Last night an owl hooted for a very long time. Was he/she lonely? It was a warm morning with clear skies, and we didn’t need our jackets for very long as we followed the windy, twisty, weedy PCT on its way around Pilot Rock. Last night Bill did some math and he is thinking about trying to make it to PCT “trail days” in Cascade Locks at the end of August. That means we have to average at least 30 miles day!  I asked the Lord to put me on His “cruise control” to hike along quickly, but not so fast that my very bony body can’t handle it. I am feeling stronger every day– is it the Nutella?  Or the extra food I’m carrying?

I was hoping to get a good pic of  Mt. Shasta, but it was too hazy.  Mt. McLoughlin to the north is completely gray–no snow on it that I can see.  The biggest concern today was finding water– the sources are getting farther and farther apart.  When we reached what the guidebook called “the fenced in spring”, there was water aplenty, and two section hikers who wanted to talk about BEARS!  I’m sure there are bears here in Oregon, but we are not worried about them.  We took on enough water to see us all the way to Hyatt Lake.

The guidebook writer doesn’t seem to like this section, and says that nobody would bother with it unless they were thruhiking.  What a bunch of rot!  The dayhikers sure don’t think so!  This is very pretty trail–it’s like walking through a park.  Sometimes you’re amid grass and trees, and sometimes you’re walking through a very green-carpeted Oregon forest.  There are great views of Ashland and very blue Emigrant Lake, far below. 

We reached Hwy. 66 well before lunch, which meant we were really moving fast this morning!  There was another place along the way where we could have gotten some water, but when we reached it, there was a note warning that there were dead rats in the water collecting tank.  Yikes!  We were glad we’d taken on full water loads earlier! 

Then it was on to Little Hyatt Reservoir, which was very full and overflowing vigorously.  Lots of very friendly people were hanging around.  But we didn’t linger–we figured on lunch at Hyatt Lake!  It wasn’t long before we were walking across the Lake dam and heading for the fisherman store on the other side.    The resort restaurant was open, but all they had was pizza, beer and ice cream.  I don’t know why, but I was just yearning for anything BUT those items.  We asked the store guy if there was any other restaurant, and he said, “Sure, it’s just a quarter mile down the road.  I’ll take you over there.”  We hopped in his little golf cart thing and he gave us a ride.

Well, that was a pretty long quarter mile!  Way longer, actually!  We were flying along the road (the guy drove like a Jehu!) with tiny little Zoe the dachshund in the front seat, and when we arrived at the other restaurant, the store guy showed us where we could even go take showers!  Back to the restaurant then, for great big sandwiches and glass after glass of lemonade.  Once we were wellstuffed, we walked back to the “Bucks & Does” shower building to wash both ourselves and our socks.  Then we sat around in the sun for awhile to give the socks a bit of drying time.  I managed to yogi a ride for us back to Hyatt Lake proper, we picked up our resupply box and I started loading our food bags.

That’s when I discovered that the little store now has only chips, drinks, ice and bait.  It used to have a lot more, which I’d counted on to finish off our food supplies.  I sent Bill on a run for the hiker box to see what he could find.  He came back with peanut butter.  Well…I guess we’ll be on slightly short rations till the next resupply.  We got ice cream cones at the restaurant and talked to some of the other thruhikers there, before strolling back to the PCT with a very nice young couple who were SOBO’s.

The PCT heads off through the forest, with  glimpses of the lake, but meanwhile, the weather had turned a bit ominous.  This morning’s pretty puffy white clouds had turned into thunderclouds, which started booming and muttering.  During the rest of the afternoon, we were occasionally misted with rain, but that was good, because it was cooler, and we saw a double rainbow.  Rainbows are awesome–every time I see one, I think about God’s promise to Noah, and just in general how God keeps His promises. 

When it was time to make camp, the trail was up fairly high, and the clouds were growing darker.  We figured that if there was a lightning storm, we definitely did NOT want to be up high.  The Boy Scout leader we’d talked to when we were heading up into the Desert Divide back in southern California said that the safest place in a thunderstorm is 1) Not up high   2) Not down at the bottom  3) Not near a tree that has been previously hit by lightning, but 4) On the side of a hill, in the forest.  So we headed down the hillside, into the woods, till we found a small flat place.  We rigged the net tent for the mosquitoes and the tarp for rain, then crawled into our sleeping bags.  The funny thing is, in 2005, it also rained on us by Hyatt Lake! 

