Last night, a lot of clouds moved in, and this morning it really looked like “maybe rain.”  So we put our packs into “rain mode” just in case, before heading out along the trail.  We spent most of today hiking through the Sisters Wilderness “pond and lake” zone, which meant a lot of twisting up and down through rocky knolls in the forest, interspersed with mostly ponds (some with water lilies!!)  and a few real lakes. It’s damp here, and there were whole “lawns” of intensely green moss. The trees have long strands of graygreen lichen hanging from every twig. Finally we started getting glimpses of the Sisters mountains up ahead.

As we walked along, we’d been joking about taking the side trail down to Elk Lake Resort to get a big juicy hamburger, but when we actually got to the junction, it was a sad, sad sight.  There had been a forest fire, and the hillside was blackened and ashy, all the way down to Elk Lake.  Bummer!

But the farther we hiked, the closer we got to the Sisters, and our excitement grew.  “No getting lost up there THIS time!” we cheered.  In 2005, the whole Sisters Wilderness was full of snow, it was raining so hard that we could see no landmarks, and we got quite lost for awhile before relocating the trail. 

This morning, we were doing the climb up into Sisters, when we met a hiker going SOBO and stopped to talk.  Good thing we did!  He was actually a NORTHbound thruhiker, who’d stopped for a rest and then when he started out again, he forgot which way to go and headed SOUTH!  We were able to set him straight, and he hiked with us for a little while, but soon we left him behind.  We were hiking a lot faster than he was.  And by the way, Bill is feeling much better.  I don’t know if it’s the prospect of going through Sisters Wilderness, or what, but he has been able to hike right along today!

The PCT took us up to a green-meadowed crest, then down to the Sisters Mirror Lakes.  A number of people were camped there already.  We found a nice rocky perch by one of the lakes and ate our supper.  The sun even came out for awhile, and it felt good!  Our suppertime entertainment was a mama duck and her ducklings foraging along the shore nearby.  Then we shouldered our packs and kept going, till we reached the “high point” of the day, not in altitude, but in amazing-ness.  It’s called the Wickiup Plain.

In 2005, all we could see of the Plain was a wide pumice field, because we were in rain and clouds.  This time, we saw…wow!  The Plain is huge, and South Sister rises right out of it!   We were standing right next to the South Sister Peak, all snowy and gorgeous and magnificent.   We spent a lot of time oohing and aahing as we went crunching across the pumice.  And not only that, but the pumice was dotted with many tiny, dwarfed wildflower plants in bloom, all colors.   I wish we could have spent more time there, but it was late in the day, there was a very strong, very cold wind blowing, and we had to make more miles.

The PCT route is marked with a series of upright posts across the Plain, and this time, when there was a trail junction, there was actually a SIGN on the post to tell which trail was which!  There were no signs in 2005, and it was tough.  We met another thruhiker named “Symbiosis”, who told us about “Carhop”.  Carhop has a unique plan for thruhiking, which involves two of his own cars, so that every time he needs to go offtrail and resupply, one of his cars is waiting for him. 

We got across the beautiful Wickiup Plain and headed back into the woods.  We reached the creek where we lost the trail in 2005, and I was very curious to see where the PCT actually went!   Well, turns out it switchbacks WAY down the mountainside!  The forests and meadows right now are gorgeous–very green, and full of wildflowers.  Much prettier than our 2005 experience of snow and rain!

Eventually we stopped and camped in a grove of trees and set up the tarp, prepared for a very cold  and possibly rainy night. The clouds (which appeared to threaten rain all day) looked like they might (I hoped) be blowing away in the wind.  And best of all, with the wind and the cold–NO mosquitoes!!   And Bill is so much better–he can’t hike “on a tear” like he was before, but he was able to eat and hike at “normal” speed, all day today.  Tomorrow we get to see MORE awesome Sisters Wilderness! 

Walk with Aragorn to Minas Tirith: Brief rest at Meduseld in Edoras, then south toward Harrowdale

Since we camped last night near the RR tracks, I got to see some trains go by before I went to sleep, and one of them was an Amtrak train— on time, if I remember my Amtrak schedules correctly!  Amazing! I had no idea that Amtrak ran so close to Shelter Cove!  Other trains came by later on, but they were all freight trains.  I enjoyed listening to them–camping near a railroad is great! 

