At 3am I got out of the tent to pee, in full moonlight and no clouds. At 5am rain began, lightly and intermittent, but enough to wet the tent fly. Tabasco and I got up at 7am, packed up under cloudy skies and wind, but no rain fell, thankfully, while we packed our gear. We hiked for a couple hours and it looked as though rain could begin at any time, but it held off. It was, nevertheless, quite cold. Around mid-morning we saw three horses and a large canvas white tent off the trail about 50 yards. A guy saw us and spoke; Tabasco spoke back, but because of the wind, we couldn’t hear, so we walked up to the camp. Three hunters, about my age, and their stock and a ton of gear were spread out. They were packing up to go home after a five day hunting trip (killed one 5 point elk). They asked us about our hike, then told us we had just missed breakfast and sandwich meat, which five minutes earlier they had spread into the woods for the birds to eat. I was so damned hungry I didn’t care; I went to the ground where about 2 lbs. of lunch meat was laying and I scooped it up, cleaned off the dirt and ate it, all of it. I needed protein and I needed calories and it served me well. Then the hunters gave us a box of unopened crackers as well as several single serve Pringles, and two 24oz. Pepsis each. I devoured the Pringles and Pepsi, saving one Pepsi for the trail.
Good thing, because water was scarce and a couple miles later I tried a steeply descending side trail to get water for a 10 mile waterless stretch. I was confronted by so many blowdowns and poor trail markings, I gave up. Tabasco and I continued hiking and at lunch time drank our Pepsis instead of water. We were so thankful for the hunter’s trail magic! Clouds continued, but there were occasional sun breaks and it appeared we might avoid a big rain event. Strangely enough as we began a final afternoon approach into Crater Lake National Park, the sun began shining while at the same time we had an hour of sprinkles under blue sky.
We had to make a difficult decision about whether to take the Stock (equestrian) PCT, which would keep us off the exposed Crater Lake Rim crater and 1000 feet or more lower than the high rim. With uncertain weather and cold temps, there was certainly some risk climbing up to the rim. We decided to go for the rim and the Rim Village Lodge, and we can backtrack the 2.4 miles tomorrow down to the junction with the equestrian route, if necessary. So we hiked up 1400 feet in two miles and got up to the rim at 6pm. I had spoken to Debi earlier in the afternoon, via cell phone, and she had described the best fish and chips and coleslaw on the trail.
Tabasco and I had been dreaming of restaurant food, specifically fish and chips, on the climb up to the rim. Denied!!! The lodge, store, and every other building in the village were closed for the winter! Bummer!!! We were in thick fog and clouds, cold and damp, and in a ghost village as darkness approached. The one bright spot was a bathroom which was lit and, when we went inside, was very warm. Wasting no time, out came our gear to be dried inside the small, but inviting bathroom. And we cooked our dinner in the hallway leading to the bathroom. We spent at least two hours in there and eventually realized that the combination of too much light and too much warmth would make sleeping difficult inside that room. It had served us well, allowing us respite from cold, dark, damp conditions outside and the blow dryer was especially efficient at drying damp gloves and wet pack towels.
Earlier as we had first scouted the village, I had commented that if necessary, we could sleep on the front porch of the closed visitor’s center. Tabasco left the bathroom first to go set up on the porch, while I spent another twenty minutes in the bathroom recharging my cell phone, which lasts precious little time when used in analog mode. When I left the bathroom to walk a few dozen yards to the store, I didn’t turn on my headlamp, preferring to let my eyes adjust to the dark night. Good thing, because there was a forest ranger or someone with access to the ranger’s headquarters, who was in the dark parking lot, just a few yards from the store. He had a flashlight and was doing something with tools in the back of his truck, so I quietly and in total darkness, made my way to the porch of the store, then quietly removed gear from my pack to set up a place to sleep. Tabasco and I whispered quietly as every sound traveled easily through the fog on that asphalt parking lot. Finally the man got in the truck, drove to the bathroom, where he stopped for a few minutes, then left.
Finally, at 9pm I could turn on my headlamp to get situated in the sleeping bag, but no journaling took place in the very cold, damp night. The bathroom was the highlight of the day! Hopefully skies will clear and we will get a great view of Crater Lake as we circle part of the rim. Today’s weather: rain early, cloudy. Low 38, high 47. Today’s miles: 26.9; cumulative 1978.4.
