Sunday, August 26th: Todays miles = 17.2. Total PCT miles = 1,744.2. I woke up this morning completely ready to leave town. I didn't want to spend another minute in town. I did manage to stay long enough to go for breakfast and coffee, though. I got a ride out to the trail by a very kind woman outside the gas station. She took me right to the trail head which was out of her way. I was back on trail by noon.
The first 8 miles were uneventful and even boring. I stopped for water around the 9 mile mark then continued hiking. Baboon was a good 1/4 of a mile ahead of me and way out of sight when I saw it - a wolf! I was hiking along a ridge. The mountain lead downhill to my right and uphill on my left. I heard a rustle in the brush and immediately stopped to see what it was. It sounded too graceful to be a bear, to quick to be a deer, and too loud to be a mountain lion. I had no idea what it could be until it busted out of the bushes and tore down the mountain starting on my right hand side. It was running right toward me!!! It was so fast I barely had time to react. All I was able to do was put my trekking poles outward as if swords to protect me if he lunged on me. It seemed, however, that he had no real interest in me because just before he got close to the PCT he straightened out his path and ran across the PCT just 10 yards in front of me. He avoided me completely. It was almost as if he was scared of me. He continued down the mountain for a little while until I heard the running stop. He didn't run too far. So many things were running through my head. It was while he crossed the PCT that I was able to take in his true size. Until that moment I was unsure if it was a coyote. As he ran directly in front of me, though, I saw just how large he was. I got the clearest look I could have ever gotten; as if I was watching an episode of planet earth. He was 70-80 pounds. The top of his head reached to just below my waist. Gray fur covered his lean and strong body structure. He looked just the slightest bit mangy. His ears were perked and his snout was very pronounced. One good look of him and there was not a shadow of doubt; it was a wolf! I had no idea if there were even wolves in Oregon but if someone were to tell me there were not I would confidently say they were wrong. I could not have seen it more clearly (it was just like the wolves on those ugly grey sweaters that people wear). At this moment when I realized what I had seen is when my mind started racing. Was it in a pack? Were they hungry? Was he going to follow me or stalk me as I continued hiking? I waited a moment standing completely still on the trail. I waited to see if he would show himself again. All was quite. He must have been under the bushes. He made no more movement while I was there. I began walking again this time faster than my normal pace. Every few moments I couldn't stop myself from looking back to see if I was being followed.
It was another 2 or 3 miles of hiking before I meet up with Baboon and told him what I saw. He told me flat out "your wrong! There are NO wolves in Oregon!!". My confidence on the matter sparked a friendly debate and it was than that he pulled out his phone and began researching the subject. Turns out there ARE grey wolves in Southern Oregon. They were reintroduced to Idaho starting in 1995. Just 25 grey Canadian wolves were brought in to reestablish the population that had been completely destroyed years back. These wolves made their was to Oregon by swimming across a large river. It was later discovered that a few of the female wolves were traveling with pups. It is estimated that there are an extreamly low number of wolves in Oregon numbering between 25-50. They are almost never seen. Upon learning this information Baboon began taking me for my word. I had a good laugh about it. He then changed his demeanor from disbelief to jealousy. I don't know what there is to be jealous about. After seeing it all I wanted to do was get as much space between it and me as I could.
Camped with Baboon on private land. Hopefully no cows tonight.
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