Oregon- Lakeview to Gilchrist

So another day ticked, the trail was pretty straight forward apart from a short sandy section, mostly forest trails that we're easy to navigate but extremely dusty!!

We've covered about 170 miles today & with much less hassle than yesterday, we've managed to avoid a thunderstorm & secure some lodgings at a fab place with the lovely Marlene who clearly has a heart of gold!

I was totally in cruising mode this morning, we left Lakeview at 05.30am & got to Silverlake by 10.30am, it's a quiet place with a great cafe, ran by a bunch of local lasses with a great feel for how to run a local cafe, plus there are loads of cheesey sayings on the walls to make you smile... there is also fuel & the cheapest motel we've found on the trip at $37 for a twin room!!

However as it was so early in the day we opted to head to Gilchrist, another 70 miles along the TAT so we could have an extra day there.

The trail then took a turn back to some of the slightly gnarly terrain we had experienced in Nevada which had us all paying attention again for a few miles of sand & scrub, fab stuff!

Once back in the forest the trail was more engaging than this morning but still forest trail at the end of the day that took us right into Gilchrist.

On the descent I could see properly snowy mountains in the distance, oooff must go investigate tomorrow!! Apparently Smith's Rocks is an hour away too, so that & Crater Lake are on the cards for me tomorrow...

We decided to have lunch at the Mohawk  bar & restaurant in Crescent which is next door to Gilchrist, what a place, it's full of stuffed animals, like bear cubs, deer, birds etc which have all been donated to the spot over the years & now fill the walls!! Apparently taxidermy is illegal in Oregon!

Once we'd eaten we checked into the Gilchrist Inn, it's a fab place, quite luxurious for us & it will be home for 3 nights too whilst we go explore & wait for the tyres Geoff & I have ordered to replace our knackered ones!

The TAT had us guessing again today as we're never quite sure how long a section will take us, if the thunderstorm had caught us still in the forest, the fine deep powder sand would have become a quagmire from hell, soo glad it held off!

have fun all...

Oh & sunset last night...