Hello Ultimate Oregon families. This is Jason filling in on trip journal duties for our Course Director Bert. Bert has had to join the boys of Ultimate Oregon for the backpacking section. Anna, their fearless leader has come down with a case of bronchitis. Despite Anna’s strong desire to stay with her expedition-mates, she was just not well enough to make the trek. She has been providing support and was able to get pretty close to the trail and met up with the group on the 2nd night of the hike. She will be waiting for them when the hike out of the backcountry. Bert, or Berticus, was super-psyched to spring in to duty as he has spent a good amount of time with this expedition already. He has told me several times that the Ultimate Oregon group is “really tight, like a band of brothers.” Based on the previous 2 ½ weeks we decided that the original backpacking section we had planned for was just not going to be challenging enough for these guys. Hence, we returned to one of our all time favorite destinations along the Columbia River Gorge and the Eagle Creek trail. The first day they hiked about 7 miles through a waterfall filled gorge. Highlights included passing underneath the 120 ft Tunnel Falls and stopping for pictures at Punchbowl Falls, one of the most scenic waterfalls in the US. Day 2 they backpacked about 6 miles to Wahtum Lake complete with plenty of swimming options. Yesterday the hopped on the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail’s western brother, that stretches from Maine to Canada. We look forward to hearing about the rest of their adventures, and Anna looks forward to reuniting with her team. She is feeling much better by the way and is a real trooper. This program is winding down with just a few more days to go. Expect some tired and inspired children when they return home.
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