Fish Lake resort was empty and quiet this morning when Tabasco and I got up. We packed and I watched as Tabasco struggled to fit all of the six day food supply in his pack. Finally he was successful. We debated about the shortest way back to the trailhead, finally circling the perimeter of the camping area and locating a dirt road which we followed to an intersection with a gravel road. We hiked the gravel road to Hwy 140 and tried hitching, to no avail, as we hiked up the highway. So after our 2 mile road walk we reached the PCT crossing of the highway and at 8:50am started officially hiking for the day, northbound. I hate losing time and having to hike road miles to start a day’s hike…wasted early energy.
The first four miles was a 1000 foot climb, but was barely noticeable with such a nice, gentle grade. We passed two day hikers with their four dogs, the only humans of the day. Yesterday’s human sighting on the trail were two hunters on four wheelers, following an adjacent road. After four miles we split away, off the side of Mt. McLoughlin and hiked on fairly level terrain in the woods. Thirteen miles into the day we stopped for a lunch and water break at Christi’s spring. Water continues to be scarce, spread out over several miles, and off trail, in most places a quarter mile or more. We filtered in the barely flowing spring and both cooked a lunch, taking advantage of another day of good weather.
Our heavy packs were taking their toll on our bodies all day. My back and shoulders were taking most of the pack load as my hip belt can’t be cinched any tighter (I can’t afford to lost any more inches on the waistline). My left hip was painful from the weight all day. Fortunately the right ankle continues to improve and though swollen, isn’t a problem, and the heel blister finally seems to be callousing over.
We maintained a brisk pace all morning and most of the afternoon. On the only really significant steep climb of the afternoon up to Devil’s Peak, Tabasco injured his calf and then felt sick with dizziness, some nausea, and fever. I had some dizziness, too, but felt like I was just in need of calories and was hitting the wall not having enough afternoon snacks. We made it over the 7300 foot peak with only a few patches of snow on the north side as we began a very late afternoon descent. We had missed a supposed trail junction with water .20 miles off trail before the climb to Devil’s Peak and were in need of water to cook dinner. It appeared we would hike in darkness to cover another 4 miles to the next water.
Just as dusk set in, we crossed a nice flowing snowmelt stream, not in the databook, and got some water. Tabasco wanted to camp at a nice site next to the water at 6800 feet, but I didn’t like the site as it was windy and exposed and the forecast is for snow, rain, and wind tomorrow. So we donned the packs and hiked another mile in near darkness before settling on some flat ground, another 400 feet down and less exposed. We pushed hard to do miles today, with a late start for trail miles, hoping we can do the 132 miles to Shelter Cove in 5 days instead of the planned 6.
The forecasted snow may set us back, which is the reason we carried an extra days supply of food. I’m not happy that the weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow as we arrive at Crater Lake, the one area I’ve been really wanting to see and hike around (the rim) in good weather. Now I’m just hoping it doesn’t snow so much that we can’t find the trail. Tonight we ate in darkness together, then went to our respective tents to escape the quickly cooling temps. I am anxious for a good night’s sleep and hopefully an early start tomorrow, depending on the weather. These long, fast paced hiking days are wearing on me, both physically and mentally, but we have to keep pushing if we hope to get to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood by Halloween. OK, today’s balmy weather: sunny to partly cloudy, low 41, high 70. Today’s miles: 27.4; cumulative 1951.5.
