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| Sign for the spring |
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| Trail was difficult to find |
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| My breakfast spot |
Day 5 began very early. The wind had died down and it was pretty quiet. I didn't want to wake up my neighbor so I packed up quietly and stopped for breakfast about a quarter of a mile down the trail at Christi's Spring. There, I watched hummingbirds play and bathe just a few feet from me. It was a really cool thing to watch! After stocking up on ice cold water, I started hiking, making pretty good time. Except that there were still plenty of downed trees.
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| On the trail again! |
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| Hmmm... |
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| Where'd the trail go? |
About 5 miles down the trail, I ran into another hiker. His name was Burl and he was turning back. He told me that there were more trees and snow ahead and he had decided he couldn't do it alone. I said I was going until it was too dangerous to go on. That was enough for him to change his mind so we continued on together. This was probably for the best because I am not sure I would have done some of the things I did without a hiking companion... and navigation would have been a nightmare!
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| Deeper snow |
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| Trees snapped from snow and wind |
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| Kalamath Lake |
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| Panorama south and east |
As we hiked higher into the mountains, we ran into deep patches of snow and other areas that were more exposed and sunny.There were a few scary sections of trail in which we were the first set of footprints going north along some pretty steep slopes covered in snow. We occasionally would leave the trail, hiking below it on the scree to avoid sliding down the slope onto rocks or stepping through a thin spot of ice and twisting an ankle. There were also long sections above the trees where the sun had melted all of the snow. We enjoyed those moments and chatted about life, why we were on the trail, and our awesome wives supporting our adventures!
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| Burl and the view SW. |
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| Getting more difficult to follow the trail |
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| McLoughlin to the south |
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| Heading up to slate peak |
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| Snow piling up |
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| Trail is gone... covered up. |
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| Picking our way below the snow |
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| Phlox! |
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| Looking back at our snowy path |
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| Another panorama to the south |
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| McLoughlin |
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| Kalamath Lake |
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| Wildflowers |
As we approached Devil's Peak, things got really interesting. There were amazing views due to the height but there were also some shaded sections of trail that were piled high with snow. In snow 2-3 feet deep, we would have scurried from tree to tree resting in the melted circle around each trunk, but the snow was too deep, so we slowly worked our way along the flat ridges atop the snowbanks, taking breaks so that we didn't do anything stupid and go sliding down into the trees and rocks below!
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| Heading to devil's peak |
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| McLoughlin |
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| No trail again! |
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| The ridge we walked and McLoughlin |
When we finally did reach devils peak, we were greeted with our first view of Crater Lake. I initially thought it was four separate mountains but soon realized that it was one big rim! Crater lake is gigantic! We were also greeted with much more snow. We had been hiking on the south side of the mountains and now we would be hiking on the shaded north side. This began with a 600-700 foot glissade down into the next valley. Burl had experience glissading but it was my first time. We talked a bit and decided to keep going knowing that this was kind of a point of no return... I didn't want to hike several hundred feet up a snowbank later! Then we took turns sliding down the steep slope.
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| First view of Crater Lake |
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| To continue or not to continue... |
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| Glissading on feet! Made it about 200 feet and fell... |
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| It is a pretty long ways down there! |
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| Looking back up... |
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| Five minutes later... |
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| Long walk on snow! |
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| The trail! |
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| We just slid down that! |
After hiking down the snowy slope for about 20 minutes, we arrived back on solid ground near a stream. Here, we rested, put on dry socks, ate, and celebrated the amazing experiences of the day!
About 5 miles down the trail, we found a campsite. That would put a one day hike from Mazama village, where we would both pick up packages of food and eat a nice dinner in a restaurant. I went to bed feeling great about my 18.5 mile day!
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| Fresh Snowmelt |
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| Dinner! |
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| Campsite |
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