Aug. 26th (night) - 31st. Crater Lake to Eugene, OR

Sometimes Boogieman needs some misfortune to appreciate how great everything is. Because, just after sending off the last post, everything turned towards his favors. A 4-mile hitchhike to resupply, all-you-can eat salad bar, discovery of lost croc, and reunion with Darth and Live. Not to mention one of the most rare and exciting experiences of his life.
Earlier in the day, Boogie meets Ben, a hiker out for the weekend. They discuss camping possibilities and part ways. Ben takes valley by the creek. Boogie takes plateau by the spring. After dark, Boogie, Darth, and LIve arrive to camp and make a fire. Soon after, Ben arrives to the fire, noticeably agitated. We invite him to sit and enjoy, but he just paces. Finally, with shy embarrassment, he asks one of us to return to his campsite. "Could one of you come with me to grab my bag and pad? There's a mountain lion waiting for me." (Let me guess...Boogieman to the rescue-secretary side note)
Boogie, Darth, and Live erupt into laughter. Ben, no smile. Boogie thinks, wow, he's serious. He offers to go after Ben describes his encounter surprising the cat and the cat standing its ground twice. So Boogie and Ben approach the camp. We shine our lights to catch the eyes and silhouette of the large cat (What a sexy animal(this is ben's writing)!) Ben freaks out: "Bad Cat! Bad CAt!" He's banging sticks on the ground. Boogie wants a better look, but he gets caught up in the frenzy: "Heeey Cat! Heeeey CAt!" He bangs his stick on the ground and barks. The cat glares at us and sleeks off up the river bank. They all go to sleep incredibly lightly. Favorite quote: "That cat was waiting at the bottom of the trail with its mouth open waiting for me to walk in. It was as big as an African lion and I'm a little guy!"
After the excitement, Boogie parts ways from all 3 and is off alone to hike through snowfall (in August!?) and hang loose with his friends, James and Kelly, in Eugene. What a beautiful city and what incredible hosts! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Awesome barbecue, great friends and wow, Oregon beers!