Washington PCT 2015: Day 5

Day 5 was a pretty dry day and we were happy to end at a lake. We got up and started hiking pretty early. For entertainment, Laura asked me to make a story up... it was a silly story involving Falada, a unicorn that she had written stories about as a kid and it was a fun way to pass the time. We walked along the side of a lava flow and then eventually crossed it. It was not rocky like some sections of Oregon but the trees were short and it was sunny.

Short trees in volcanic soil

Yes! Made it to the trail "head"... get it?

Signing in to the wilderness

After a few hours, we came to a gravel road and the entrance to Indian Heaven Wilderness. On our was in, we saw a missing poster. Then, about 20 minutes later, a guy came hiking our of the underbrush with his dog. He was a friend of the missing man, out looking for him. I hope that turned out ok. :-(

Welcome!

There was lots of pretty bear grass

We hiked by a few lakes before climbing up a thousand feet or so to cross over a mountain. Here, marveled at how quickly things felt dry and and like a desert. We also met our first southbound hiker here. His name was "Cheddar" and he was hiking south to Portland to propose before continuing on the trail. He was a really nice guy and gave us lots of information about trail conditions to the north.

Looking back at Hood... it is getting small

While Adams is getting bigger

After a very warm climb, we hiked back down into the valley of Indian Heaven Wilderness. The lake large enough to swim in was Blue lake. Here, we met many weekend hikers, who shared a map with us. We also met a trail runner who was lost with no water... tsk, tsk. But we helped find her running friends and they all jogged back toward their cars.

Lovely wife, lovely lake

Laura relaxing at the campsite

After hiking 10 miles, Laura and I chose to camp at the far north end of Blue lake, where we would be bothered by the fewest people. It was on a steep slope facing SE and was a wonderful and relaxing campsite. We had a great dinner, I went skinny-dipping again, and we had a small fire. The only down-side of the campsite was that the tent spot was too small for two people. So I slept outside, cowboy camping for the first time. It was scary for a while, thinking that I was so exposed to wild animals. But then I made my peace with the situation and went to sleep.

Hanging the clothes after rinsing them in the lake

Filtering water at sunset