2019 Oregon PCT Elk Lake Resort to Big Lake Youth Camp

Day 4 - Friday, July 19 - Mile 1953.9 to 1960.8, Elk Lake Resort to South Sister, 10.7 miles

I sleep pretty well in the hotel and take us all out for breakfast at a restaurant called The Breakfast Club in the morning. It is close to the hotel and seems like the kind of diner that the locals know and love. Kelley and I have eggs benedict with spinach added for extra iron while Laurie has sausage and eggs. Afterwards we pick up a couple things from Safeway and then collect our things from the hotel and head back to the trail. 

It is a good ride back and we have a great discussion about spirituality, free will, love versus not love, and how surviving something horrible and seeing yourself as a survivor versus a victim can also be a type of top life experience. We talk about our memories of our grandmother and it is interesting to hear their perceptions of her.

We arrive back to the trail around 10:00 am and a man carrying an assault rifle offers to take our picture for us, which we accept and then afterwards murmur to each other,"Why does he have a gun? It doesn't seem like a good idea to be shooting around here with so many hikers." But he seems like a nice guy and even offers to let us have his parking spot since he is leaving.

We finally have the required permit at this trail head

The official picture

20/20 and I are not purists and don't care about going up the same trail we came down to connect our steps, so we take the Horse Lake Trail back up to the PCT, which is a 1.5 mile trail that puts us on the PCT around mile 1953.9. This is a good choice since it is shadier and less steep than the trail we took down to Elk Lake Resort. We still have to stop for frequent rest breaks and I wonder if I will ever get used to the higher altitude.

The trail rises up to Koosah Mountain at 6,425 feet and up at the top we meet PCT hiker Hannah (no trail name yet) who takes our picture and we take hers for her. We have cell service along with warm red cinder rocks to sit on, and we take a lunch break there. A kaleidoscope (Yep, that is the official name of a group of butterflies. Thanks, Google.) of orange butterflies have swarmed us along the trail today.

View from Koosah Mountain

We made it to the top!

Orange butterfly

Mt. Bachelor

After lunch we start the descent down the mountain to Sisters Mirror Lake where we filter some water. I discover that I have left my water bottle in Bend and now have to rely completely on my platypus water bladder, so I add two liters to it. 

South Sister and Middle Sister

Indian Paintbrush

Filtering water at Sisters Mirror Lake, mile 1958.8

Pretty lake, but mosquito hell!

Sisters Mirror Lake is buzzing with mosquitoes, though, and we decide to go further down the trail to find some where else to camp. I find a small bottle of mosquito repellent that some unlucky hiker lost when it rolled beneath a rock and we take it with us, which is a good choice because our repellents will both run out before we finish our hike and that will be what saves the day.

I must be getting tired because I almost take the wrong trail twice but Kelley is paying attention and gets us back on track both times. We ascend several hundred feet and come out onto an amazing high alpine meadow with South Sister looming in front of us. 

We can't find the campsite that the maps indicate and instead decide to find our own. We leave the trail and come upon a site that others have used before. There is a small fire ring with several cleared spots and we set up our tents to face South Sister. It is our most epic camping spot, ever.

I decide to leave the rain fly off since I want to try to see the stars and we eat white bean turkey chili and then sit in our tents and talk. There are a few mosquitoes, but it is definitely better than Sisters Mirror Lake. We agree that the views today have been the best of the entire trip.

I've got this feeling, somebody's watching me

South Sister in the alpenglow

Snug as a bug in my comfy tent

Day 5 - Saturday, July 20, Mile 1960.8 to 1969.6, South Sister to Linton Meadow area, 8.8 miles

I sleep terrible since my head is pointing down hill a bit and I am disappointed to discover that the gray/beige of my netting does not allow me to see the stars clearly. I wake up to find myself and my sleeping bag drenched with dew. I am surprised by this since we are so high and we are not near any water source. The rising sun quickly dries out our tents and sleeping bags and we pack up and start down the trail. 

I look at the Rock Mesa and it looks like a wall of lava stopped for some unknown reason right along the meadow and I wonder if there was a lake here that caused the lava to stop and form a high wall. We get to Mesa Creek where we get a bit more water and then start descending. We enter another meadow area at Mesa Creek and several people are camped there who are packing up.

Mesa Creek

 

Then we start ascending once again and go through another burned area. This ascent seems difficult and we stop to catch our breath where a thru hiker is sitting and resting. We start to chat and I discover that this hiker is named Silver. And last year he hiked the Appalachian Trail with the Crawfords, known as The Family, who vlogged about their hike on the AT with their six children. I started watching their vlogs last year on You Tube. The vlog is called "Fight for Together," and it is wonderful.

It is always kind of strange to meet in real life someone that you know from social media. We talk with him for quite awhile before continuing on our way.

Another burned area

Gray forest of dead trees

Eventually we come to another small stream and I decide to soak my feet in the cold mountain water. It is a warm sunny day and the water feels delicious.

Middle Sister

A cold foot bath is so refreshing

Hinton Creek

We debate filtering water here, but we still have some in our bladders and we have another ascent with a pond ahead so we decide to push on to the pond. The pond turns out to be a clear lovely little lake and we eat lunch here and then filter water. 

Our lunch view of South Sister

The trees around the lake are short and we can't find anything tall enough to hang the water bag on to get a gravity flow filtration. Finally we put the bag on a rock but the water does not want to come out and I end up squeezing the bag to help the flow until we switch to my filter and then it becomes much easier. Guess it is time to flush the other filter.

