Through the Cloud

Day 20! The day before my last on the PCT. I'm not making it easy. My day started with the expectation of an 11.1 mile hike that turned into 13.6 and then turned into 15.6. Oops. Nice view however of my final destination below, Mt. Hood!

Today's hike again began with a significant climb out of the Warm Springs River Basin, still on the reservation, across the border into Mt. Hood Wilderness and terminating at Timothy Lake.

As I looked ahead on a long stretch of straightaway trail I could see a few hikers resting. Pretty soon I see a big cloud of smoke and then the waft of cannabis filled the air. Three 20-somethings were sitting on the ground smoking doing their best to avoid the real world. They told me they started at the Canadian border and were headed to Mexico. Well, only 2000 more miles to go I thought to myself. They were pretty ragged looking and did not look prepared at all. Not only did they not look prepared but they were baked! They said they had 20 more miles to finish today. I couldn't help thinking, you guys aren't going to make it 10 miles let alone 2000. But who am I to judge? To their credit they had so far made it 600 miles and I was only in 200. Maybe youth could overcome self-imposed hurdles?

I made it to Timothy Lake, pushed past my 11.1 mile camp and then blew right by my 13.6 mile camp. I ran into a camping permit kiosk at 13.9 miles. I filled out a permit but really didn't want to backtrack so I pushed on to Little Crater Lake, a bit of a tourist attraction. Little Crater Lake was an incredible spring about 60 ft across and 45 ft deep. The water was so clear you could see the bottom and it was a deep crystal blue hue. Because it is spring fed from the depths, the water temp is 33 degrees year round.

I checked out the campground but it was full and $22 a night anyway, which I didn't have. I had $20 but didn't want to spend it on sleeping. I didn't want to hike another 4 miles further to the next PCT camp so I ended up backtracking anyway back to the Timothy Lake site. These decisions are why my 11.1 mile day turned into 15.6. I was happy with the decision howver, Little Crater Lake was a cool visit, and my campsite was free with good access to the lake and spring fed streams for water. Another solo campsite for my last night in the wilderness. Last day hiking tomorrow!!