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| Beautiful morning hike! |
Day 17 (day 6 southbound) was another glorious clear day. I was already feeling amazing from my previous hike the previous evening. Now I was hiking on a snowy ridge in the brisk morning. In fact, I was in such a hurry that I left my third pair of socks next to the pond after washing therm. Oops!
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| Snowy trail begins in earnest |
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| Climbing to the top of that ridge |
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| View to the east |
It was kind of amazing and shocking how alien the landscape was... nothing but rocky slopes, snow, and occasional miniature trees. I stopped countless times to look out over the miles of landscape to my north.
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| Rocky terrain |
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| Mount Hood to the north |
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| Cairn marking the top of the ridge |
I finally arrived at the top of the ridge and got an eyeful of Mount Jefferson. It was really amazing to see that gigantic mountain after it had been hidden for all of that time! At the base of the mountain, was Jefferson park, a cluster of trees and lakes nestled between all of the mountains and ridges. It was a magical little place and I hiked right through it!
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| I finally see all of Mount Jefferson! |
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| Looking back north toward Hood... I was there 48 hours ago! |
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| This area below the mountain is Jefferson Park |
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| Lots of water and flowers! |
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| Jefferson park is lush! |
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| The mountain is so close! |
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| Another good view |
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| Kind of freaky crossing above an ice bridge! |
As I crossed around to the west side of the mountain, I ran into some other hikers and crossed a few streams. We had some nice conversations and I made some good time around the mountain to the south side. Here I hiked through a camp of trail volunteers working on the PCT. I stopped at a pond and swam for a while before continuing on my way to the south end of the mountain.
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| Another crossing |
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| View to the west |
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| Great place for a swim! |
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| Another good view... |
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| ...and another... |
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| The whole mountain from the south |
To the south, there was one of the bigger burned areas I have hiked through. I walked along a ridge where the fire had ended. To the east were trees and to the west were miles and miles of dead trees. The wind whipped over the ridge and kept me from cooking in the sun!
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| Big burn to the west |
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| View to the south... Three Fingered Jack in the distance |
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| That's where I came from |
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| Cool rock art! |
I started running into more and more northbound hikers as I traveled south, most of them hikers who had started at the beginning of the trail at the Mexico border. It was fun meeting them and hearing their stories! I was told to stop at rock lake so I took some time there, leaving my flip-flop sandals accidentally.
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| Rock Lake |
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| Headed back down to the high after Jefferson |
I left Rock Lake pretty late in the afternoon but made it about halfway across the valley to the next mountain, Three Fingered Jack before it started getting dark. Luckily for me, there was a small lake in the east side of the ridge for camping at. It was creepy though! Absolute silence feels really creepy in a forested area near a lake but here there were no sounds, no birds, nothing. There was a crazy deer that wanted to eat my food and followed me around waiting for me to pee. Also, there were phantom voices that I kept hearing even though there was no one else at the lake. Suffice it to say, it was a creepy place. I got in bed quickly, deciding to focus on sleep rather than figuring out what was wrong with the place. I had hiked a good 25 mile day and would sail into my next resupply for lunch!
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| Three Fingered Jack |
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| Lots of dead trees |
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| Wasco Lake |
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