Day 98- the tag along

Last night was cold and windy and I did not want to get out of bed. Finally around 615 I forced myself out and did a quick pack job of my stuff and was walking soon afterwords with the sole purpose of getting warmed up. Luckily we got to walk right around mt Jefferson on the west side offering some pretty stunning views. We walked around a horseshoe type ridge near woodpecker peak and climbed over a north facing ridge and came to a beautiful meadow, that is where the tone for the rest of the day was set - I met dreamlaugher. He is a 65 hear old man hiking the Oregon section of the PCT. He never stopped talking and most of his stories seemed far fetched. After a while I felt more like some peace and "quiet" and just enjoy the views along the trail so I put in my headphones but he still wanted to tell me more stories.   I tried to out walk him, walking 12 miles in 3 hours and took a break, but who should appear, dreamlaugher running down the trail, looking like he was going to drop. I started walking again and made it to olallie lake where he caught up once again. From here it was a lost cause and he continued walking behind me talking my ear off with more stories. Around 8 I made camp and he camped with me and said he would keep hiking with me. Today he was with me for 30 miles of the 38 I did, got to give him credit for putting in big miles.! I suspect he will not be up when I leave tomorrow morning, we'll see..... The day ended on a good note - I had some blue cheese mashed potatoes for dinner that were great. I am 39 miles from timberline lodge and should get at least close to there tomorrow.