Monday, July 15
Just kidding. We went 6 more miles last night after our lupper, making our own camp on a relatively flat area. Jess spent much too long trying to hang a bear bag; ask her how she feels about pumice and pine sometime.
A lazy start today, not on trail until 8:30 after a breakfast of tortillas with peanut butter, honey, granola, and dried fruit, all while the mosquitoes whined outside. I hiked ahead a bit to get to the spring, a steep 0.3 miles down and back up. I earned my Snickers bar 😉
We trudged on, with intermittent views of Cowhorn Mtn ahead, and Mt Thielsen behind. The mosquitoes were swarming a mere 30% of the hiking day, which provided a welcome break from trying to eat and drink through a head net. We met Rusty and White Walker at the water cache, a couple from England who had just completed mile 1280 today; a halfway point in their flip-flop of the trail to avoid snow. After leaving the water cache, we trudged 1000 feet uphill over 3 miles to a campsite in a saddle, picture perfect for a sunrise view. My right posterior tibialis and left hip abductors kept me from wanting to continue after a full day if clockwise traverses (right side uphill). Here’s to an earlier morning!

Tuesday, July 16
Today has been GREAT. We started in the clouds (minimal sunrise view, bummer) and a swarm of mosquitoes, the latter of which followed us for the morning. I’ve now forcefully inhaled at least one mosquito (death by vocal cords), and Bethani has snorted another. We are becoming much more adept at doing all things through our head nets: drinking, eating, sneezing, teeth-brushing, etc. After 4 hours, I finally gave in and applied DEET strategically to my shirt cuffs, and suddenly felt calm and peaceful. Just around the bend, I caught my first glimpse of Summit Lake, a crystal clear lake hidden away in the wilderness at 5600 feet above sea level. The trail weaved in and out among the hemlock firs wizened with Methuselah’s Beard moss, opening up occasionally to catch glimpses of this beautiful mountain lake. Sapphire damselflies darted about, and I cheered them on in their mosquito hunting pursuits. I ducked off the trail to a campsite on the peninsula and caught my breath, just to have it stolen away again.Wow. With Diamond Peak looming in the distance, I could barely tear myself away from my vantage point (a breeze keeping mosquitoes away didn’t hurt).
I caught up to Bethani, who had hurriedly set up the tent in an attempt to escape the skeeters. I left her trailside to explore the nearby Forest Service campground, which offered a pit toilet (!!!!) and picnic tables. I opted for a bikini dip in the clear waters, instantly refreshed, noting the goosebumps due to more than the chilly air and cool water. What a delight!
We found more mosquitoes (of course) as we left Summit Lake, promising to come back for another visit. We began climbing again, with waning vigor as the afternoon sun rose higher and the mosquitoes grew smaller and feistier. Over snow fields and beside lakes and streams (boy, does it feel nice to carry less than 4 L of water!), we spurred on weary legs and feet with the thought of hot lentils and rice once we set up camp. Hiker hunger finally set in this week, and rather than having double the amount of food we need for this leg, we’re wishing we had one or two more hot meals packed. We utilized our now well-rehearsed rapid tent setup to avoid the huge swarms of mosquitoes, ate supper inside, then dashed out to make our final bush breaks before an early 7:30 bedtime and self massage of achy legs and feet.
Shelter Cove, town food, resupply package, and showers tomorrow!

Wednesday, July 17
The winds howled all night, which made me giddy to think of all the mosquitoes being blown askew. Unfortunately, they still swarmed the tent when we decided to get up and make breakfast. It was a bit of slow going to start as we picked our way over icy snowfields, but the views were jaw-dropping. Snow-covered slopes of Diamond Peak, accented by soaring hemlock firs and rushing mountain streams pouring into crystal clear lakes and ponds.My mind was humming with lyrics like “How Great Thou Art” and “As Water to the Thirsty”. I was struck once again by the enjoy of the gift of Creation; that the God of the universe would create this space just to have a place to commune with us, and that He still wishes to do that today. And as we crossed stream after stream, after multiple long, heavy (water is 2.2 pounds per liter, in case you were wondering) dry stretches over the past week and a half, I realized ever more keenly how much water means to the thirsty. In case you haven’t heard one of my favorite hymns:
“As water to the thirsty, as beauty to the eyes; as truth instead of lies… So is my Lord to me.”
What a joy to realize that God is everything good and perfect and whole in my life!

We tromped 8 miles down the mountain – crossing the invisible 200 mile marker as we did so – to another resort tucked alongside a lake, finding a PCT hiker area for arranging boxes, recharging electronics, and microwaving food.

The picnic tables were nearly all taken by dusty-shoed, sock tan-lined hikers stuffing their faces with delicious town food. We found familiar faces from Crater Lake, including Dodger, who very generously offered us use of the facilities in his rental cabin, including showers, laundry, and power. What a joy to take a shower without the fear of the water turning off midrinse! PLUS the feeling of cotton towels…yesssss.
We finished up our cleaning (and Bethani dressed some nasty blisters on her toe), and walked back to center camp to claim our boxes. We divvied up the food (a little more than last leg due to hunger increasing and our longest leg yet), making a mental checklist of what we needed to buy in the shop to supplement our supply. As we waited, the hiker box – a communal take or leave catch all in the main hiker area – became a new shop every five minutes or so. We scored pop tarts, tortillas, Rice a Roni, peanut butter, granola bars, and hummus powder. Feeling rich (and heavy), it was time to order more food. We’d gotten full size salads and a large (very large; whoops) pizza for lunch, but I’d a hankering for a burger rather than leftover pizza. And it was GOOD.
Waddling away, I got a spot by the campfire with Mango, Bluejay, Tough Cookie, Cheesy Turtle, and Walkabout, where we swapped trail and travel stories, and emphasized the importance of Carpe Diem in our lives. Oh, I also got a deluxe chocolate s’more from Mango, thanks to my previous PT advice (and a group of three sharing a package of four marshmallows). We chatted until the shadows grew long and the sun dipped into pink and orange streaks before retiring to our tent area to battle the (fewish) mosquitoes just before hiker midnight – 9 pm – and I chuckled as I saw the late nighters take our places around the campfire – average age 70 years. 😉