Day 128 and 129

Bend

Cost: Stayed at the Hilton Doubletree with Howard, KC & Cuban B, $33 pp / pn

We woke up and made our way down to the breakfast buffet in Timberline lodge. I bumped into Cuban B whom I hadn’t seen since Toulumne Meadows then tucked into eggs, bacon, quiche, yoghurt, fruit salad and pancakes. It was a nice breakfast. 

KC and I had always agreed that if someone would take us into Bend to a brewery for lunch and bring us back to the trail that we would say yes. Howard’s offer was a little more enticing with a trip to REI and an overnight stay in Bend… How could we say no?! 

We had to say goodbye to Shepherd because he can’t take any more days off. It was sad to think that we might not see him again. 

Cuban B was going to wait for some friends to catch up so I told him our plans in Bend and he came along too. 

We left Timberline, drove the 2 hours to Bend and our first stop was the REI. I replaced my Jetboil (the igniter stopped working back in the desert and the cup was also broken), I got a new large Sawyer filter (the mini is driving me crazy with how slow it is) and a new headlamp because mine seems to be chewing through the batteries and we’ve been doing quite a bit of unintentional night hiking lately!
   

Then we checked into the hotel and relaxed for a couple of hours before heading to the Deschutes brewery for a really delicious dinner. 

Hilton Doubletree in Bend

The next day we slept in, went for a great breakfast at McKay cottage, stopped by a supermarket to replenish our food for the next couple of days, then spent the rest of the afternoon watching season 3 of Orange Is The New Black. It was a very relaxing time and I’m hoping my aches and pains will have subsided when I get back on the trail tomorrow!