Mackenzie Pass takes you into Sisters, but many hikers opt to hitch 22 miles further into Bend, a larger, hipper town with more services. I chose ease and convenience.
Sisters is very small, and has this western, cowboy theme going on- covered wagons on street corners, raised wooden sidewalks, building facades. The Sisters Inn came highly recommended on the PCT Facebook group, but they were full when I arrived in town. Fortunately, the Best Western across the street matched the price and had a room. (Plus a pool and hot tub which I made good use of)
My friend from last year, Fainting Goat, came into town ms picked me up. We drove to Bend for breakfast and a trip to REI. It was good to catch up and talk about future plans!
Originally, I had been irritated at my late start, waiting for my backpack to arrive. Now, I was very happy with the timing, since it put me in town to watch the Gymnastics all around competition. Wow! That Simone Biles is something else! And like my previous thoughts on hiking, I'm sure Aly Raismen feels that the second time around was way better, too.
Good friends, good food, pool, hot tub, women's gymnastics, and Michael Phelps' 1000th gold medal- that's what I call a good zero day!