   These are Pages from Cassandra's Journal that Crams received recently. All you have to do is click on each one and it will open full size for you. Then click your back button to return to the Blog and do the same for the next page.
I'll fix other pictures I've posted to open to full size as well. Rich
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Hi Friends and Family!
It's Cassandra here, and thanks to our neighbors, we have some internet access for a little while! Thanks you guys (you know who you are ;)! So we're in Etna, CA, enjoying our motel room and a zero day. I've enjoyed looking at all the comments and catching up on Facebook-thank you for your continued prayers and encouraging notes! We'd love to reply to them all but you know, internet access is limited in the wilderness and in these little towns! We've crossed the 1000 mile mark and yes, we could be overwhelmed by how many more miles we have to go, but we're excited about it...California is just a whole new adventure waiting for us! The Sierras, Lake Tahoe, vistas, Trail Angels, autumn weather, more time together...It's good! On to other important news, I've eaten my second beef burger tonight-I've thrown in the towel and have been eating all that I can, especially with protein. It's just so hard to eat enough on the trail-I was thinking about contacting a friend of mine asking for the most calorie/fat intensive meal he could create with backpacking food. It's not too often we can live life with goals like eating the most fat possible! And I'm still skinnier than I have been since middle school! It's truly a concern that we eat enough to make sure we have energy to keep up with the demands of walking over 25 miles a day with a pack on, so pray for our health! We're moving on to Castella tomorrow and like I said, we're looking forward to all that God continues to bestow on us, especially this time together. We're sending our pictures from Oregon and more journals, so hope you enjoy those! Let us know if there's anything you'd like to see more of or hear more of! Cheers, Cassandra This is the 2 month anniversary of starting the trail and we still have about 3 more months to go. What a journey! We are both feeling strong, although we have both lost weight and are trying to eat more to keep it on. Tradja and Swipe finally made their appearance, we met them at the "Kick-off", drove them to the border and said, "see you somewhere in Oregon." It was so great to catch up with them, as always, God's timing is perfect. Jason and Cassandra called 8/19 from Seiad Valley at 6:00. They got their resupply box, and were ready to hit the trail for another 6 or 7 miles before calling it a day!
Cassandra says that hiking feels more like this is the life they live now. The days just seem not normal if they are not hiking. A 30 mile day is not unusual now. But .. today was hot. As we talked on the phone it was 103 degrees. They are currently in a valley, but it is cooler up in the mountains. They will be back in the mountains tomorrow afternoon. Jason said that Seiad Valley reminds him of the terrain around Leavenworth, so he felt right at home there. By the way ... Cassandra treated herself to a hamburger today! It wasn't that good, though. But, the milkshake was awesome!! Jason called Cindy, and here is the latest ...
Took 2 zero days at Callahan's. It was wonderful! The cell phone battery is dead, and the charge is at the next resupply point. Before getting to this point they did 3 - 30 mile days in a row! Got to catch up with Traja and Jess and have some good time discussing hiking experiences. They are NOBO. Met them at the PCT orientation last Spring. Now, it's on to California!! Should hit the 1,000 mile hiked so far. Half way in another 300! Cassandra called. Cell phone really almost dead! Rich got a call from Jason this morning (Thursday) Jason and Cassandra made it to Crater Lake on Wednesday, and spent the night on the ridge.
What a gorgeous view when the sun came up this morning. I am soooo envious! The cell phone battery was running low, so the conversation was short. Mostly we discussed the next step toward getting the VW Bus working by November! Off to Hyatt Lake Resort, the last check point in Oregon.. Cindy mailed the next package to Etna, CA. The one should be at Hyatt Lake already. Sitting at Big Lake Youth Camp, I'm still processing the fact that we just hiked the state of Washington. Scenery has been outstanding, we see a mountain in the distance and then go walk around it. We've started to encounter Northbounders that stated at the Mexican border. crazy guys that are racing to be the first ones to the Canadian border to get a prize that doesn't exist. It's a journey, that's it, whether you do it in 3 months or 6 months, 15 miles a day or 0 miles a day, it doesn't matter.
As Keith Green said, "You can run to the end of the highway {or trail} and not find what you're looking for, to find yourself you've got to start right here." There's something competitive in the heart of man that needs to be put to death and left unchecked. It leads to nothing but trouble. I find that competitive urge coming up sometimes when my mind says you should be doing 30's, or you could probably be doing 40's like those guys. I quickly think about how I would rather enjoy the time with my wife and the views on the trail. I already know my identity and it has nothing to do with being the guy who finishes the trail first. My identity comes from my Creator and it has nothing to do with finishing the trail! Flowers!!
Mt. Jefferson, Olallie Lake porch with Stan and Lakewood (john), Timothy Lake Recreational Area (tons of people!), dusty trail, horses, northbounders are now coming, lunch with 'Big Daddy D', a little bit of snow around Mt. Jefferson, pretty rocks/ponds/flowers/landscape, burned area, warm temperatures, little water, beautiful "golden hours", laughter and stories with hubby, Psalm 19, trail magic @ Santiam Pass! Cookies! Big Lake Youth Camp is a great place! It feels good to see a camp again and be reminded of our own time ! Covenant Harbor and of course YD. So much energy and friendly, curious people - we ate dinner and breakfast, camped out on a beach and I finally got to admire the stars and two shooting stars! We normally go to bed too early! But, we sat up with some of the staff, chatting away while I was also doing our laundry in the best laundry room ever! (Ask me why later J) And, now this morning, a beautiful morning, we ate some yummy pancakes, talked with some more staff, Stan showed up, and I'm just enjoying sitting by the lake in the sun, looking back on an amazing week, and looking forward to the next , with Crater Lake coming up! Thinking and praying for so many of you, and looking forward to our next internet access! YCassandra It wasn't until we were just about to leave Cascade Locks that we realized that we needed to get to Gov't Camp before 4 on Friday so that we could pick up our package from the post office. That meant we couldn't dill dally! We enjoyed walking along the Eagle Creek Trail as it meandered along the river, hopping from waterfall to waterfall. We camped along the river the first night after having seen the infamous Tunnel Falls, where the trail goes behind the waterfall - very neat! The next day we made it to Ramona Falls, which was probably one of the prettiest waterfalls I've ever seen! We ate some licorice and enjoyed the view before going to set up camp.
Friday we made it to Timberline Lodge, which was the exterior setting for the movie "The Shining". There were a lot of people there and we didn't really know what to do with ourselves! We walked around inside and I marveled @ the Brunch they were serving featuring local Farmer's Market items. Loved it! It was a bit pricey so we didn't get to eat it ... Mt. Hood was impressive to walk around - and people were still out skiing on it! It was a funny picture to see Jason with his hiking gear on, walking next to someone with full snow gear and snowboard in hand! We decided to walk down! a ski run to Gov't Camp and made it in time to get our package, eat in town, and get back out and walk about 7 to 8 more miles to the trail. We enjoyed some doughnuts and chocolate milk @ the Chevron along with the rain and 'Motorcycle Mike' and 'Swimmer Man' (Funny memory)!. It was a quick section but felt good to get some miles done in Oregon. |  Jason & Cassandra Boyes
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