Obsidian

Jacqueline wanted us all to do a hike together, so we chose to go to the Obsidian area because the kids hadn't been there before. It turned out that Zyla had dance camp, so we dropped her off at a friend's house and the three of us took the trail up. There were lots of wildfires in Oregon, so we were a bit concerned that we would be hiking in smoke all day. When we got to the trailhead, it wasn't too bad with air quality probably being around 80 ppm given the taste test. It seemed to get better as the day went on also. The first part of the trail was a workout. We climbed through the thick forest and then through a burn area for the first few miles until we got views from the lava flow. The peaks were a little bit washed out, but still large and looming over us.

We continued and took the left side of the loop first having been here before and taken the right side. The left side went up the Glacier Way trail and it climbed swiftly. We were all ready to have the uphill done with and even though it was a cooler than average day, we were all sweating in the sun. It was worth it, though, because once we were on the PCT trail, the views were fantastic. I convinced Conrad and Jacqueline that we could do a little bit extra and make it up to another lake. They agreed. It was worth it. The route up to the lake went through scree from lava flows, but there was a pretty good path. After a bit, we cut up a steep slope avoiding the snow fields still left despite the 90 degree plus temperatures that had been occurring for a few weeks.

We topped out on the plateau and it was a short saunter over to Arrow Lake. Here we sat down and had some lunch after showcasing our rock skipping abilities. After lunch I was able to convince the pair to go out to the edge and have a look. You could see the whole Obsidian area below us. It was really spectacular. We went back down the same way that we came in and then continued on the normal trail.

This took us to the Obsidian area where there were so many shiny pieces of obsidian around. Still, there was not as much here as there was 5-10 years ago. I wonder how long it will take our greedy human population before all of the obsidian on the ground is gone. Probably less time than we think even though it has so much more appeal here in this area than it does in someone's backyard. Conrad was impressed. What I loved about the Obsidian area is the stream that seemed to bubble out of the scree. I filled my water bottle and we continued on our way. This took us down the course of the stream until we ran into Obsidian Falls. I informed Jacqueline that this was one of the only waterfalls in Oregon that can be seen along the Pacific Crest trail which seems strange, but then one has to remember that you are near the highest point when you are on the trail.

We were starting to see some PCT hikers at this point and they all looked so miserable. Having done the Oregon section last year, I was a little burned out on PCT culture with everyone being dressed alike. The misery was the thoughts in their heads of making sure they put in enough miles on each day. I guess you can even take something as enjoyable as hiking and turn it into a job if you have to achieve a goal. We saw our last PCT hikers as we left the trail to complete the loop. This was a more gradual descent that took us past fields of wildflowers and small streams. Eventually we were back on the path that we took up and we hustled our way back to the car with Jacqueline winning the pool on when we would make it back. A very enjoyable day with the family out in one of the best places around.