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| Beautiful Sunrise looking over Wasco Lake |
I was up and off bright and early on Day 18 (my 7th day southbound). I got packed up quickly got out of that creepy feeling place! I did solve the riddle that had been puzzling me the previous night though! There were a couple people camping on the ridge above the lake. Their voices were carried down to the lake the previous evening by the wind. The effect: I was totally hearing voices all evening.
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| Morning light on Three Fingered Jack |
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| Looking back toward Jefferson |
The beautiful sunrise to the east gave way to an amazing view of Three Fingered Jack. The trial passes right over the northern spur of the mountain. I took quite a few photos on my way around Three Fingered Jack because every time I looked at it the light was different. It was also cool to hike in the shadow of this jagged peak!
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| Three Fingered Jack... |
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| ...and closer... |
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| ...and closer... |
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| ...and again... |
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| Jefferson to the north |
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| Shadow of Three Fingered Jack |
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| Three Fingered Jack from the west |
I crossed quite a few chutes in the scree. They seemed to thin to be avalanche chutes but they are deep trenches! Also, I was glad to be hiking over all of this in the morning!
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| Avalanche chute? |
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| It's just so cool looking! |
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| Goodbye! |
I hiked along the west side of Three Fingered Jack and was soon facing south toward Mount Washington and the Three Sisters mountains. It was cool to so clearly see the next couple days of hiking in front of me! Then I hurried down into the valley below, viewing quite a few flowers and crossing Santiam Pass.
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| Mount Washington with the Three Sisters behind |
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| Santiam Hwy |
In the valley, there were quite a few mosquitoes but nothing particularly terrible. Still, I hurried across the valley and arrived at my resupply point at about lunch time. I had hiked 16 miles on the trail and would be relaxing for the rest of the day. Big Lake Youth Camp is a really cool place to stop! There were super nice people there, feeding me and my fellow hikers meals, giving us access to showers, and allowing us to camp near the lake. Here, I was able to meet some great trail friends!
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| Big Lake Youth Camp |
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| Main office, where I got shipped my supplies |
We couldn't go wandering around the camp because it was a youth camp in which security is a concern. So I ate lunch, sat in a shady spot, and talked with hikers all afternoon. I met a large group of hikers from South Korea as well as a family from England. Since I was hiking very quickly, I made friends by giving away extra candy that I hadn't eaten! I learned from my friends that the section to the south of me was very difficult due to the black lava beds, especially in the afternoon... So I made it a point to get out of there early the next day.
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| My friends setting up camp |
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| Sunset over Big Lake |
We could not camp in the actual camp due to security as well as law regarding the total number of occupants that the camp is allowed to contain. So I hiked a ways along the shore of the lake to an area that us hikers could camp in. It turned out to be kind of a terrible spot... I was planning on getting up early and didn't want to make noise so I chose to cowboy camp (no tent). Just as I was drifting off, more people showed up... then more.. in the end, there were people setting up tents with bright lights until 10 or 11 o'clock. Then, I was awoken at about 1 because humidity from the lake was soaking us with dew. I tried to sleep but ended up beginning my next day very early...
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