Middle Sister ahead

Then we start another ascent and just past Linton Meadow Trail we start to look for a place to camp. We are approaching the Obsidian Limited Entry area and we do not have the special permit needed to camp in that area, but the trail is steep and there are not any good places to camp. We finally see a campsite right beside the trail and we plop our things down and set up camp.

Desperation camping spot

I normally don't like to camp this close to the trail, but we are afraid we won't find anything better. It is hot and sunny and the mosquitoes are out in full force. We are forced into our sweltering tents to escape the hungry hordes. A hiker limps past us on his way down the trail to a little stream for water and we chat a bit. He's been hiking since Ashland but plans to get off trail tomorrow. He's been chased by mosquitoes for almost 500 miles and he is Done. A special education teacher from San Francisco, he is camped just up the trail from us with his hiking partner and seems like a very nice older gentleman. I am happy to have someone else camping within shouting distance of us.

I re-hydrate my turkey casserole but even after 1.5 hours the turkey is a little crunchy. I feel better after I eat. We are camped at 6,500 feet and I hope that sleeping at this elevation will help me get more red blood cells so I can hike without stopping to catch my breath so much. Once the sun drops down on the horizon and my tent becomes shaded, the temperature in the tent quickly drops from 86 degrees to 70 degrees. I am tired and I fall asleep quickly.

Day 6 Sunday, July 20 - Mile 1969.6 to 1981.9, Obsidian Limited Entry to North Matthieu Lake, 12.3 miles

We wake up at 6:30 an and are packed and on the trail by 7:30 am. Kelley has me take a picture of her with the South Sister behind her and later that day I scroll through the pictures with my reading glasses on and burst out laughing. I really need to put my bifocals on when I take pictures, since I can't clearly see the picture I am taking. I have apparently been a middle school teacher for too long, because in the picture Kelley has her hat behind her but the angle perfectly makes it look like she has an extra, um, appendage.

Kelley is low on water so we hoof it up to Obsidian Falls and then on to Sister Spring. At Sister Spring the water is coming directly from the glacier so we don't need to filter it and we dip our cup into the spring to fill our water bladders. The water is cold and delicious, the best water I think I've ever had. I fill up two liters and Kelley fills up 2.5 liters plus her smart water bottle, but the weight of all that water is excruciating and she ends up dumping her water bottle later on down the trail.

Obsidian Falls

Hard to see in the picture but the water is coming out of the large center rock

North Sister. Stunning.

From the 6,600 elevation at Sister Spring we head down a soft dirt trail. I am adjusting my hat when I trip and fall heavily. I lie there stunned and Kelley runs to me and tries to get me up but I just need to lie there for a second and figure out if I'm significantly damaged. I am more surprised than hurt, fortunately. My knees are little bruised and lightly scrapped but not even bleeding. My forehead bounced off the trail but I'm not bleeding and it barely hurts. My right wrist throbs a little and I roll over like a turtle on its back with my heavy pack and grab my chest. "Ow," I say, "I landed on my boob!" (You'll just have to trust me when I say the bruise on it ranks among the top 3 of my life.)

I've been feeling a prompting to put my sunglasses on for awhile so I take the opportunity to fish them out of my pack and put them on. I take a little potty break and look at my knees and realize that this could have been much worse. I tripped on the one soft spot on the trail today and nothing is broken or bleeding.

Glad I didn't trip here!

Eventually we begin to ascend again and start walking beside another lava type wall. It is a steady slog up and up and up and then we are walking on the lava, which rolls beneath our feet and is hot.

Lava wall to the left

Another break to catch our breath

Such an interesting muffin top tree

Roots growing out of the rock

Every time I think we are done another switchback appears. We climb to almost 7,000 feet, the highest spot on the entire trip.

Looking back at what we just climbed up

When we get to what I think is the top I look at the trail going up the mountain ahead and some non-Pentecostal verbage flies out of my mouth before I can stop it. Fortunately that is only a side excursion and our trail curves to the left. The ascent is over. We take a celebratory picture together at the top. Toughest part of the trail (we think) done!

Walking on lava rock at 7,000 feet

We eat lunch on that rock formation as we gaze at the view

Kelley at our lunch spot

When we finish lunch it is time to descend. There is a snow field covering part of the trail and I grip my poles tightly as I carefully go down. It strains my hurt wrist and it is throbbing pretty good by the time we are done. Kelley suddenly realizes that her butt is wet. Her hydration bladder has sprung a leak and water is running down her backside. Fortunately we are just down from another glacier spring called Minnie Scott. We stop and she pulls out her bladder and looks at it but can't figure out where the leak is. Possibly the seal. She puts the bladder into a plastic bag and then needs to fill up her empty bottle, so we trot over to where the spring is and she fills her bottle. A snow patch is right next to it, and I scrap out some snow into my bandanna, roll it up into a long bandage and tie it around my wrist as an ice pack. It is so cold that pain shoots clear up into my elbow from the chill, but it definitely makes my wrist feel better.

On we go. We cross a beautiful meadow. The scenery is so varied today! High alpine, waterfalls, springs, forest, desolate lava and meadows filled with wildflowers.

North and Middle Sisters behind us

All Three Sisters behind us

It is late afternoon when we finally arrive at South Matthieu Lake. All three tent sites are in the sun and the mosquitoes are out and we really don't want to swelter in our tents for hours like the previous night so we decided to go on to North Matthieu Lake, which has seven campsites and has a better chance of having a tent site in the shade.

Down, down, down we go and North Matthieu is a pleasant looking lake and we quickly stake out the first shady campsite we see. We head to the lake and Kelley wades in up to her knees and dips her head in. I wash my feet and legs and rinse out my socks and we sit in the sun and talk while a family with a dog and two boys swims around the lake. The father stands up in the middle of the lake and it is only up to his waist.

