Mt Washington Wilderness!
- Samuel Emigrant
- Sep 25, 2018
- 2 min read
Day 12. Say goodbye to Three Sisters Wilderness (Pic 1) and hello to Mt Washington Wilderness (Pic 2). Today would be an 11.3 mile hike with two significant climbs on my way to Big Lake Youth Camp, a youth camp run by the 7th Day Adventists. My cab was a bit late but I was on the trail by 6:40 a.m. My first task was a 2.5 mile climb up an 800 ft elevation gain through a desolate lava field to Little Belknap. Although heading toward Mt Washington (Pic 2 and 3), I couldn't help regularly turning around to see where I had been, constantly enjoying my last views of, saying goodbye to, and taking a few more pics of the North and Middle Sisters (Pic 4, 6 and 11).
I continued the hazardous hike up the lava field and as I approached Little Belknap (Pic 9), at the peak of the lava field, I began getting glimpses of Mt Washington (Pic 3) and teased by Three Fingered Jack and Mt Jefferson even further in the distance (Pic 2). I mentioned in my previous post that walking on lava is like walking on a pile of golf balls, baseballs, and softballs and trying not to sprain an ankle (Pic 5). My treking poles were not helpful because they kept getting stuck in the rocks. With the lava field conquered, I took one last look and selfie of the Sisters (Pic 1).
Mt Washington disappeared as I descended 800 ft into a valley. I began the next climb in much hotter weather in a sizable burned out section of forest offering no cover from the sun. Life was beginning to erupt in the devastation (Pic 12). Eventually I was rewarded for my climb. I got one more view of the Sisters (Pic 13) before I made my way around the base of the mountain and Mt Washington popped out into view (Pic 14 - 17). I also had a nice view back west across the Oregon landscape (Pic 18). From this point on I would mostly descend until I approached Big Lake which required another climb into the basin and Big Lake Youth Camp.
For the first time this year the Youth Camp opened a PCT Hiker refuge, dedicating one of their A-Frames with Showers, Laundry, Kitchen and hang out room (Pic 20). They also began accepting resupply packages which I took advantage of before leaving on my hike. They provided each hiker two meal vouchers for their mess hall. They ring the bell to organize the kids in the camp compound (Pic 22). We were allowed to get in line ahead of them. There were no overnight accommodations for hikers. You had to hike down the lake about 10 minutes just off their property where I found a great spot on a sandy beach (Pic 19). I met a number of thru hikers at the Big Lake A-Frame, including one from Switzerland and one from Germany. With Day 12 complete, I lie down in my beach front conda and write a few notes before the sun turned out the lights. Tomorrow I head into Jefferson Wilderness!
コメント