Walk with Aragorn to Isengard:  On highway to Isengard

We had a little bit of trouble locating the PCT this morning.  We packed up at 5:15 and followed a trail that said it went to the “fisherman bridge.”  Some bridge!  It was actually a PIER!  Knowing that the PCT was on the other side of the river, not far away, was frustrating!   So we turned around and walked all the way back to the parking lot, looked at signs, and picked another trail.  Only a few steps along the other trail, and we spotted the BRIDGE!  Whew!

Once on the other side, it was easy to find the PCT.  We didn’t stick to it exactly, but just walked the road down to the  Lake Britton dam. Wow! There was a big construction project on; it looked like they were reinforcing the hillside plus doing other work.  There was a big orange sign that told us to stop and sound the provided air horn so they’d come escort us through.    But it was Sunday, and not a construction worker in sight, so we just strolled right on across. 

 The PCT happily climbed back up and up into a lovely oak forest that’s just like the ones we hike in back home. We stopped off for breakfast in a lovely grove, with soft leaves all over the ground.  Nice!  A bit more up, and then the views begin–of deep canyons, rollicking creeks, and distant jagged mountains with snow still on them.  There are no “burn zones” here– all is very green and the trees are very large.  The trail was mostly so nice and shady that I hardly needed my sunglasses all day.

Eventually we came to more “work zone warning signs” which said to be careful because the rangers were busy thinning and pruning the forest on the theory that it would all grow better and healthier if it were thinned instead of just being allowed to grow any ol’ way it wanted to.  Hmmm!  Maybe somebody went to Switzerland and saw how they take care of their forests, and maybe those “Oh, don’t touch Nature…let Nature run its course..” people are finally beginning to see the light!  In 2005, up in Oregon, we went through two sections of forest that were as different as night and day.  One was green and healthy. It was the one where people could come collect downed wood.  The other was full of dead wood, dead branches, and dying trees.  That was the one with the warning sign about “No wood collecting.”  It’s a no-brainer–forests need to be TAKEN CARE OF, not left to the whims of nature. 

One thing we have to be very mindful of now, however, is water. We have to strategize and plan carefully, just like in Southern CA. Most water sources are springs (we love springs!) or creeks, and are usually 12-15 miles apart. We arrived at Peavine Creek around noon, and took on enough water to last us the whole rest of the day.  Several hikers caught up with us when we stopped to eat. 

Afternoon hiking today was tough.  The trail headed uphill again, and was very overgrown.  We had to do a fair amount of pushing and struggling through bushes.  The trail itself also became very rough, rocky ‘n rooty. It was a hot afternoon, too, and that plus all of the other factors really slowed me down.  But there was compensation–VIEWS!  Wowweeee! Awesome views!  We also met a very nice couple from Simpson College in Redding.

By afternoon Snickers break, I really was wasted from the heat (90s in the shade), all the uphill, bushes and rough trail.  Eventually the trail got “nice” again (Thankyou, trail gorillas! We appreciate all your hard work!)  and we reached the next spring, which had cold, wonderful water.  The only bummer in the late afternoon was never being quite sure where we were!  There are so few trail junctions and clear landmarks in this section. We finally figured it out when the trail followed along the edge of a BIG dropoff!  And every time we got to the top of yet another climb, there was Mt. Shasta, getting nearer and nearer!

The trail edges today had lots of wildflower borders, and ON the trail, there was a lot of bear scat.  I wondered what the bears eat around here.  The manzanitas are loaded with green berries, but I don’t think bears would eat them till they’re ripe.  Actually, one of the things that was really nice about today was the fact that everything was so green! In 2005, when we passed through here, it was mid-September and everything was in fall colors already.   After looking at all that bear scat, though, we secured our food well before turning in. 

Walk with Aragorn to Isengard: Follow trail east, find dead Orcs shot by arrows