Trail Day 109: Tentsite near trail junction (mile 1871.7) to tentsite (mile 1895.3)

23.6 PCT miles

There was no rush today. Not only would my resupply box not arrive at Shelter Cove until tomorrow afternoon, but I finally gave into the decision to skip to Washington. Each day I had been seeing updates on a new fire closure, or a closure expansion.

The updates from last night finally made it not worth the effort of trying to go around them. To get to Washington via the trail I would have open trail sections of 30, 50, and 80 miles. None of those stretches are long enough to be worth the effort. The 80 mile stretch might have been worth it, but it is approaching a very unstable fire.

To add to the difficulty, some of those closure edges are not easy to access from off the trail. That would mean I would either have to cut more miles off or walk a day or half day’s worth of forest roads to get in and out.

These fires are continuing to grow in size as well. If I were still in northern California I would not be able to walk around the closures as I did because those routes are now part of the closure. I saw a post from Songbeard that he and Phoenix arrived at the West Rim Trail of Crater Lake a few hours after it was closed. They are only a day behind me. At least the winds had shifted and they actually got to see the lake.

The sky had cleared for me overnight as well. I stopped at the water cache I considered camping at last night, then started uphill through the forest. It was a pretty pleasant morning. I had blue skies full of clouds again. I also had vistas. They were still a bit hazed, but at least they were there.

Sunrise. 
The tree is eating this PCT marker.
No smoke.
The PCT. 
Vistas. 
The PCT. 


I eventually started downhill towards Summit Lake. This was a large lake with a campground, so I figured it would be a great place for a late lunch.

It was early afternoon by the time I got there and it was really hot. I decided to try out a swim. I had no idea how dirty I was until I changed into my swimsuit. My whole legs were covered in the fine dirt that travelled up my pants as I walked.

I walked into the shallows and started scrubbing at my legs. The dirt was so thick that they needed to be scrubbed, it wouldn't just wash off.

Then, I dove in. That was the best idea I have had in a long time. It felt so amazingly good. I rinsed the dirt from the rest of my body, dipped and swam for awhile, then headed to the picnic table feeling refreshed.

A refreshing swim.


As I was eating, the smoke rolled in. In short time, the details of the other shore got washed out. Disappointed that I had lost my view, I eventually packed up and headed out.

Summit Lake when I arrived.
Summit Lake when I left.


I had another long, uphill climb ahead of me. I was hoping the smoke would thin out the further up I climbed. It did to an extent, but the smoke also got thicker as the day went on.

Afternoon view on the trail. 


When I finally reached the crest of the uphill, I was greeted with some cool looking peaks. I couldn't help but think how spectacular they would have been if the smoke hadn't been there and how I was missing out on that.

Still cool, but I am missing out.


I stopped at a stream to fill up on water, then headed for a nearby tentsite. From the latest information I could gather, the nearest fire was still pretty far away, but I cowboy camped with my bag packed in case of emergency. 

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