North Matthieu Lake

Nice shady campsite, but lots of mosquitoes

After we set up our tents we go back to the lake to get water to filter and meet SOBO hikers Bison and Honey from the Czech Republic. They take the campsite next to us, but all the campsites are so far apart that we don't see or hear them again. After filtering the water I re-hydrate my split pea soup. It is the grossest thing I've ever tasted and I vow to throw it all away as soon as I get home. A couple months ago I thought it was fabulous but apparently my tastes have changed.

The mosquitoes chase us to our tents and I take a wet wipe to scrub myself. The amount of dirt covering me is a bit disturbing, and my shirt is so sweaty and stinky that I can barely stand to have it in the tent with me. I should have washed that, too. Being in the trees, the darkness falls quickly and I sleep.

Day 7 - Monday, July 22 - Mile 1979.8 to 1995.1, North Matthieu Lake to Big Lake Youth Camp, 15.1 miles.

We wake up at 5:30 and are walking the trail by 6:30 am. We want to get through the lava fields ahead before the heat of the afternoon. I misread the map and expected an ascent but instead we descend several more hundred feet until we pop back out on the official PCT again. We arrive to the cut off to Lava Lake Camp, our last chance to fill up on water for over 12 miles and we head to the lake. First stop, pit toilet! I hoped there would be a trash can to dump our trash, but there is not. At the lake we filter water and fill up our water bladders. Kelley fills up her leaky bladder half way, and her smart water bottle. I fill up 2.5 liters.

We shoulder our water heavy packs and head back down the trail, where we quickly enter the lava field. Lava is hard to walk on. It is hard under the feet and can be unstable and roll under your feet as well. It takes intense concentration for each step. We are picking our way across an immense plateau of lava and a stiff breeze cools us and blows all the mosquitoes away. Finally, no need for any mosquito netting!

We cross Hwy 242 and continue through the lava on the other side for awhile until we come out to a trail  head marking the termination of Three Sisters Wilderness and the entrance to Mt. Washington Wilderness. A new permit is needed and I fill out the form for Mt. Washington Wilderness and shove it in the box. I can feel a hot spot on my left heel and Kelley gives me a piece of moleskin to apply to it.

Then we begin a 1200 foot ascension. We are out of the lava and on a dusty dirt trail and my feet are happy for the break. I look at the map and we will be going through another lava field ahead but for now we enjoy the dirt.

But a problem is brewing. I can feel chafe starting on the inside of my right thigh. Right before we enter the lava field again, I take a pee break. I have a small tube of bag balm and I smooth some onto the raw spot, which does help. For awhile.

We continue slowly up the lava field, concentrating on each step. Because we have to watch our feet we can't look out at the view. The rocks are sharp and jaggedy so whenever we pause to catch our breath we can't sit for the break because the rocks are so uncomfortable, and we stand resting on our hiking poles.

Looking back at what we just came through. North Sister in the distance.

After what feels like an eternity, we reach the top and are back on dirt. We stop for lunch and sit on an old tree log in the shade, so happy and grateful to be done with the lava. The map shows regular terrain ahead. And when we start again for awhile it is regular dirt trail. Then we begin to descend and we are on lava again, but it is older lava that had trees and vegetation that a fire wiped out when it came through the area. But most of the path is lava rocks which I was not expecting and I am becoming super frustrated with. Since I am walking north the sun is behind me which obscures where I am placing my feet in shadow, so once again I am taking small steps, going very slowly, trying not to fall.

I am so frustrated that I feel tears well up in my eyes. But I don't want to cry because that will make it even harder to see the path! Part of the frustration is knowing that Big Lake Youth Camp is ahead of us, beckoning us with showers and laundry and good food, but we have to go so slow that we probably won't make it there tonight. I express my frustrations to Kelley and she is on board with wanting to get to Big Lake tonight rather than dry camp. We decide we will just hike until we get there, even if it takes us until 9:00 pm.

We finally stop going down, go around the edge of the lava field, and begin another ascent, this time on dirt trail. It is another burned area, so stark gray remains of trees litter the hillside, but it is green and full of wildflowers and ferns.

The gray forest with lava fields in the distance

We pause occasionally to catch our breath and the blister on my left heel is hurting, and the chafe on my right thigh is hurting, and I am waddling as I walk, trying to find a way to walk without pain. Eventually I take everything off and put on my rain skirt and hike in that, trying to find relief. That is better but I still am in pain, and I just grit my teeth and carry on. What else is there to do?

We are hiking through a beautiful area on a continual downhill. Wildflowers abound and I wish I could appreciate the scenery but it is just one foot in front of another until we finally reach the side trail to Big Lake Youth Camp. Another mile and we arrive. A friendly young man shows us where to sign in, and a nice young woman tells us the rules and points us to the hiker hut. We have hiked over 15 miles today.

It is after 7:00 pm, so we have missed dinner, but the first thing we ask when we enter the hut is where the sign up is for showers. Both showers are open and available for use we are told. I hobble into a bathroom, strip off my filthy clothes and jump in the shower. A sign asks us to try to keep it to a three minute shower, but I am so filthy I know that won't really be possible. I quickly wash my hair and then turn the water off while I soap up my legs and scrub them with my hands. A stream of dirty water and soap trail down the the shower floor and I am pretty appalled by the dirt I am scrubbing off. After I've scrubbed myself, I turn the water back on and rinse everything off and then take the rubber scougie and try to clean the shower walls as well.

