I debated for a long time whether to hike from McKenzie Pass or just start at Santiam Pass from Big Lake. I had hiked the McKenzie Pass section previously, so I could easily skip it. Frankly, though, I had enjoyed hiking in places that I was familiar with, so I decided to still go for it. I was able to get Jacqueline up early and she gave me a ride to the trailhead. It was sad to leave my family again, but this time it would be the last. I only had 166 miles to go, which still sounds like a lot, but considering I had already hiked 254, this was going to be easy. I had the incentive of being able to get off the trail after this.
By this point, I was getting tired, but I was going to finish my goal. I had done a great job of not getting impatient, so far, and I think that was my saving grace. This last leg, though, I wanted to see what my body could handle. I was going to try to pull it off in 6 days which would mean an average of 27 miles plus per day. This would mean getting up with the sunrise and going to bed with the sunset.
I was well on my way at 8am. The trail climbed through the lava fields beneath Belknap Crater. I could imagine that this would be really annoying without fresh legs. Having taken a day off, though, I was feeling pretty good. The lava rock was everywhere and it was all uphill. Then I topped out on a trail I had been on a couple of times. The spur to the top of Belknap would have to wait for another day as now I went down the other side of the lava flow. This put me into forest some of which was burned out from previous fires. I went past the place where I would turn to go to George Lake, one of the best lakes I have ever been to, and continued along the slopes of Mt. Washington.
The trail was rather quiet as I climbed the hill. The pack was a little bit heavy with 6 days worth of food stuffs in there, but I felt like so far, I had done a great job packing. Eventually Big Lake came into view. It was such a far retreat from where I was with its jet boats and people yelling near the water. I skirted it for quite some time before popping out on the trailhead. From here, I took the connector trail that went between Big Lake and Santiam Pass. This trail, I had never hiked before, but I spent quite a bit of time cross country skiing it in the winter. There was an obscene amount of blowdowns on the trail and then there was a trail crew. I was happy to see them and thanked them for their work. It is always the right thing to say to a group of people sacrificing their time to make your hike better.
I eventually made it to Santiam Pass and it was hot. The trail led uphill from here and given that it was in an old fire scar, I did not have much reprieve. The day had been so quiet, but I was now starting to see a few people again. I knew they were PCT hikers because I would see them resting and then they would blow by me a few minutes later. When talking to people later, I learned that many people just skipped the section that I just did. They would get a ride down the hill from McKenzie Pass, but they could not get back up to it. They would take a ride to Santiam Pass and skip the 16.5 miles it had just taken me to hike all morning and early afternoon.
The trail continued to climb and eventually I found myself back in the forest. I was feeling pretty tired having already put in 20 plus miles by the time I got back into the woods and the water supply was running low. Eventually I found a nice little pond in the woods to filter water from. This made me feel a little bit more secure as I continued to traverse the narrow trail along the high cliffs of Three Fingered Jack. Eventually the trail popped out to the slopes of Three Fingered Jack and I got some of the best views of the day. Having hiked past Mt. Washington and Three Fingered Jack in one day was quite the feat, but it was made even better by the views of the upper slopes. In fact when I came around a corner, I could see down into Canyon Creek Meadows, a place the family and I went just recently, and had to text a picture of it to the wife.
At this point I was tired, but I was so close to Wasco Lake that I had to make it there. I knew I could take a dip in the lake and having a clean body was so important in the evening. Still I was wondering if I would make it there before dark and after talking to many other PCT hikers, it seemed like that was the goal of everyone I was running into. The blowdowns did not help the tired legs and body, but eventually I made it to the turn off. When I got to the lake, it was like a party. There were so many tents. There was no way I was going to invade someone else's scene, so I found a spot down a lonely trail at the far end of the lake. There was a clearing just big enough for a single tent and I made myself a home. The only visitor I had that night was a single deer most likely upset over me invading his space.
I did find the time to take a dip in the lake, even though it was nearly dark. The cool waters refreshed me, but it was more about necessity than enjoyment. Then it was a rehydrated dinner, just enough time to read a chapter of my book, then it was off to sleep. Probably put in a little over 27 miles, so well on my way to meeting my goal.
No comments:
Post a Comment