Day 112, Problem Dog

Part 4, Oregon, Day 112

Problem Dog

Miles: 28.5

Total Miles: 1887.8

Days 107-112 are up.

Today I left the PCT for another trail and I have to say I regret it. But let's go back to last night. 

I sat on my cliff camp spot after dark and watched as hundreds of lightning strikes lit up the southern sky. I think the apocalypse is starting. I knew that more fires would start. I woke up at 5am to cold and what seemed like fog. My tent was wet from condensation, but as the blood red sun began to rise, I could see that smoke was pouring into the valley. I hiked out at 6:15am.

There were no good pictures to be taken this morning, or all day. The smoke blanketed what little views I had today. 

Hikers call the PCT in Oregon, "the green tunnel," because it's mostly forested with few open views. This was true today. Hours and hours of hiking through forests. I saw this lake, which was obscured by smoke, and notice how the hills behind it aren't even visible:

I saw what I'm pretty sure was a ferret. It's fur was black, and it moved away before I could get a picture. 

I wanted to get through this quickly, so I was hiking fast.

After 10 miles, I arrived at Six Horse Springs. The water was half a mile steeply downhill, but it was the last water for 18 miles. I thought about skipping it, but I fear dehydration these days after getting sick. 

The last four water sources have been 25, 30, 17, and 18 miles apart, respectively. That's drier than the SoCal desert! I got to the bottom of the canyon and found this stagnant pool:

A bit of investigating revealed a clear flow just below this pool. Cold and clear water!

I arrived back up on the trail sweaty and panting from that steep climb. It felt like a waste of time, taking 30 minutes. I hiked quickly until 12:30.

This burn area was creepy with all the existing smoke around. The burn felt recent.

I reached a forest service road at Wendingo Pass, hiking 17 miles by mid day. I dried my tent and ate some food. Cookies Monster walked up. He was in the middle of attempting a 50 mile day. Crazy kid. He'll do it too. 

There was a bone dry water cache here. A South bounder told me it was full. This is why you shouldn't rely on caches.

Another southbound hiker had earlier told me about an alternate trail that started down this road. It was called, "the Oregon Skyline Trail," and it went 22 miles to Shelter Cove, the very place I was headed to for resupply. It supposedly had a free camp at a big lake. Since the PCT sucked today, I decided to take a break from it and I started toward the OST.

The danger here was that I had no map for this trail. I looked briefly at the other hikers map, but i had to just start hiking and trust that I'd arrive at Shelter Cove tomorrow. 

I took it easy, stopping for a few breaks. The trail was... Not too attractive. 

After awhile, I came to a fork in the trail. Oh shit! Which way to I go? 

I chose the path the went north, an easy decision. Luckily, it was correct. I continued on hoping for no more surprises. I was really tired. My legs were cramping up. 

Sometimes, you just have to sit on a log in the middle of nowhere and space out.

I missed the PCT. I felt like I was sneaking around behind its back. It felt dirty. 

I passed a few lakes. I've seen plenty of lakes this summer, so they have to really stand out to impress me. This was just a lake.

The forest here was sort of creepy.

By 6pm I was dead tired, but I was at the junction where the trail to the camp was supposed to be. Somebody had torn off the sign pointing the way, and I was at a 4 way junction. Crap... I chose a direction, which led me to a road. 

The trail disappeared here. I walked half a mile in each direction and found nothing. I turned back and walked further and found a road to a group camp site. I walked in and the large family stared at me like I was from outer space. I asked where the public camp was. They stared and shrugged. I asked if I could use their spigot for water. They said no! I felt like a vagrant, and slowly wandered back up the hill. I cut down through the road and hiked down a ravine, and found the lake. All that free water. I set up a stealth camp in the woods near the lake. 

This lake is called "Crescent Lake." 

I met more people who were much kinder than the group campers. They were the ones who tipped me off to this stealth camp spot. 

I resupply tomorrow at Shelter Cove and I'll soon be back on the PCT. I'll be sure to do something special for the reunion. Maybe I'll wear my new pair of socks!