the banks of the Willamette, saw a unique indie movie at Cinema 21 entitled "Boyhood", a coming of age movie which was filmed over a period of 12 years with the same actors which created a very believable story of a boy growing up. 

What a wonderful break from the trail and it was awesome to reunite with Josh. I am so grateful that he flew all the way from Hawaii to visit me. 

Now it's back to the trail where I left off, so I'm catching the bus back to Bend and hitching back to the lava fields I left off at. I am so happy!