I spent a few more minutes at the pool this morning, soaking up civilization, before Matthew and I headed for the post office and then caught a ride to the trail. We ended up going to the Santiam Pass trailhead and hiked out from there, stopping to talk to a Forest Service ranger about the Whitewater Fire burning in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness and the subsequent closure of 11 miles of the PCT. He confirmed that we would be able to get off of the trail at its junction with the Woodpecker trail where, lucky for us, Tim was planning to meet us to give us a ride around the closure and to spend a couple days with us. He also let us know that the next few days were going to be hot (107 degrees!!) and very dry, so we may find out that the fire has expanded its boundaries. Continue reading “Day 113: It’s Hot And Dry. Again. “
We left Lava Camp in the early morning and got a quick hitch in to the quaint town of Sisters. Naturally, the first thing we did was stop for breakfast. We were dirty, but the maple syrup stuck to the wall of the diner made us feel like we fit in. Continue reading “Days 110 – 112: The Promised Land”
I vaguely remember what happened on this day. I walked through some woods, saw a pine marten, and camped on top of Koosah Mountain with all of the mosquitos in Oregon. The end. Continue reading “Day 108: Marten And The Mosquitos”
Its always hard to leave civilization, even if civilization is an RV park that overcharges for everything, and especially when the pack is full of too much food and water. I’m still not rocking this resupply thing, but at least I’m not going to die for lack of food out here. Continue reading “Day 107: Backwoods Banquet”
I took the Oregon Skyline Trail alternate today to get directly to my next resupply spot, Shelter Cove. I stopped for lunch at Crescent Lake Campground and had a quick swim to take the edge off of the growing heat. The campground is a popular place and it dawned on me that it now feels different being in a place with so many ‘regular’ people. I forget that they probably don’t want to see me picking my toes at the picnic table or hanging my underwear in a tree to dry. Transition back to regular life may be rough. Continue reading “Day 106: The OST”
The monotony of miles of buggy forest walking was broken today by the wonder that is Crater Lake National Park. We had a perfect day for the views, with barely a cloud in the sky, warm temps and a slight breeze. Joe Dirt, Polliwog, Donkey, Roi, Matthew and I headed up to the Rim Village, where we were greeted heartily by a touring group from France and had a delicious breakfast and a wonderful server at the lodge restaurant. After we finished we all found comfy chairs inside by the fire or the window, or the rocking chairs on the outside patio, and threatened to take naps there for the rest of the day.
We knew we had to get moving eventually, however, so we filled our packs with four liters of water each (on top of waaaay too much food) and hauled our loads up the Rim trail along with the other tourists. The Rim trail is an alternate to the actual PCT, which runs further West of the lake, and I am really glad that we took it. The views of the lake and of Wizard island in the middle were stunning from every angle.
It took me a long time to go a few miles because of all the photos I was taking. We took a side trail up to the Watchman’s Tower and the view became even more spectacular. We could see Diamond Peak, Diamond Lake, and Mt. Thielsen to the North, the expanse of Crater Lake just below us, and Union Peak, Mt. McLoughlin and Mt. Shasta to the South. It was a highlight of the whole hike so far.
l-r: Mt. Bailey, Diamond Peak, Mt. Thielsen
We descended back down to the rim trail and continued on through snowy patches, making trail slushees along the way, until the trail headed into shaded forest with melted snow puddles…prime mosquito country.
They came out in force and we tried to outrun them but it was impossible. Only deet got rid of them. We camped at the junction between the PCT and the Rim trail with Valley Girl, A-Game, Rodeo and Bug Juice, built a fire and had dinner together with some water and beer that Bug Juice found at a water cache a few minutes away.
I hate to say this about nature, but sometimes it’s a little frustrating. Like today. The morning began with a thick cloud of mosquitos, most of them stuck to the outsides of our tents, waiting for us to dare to unzip our doors. Later in the day, I walked right past an arrow and an X in the trail and went a mile in the wrong direction. I wasn’t the only person who was having a hard time sticking to the trail…I helped two hikers find their way back to their car on highway 62 after they climbed Union peak and got a little off track on the way down. They then gave me a ride to Mazama Village at Crater Lake. There I picked up my resupply box, which I discovered had already been opened by some hungry mice. It looked like they had a nice meal of Luna bars. They left me most of the food, which was nice of them.
One of the casualties.
We had an ok dinner at the Village and chatted with some remarkably clean park visitors. I took a quick shower to wash off the day, organized my food bag (actually just dumped everything in it) then hit the hay with the hope that tomorrow would be more enjoyable. Or at least have fewer mosquitos and mice.
Roi, sharing my indignation. I asked for so many root beer refills that they eventually brought me a pitcher.
“I’m a nature lover, but if we eradicated the entire mosquito population from the earth, I’d be ok with that.” ~ Donkey
The mosquitos were upon me as soon as I left my tent this morning, and they didn’t quit until I closed myself in my tent this evening. They’ve grown up now, and are capable of keeping up with me when I walk and attach themselves to me while I’m moving. They can bite through clothes, and a hardy few are even impervious to deet. This is the part of the trek that I’ve been dreading, and I’m just hoping to make it through the next few weeks of mosquito-mageddon without losing my mind.
In other news of the day, we hiked through a lot of trees, but gained enough elevation in the evening to have an expansive view of the Sky Lakes Wilderness, Mt. McLaughlin and Klamath Lake.
We ran into enough snow on the north side of the hill we were climbing to be able to glissade down to the trail below us.
Joe Dirt, showing us how it’s done.
I’m amazed that my running shorts have survived this long.
I camped with Joe Dirt, Polliwog and Donkey, who built a fire to try to discourage the tiny bloodsuckers that showed up. It worked pretty well, but we ate with our head nets on anyway.
Donkey and Polliwog are a couple from the Seattle, Washington, and they are two of the funniest people I’ve met. Joe Dirt is a recent college grad from Santa Rosa, and not only is he hilarious but he can remember an amazing number of movie quotes, including those of his namesake. The only thing he’s missing is a mullet. We’ll see if we can convince him to get one before Canada.
