Trail Day 104: Hyatt Lake Outlet (mile 1738.7) to tentsite (mile 1767.6)

28.9 PCT miles

I headed out just before sunrise, passing Hyatt Lake Resort.  This was an option for me to camp at last night, but I didn't feel like rolling into a resort after dark, so I opted for the tentsite by the lake outlet. There was a potable water spigot near the resort, so I filled up on water and headed on.

Early morning on the trail.

Sunlight filtering through the smoke.

I was having trouble moving this morning so I ended up taking a lot more mini breaks than I would have liked. Today was also a lot hotter than yesterday, which made hiking a lot less fun.

At one of my breaks I checked to see if I had cell signal, and I found that I had enough to check the internet. What I found when I went online was that one of the two major fires closures past Crater Lake had been extended. I also found out that part of the detour route people had been taking was closed off as well.

Up to this point, I had done continuous footsteps from Mexico, not skipping even a little section. With the challenges thru hikers have faced this year, I am one of the few who has kept this. It would all end in a couple hundred miles. With the fire closures expanding, it would be too long and difficult to detour around on foot. I would have to be shuttled around.

This upset me quite a bit. I had worked really hard and make sacrifices in order to maintain continuous steps and now it will have been for nothing. Even with the shuttling, I will still have to push really hard to make it to Canada before the weather forces me off trail. It still might force me off trail despite my efforts.

When I got going again, I did not enjoy hiking. Besides being hot, I was going uphill. I was tired, exhausted, and mad. I also kept thinking back to the nice, comfy bed and hot shower therapy I had in Ashland and how I wanted more of it. Then, I just plain wanted to go home. Badly. The hike didn't seem worth the effort.

It is getting hard to tell when things are just a mental challenge, and when you should listen to your instincts. Most people who thru hike report that the physical challenge is less difficult than the mental one.  

I kept this in mind as I finally reached a spring where I would stop for lunch. I set my bag down in the shade,  and pulled out my pad. After I collected some water for lunch, I took the time to cook myself a nice lunch and even laid down for a while. After that, I looked around me. The forest was beautiful and even the spring was nice, with a cute little boardwalk. I decided then that I wanted to be there.

Boardwalk to the spring. 

The PCT.

The hike after lunch was much more pleasant.  I crested the uphill portion, then headed downhill to a long flat section.  I cruised through it.

View from the trail. There is actually a view!

Late day lighting in the forest.

Later in the day I came to a shelter.  The notes in Guthook said that there is sometimes trail magic there. There wasn't any today, but I ended up using the picnic tables to snack at.

South Brown Mtn. Shelter

Inside the shelter.

After the shelter, there was supposed to be a water source. I didn't see any sign of it. I resigned myself to the fact that I would need to be conservative with my water. I definitely had enough to last me the rest of the day, but I would have been comfortable with more. Luckily, someone had left a large cache of bottled water at the next road crossing.

Water cache!

As I was nearing the end of the day, I had to make a decision about where to camp. Unfortunately, it looked like my camping options were either much earlier than I would have liked more much further, putting me way over 30 miles for the day.

Then, I hit the lava rock. The jagged,  irregular lava rock. I imagined having to navigate that well into the night and suddenly, stopping a few miles early  didn't seem so bad. However, when I checked the notes in Guthook, someone had given the mile points for other tentsites in that stretch that Guthook did not list. One of them was right in the middle of the two sites I had been looking at. Thank you fellow hiker!

Lava rock.

I was still making my way to the site as the light faded. Along the rocks I saw quite a few quarter sized black spiders as well as a scorpion. At the tentsite itself there were carpenter ants everywhere. I was definitely putting the tent up for the night. Even as it was up, I could still hear the ants crawling on the outside.

Scorpion on the trail.