I dress myself in my clean leggings and a clean smart wool shirt and bundle up my dirty hiking shirt and shorts. Then I hobble out of the bathroom. The hiker hut is amazing. There are two bathrooms/showers, a section where resupply boxes are stacked neatly waiting for their people to arrive, an industrial sized laundry machine and dryer, a kitchenette with a microwave and oven with stove top and small refrigerator. In the mornings they serve Dutch Bros coffee to the hikers! The main room has a large table with chairs and more chairs around the perimeter of the room. Approximately ten hikers are hanging around in the room, most on their phones. There are ample plug-ins to charge electronics and wifi.

I pull out my charger and begin to charge my phone and Garmin. Kelley makes some instant potatoes for dinner and we share them. We had hoped to catch a ride up to my car but most of the staff have already left for the day so Kelley and I decide to camp by the lake for the night and probably just hike the six miles in the morning, depending on how my blister and chaff are doing. I post a few pictures to Facebook and see that John has called, so I go outside and call him back.

It is not good news. He drove himself to the hospital two days ago where a cat scan revealed kidney stones. But the ER doctor looked at his chart and saw that he'd been in there a few weeks previously with shortness of breath and since he was already having a cat scan for the kidney pain, he also scanned his heart. That scan revealed that his carotid artery is partially blocked. He was urged to visit his primary care physician and have a stress test done as soon as possible.

I am beside myself when I hear it. I need to get home as quickly as possible, because this is serious. I go back in the hut and tell Kelley the news and that we need to get to my car and I need to get home. I look down at where we signed in and the office is dark so I call my nephew Eli who lives in Bend, and ask if he can come and get us and take us to our car. He looks at where we are and tells us he is almost 2 hours away from us, so we tell him we will wait for him in the dark at the entrance to the camp since PCT hikers need to leave the camp property by 9:30 pm.  He has to wait until his wife gets home but he will be on his way shortly. A hiker comes over to me and tells me not to worry, everything will be okay, and he puts his hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eye as he tells me this, and I believe him.

I sit waiting and then feel like I just need to go down to the office and see if anyone is around. I walk down there and now the lights are on and people are in the office. As I walk up a young man starts to walk away and I ask him if he is a PCT hiker and he tells me that no, he works there. I start to cry as I explain to him and the young lady in the office that I have a family emergency and I need to get to my car which is parked at the Santiam Pass trailhead six miles away. I don't know if it is the tears or just that he is a very nice young man, but he agrees to drive me to my car. He will meet me in five minutes. I call Eli to let him know not to come, just as he is getting ready to go out the door. Good timing! I run into the hiker hut and tell Kelley that I have a ride for us and we stuff everything into our packs and black plastic bags and haul everything out to where the young man's car is.

Kelley sits in the front and asks the nice young man, Luke, questions about his car. She is so good at conversation and putting people at ease and he is delighted to tell her all about his car, which apparently is a special mix of a Saab and Subaru and is actually quite a rare car. As we drive through the dark I realize that it would have been very difficult for Eli to have found us in the dark on the windy dirt roads. We find my car parked off Hwy 20 at the Santiam PCT turn out and I force Luke to take a $20 for his time and trouble and we load up my car and head for Portland.

Since I've returned home it has been a whirlwind of doctor appointments and watching John in pain, trying to pass kidney stones. Not fun. Seeing someone you love in pain when you can do nothing to help is a frustrating feeling. We are still waiting to find out more about his heart.

It is interesting to me that this trip was through the Three Sisters Wilderness, where all the mountains are named for family relationships, like sister, brother, wife, husband, bachelor, and this trip was very much about family, sharing the trip with my cousins and being called home because of my husband. It seems appropriate.

2019 Oregon PCT Part 1, Charleton Lake to Elk Lake Resort

Day 1, July 16, 2019 - Mile 1925.6 to 1934.3 - Charleton Lake Forest Road 5897 to Jezebel Lake,  8.7 miles

After a lovely two day stay at North Waldo Lake Campground with many of our cousins, most of whom we haven't seen in years, it is time for Laurie, Kelley and I to start our PCT hike. We pack up our things and are ready to start for the trail head by 9:30 am. Our cousin, Steve, loads up his car with our packs and he drives us up the road to where we are going to begin. Starting at Charleton instead of Irish/Taylor Road, which was a narrow rough jeep type track that we scouted yesterday and decided against trying to take, will add an extra 5 miles to the trip. Laurie is the one who has to return to work and has the least flexible schedule and when offered the choice of hiking about a mile and a half more per day or taking an extra day to hike, she decides to hike a bit extra. Most of our days were planned for 7-8 miles a day, but now we will be doing about 9.5 per day.

We get out, apply mosquito repellent liberally and Steve takes our celebratory beginning photo. Laurie and I both have full mosquito suits and Kelley has a mosquito head net.

Laurie, Me, Kelley

We are excited to be on our journey and ascend into the woods. The shade is nice to hike in but eventually we break out into a large desolate burned area. The burned area allows us to see quite a ways and we look at the views and think about how lucky we are to be doing what we are doing. We meet a couple thru hikers, Mango and Tough Cookie, and I ask them about the snow ahead. They say that there is still snow on the trail in spots and encourage us to bring our microspikes. 

Laurie and Kelley

Another hiker tells us about a nice place ahead for a break and we round a corner and see a rock to climb up. We take snacks and leave our packs down by the trail and climb the rock for the best view of the day. We sit and look at Lily and Davis Lakes in the distance while we snack on nuts and fruit.

Lily Lake and Davis Lake in the distance.

Eventually we continue on down the trail for another hour until we decide to stop for lunch around mile 1929. I smear peanut butter on a tortilla for my lunch but find that I am not a big fan of flour tortillas. I am using my platypus hydration bladder in my backpack and it is easy to stay hydrated with it. The 5,500 foot elevation is a concern to me. Coming from sea level, I find anything over 3,000 feet to be a challenge, but I hope that sleeping for two nights at 4,200 foot Waldo Campground will have prepared me somewhat. I know that good hydration is key to helping get acclimated since the body has to make lots of additional red blood cells to transport oxygen at higher elevations.

