There are a lot of things that are backed up: traffic on the 405 freeway, my “books to read” list, and very much these last few weeks, my blog.
It’s been days! Weeks! Nearly months since the last blog. The pain! The anguish! The horror! How have you survived these difficult times???
Well rest assured, dear reader, it’s all ok now; we’re back in business after a packed traversal of ALL of Oregon, and I’m comfortably relaxing on the porch of Trout Lake’s single grocery store (these locals are hilarious), drinking a cold drink and uploading countless photos for your enjoyment. Crisis, averted, yet sometimes these blog crises do occur. After all, I’m a thru-hiker!
As always, please feel free to mail letters, postcards, mail, business cards, or care packages to me on trail! Really, mail me anything, I’ll be so happy. I always get so excited heading to the post office, and the next one will be in Snoqualmie Pass! There are only two more post office stops left on the trail (😢), so I’m listing both addresses so that y’all can prepare your mail. If you’ve ever wanted to send something to a REAL LIFE PCT HIKER STRAIGHT TO THE TRAIL, these are your last two chances!!
Thank you so much to everyone who’s sent me packages, post cards, and letters so far; going to the post office is like Christmas, each and every time! It’s honestly so crazy that we’re reaching the end already, the very last post office! So sad :(
Here are the last two post office addresses on trail, along with my ETA to them. In case you’re wondering what to send, Brooke and I love Trader Joe’s baby food pouches, Walking Tamales (picture of these below, red ones are the BEST), and colored Goldfish (elite flavor). They’re the most delicious snacks ever!
Dennis Gavrilenko, PCT Hiker, 9/14/2025
Chevron Station
521 WA-906
Snoqualmie Pass, WA 98068
(Yes I know this one’s to a Chevron Station, but it has a post office inside!)
Dennis Gavrilenko, PCT Hiker, 9/20/2025
c/o General Delivery
31 Defacto Lane
Stehekin, WA 98852
Let’s go!
If this is your first episode and you’re thinking “what in the world is happening right now”, start here!
Day 94, 8/12/2025:
(Wow, I can’t believe how backlogged these are lol)
After our morning hike into Castella and long break near the post office, it was time to figure out how to hitch ahead to our next town. After lots of discussion, Brooke and I decided to skip ahead to the town of Etna so that we’d be able to finish the trail by the end of September; it’d be very unlikely we’d be able to walk the entire length by then, so we figured that we might as well skip sooner rather than later so that we’d could really enjoy the next month and a half without the stress. Plus, we live in California, so it’ll be a lot easier to come back and backpack this missed section than something up in Washington.
So we set out looking for a ride. Fortunately, Pablo and Flo befriended a dude named Bryan, who worked at Castle Crags State Park and offered to drive up to Shasta City, where he lived. After a few minutes in the car, he overheard us discussing how we’d possibly get to Etna, said “I’m not doing much today”, and drove us all the way there. Bryan, our hero!
Bryan dropped us off right at the Etna City Park, the designated place in town where PCT hikers were allowed to camp. We said bye to Bryan (who was extremely disappointed that his favorite restaurant in town was closed on Tuesdays), and headed into park to set up our tents.
By the end of the day, I’ve decided that Etna was created for thru-hikers. It was unbelievable how accessible and easy everything there was, and just how hospitable they were to us hikers; the park had beautiful grass to camp on, a shower building, restrooms with running water, charging outlets, and fireplace with pre-set-up fire, and deer. So many deer: on people’s lawns, eating grass in the park, crossing the street, they were everywhere!
Finally, after a long time chilling and relaxing, we had some delicious sandwiches in town; Flo, Pablo, and I did laundry (what a long walk that was); caught up on Wesley’s Instagram (such a treat); and spent the walk back explaining the difference between rednecks and white trash to my French friends. Trust me, there’s a difference. What a day
Day 95, 8/13:
18 miles today with 3400 feet of elevation.
Today I learned that my sleeping pad can be used as a swimming raft, and actually floats really well. Delightful!
After waking up early and packing up camp, the squad headed back to the Main Street to get coffee and pastries at the cafe before heading up to the trail. A local was picking us up from there at 8, so we got up at 7 to make sure we had plenty of time to eat beforehand. The ride up to the trail went smoothly for about a minute, until the lady started being rude af to Pablo and quite unfair to the rest of us hikers (I won’t go into it, but being on the receiving end of a unfair deal is the worst feeling in the world). I ended up being quite triggered by that car ride, and very grateful when we were eventually dropped off at the trailhead. Thank goodness.
