I woke at what I thought was an early time around 6 am to see that the older gentleman who was camping near me was already gone. That seemed to be the thing out here is to not waste an hour of daylight. People were up and out of bed very early. I felt rested. I had a comfortable night of sleep after my swim in the lake and the temperature was comfortable. The information from Jacqueline at home told me that this was supposed to be the hottest day yet with temperatures pushing the triple digit mark. So I had to get as much hiking in during the morning as I could.
The trail took me past another lake, not quite as spectacular as the first, then continued to climb. I was still fairly near Willamette Pass, so the trails were in very good shape. The views were few and far between, but when I did get a look at the horizon, I could see that this was an area of many lakes. The mosquitoes were coming back and seemed to intensify the more I climbed and got into the thicker forest. Eventually, I got to a viewpoint and then it was downhill from there.
I spent most of the morning descending slowly on the edge of Waldo Lake. I could not really see Waldo Lake, but it was to the west of me for most of the morning. I ran into a trail crew and talked for them for a bit. They said they were preparing the trail for an ultra marathon around the lake. I thanked them for their work continuing on my way.
This was an exciting day because I was moving onto a new map. I had used the National Geographic Pacific Crest Trail Oregon South map for the whole trip until now. Once I had passed Maiden Peak and Bobby Lake, I was now going off the map while following the edge of Waldo Lake. This was great because now I felt as if I was halfway done. Though I did not want it to end right away, I was still happy that I was over halfway done with completing my goal.
The trail continued downhill until I finally made it to Charlton Lake. I would sit down to have lunch. I ran into some people I knew. I actually didn't even know their names, but knew them as the French couple. I really didn't get into the trail name thing. I would be much happier just knowing someone's actual name rather than some nickname. I don't know why but it just made the trail less personal. I didn't even ask people their names because I would get an answer like Monster Style which told me nothing. I filled up some water and thought about taking a dip. I did not want to get any of my clothes wet and there were too many people around to skinny dip. This made it prohibitive for me to swim in the afternoon. So I ate my lunch, filled my water, and was on my way.
Did I mention that it was hot? This was the hottest day of the year and I knew that now I would be entering the burn area from last year. I think that a lot of people didn't realize that they were going to have to cross the burn area because it was so recent. At the beginning of the school year, there was smoke every day to breath in from this fire between Charlton Lake and Irish Lake. I was mentally and physically prepared for the worst as this was also the hottest day of the trip.
The trail was worse than I expected. At first, it wasn't so bad with some standing trees and some burnt ones. Then the landscape open up around Charlton Butte and there wasn't a spec of vegetation left on the ground. It looked like a desert landscape and still smelled of fire. You wondered if there were still some smoldering stumps in the area. With the heat from the afternoon sun and no shade, this was a rough passage through the fire area. The only other person I saw was a single female curled up in the only shade around. She expressed to me that it was just so hot. There was not much I could do for that, so I continued on my way. It was a full six miles to get through the fire area. The one positive was that there were no mosquitoes through this section. That was about all though because seeing the shores of Taylor Lake, made me very pleased.
Taylor Lake and Irish Lake were right next to each other. There was also a dirt road that led to them and given that it was a Saturday, there were also a crew of people paddle boarding on the lake. This derailed my opportunity to jump in the lake again, so I filled up my water again and was on my way. I was now entering the Mink Lake Basin. This was another place that was known for its mosquitoes and it did not disappoint. As soon as I was out of the burn area, the little buggers came back. This area was very similar to the Diamond Peak area with lots of small lakes.
I was planning on staying at Brahma Lake when I started hiking in the morning. I still had quite a bit of energy when I got there, though, so I continued a little further to the last lake before I ran out of lakes by the trail. This lake was Stormy Lake and it kind of lived up to its name. It felt a little darker and more ominous being just below some high cliffs. I found a camping spot on my own across the lake. Here I quickly got the tent set up amongst the mosquitoes and took a few minutes to lay down. It was nice to rest, but I had to get a dip in. So I waded out amongst the fallen logs and mud until I finally found a place deep enough. This lake was cold and was not quite as inviting as the Rosary Lakes. Still, it got me clean and I hung my shorts on some branches to dry. Making dinner was a pain with all the mosquitoes and once it was done, I hid in the tent to eat it. Not quite safe when it comes to bears, but the way it had to be for my sanity. I made some time to read a chapter of my book and then it was off to sleep.
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