At 5:30, I started writing some journal stuff while still inside my sleeping bag, and at 6:30 we packed up and went to the store for breakfast–burritos, muffins, cheese, coffee and juice.  We ate on the porch of Shelter Cove store with a great view of the lake. Bill is definitely feeling better this morning!  He was able to eat (but nowhere near as much as I did).  I was still eating and organizing our data book papers, guidebook pages, etc. for the PCT coming up, and looking through the resupply box and hiker box to see what I might need to buy at the store, when Bill said he’d go hunt for where the laundry was so we could at least wash our socks. 

If I’d been paying better attention, I would have noticed that he was taking his pack with him, including his food bag.  So when I got to the point of inventory-ing the food bags, Bill’s was gone.  Oh no!  So I went off to hunt for him.  I wandered all over the place amid the cabins at Shelter Cove.  One of the employees there saw me and asked if he could help.  He offered me a ride in his golf cart, and we drove around looking for Bill.  No luck.  It was as if he had totally vanished.  I was very frustrated!  All I could do was go back to the store and make a guess as to what was still left in Bill’s food bag.  Based on that guess, I finished my food “shopping” and was loading up my pack when Bill finally came back.

It turned out that he’d been way off someplace washing HIS socks–he’d forgotten to bring mine!  He was annoyed to find that I was “still not finished” with the resupply, and I was very unhappy about not having clean socks!   Grrrr!  I had to take my socks and wash them in freezing cold water in the bathroom, while Bill waited some more.  It did remind me once again, that if you are thruhiking with someone else, and for some reason you have to split up for awhile, be SURE you are both really clear on who’s doing what and when/where to get back together!  I had been so preoccupied with sorting out the resupply stuff that I didn’t pay attention very well. 

It was still a very chilly morning when we started walking down the road by the lake, headed back to the PCT.  Good thing we are getting out of here today, though! Tomorrow is a big fishing derby, AND the start of the “Where’s Waldo?” footrace on the PCT from here over to Waldo Lake area.  Shelter Cove will be a total zoo, I am sure–glad we don’t have to deal with it!  We met Phooey again as we were doing the roadwalk–he was headed IN to the store, and was amazed to find that we’d beaten him to it.  When we told him we took the alternate, he said, “Oh!  So THAT’s how you made it here so fast!”

Once you get across the highway and back on the trail, the PCT out of Shelter Cove is very pretty— it goes by a gentle grade up tothe Rosary Lakes and on to some really fine views. The trail junction signs could use some help, though— they are very confusing!  There were also people out putting up signs for the race tomorrow.  We passed the pretty viewpoint where we ate breakfast in 2005–it has a great panorama of all the Rosary Lakes, plus Lake Odell and Crescent Lake.

Then the trail started going up and down, with some pretty big “ups”.  Bill was feeling better, but still not himself yet. He lagged behind all day, and I often stopped to let him catch up, even though I was not hiking as fast as usual.  In spite of the slower speed, though, my klutz factor still kicked in–I stubbed my toe on a root, tripped, and went flying down off the trail.  I landed on nice soft forest stuff, though, not rocks!  Thankyou, Lord!

The woods along the trail here are very pretty, but the mosquitoes swarm you the moment you stop, and at one point, we got to a junction and couldn’t figure it out.  We ended up on a quarter mile long trail that led to a lake!  Oh well, Bill needed more water, and he had to empty out his whole pack to get at his platypus, since he doesn’t stow it in the “hydration sleeve”.  While he was doing that, I walked back to the PCT and using sticks, I made a “PCT” sign and arrow pointing to the correct trail.

Awhile later, I was the one who ran out of water, so Bill waited while I ran down a 1/10 mile side trail to Charlston Lake to fill my platypus.  Turned out there were a lot of people at the lake–it is very pretty, and it’s near a road.  Based on the Where’s Waldo? race signs on trees, I gathered that Charlston Lake is on the race route for tomorrow.  A little while later, we stopped for supper, but Bill had lost his appetite again and ate hardly anything, so I ate it all! 

Then we hiked on for a couple more hours, through a forest fire zone that in 2005 was an awful mess to get through. It’s still a fire zone, but this time we didn’t have to climb over blackened trees and search for some sign of the trail.  The tread is now clear and well-maintained.  It was interesting as we walked along, to observe the differing degrees of recovery in the forest, AND the fact that the forest is just barren tree trunks made it so we could SEE two of the Three Sisters up ahead.  Awesome!  We met two guys hiking along with fishing poles, looking for the Lily Lake side trail.  We hadn’t seen it–all we could figure out was that maybe only the PCT tread had been cleared after the fire, and the side trails were still covered with fallen, burned mess.  We hadn’t seen a junction sign for it, either, but back in 2005, all the trail signs were gone–they’d been burned up in the fire–and the PCT route was literally marked with arrows scratched on rocks.  So all we could tell the fisherguys was, “Good luck!”  A short time later, we met their wives?girlfriends? walking along the trail, too.  We felt sorry for them–I don’t think they will be able to find the lake, which is out of sight to the east.