Once on trail, the hiking proceeded smoothly for the rest of the day; the trail followed some epic ridgelines in the Marble Mountains, and the views were so pretty all day. Brooke and I took several extremely long and pleasant reading breaks (we’re talking hours-long breaks), including one at the delightful Fischer Lake, where I discovered that the sleeping pad floats very well… I have a tiny hole in my pad and it deflates every night, so I was trying to find that hole and patch it, with no luck there. The lake also had tons of little salamander newts swimming around, and we had a great time catching them. Finished off the day with some more ridge walking, before enjoying the sunset and being antagonized by a persistent deer at our campsite.
Brooke and I also argued about the importance of Oxford commas today (she doesn’t believe they’re necessary), so I spent some time today coming up with example sentences that demonstrate their importance. Enjoy!
I invited to my birthday LeBron James, a terrorist and a cat whisperer.
I really like Nelson Mandela, Obama’s cousin and an accomplished bank thief.
Day 96, 8/14:
21 miles today with 3200 feet of climbing. Today’s metrics are brought to you by FarOut, since Strava decided to glitch out midday and stopped recording accurately. I love Strava 🧡
It was a pretty rough morning mentally, and a very slow start to boot. I tried to patch the tiny hole in my sleeping pad yesterday at the lake, but the pad still deflated a few times last night so I didn’t get great sleep. Love. Add in some general NorCal fatigue, and that’s a recipe for a 10 am departure if I’ve ever seen one.
Nevertheless, the show must go on. Today’s scenery featured more gorgeous ridges, and the even more gorgeous Marble Mountains: giant peaks of solid white marble, with the trail winding through fields of massive marble boulders. Brooke and I took a long break in a field of these boulders, checked out the Forest Service cabin at the trail junction (completely abandoned and trashed), and somehow found an extra gear to kick into for the afternoon’s hiking. We only went 7 miles by 3 pm, and then proceeded to crush 14 miles by 9:30 pm, with Brooke screaming every few minutes once it got dark because she thought some bird or bush was a snake lol. Some days are just weird like that.
Set up camp at a pretty decent site among a group of live trees (a rarity these days) on an abandoned fire road, and headed off to a relatively early bed. Should be a chill day of straight descending tomorrow until Seiad Valley + Brian’s Place trail angel emporium, and then I get to backpack with my family this weekend! Yay!
Day 97, 8/15:
16 miles today with 700 feet of climbing. A big day downhill!
The day started off with me exiting the tent in the morning to empty my very-full bladder on some nearby rocks. 20 seconds later, a large deer emerges from the bushes, and proceeds to lick the very same rocks... yum!
Brooke and I were arriving in town today, so we were particularly excited to get going early and make it to the post office before it closed at 4; I was hoping for some packages and letters (last post office in CA!), so we were hustling down the mountain QUICK STYLE. There were tons of blowdowns (trees fallen over onto the trail), which slowed down our speed, but we made good progress at before we knew it, arrived at the much-anticipated stop of Brian’s Place.
I was first told about Brian’s Place from a SoBo I’d met in Etna, who said it was an amazing trail angel’s house where you could relax and chill for as long as you’d like. It was SO much better than that! I arrived to Brian’s Place, and was greeted by the greatest fridge a thru-hiker has ever seen, a very nice dog, and a wonderful hammock.
The rest of the afternoon was lost to Brian’s Place: dozens of other hikers arrived, Brian himself came outside after his work call, and we spent hours and hours just chatting and sharing stories. Some other hikers borrowed Brian’s ATV and went to pick blackberries; Brian drove us to the post office to save us a 2-mile walk (thank you Ms. Heidi, Albina, and HH for your care packages!); the blackberry pickers came back and JP (another hiker) made DELICIOUS blackberry pie, and before I knew it, brooke and I had accepted that we were spending the night at Brian’s and fully embraced his hospitality. I myself took Brian’s ATV out for a joyride, and eventually, my entire family arrived at Brian’s (they were coming this weekend to join Brooke and I for 2 days!), and together we all relaxed on his porch as Maxim grilled us steaks for dinner. My family set up their tents on Brian’s driveway, while brooke and I were graciously allowed to shower and stay in his guest bedroom for the night.