Eventually we reach the Three Sisters Wilderness Boundary where we are supposed to self issue a hiking permit. But alas, the box is completely empty.

We take another rest break at Irish Lake and meet more thru hikers; Tropicana and Farmers Market, and then a girl from Quebec called Produce. The mosquitoes eventually chase us away from Irish Lake and we continue up the trail. It is only about a 200 foot elevation gain but we are finding it challenging and continue to take lots of mini breaks. 

We arrive at Brahma Lake at mile 1933.3 at 2:45 pm and decide to re-hydrate Kelley's white bean and turkey chili. We have to filter some water through our Sawyer Squeeze and Kelley has so much extra chili that she gives some to a section hiker, Greg, who accepts happily. 

Laurie filters water

Brahma Lake

Brahma is a very nice camping spot, but we need to get a bit more mileage in so we continue up to Jezebel Lake. It is smaller and the campsite is small, but we fit all three of our tents in to it and Laurie and Kelley go to the lake to soak their feet while I collapse exhausted into my tent after blowing up my air mattress and shaking out my sleeping bag. There are plenty of mosquitoes and ants and I chase the ants out of my tent and squash the mosquitoes who have dared to enter. 

After resting awhile I come out to eat the re-hydrated turkey bean chili, but I am not very hungry. It seems to be typical that I lose my appetite when I am hiking for the first few days. I filter some more water, wash my feet in the lake and then we all retire to our tents to escape the mosquitoes. We talk about the highlights of the day and all agree that the view of Lily Lake from the rock and Steve's kindness in driving us to the trail head, as well as making a quick stop at the beginning to look at Waldo Lake and walk on the dock when one of us was feeling anxious and overwhelmed and needed a moment to calm down, were our two favorite things of the day.

The moon is full which makes it easy to see in the tent whenever I wake up in the night. I toss and turn on my squeaky air mattress and wonder what the trail has in store for us.

Day 2, July 17, Wednesday -  Mile 1934.3 to 1943.4 Jezebel Lake to Horseshoe Lake 3, 9.1 miles 

I sleep okay, nice and warm in my sleeping bag. It is a windy night and I keep thinking that I hear something like rain, but it is dry when I wake up at 6:00 am. I laze around my tent and eat my cold oatmeal/granola that I re-hydrated during the night and it is pretty good but I don't care much for the banana chips. My feet are sore and my left arch is bothering me a bit, so I do some stretching exercises. Around 7:30 am we all start to pack up to leave. I try to place the heaviest things on the right side of my pack to give my left foot a break. Greg passes us by and compliments Kelley on the delicious turkey bean chili she gave him last night. We are ready to hike by 8:30 am, an hour earlier than yesterday. 

Stormy Lake

We start off with a several hundred foot ascent so we don't carry a lot of water with us. Once we reach Stormy Lake we stop to filter some more water. The mosquitoes are really bad. I am so grateful for my $30 bug suit. Laurie has some allergies and has to be very careful about anything chemical and I also don't like to use a lot of Deet, so we both wear our mosquito suits. Kelley slathers on the Deet and uses a head net to keep the mosquitoes away from her eyes and mouth.

This day we pass lots of little lakes and we take lots of little breaks. We see clouds of orange butterflies. We meet hikers Jack and Jill (they seem oddly clean for thru hikers) and Mary who started in Chesterton and does not yet have a trail name. This inspires us to begin thinking up trail names for Laurie and myself. Kelley goes by 20/20 since in 2014 she had cataract surgery which corrected her vision to 20/20 and she was able to enjoy the stars like never before when we hiked that year. 

I suggest that Laurie go by the name Braveheart, since she has been very nervous to do this hike and yet has come anyway. She thinks that maybe she should be called Cowardly Lion, but I soundly reject that idea, because the fact that she is out here means she is definitely not cowardly. Eventually we compromise with the name Lionheart.

Kelley wants to name me something to do with being the leader and organizer of the trip. Scout? Nah, there is a famous trail angel on the PCT with that name. Compass? Nope, don't really care for that. Nothing she comes up with resonates with me but then we think about how a mama duck leads her ducklings and I am christened as Mama Duck, which is not too far off from my college nickname of Becca Duck. 

20/20's home made belt to keep her pants up

We come across a large blow down, probably about 3 feet high which is quite a challenge for us shorties to get over, but we do conquer it. We stop for a late lunch around 2:00 pm and I have a tuna fish tortilla. We get in to Horseshoe Lake campsite 3 around 4:00 pm and we leisurely set up camp, leaving some space in case any other hikers want to camp there. It is a fairly large camping spot. We filter almost 3 gallons of water to fill our water bladders and have water to cook dinner and breakfast. I realize that somehow I am short a dinner meal, but 20/20 and Lionheart have plenty of extra mashed potatoes and gravy so I eat a bit of theirs.

Lionheart pounds in a tent stake

20/20 and Lionheart cook up mashed potatoes and gray

Filtering more water. Drink, eat, sleep and hike

Eventually we retire to our tents. All day we have been thinking about and discussing our top 10 life experiences, and as I write up my notes for the day on the back of the day's maps, I ask them questions about those experiences. Kelley's top life experiences include skydiving, seeing a UFO, our first PCT hike in 2013, experiencing 9/11 in New York and reporting live on NBC radio from a phone booth downtown as she watched the towers come down, seeing the northern lights in Iceland, performing as a stand up comic, and doing the Dos Lesbos comic tour around the country and in Provincetown.

