Day 35. Bonus Miles

Day 35. Bonus Miles

8/13/2019

Above Jefferson Park 2035.7 to Wasco Lake Junction 2011

24.7 miles going southbound

When I wake up in the morning, I realize I get to do my very favorite thing today which is hiking all day.  Even though I’ve just done this section going northbound, there is no shortage of new sights. 

I spot a flower I’d completely missed two days ago, the fringed grass of parnassius. A fall favorite when I lived in Georgia. This one looks slightly different. A new variety perhaps?

This view of the south side of Mount Jefferson had been completely shrouded in clouds previously. I’m so glad to see this view on a sunny day. It makes it feel like I’ve gotten a second change to purely enjoy the scenery by doing this section as an out and back.

This is my first full day going southbound. I’m now passing a steady stream of nobo hikers. It feels crowded.  Some of the other hikers talk about how many miles they are doing. The “Oregon challenge” is where hikers try to finish all of Oregon in 14 days, averaging 31 miles a day. I daydream about what kind of PCT challenge I'd institute if I were in charge of such things. Haha! Like how many lakes can you swim in. Or how many plants and butterflies you can identify and iNaturalize. 

For my last night on the PCT this year, I thought I would try camping near a lake. A mile off trail so I thought no one would be there. But it turned out to be crowded with folks who'd build campfires, even though the signs all said no campfires. Since we'd just walked through several hours of burn area, I thought it was obvious why campfires weren't allowed. But I had to get water so I decided to ask one of the campers if they minded if I walked through their campsite to get to the lake to get water. Turns out they were with their 6-year-old granddaughter-- her first camping trip. As I got water, she told me about all the fun she was having and about the dragonflies and smores. And then they asked me if I was hiking the PCT and invited me to camp with them (which was tempting but I declined). Of course I had to go from being annoyed by their campfires to feeling happy that this little girl was having such an amazing experience!

I ended up finding a few trees that had escaped the fire and set in for a restful last night away from the smoke and the crowds.