Eventually we made it back into green forest, and stopped to camp near Riffle Lake.  The mosquitoes swarmed us the minute we stopped, so we had to set up camp while wearing our “mossie gear.”  Since the lake was close by, we went over there to wash our very dirty feet and legs–but it was a fast wash!  The mosquitoes pounced the minute we took off shoes and socks!  While we were setting up our net tent, Phooey came by, and also two PCT SOBO’s.  Once the tent was up, we zipped into it and now we are very comfortable listening to the clouds of mossies whining outside.  We have a great view of the lake with the moon shining over it–very pretty!  Once again, I could only pray like crazy that Bill will feel better tomorrow.

Walk with Aragorn to Minas Tirith: In green meadows crossing many streams

We were a little late getting up because  1) The watch alarm didn’t go off  and 2) I was burrowed into my sleeping bag and didn’t see the sky lightening.  It was 5:35–horrors!–when I woke up.  We packed up as fast as we could and hit the trail.  And Bill was totally on a tear–he took off like gangbusters and said, “See you at breakfast–I’ll stop at 7:00.”  He was soon out of sight.  I just can’t hike that fast, because I’m too klutzy–I’d be falling on my face every 5 minutes from tripping over something.  So I said, “Lord, just put me on Your cruise control”  and I hiked along as fast as I felt comfortable with. 

Bill waited for me just past the Tolay Camp junction.  A whole bunch of thruhikers were camped at the junction itself, but nobody had even ventured out of their tent yet!!  I couldn’t wait for breakfast–I was really hungry.  Our cup ‘n a half of granola & nuts just doesn’t cut it anymore.  I’ve been bringing some stuff to add to it.  Yesterday we had a Danish and granola.  This morning it was a bun with peanut butter plus the granola.   After breakfast, Bill took off, and I didn’t see him till “Snickers break” at 10:30. 

The PCT was in the forest again, and there had been some very nice trail engineering work.  One place in particular involved a sharp bend in the trail on a steep hill, and somebody had done a great job with rocks to make a very secure trail tread.  Very nice!  Trail gorillas are awesome!  A little while later, though, I came to a place where a huge tree had fallen down and left a big hole where the trail used to be.  I had to scramble around it.  Memories came back of our first ever backpacking trip in Lassen Nat’l. Park.  The same problem had happened on a trail in the Cluster Lakes area, and guys were working to fix the big hole.  They were using horses with saddlebags full of dirt to bring in enough stuff to fill the huge hole.  No sign of hardworking horses here, though–I guess eventually somebody will get around to filling in the hole. 

The PCT kept contouring around mountainsides to the road at Windigo Pass, where there was a nice water cache, left (according to a note there) by Lloyd Gust of Bend, OR.  The note had a phone number with, “Call me if the cache is running low.”  Well, it WAS running pretty low, but we don’t have a phone.  Bill was waiting for me, since it was Snickers time,  so we just topped up our quart bottles, had our snack, and left the PCT for the alternate route we did before, which goes via Crescent Lake to Shelter Cove.  Why do we like this alternate route?  Well, 1) It is 7 miles shorter    2) It has lots of water    3) It is low enough to be out of snow problems   4) It goes straight to Shelter Cove–no backtracking on the road   5) It actually is the original PCT route, which followed the Oregon Skyline Trail   6) It goes past several very pretty lakes.   Need any more reasons?   I think that’s plenty!

The alternate begins with a short roadwalk to the Oldenberg Lake trail, and we met a carful of guys who stopped to talk and were amazed that we’d walked all the way up from Mexico!  The Oldenberg Lake trail goes nicely up and down through Oregon Desert type forest, and it’s easy going.  When we stopped for lunch, though, Bill just bonked.  He didn’t just sit down and rest–he totally collapsed, and could barely manage to eat.  It took quite awhile before he felt strong enough to go on, and he was no longer on a tear, way out ahead of me, but was falling behind and having a very hard time going up any hills.  I was very worried.

The trail passes several pretty lakes, notably big and beautiful Crescent Lake, where our route led through the horse camp.  We stopped to reload on water and have some bug juice, and Bill collapsed again.  He just lay on the ground and looked very pale.  We sat there for some time before getting underway.  At our afternoon Snickers break, he could not eat, and felt very nauseated.  By now, to put it mildly, I was extremely concerned, and the trail didn’t make it any easier–all uphill.  Bill was only able to plod along. 