Some of Laurie's experiences were getting chased by a moose, her experiences in Juneau, Alaska as an emancipated 16 year old, bicycling Europe during college, and visiting Paris at Christmas with her two daughters.

Some of my top experiences are standing on top of Baker Dam and feeling it throb beneath my feet as seven flood gates released torrents of flood waters, my 2013 PCT hike, living in Spain during college, visiting Pompeii, seeing the Jewish synagogue in Toledo empty, waiting for 10 families to return so it can be reopened, driving the Al-Can Highway and experiencing Alaska Fire Camp, and seeing Phantom of the Opera performed.

Around 8:30 pm another hiker comes in and quickly sets up his tent. I think the name he tells us is Charms. We stop talking and I lie in my tent looking through the netting at the lake. I want to see stars but it is very cloudy. Lionheart informs us that is raining and I close my rain fly. It isn't supposed to rain, the forecast is only a 10% chance of rain. I have a Garmin InReach and I get the weather on it. It also says no rain, yet it patters gently on my tent throughout the night.

Day 3, July 18, Thursday - Mile 1943.4 to 1952.6 plus an extra mile to Elk Lake Resort, 10.2 miles

Charm's alarm clock goes off at 5:30 am and he is up, packed up and gone before the rest of us have really stirred from our sleeping bags. The rain is still falling gently but we need to get to Elk Lake Resort. Laurie has parked her car there and we will all be going in to Bend for the night to shower and clean up. Since we camped before starting the hike none of us have showered in 5 days. In the morning Laurie will bring Kelley and I back to the trail and then return to Portland to work. We are rain motivated and town motivated and we pack up our things and our wet tents and hit the trail by 8:00 am. Each day we are a little faster at packing up. 

I put on my rain poncho and Lionheart takes a picture and shows it to me. She says, "You look like a jelly bean!" and 20/20 starts singing the Oompa Loompa song from Charlie and the Chocolate  Factory, referring to Violet the girl who blows up like a big blueberry. All I can do is laugh. 

It doesn't take me long to realize that I need my rain skirt on as well. The bushes along the trail are loaded with water and as I break the trail through them they are drenching my shoes and my pants. The rain skirt helps a lot. We hike fast and take very few breaks.

Packed up and ready to go

Cool rock formations near Porky Lake Trail

We finally stop for lunch near mile 1950 in a mosquito infested clearing. The rain has stopped. I pee as fast as I can to try to prevent the mosquitoes from biting my butt, which works pretty well, but I needed to have put Deet on my hands since they are not protected by mosquito netting. Later on I count 22 bites just on my left hand. A beautiful mountain meadow covered in wildflowers becomes our favorite part of that day when we continue.

Larkspur

20/20 crosses a beautiful meadow

Finally we arrive at the Elk Lake Resort turn off, and we see our first real mountain views of the Three Sisters Mountains and Elk Lake. The sun is out and we stop for a moment to take pictures. It feels like a huge accomplishment to be at this point. 

I did it!

We have cell reception here for the first time in 5 days

South Sister?

Two thru hikers, Lawless and Blue, come up the trail from the resort and we all start talking. They assure us that microspikes are not needed in the section ahead. There are a few snowy patches but they are easy to negotiate and have steps kicked into them and I am super excited to receive this news since that means we can leave the microspikes with Laurie to take back to Portland. We chat with Lawless and Blue for almost an hour and I pull out my rain fly and drape it over a tree to dry. My feet are also wet so I take off my shoes and socks, lay the socks on a log to dry in the hot sun and pull out the inserts and dry them in the sun as well, walking around in my shoes without the inserts or socks. I absolutely love hiking in my Darn Tough light wool socks. They are comfortable and not too hot, either.

Finally we decide to continue on and I pack my rain fly and put my socks and shoes back on. My feet are much happier in dry socks and shoes. We arrive at Elk Lake Resort and Laurie decides to reorganize the car to make room for all our packs, so Kelley and I go inside and I get a root beer and then decide to have some real food. We sit at a table and I order a blackened chicken wrap with fries and Kelley gets a beer. My stomach has shrunk and I can only eat half. Kelley helps with the fries and then Laurie eats the other half of the wrap when she is finished packing the car. Elk Lake Resort is a nice hiker friendly little place with outside tables that overlook the lake and marina and I am happy to just hang out there for awhile. 

We drive to Bend and find a room at the Three Sisters Inn and Suites where we all enjoy a long hot shower. We lay our wet tents on the pavement outside the room where it all quickly dries. Laurie and Kelley go to do a load of laundry at the laundry mat while I organize my things and write up some quick trail notes. I had left a resupply box in her car for the second half of the hike and I try to figure out  how much food I will need to bring for the next section, since I always seem to have way too much food.

They return with clean clothing and pastrami sandwiches which we all share. We update on Facebook and check emails and I talk to John before we turn the lights off and sleep like the dead.

Total Mileage for the first three days: 29.5

Trillium Preserve and Pre-PCT training

It has been several years since my last Pacific Crest Trail adventure and Kelly and I are planning to do the Three Sisters and Mt. Washington Wildernesses this summer. Starting next year section hikers will have to try to win a lottery to be able to hike those sections so we want to get them done before it becomes more difficult to obtain access.

