Near the Timberline Lodge 4000 or so feet below the summit of Mt Hood. This picture was taken by none other than little Miss Strawberry Shortcake aka Poke Bone the original rancher gangsta who came bearing presents from none other than Cornhole and we even got to make a new friend Mister Sister (name somewhat altered to protect the children). These girls are amazing and have shown much love through OR. 1000 thank yous for keeping our spirits up. You are all amazing.

Oh yeah we also saw Mt. Hood along the way.

We crossed 2100 miles on the way to the assorted meats, but the meat was a much bigger motivator than the mile marker. I would call out meats to hear turtle ring back with pastries. We did this for miles. Ok so sometimes you don't have a lot of other things to contemplate along the trail.

This was left at a trailhead for us. The Holy Grail of menus for the Timberline Lodge Lunch Buffet. We literally recited this menu out loud several times as our cheer for two days. It propelled us forward to break our record on Friday and hike 33 miles in a day and then wake up at 5 am on Saturday and hike 17 more to make it before the buffet closed.

This is how you do it Hiker Trash style wash your clothes, get your water, and soak those nearly numb feet in the freezing cold water of Warm Springs.

And the trail is where? Missing a few miles of trail due to a few feet of snow lingering in the mountains.

So we are done with snow right? It is September. Not quite. Turtle entering Mt. Hood Wilderness after leaving Jefferson Park via Park Butte.

The cream of the crop Jefferson Park where the view of the North Face of Jefferson and its many glaciers tower over all the surrounding landscape for miles.

We left our camp at Shale Lake early in the morning because we had two stream crossing which were supposed to be difficult in the afternoon due to increased water flow from increased snow melt due to rising temperatures as the day stretches on. Apparently we made it to Russel Creek in time. As you can see in the picture Turtle is crossing the snowfield that covers the creek but there is a waterfall running above the snow and the water could be heard beneath us and on the opposite shore it had melted much of the snow. The most exciting part is you have no idea where the weak spots are if there are any so all you can do is jab your hiking poles as hard as you can into the snow and ice and hope they detect any problems before your feet do.

I have never been so spoiled in my life while having so little. We carry everything we own mile after mile like gypsies wandering from site to site waiting to be amazed yet again and this trail and the nature that surrounds it never fail to oblige. This was our camp for one of those nights at the end of a long day right as the sun was setting and the mountain was captured in a purple glow and all was reflected in Shale Lake. It all came and went in a matter of seconds but luckily we were there to witness it. The life of a trail gypsy can be pretty damn good.

After leaving Three Fingered Jack we entered some of the most pristine wilderness that I have been through on this trip. As has been the case through much of Oregon you are often surrounded by forests whose canopy is so thick the darkness cannot escape it and light dares not enter, but then you have moments like the one photographed where you wander out onto a cliff and a view that is difficult to comprehend comes into sight. This is Mount Jefferson standing in all it's majesty near sunset.

After Sisters we moved quickly on to Three Fingered Jack one of the last matterhorn mountains that we will encounter along this journey.

That's right I found a headband. Step back ladies I am taken. 2000 miles my eyes never want it to end but my feet have completely different thoughts.

Not to far after our 4 month anniversary in Bend we hit this beautiful sign marking 2000 miles! Snow Turtle is pictured showing how she received her name. Doing the Turtle!

After leaving Sisters we were greeted with one of the most grueling stretches of trail so far, 3 miles of lava flows. It is like traveling to another planet. The ground was covered with razor sharp lava rock that cuts through the side of your shoes and as you travel up the terrain it slides back two steps forward one back. The one redeeming characteristic of the flow is there are very few trees so the views of Sisters behind us and Mt. Washington in front of us were amazing.

This picture has to be shown for two reasons. The first is because it was an absolutely beautiful pass with snow covered walls and views that stretched out forever. The second reason it has to be shown it because it has quite possibly the best name of any pass we have encountered and that is Opie Dildock. Make sure you look for Turtle in the far right.

Our favorite trail angel & co. drove down from Portland to take us to Bend. A huge thanks to Juli & Strawberry Shortcake for driving us around on hiker errands, the unofficial Bend tour of breweries, and beating us in cornhole. Mad skills, Shortcake. Looking forward to a rematch.

We slept at the feet of Middle Sister near Obsidian Falls. Obsidian was a land of wonder all by itself. To start there is a 50+ foot waterfall cascading down to the ground which is covered in obsidian.

We hit Middle Sister right at sunset.

After our brief stop in Bend we wandered back into the Sisters Wilderness where three hopefully extinct volcanoes lie right next to each other. The volcano pictured is South Sister apparently the easiest to climb.