Finally we got to Diamond View Lake, where other backpackers were swimming.  It was a very warm afternoon–oh man, did I wish I could jump in the lake, too!    By suppertime, I was starving hungry, but Bill could only drink some Emergen-C and nibble at a little piece of sandwich.  I ended up eating BOTH our sandwiches plus all the other odds ‘n ends in the food bags, since we have a resupply at Shelter Cove.  I am so grateful to be feeling strong again–bring on those uphills!  But I am still skin and bones, and can’t seem to get any weight back on.  And as I walked along the trail, I kept praying and praying for Bill.

He finally said, “Don’t wait for me–just go on as fast as you want, but stop at 7:00 and we’ll make camp there.”   As it turned out, though, the trail was all downhill, and he was able to keep up with me OK.  We were out of the Oregon desert stuff and back into regular green Oregon forest–very shady and pretty.   It got even prettier when we reached Trapper Creek with its lovely cascades and beautiful clear water.  “Maybe we can make it to Shelter Cove after all,”  I said.  “Maybe the store will still be open.”  So we walked as quickly as we could, following the very nice trail that sometimes travels high above the creek and sometimes winds along right next to it.  By 6:50, we were at the railroad tracks, and headed straight for the store…which had just closed.  Oh well.

So we retreated into the woods on the other side of the railroad tracks, to set up our camp.  On the “backtrack”,  I stopped and talked to  a couple of guys with four horses, who were sort of lounging around by the road.  Turned out that they’d just finished a 150 mile RIDE on the PCT, and were waiting to be picked up.  They said that they’d had a great time! 

We found a nice flat campsite with soft duff, and a view of the railroad tracks, because I was hoping very much to see some trains go by.  Bill was looking better, and said he was feeling better, too.  I hope so!   Oh, how I hope it’s not giardia again!  I am so grateful to the Lord for helping us make it to Shelter Cove.

Walk with Aragorn to Minas Tirith: In green meadows crossing many streams

It was cold last night after the storm! But clear skies and a bright sunrise made it easy to pack up and walk back to the PCT from our forest camp.  The wind was still blowing a bit, and it was still cold–brrr!—but so great to see blue sky.  After getting one last photo of beautiful Crater Lake, we were back to heading north, down into an “Oregon desert” zone of pumice-y dirt and trees. No other plants grow there.  Many of the trees have strange lumps and swellings on their trunks.

At the junction with the PCT equestrian trail, we met a sadly limping section hiker who is quitting because of blisters. He said his feet were raw. Bill advised that his shoes are probably too small.  A little while later, we caught up with “Phooey”, who wasn’t even up yet!   And we passed a southbound group of trail workers, all very earnest and wanting very much to be helpful.  They even offered us water!  Wow!  But it still seemed like forever till we reached the highway, since it was basically Oregon desert hiking.  There was more of the same after the highway, too, but that was a good thing–when we stopped for lunch, we could easily spread out all our damp gear for a “garage sale.” 

Shortly after that, the views began–stunning vistas of Diamond Lake and the many volcanic peaks in the area.  All the peaks still had snow on them.  We walked on, eager to reach Mt. Thielsen, a trail section we missed in 2005 because of snow.  (That year, we took a lower-elevation route near Diamond Lake.)   Mt. Thielsen did not disappoint us!  Wow!  The PCT climbs right up next to the peak–in fact the trail to the summit takes off right from the PCT, high on a shoulder of Mt. Thielsen.  We spent a lot of time admiring its multi-colored knarly, twisted strata and extremely pointed top.  It does indeed look like “The Lightning Rod of the Cascades.”  From the summit trail junction, we could see two of the Three Sisters, and they looked pretty snowy.  Hmmmm—we will be there soon.  Hope we don’t get lost in the snow there again, as we did in 2005!

After that, it was down, and down some more to reach cascading Thielsen Creek, the first water in 26 dry miles!   Several other hikers were there, too, and we all were tanking up on the fantastic cold, clear snowmelt water fresh off Mt. Thielsen.  There were lots of nice campsites in the area, but it was far too early to stop for the day, so all of us basically collected water, rested a bit, and then hiked on. 

The PCT took us back into another forest walk on our very tired feet (getting used to new shoes that we got from our box at Mazama) before we once again found ourselves crossing dry meadows, following posts to mark the trail.  At one point (not marked, unfortunately), we went over the highest point of the Oregon/Washington PCT.  All around us were interesting, knarly, multicolored peaks, but none as amazing as Mt. Thielsen.  We stopped for supper near the Maidu/Miller Lake junction, and enjoyed eating with a great view of the lake and boats. 