Needless to say, I cannot convey with words just how amazing Brian’s Place was… it was the center of PCT happiness right there, and it seems I’ve left my heart in Seiad Valley. 💔
Day 98, 8/16:
13 miles today with 3000 feet of climbing.
What an absolutely amazing day! Brooke and I woke up feeling extremely well rested after a much-needed night in Brian‘s comfortable guest bed, and were greeted with fresh coffee and Costco croissants that my family had brought the night before. After saying a sad goodbye to Brian, the Gavrilenko clan packed up our things and headed off to trail!
The climb out of Seiad Valley was a few thousand feet straight uphill with no water, so we decided to strategically bypass that portion of the trail, drive up the fire road to the top of the mountain, and carry on from there! We spent the rest of the day hiking over rolling mountains, as I caught up with my entire family and we enjoyed the beautiful NorCal scenery together. We hiked an impressive 13 miles before all eating our Mountain Houses and sitting around the campfire until bedtime. To top it all off, Papa brought a bottle of prosecco and some chocolates to celebrate Brooke and I finishing the California part of the trail, and it was the best time ever. Thank you, Papa!
Day 99, 8/17:
30ish miles today with 3700 feet of climbing.
Today was a long and fun day: the Gavrilenko clan woke up at a reasonable hour, and spent the morning played Durak around another campfire. Eventually, it was time for us to sadly part: the Gavrilenkos back home to work and school, Brooke and I to Oregon! We packed up our camps quickly, and were back on trail by 11.
The rest of the day was spent hiking lazily, including soliciting a free beer from some deer hunters near trail (today was the opening of deer hunting season, and hunters were everywhere!), and taking a very long break at the Donomore Cabin… our last stop in Oregon! We were supposed to only take a quick lunch, but ended up spending 3 hours there and taking a nap on the cots inside. Classic story of my life.
Eventually, we accepted that we had to hike far that day, so we got up from our cozy naps and trudged on ahead. We reached the Oregon—California border in the late afternoon, took some celebratory pictures, and signed the trail register. Oregon! Wow! I can’t believe we made it! Only two states left to go now, but these ones are far shorter than California :)
After our celebration there, we hiked for many more hours with tremendous views of Shasta, and eventually set up camp just after midnight. We’re heading into Ashland tomorrow, and need to catch Flo and Pablo before we get there. 🙃
Day 100, 8/18:
8 miles with 300 feet of climbing.
Man, what a brutal wake-up this morning. It was up at 7 am and out by 7:30 to reach Callahan’s Lodge by 10. Yikes!
Why so early? Well, Brooke’s mom’s college bestie, Margaret, lives in the town of Ashland, and offered to pick us and post us up in her house for the night: an offer we couldn’t refuse. We hustled to the lodge and arrived at 10:05, where Flo, Pablo, Brooke, and Margaret were waiting. Hooray! We drove back to Ashland in great spirits, and spent the rest of the day relaxing, visiting the best gear store I’ve ever been to (Mountain Provisions), eating pizza, and generally slaying. Amazing stuff
Also, 100 days?! Triple digits baby, let’s go!
Days 101-103, 8/19-8/21:
After an extremely relaxing day and a nice night of sleep in an actual bed, I realized I was actually extremely cooked mentally and needed a few more days off. So, Pablo and Flo went back on trail, and Brooke and I stayed behind in Ashland for some much-needed in R&R.
We did a lot of wonderful things over those four days, so I’ll just mention the highlights:
Buying all the food for the rest of Oregon and mailing it ahead for super cheap. Grocery Outlet, I love you
Geocaching. Geocaching. Geocaching! Traditionals, multi-caches, Adventure Labs; even a Geocaching treasure hunt around the fire station that rewarded us with a large medallion and a tour of Fire Station #2
Walking all around Ashland in town clothes, blending in to look like Ashland locals. Ashland is such a cute town, and I’d happily live there :)
Playing What do you Meme (actually such a fun game) with Margaret’s daughter Louise. Some hilarious cards were played. No, I won’t share them.
Having some more pizza, sponsored by a wonderful SoBo who treated everyone to free food at his birthday party 🥳
All in all, Ashland and our break there was an 11/10. Can’t recommend it enough :)