School got out a few weeks ago and I have been hiking like a crazy woman trying to get into shape. It has been a slow process but I've built up to where I now feel much more comfortable about my ability. The plan is to only hike about 8 miles a day, pretty do-able, especially since the area we are going to doesn't involve major elevation gain or loss. My biggest fears are mosquitoes and that the trail will be too snow covered in one section. I bought a mosquito suit and I have an ice ax and microspikes. We will see how the reports are in a weeks time. The plan is to camp at Waldo Lake at 4,200 feet elevation for 2 nights to acclimate to higher elevation, and then hike from there to Elk Lake Resort, where we will leave a car so we can go into Bend and get a shower at a motel and recharge our electronics, etc. Then we will return to the trail and start the section that I'm concerned will be snow covered. It was solid snow several weeks ago and the weather has been rather cool since then. Fingers crossed it will melt off some before we attempt it.

Yesterday I did a six mile training hike at a place on Whidbey called the Trillium Preserve. This is 726 acres of protected forest land with several trail running through it. I parked at the trail head off Hwy 20, shouldered my backpack and headed out down Dragonfly Glades Trail. It was a gentle decline and incline over several miles.

 I took a picture of the trail map which was a tremendous help while I was hiking. Several trails are marked with a post, but don't have names on them. I imagine that the names will be added at some point. Some trails are clearly marked by a post with names.

From Dragonfly Glade I hopped on the Crossroads trail and took that down to Uncle Buck, passing huckleberry bushes loaded with bright red sweet berries.

This was a nice marker and I was intrigued by the Enramada with the cross on it. Enramada means "arbor" in Spanish. Eventually I came to an area with picnic tables and hitching posts for horses. It was a nice area and would make a lovely picnic area for anyone hiking. An Eagle Scout had placed a bench there for his eagle service project.

I realized when I saw the large wooden cross that this  picnic area must be Enramada. From there I continued hiking and took a road up to a cleared area.

But I was dismayed to find the area littered with firework debris and trash and I also wasn't sure that this was actually the Happy Trail since the post didn't have names on it. I returned back down to Burkholder Trail where I ran across a marker set in some concrete that puzzled me. Any one have any ideas of what it is?

I saw another trail going steeply up a hill. I took it, despite it being unmarked and it connected into the Happy Trail. From there I took the Patrick Way trail up until I came to a bench dedicated to the memory of Patrick Janicki. He died of an opioid overdose at age 30 after becoming addicted to painkillers he was prescribed after breaking his back, and his family has been instrumental in  restoring the natural landscape of Trillium by clearing out some of the overgrowth and allowing more light in.

Fortunately I noticed a bit of water on the bench before I plopped down, so I set my hiking poles on the bench and started to take off my backpack when I realized that the angry drone I was hearing was a swarm of bees. I grabbed my hiking poles off the bench and fled as a bee rushed towards me. Unfortunately I had already paused my GPS, which I forgot to restart for awhile, so my GPS track is probably at least a half mile short.

Patrick's Way is an old dirt road and really a lovely walk and I enjoyed being out in the sun on the wider track. Eventually I passed a red gate and came out on paved road which I followed down to the parking lot. From my car I explored to find the other two trail head access points and I plan to come back and hike this area again from a different trail head.

Dry Creek Fire

I am at fire camp. My brother owns several hand washing trailers that he rents to the forest service during wildland fires. This time I am operating a station at White Salmon, Washington, for a fire called the Dry Creek Fire. Fires are almost always named for a geographical feature near where the fire starts.

It took me six hours to drive down to the Columbia River Gorge. I crossed into Oregon on I205 and headed east. Traveling back into Washington at Bridge of the Gods I continued east on Hwy 14 until turning to drive up to White Salmon, a sleepy little town on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River that boasts an Ace Hardware, Hi School Pharmacy and a surprising good Natural Foods Market. The placard upon entering states 'White Salmon, where the sun meets the rain.'

Donald already had the trailer set up when I arrived. This fire camp is at the high school and we are camped on the baseball field on grass. GRASS! Usually we camp on dirt so the luxury of grass is amazing. This is the nicest fire camp I have ever been stationed at. In addition to the grass we are right next to the track and each morning after the fire crews leave for the day I walk two miles around the track to get my exercise. I share the track with the cross country team and the cheerleaders. I have developed a deep respect for the cheerleaders. They are out on the track at 9 am, and they spend 6 to 7 hours every day practicing their cheers and dances in 90 degree heat in front of the empty stands. Sometimes in the afternoon the football team scrimmages as well.

This fire camp uses inmate labor. The inmates cook and serve the food for everyone, and there are several inmate squadrons who are actually fighting the fire, as well. Apparently the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) uses a lot of inmate labor. There are guards supervising but I imagine that being allowed to participate in something like this would be considered a privilege for the inmates and I have not observed any problems.

Fire camp reminds me of summer camp, just for adults. Friends are quickly made and when a crew is demobilized there is a sad farewell. Now that I have been doing this for awhile I occasionally see a familiar face. At this fire one of the camp admins is a teacher from school!

My day starts at 4:30 am when the kitchen crew washes their hands before starting work. When I feel the trailer start rocking as they push the soap dispensers I stumble out of bed and start the generator so they have lights. By 5 am there is a steady line of firefighters washing before going through the breakfast line. I hurry around wiping and cleaning sinks and refilling the paper towel dispensers and by 7 am most of the crews have left and then the potable water tanker comes and refills my 400 gallon water tank and the gray water truck comes and empties my 500 gallon gray water bladder.

I typically do another deep cleaning and then the afternoon is mine to nap and read. At 5pm I do another cleaning and dinner starts. The admin and camp crew eat. The firefighters start rolling back in around 7 or 8 pm. They are dirty and grimy after their hard work and once again I am busy, cleaning and bleaching and replacing paper towels. After dinner I am refilled with fresh water for the morning and lights go out at 10pm.

I turn off the generator and shut myself in for the night and the drone of the kitchen reefer truck lulls me to sleep. 

