16
Wednesday, July 19, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
COAST TRAIL: Impact
of winter has pushed
many off PCT
Continued from page 15
would do just that. It would
require the state’s Parks and
Recreation Department to
work with other state agen-
cies, local governments and
organizations and stakehold-
ers to develop an action plan
for the OCT. The plan would
detail what is needed to fill
gaps in the trail system, and
take into account “the con-
cerns of the public and other
interested parties.”
Meanwhile, a number of
people in coastal communi-
ties are addressing one piece
on their own.
Jeanne Henderson has
never seen anything like the
numbers of hikers passing by
her house now.
Henderson, who is Bonnie
Henderson’s sister-in-law,
lives in Surf Pines between
Warrenton and Gearhart. On
this stretch of the OCT, hik-
ers are either on the roads
or walking the beach. They
are hard to miss. When
Henderson sees them on
the road, she pulls over and
offers them a ride to Seaside.
They always get in her car,
and they all have her sister-
in-law’s book.
They tell her the same
story: They started on the
PCT, hit snow, reconsidered
their options, heard about the
OCT, decided to try it. Many
of them plan to go back to the
PCT when they’re done in
Oregon.
Henderson’s friend Pat
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Wollner has often hosted
cyclists passing through the
area. During the summer,
her house is full most week-
ends. Henderson didn’t quite
understood the appeal before.
Now, having met so many
thru-hikers, Henderson said,
“It’s killing me not to pick
them all up.”
She worries about a young
Norwegian woman hik-
ing alone — “I’ll be fine,”
the woman assured her.
She exchanges texts with
Annichiarico, Carpenter,
Delgado and Hochadel.
They tell her they’ve reached
Newport.
In recent weeks, she has
enlisted friends up and down
the coast, urging them to let
hikers she meets camp in
their backyards. One friend
was wary at first, but quickly
fell in the love with the
group Henderson sent her
way. When they left, she told
Henderson, “I miss my back-
yard buddies. Send me some
more.”
Nicole H am p s t en , a
teacher from California and
an experienced backpacker,
didn’t start on the PCT this
spring, but is considering
jumping on it once she fin-
ishes the OCT. She said the
OCT is very different from
other long-distance hikes
and not linear. While plan-
ning how far she’ll try to hike
each day, Hampsten longs for
maps with mileage marked
on them — something most
available maps lack — and
clear signage.
Hiker Andy Gosiak said
signage was spotty the entire
trail.
“There were about five
signs the whole trail,” Gosiak
joked.
“There were probably 10,”
one of his hiking companions
Andreas Hoepfler countered.
Catching the smile still on
Gosiak’s face, he added, “No.
I’m serious right now.”
Still, there are perks.
“We’ve got beer!” said
Hochadel, swinging her pack
to show where the beers were
tucked into its side pockets as
the group hiked out of Arch
Cape.
“In glass bottles!”
Carpenter added.
On the Oregon trail, thru-
hikers don’t need to carry
much food or water. They
can easily resupply at one of
the nearby towns. They can
indulge themselves, pack-
ing things they normally
wouldn’t carry on a longer
slog like the Pacific Crest
Trail.
“You get spoiled,” said
Hoepfler, who came from
Austria to hike the PCT and
ended up on the OCT.
But Hampsten is begin-
ning to think the PCT hikers
are the ones who are spoiled.
There are so many resources
built around that trail: books,
online forums, data, websites,
communities. When hik-
ers walk into a town trailing
clouds of dust, clothes crisp
with a week’s worth of sweat,
they are a familiar, even
expected, sight.
By comparison, the OCT,
for all its proximity to civi-
lization, is almost uncharted
territory. People stopped
Hochadel on Sunset Beach,
curious, asking, “What are
you doing? Why are you car-
rying that pack?”
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Sisters salutes...
PHOTO PROVIDED
• At a recent city coun-
cil meeting, Sisters Rodeo
President Glenn Miller
expected questions from
the council about the rodeo
and parade. Instead, he was
surprised with presentation
of a book filled with his-
torical photos of the rodeo,
a gift from the City of
Sisters.
“We are so thrilled with
this book,” said President
Miller, adding that the city
included photos that the
rodeo association doesn’t
even have. He added, “We
have a great relationship
with the city, which we hope
will continue for at least
another hundred years.”
President Miller and
Sisters Rodeo Association
Board of Directors say
thank you to the City for this
thoughtful gift.
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