Three Sisters Wilderness

I finally encountered a Wilderness Permit kiosk. Thru Hikers (500 miles plus) are able to obtain a long distance wilderness permit. Section Hikers (less than 500 miles) are required to carry permits you obtain via self administered kiosks that are place at the trail head of each wilderness area. I completed my Wilderness Permit today for Three Sisters Wilderness, the home of a trio of volcanic peaks over 10,000 ft. I finally felt legal.

I probably didn't mention that Oregon is experiencing a heat wave. Even so, the last couple of nights were cold. I was up early and on the trail by 6:30 a.m. headed to Horseshoe Lake today. I started the day with gloves, long shirt and leggings zipped on due to the cool temps. I figured I would change to short sleeve once the temp warmed up. Unfortunately I never got the chance. I knew the hike today would less climbing and pass a number of lakes and just as many ponds. Where there are ponds and lakes, mosquitoes can abound well into August. Today they are especially fierce, doing their best to imitate small hummingbirds! I was hiking with my head net but every time I stopped to rest I was swarmed. Although I had long sleeves, my shirt was thin polypropylene and the mosquitoes could drill right through it as if I were wearing nothing. The result was no resting for more than even a moment. I am forced to hike the entire 13.8 miles without ever dropping my pack for a rest, drinking and eating as I walked. Not until the end of the day and an afternoon breeze did they let up.

In the first 4 miles of climbing I passed Brahma Lake (Pic 2), Jezebel Lake (Pic 3), Stormy Lake (Pic 5) and a number of ponds (Pic 4). On the way down to Horseshoe Lakes (Pic 6), I passed Desane Lake, S Lake, Mac Lake, and Merrill Lake. You get the picture, a ton of lakes and just as many ponds, and those were the ones right on the trail. Many more lakes were off the trail just out of site. The other view out of site were mountains. The Oregon portion of the PCT is nicknamed "The Green Tunnel." Most of the time, except for the burnouts, you hike through forest which limits your views.

Getting up early means I get to the campsites early and tend to get the best sites and today was no different (Pic 6 and Pic 7). Everyone else disperses (Pic 8). After no rest today, I was happy to have a breeze and be able to snooze a bit (Pic 1) before I set up my site (Pic 7). The next morning was cold again and the fog was hanging over the lake. (Pic 9).

I met a couple new hikers and one familiar one tonight, all older than me! Judy, 68, and Mary, 70, were from Boise Idaho and would be barking at my heels for three days. They were hiking machines. And Restart, age 69, was a retired fire fighter from San Diego. Restart got his trail name because he has been trying to finish the entire PCT since the 1970's. He is constantly having to restart where he left off for one reason or another.

Day 7 complete, all in all a good day aside from the mosquitoes! Tomorrow I make it to my next zero day location, Elk Lake Resort! Burgers, Beers, live music, my first resupply package with food and a clean set of clothes, AND A SHOWER! I think I'm already losing weight after only seven days of hiking. A Burger and Fries and copious amounts of beer should help reverse that trend.

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