Three more miles of hiking, and we decided to call it quits for the day.  Our feet were definitely letting us know that they were still getting used to new shoes!  Finding a flat campsite turned out to be impossible, so we had to settle for a sloped one on the mountainside, in the woods,  with our usual buddies, the mosquitoes.  I really enjoyed the hike around Mt. Thielsen today!  Hopefully tomorrow we’ll make it to Shelter Cove.

Walk with Aragorn to Minas Tirith: On Ford of Isen road heading east toward Edoras

We were up early in the dark forest, packing up by headlamp and thinking “second breakfast at Mazama buffet!” But we still had plenty of miles to do— a bit over 10.  The PCT wandered around a bit, and still had a lot of “ups”.  We met a NOBO who is doing the Oregon PCT.  He was a really nice guy, but he’s already having serious blister issues on his feet which are causing him a lot of pain.  The key to avoiding blisters (we have had NONE!) is to do your prehike training carrying WEIGHT.  That’s what toughens up your feet–not just doing miles. 

We stopped for a breakfast of granola plus other leftovers, and charged off through the forest, headed for that buffet at Mazama! At one point the trail had a reroute (marked by temporary signs).  The mosquitoes got worse and worse till I finally gave up and started hiking in my headnet.  Finally we were at the road, and before 10 am,we were at Mazama Village.  A whole bunch of thruhikers were hanging out by the store, including the famous Freebird, who said Billy Goat will not finish the PCT this year and the other 70 year old, Yeahbut, looks iffy.

So Bill may be the guy to set the record of first person over 69 years to finish in one hiking season! Wow!  We pigged at the buffet, did showers, laundry, etc, did the buffet again and around 3:30pm, headed for Crater Lake rim, on a very pretty but very uphill trail.  The mosquitoes were bad, and I continued to wear my headnet.  We met two nice Brit hikers who said they wished they’d brought headnets, too.  “We’re jealous,” they said.  And from talking to them, I have now learned the correct way to pronounce the word, “Mossies.”  It’s “mah-zees”, not “moss-ees.” 

However, black clouds were overhead, thunder was rumbling, and after a little while it began to rain. I put up my umbrella and kept hiking along. At the Rim, we took on full water loads for 26 miles of no water. Since the only water faucets available are in the restrooms, this was a tedious business.  I had to fill my drinking cup, then pour it into my platypus, over and over again.  Bill and I both also put on full raingear, since it was obvious that we were about to head into some “serious weather.”  Just as we took our first few steps back toward the trail,  a fierce hailstorm began.  Some of the hailstones were 1″ diameter.  Yikes!

We had to retreat quickly— into the bathroom!  From the bathroom door we watched as heavy hail and rain pummelled the road and parking lot.  Man, were we glad we weren’t out in one of the exposed areas along the trail!   When the hail stopped, off we went into pouring rain and howling, very cold wind.  I went over to the rim and tried to take a picture of the lake, but the camera could not “see” anything in the rain.  We started out to follow the trail, and I soon had to stow my umbrella–the wind up on the Rim was way too fierce.  Sometimes it was hard even to walk, and the trail soon became a running creek, because of the pouring rain. 

Finally I said, “I think we’d better walk the road–this is ridiculous,”  and even Bill agreed.  So we began walking in the storm, along the edge of the road.  Since the road is a bit below the Rim, the wind was less horrendous, and that made it easier.  Along came a ranger in his truck.  He offered us a ride to the trail down to Lightning Springs camp.  But we were determined to get in as many miles as we could, and that meant getting well past Lightning Springs, so we thanked the ranger, but turned down his offer.

The rain finally stopped, but the wind did not.  It was still very cold, and blowing very hard.  The amazing thing was that all this wild weather was ONLY on the northwest side of the lake, where we were.  All the rest was clear, and we could see blue sky and sunshine on the south end of the lake!  Over our heads were very black clouds that were still spitting lightning off in the distance.

By 7:45 pm, the sun was almost down, so we walked across the pumice fields  just short of the Rim Drive intersection, and located a place to camp in a grove of trees that were still dripping from the rain.  It was obvious that we were in for a COLD night–what a switch from the warm weather we’ve had for the last few days!  The sunset was very dramatic–it was sort of peeking out from UNDER the clouds to the west.  Today has been the wildest, fiercest weather we have seen yet on the trail this year, but we’ve come through OK. 

Walk with Aragorn to Minas Tirith: Reach the road to the Deeping Coomb & turn south to Helm’s Deep