Day 38 – Oregon Turns the Page

Everything this morning is Oregon normal. The green canopy. The tranquil deadfall-infused lakes. The damp chilliness of the air. It is about 50F when I walk out of camp at 5:40 am.

A normal day ahead?

The day is divided by water. With the mosquitoes active on the trail, no one wants to stop until there is a strong cold source. That source is in 8 miles. I am carrying two liters – plenty for 8 morning miles. There is then another 8 miles before we reach a lake. The last miles and camp have water, so no worries there. There are a couple climbs, the largest being 1300 ft. So the hike appears like a normal PCT hiking day.

The first 8 miles are a breeze. The trail is well-maintained here because we are close to a popular resort (Elk Lake). Like yesterday, there are dozens of ponds just off the trail.

And I feel it incumbent upon me to continue my series of “green” photos.

I feel pretty smug with my little lecture about how to appreciate the beauty of the Oregon trail. (You have to search for nuance.) Oregon is going to obliterate that observation by the end of the day!

Hunkered Toad

First let me tell you about poor little Toad. She had raced by me as I ate lunch yesterday, head down, legs pumping. I called out to her as she passed, causing her to scream. She was going all “White Rabbit” on me with how she was going as fast as she could to meet a friend (Bram) in Elk Lake.

Well, today as I make my first water stop I find her hunkered down in her tent, peering out the bug screen at me. She is wearing her head net inside her tent. Bram is still meeting her but there has been some kind of delay. In the mean time she is not coming out. She watches me with concern as I filter water for two liters while twitching and writhing under the mosquito onslaught. The key is to keep moving and to keep your shirt moving across your skin.

The world outside

The Wanders arrive just as I am leaving. Someone says something about cell reception. I dare not slow down so I check my phone as I fly along the trail, praying that I don’t trip and drop my phone or stab myself with my poles. I have two bars!

All manner of alerts start going off. I try to call Patti, but now her reception in Osteen is worse than mine and the call drops.

I call Stan, who I met at Etna to see if he still wants to hike together. I am near his home in Eugene. He says that he has a new job, and can’t but he might still be able to give me a ride around the fire burn. He says to stay in touch. I call my brother to see how he survived the hurricane that just missed him. (We never actually talk about the hurricane.) I stop to drink some water and read pages from Yogi’s PCT Guide that Patti has messaged me. I make reservations at a motel in Bend, Oregon for two nights starting July 11 (2 days away!)

Tectonic shift

The time passes so quickly as I talk and walk that I don’t notice the change to the trail. It has opened up like it did the day we entered mosquito hell.

The trail has become more park-like, too.

And I see some flowers I have not seen before.

I climb out of the forest, and I see new mountains! I don’t know the name of this one to the east.

But I know the next one. It is the southernmost of the Sisters! There are three peaks called the Sisters. They dominate the Cascade skyline in central Oregon. People summit them, hike around them, revere them. A city is named after them.

This lake is called the Sisters Mirror Lake. I got water from it. The trail circles it to the north where I see a couple wading in it and another hiker pair dipping a toe in it. One of the hiker pair tells me that the journey north from here gets even better. I am intrigued.

A desert?

The trail gets dryer and dryer and dryer until I am actually walking around the southeast edge of the Sister in a desert! Look at the progression in these three photos.

I am exhilarated. I have not had this much fun hiking in weeks. I had written Oregon off as the “subtle” beauty, but this landscape was astounding.

I cross a little brook at the edge of the desert, and now I am in a lush meadow. My head is spinning. Oregon, I’m sorry for saying all those things about you. You are magnificent. Within 30 minutes I am in a burn that looks like a Tim Burton set. The trees bend down like wicked hooks. I expect Johnny Depp to pop out any second.

Then back to a desert slope now.

And finally this apocalyptic sunset, intensified by smoke.

To make matters more comical, I write this by a strange little lake surrounded by tiny pine trees, under siege from more mosquitoes than I have ever seen at one time. If my head net slips off during the night, I will be drained of blood in less than an hour. And the Southern Sister is making these loud booming noises. A glacier?

What will tomorrow hold? How could it top today? Will I even survive the night? We shall see.

• July 9
• Starting mile: 1943
• Ending mile: 1966
• Daily PCT miles: 23
• Total PCT miles: 594