Baker Lake Adventure

Once again I find myself as a chaperone for the Oak Harbor High School backpacking class. We have a small group this year and as we huddle from the rain in front of the stadium one student never appears and we finally leave without him. We are headed to Baker Lake to Anderson Point. It is a pretty easy 2 mile hike down to a campground by the lake that has bear boxes, fire rings and very rustic toilets. It is a great spot for a first backpacking trip.

When we stop to buy our Northwest Pass we are warned that the creeks are running high due to the thunderstorms yesterday. Brian and I look at each other, thinking about the log bridge over Anderson Creek. It is a slanty single pole log with a rickety cable to hang on to and a tree fell  and cracked it this winter making it even sketchier. Brian and his wife Shelley hiked it last weekend and it was still possible even with the damage.

We head down the trail in a light rain and I am, as always, bringing up the rear. Brian hikes with me, warning the kids to stop at Anderson Creek for us. Before we know it we round the corner and Anderson Creek is roaring before us. The water is running completely over the log bridge, the pole supports with the cables barely above the flow. Shelley and the kids have been looking at a couple logs that might be possible upstream but they are wet, mossy and extremely slippery. A slip would mean a pretty nasty drowning death in the snags downstream and Brian, Shelley and I confer and Brian makes the decision to turn us around. We pause for a snack and a drink of water and we begin the plod back up to the vehicles.

Once again in the back, Brian and I discuss our options and Brian decides we will drive up Baker Lake Road and look for a place to car camp. The kids have already experienced a 4 mile hike with full packs so now we start the hunt for a place to camp. As every campground is closed our hope fades the further up we get. I know that there is an outhouse and a bear proof garbage can at the end of the road but we don't know if we can camp. We are almost there when we see  Brian start to turn the van around. We talk him in to continuing to the end since we are almost there and once we get there he is glad we did. There is spacious room for all our tents and even a picnic table!

We quickly set up our tents in the drizzle and all the kids write down their phone numbers. Shelley and I drive back down to Hwy 20 where we have cell phone coverage and Shelley contacts the parents to let them know our new location. Part of our dilemma is that we only have my little snow peak stove for our group to cook with and we also need more tarps. Brian's tarps and cookstove were stashed at Anderson Point the previous weekend to save space and weight. I call my husband John and ask him to bring up our car camping cook stove, more tarps and some dry firewood, but his truck isn't running well and he isn't sure if he will be able to borrow a car, so Shelley and I decide to go into Concrete to see what we can buy. We see a large fluorescent sign advertising a yard sale and swing by. We score a huge 20x20 tarp for ten bucks and the lady also agrees we can fill up out trunk with her uncovered wet firewood for five more dollars. She also gives us three large dry pieces of cedar for kindling!

Next stop is the hardware store on Main Street where we buy a bundle of dry firewood and the clerk generously gives us a large cardboard box of dry wood pieces and some paper for starting the fire.

Shelley eats gluten free but has never heard of 5B Bakery so of course I have to stop to introduce her. After scoring a strawberry rhubarb hand pie and a blueberry muffin we continue to Outdoor Ventures and purchase two large fuel canisters for my camp stove. 

We head back up to the camp where German exchange student Greta organizes all of us to hang up the tarps. While we were gone they managed to start a smokey fire but the addition of our dry wood helps kick things up. As we are huddled around the fire a car drives up and my husband jumps out. He and our friend Mike have brought us more firewood, camp kettles for heating water, tarps and camp chairs. But when they go to set up the camp stove for cooking they realize it doesn't have all the parts and when they head back out an hour later they take it with them. We will be using my little snow peak stove and the fire to heat water and cook for the weekend.

It is starting to get dark and I crawl in my tent and snuggle into my sleeping bag. I wake up cold around 2:00 am and realize I need more air in my sleeping pad so I roll off and blow more air until it is quite firm, but that helps and I fall back to sleep, finally warm as long as I keep my stocking hat on. I roll out of bed around 7 and teach the young man who is up, Dylan, how to get the fire going. He's been up since 5:30 and will start the fire tomorrow. We start heating up water and eventually more kids get up and join us and start cooking their breakfasts. Some had been cold during the night but all had stayed dry with the tarps over their tents.

After breakfast we head up the river to the foot bridge over Baker River where we take pictures just as it starts to sprinkle. We head up the Baker River Trail and once again I am bring up the rear. We cross several little streams and the kids always wait to help me across and I manage to keep my feet dry. Eventually we get to a large stream where there was a log bridge that is now washed out. Once we get to the end of the bridge we clamor down and scout out another log to cross the rest of the way. It is dry and we carefully walk across although Brian elects to crawl. Once we are safe on the other side we continue hiking until we reach Sulphide Creek and the end of the trail where we stop on the banks and eat our lunches. It starts to sprinkle again as we turn around to go back and by the time we reach the washout the log is wet and slippery and this time I crawl across it, too.

When we get back to camp we stoke up the fire and play a game of Apples and Oranges before cooking up our dinners and making smores. It is supposed to be even colder tonight, down to about 35 degrees and I take all the hand warmers out of my car and give them to the kids to help them stay warm during the night. I snuggle into my tent again. It is another cold night and I sleep a bit cold but Dylan has the fire going when I wake up and a hot cup of coffee helps. After breakfast we pack up and then scour the area, picking up all trash and broken glass from previous campers before walking down to the river to take a picture. The sun is out and it is warm.

We have a little extra time and so we stop at Baker Hot Springs on the way out so the kids can see a natural hot spring. A final stop at Five Guy's Burgers for lunch and we are back to the school by 2:00. It was a great weekend!