Oregon PCT 2016: Day 19

As I stated at the end of my last post, my 19th day (8th southbound day) began very early in the morning. I had been camping with a bunch of other hikers on the edge of Big Lake. I chose to sleep without a tent so that I didn't wake anyone when I got up an left but I was soon soaked by moisture from the lake. At about 2:30 in the morning, I had been trying to sleep for too long and finally gave up. I packed in the dark and walked out through the camp, grumpy and sleepy.

Sunrise just south of Mount Washington

After getting out of the Big Lake Youth Camp area, things got a little scary. First, I almost never use my headlamp and must have been turned on in my pack without my knowledge because it was basically dead. I could just see the trial for the next 10 feet or so. I had quite a few hours left to hike in the dark. Then I started seeing prints in the dust of the trail... cougar prints. The basics on cougars: They are the wildcard of the outdoors. You need not be scared of bears unless you surprise them with a cub nearby. Wolves and other canines don't see people as prey and are not as stealthy as cats. Cougars scare the crap out of me because they are super stealthy and strong and, being cats, are capable of doing lots of unexpected things. So seeing cougar tracks for long stretches of time on the trail was scary to me. I could imagine a cougar perched just out of sight waiting to pounce on me. I stopped for a rest at one point but something was moving in the bushes a short distance away so I kept going. I sang songs and prayed prayers and kept going until I could see the sunrise peeking over eastern horizon.

Breakfast spot on the trail

Mount Washington

I breakfasted at sunrise to enjoy the view and see the light play on Mount Washington to the north and North Sister to the south. I didn't really realize how stressful my night hike was until I could relax in the morning light. 

North sister

More sunrise

Mount Washington

North and Middle sisters

Climbing up the rocky terrain

As I hiked south from Washington toward the Three Sisters, things got more and more volcanic. I had been told about this section of the trail: 5 miles of sharp black volcanic rock that was uncomfortable on the feet and really hot in the middle of the day. Luckily, I was hiking through in the morning. It was slower going though.

Little Belknap is a small mountain made of only lava rock!

Here come the lava fields!

Ugly rocky hiking!

Mount Washington is smaller!

Sisters are closer!

Lots more lava hiking!

Little Belknap

North and Middle Sisters

Goodbye, Mount Washington!

I crossed a highway from the Mount Washington Wilderness to the Sisters Wilderness and continued up many lava flows toward North Sister. I had decided to try for over 30 miles on this day and was off to a decent start but the terrain was a bit merciless and slowed me down quite a bit.

Cool old PCT sign

Hello Three Sisters!

Hiking up to the mountain

Panorama clockwise from the south

Up, up, up!

Great view north!

North Sister

Lots of cinder cones

The best way I can explain this section of trail at this time of year is that it was dry or swarming with mosquitoes. It seemed like I couldn't stop because I would either cook in the sun or be eaten alive. This seems like it would speed you up but resting is important, even when you are trying to hike quickly.

Left to right: Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Jefferson

All three sisters!

North and Middle Sisters and Indian Paintbrush!

A bit of snow in a shady spot

View to the north... can almost see Hood!

Looks like you could walk right up to the top!

Trail like Lombard Street in San Fran.

As I passed around to the west side of north sister, I entered the "obsidian loop" where I met a lot of day and weekend hikers. They smell so good! Anyway, the obsidian loop has a short section in which shards of obsidian in the dirt make the landscape sparkle in the sun. It was a beautiful effect that my photos don't do justice to at all, though I tried!

A rare shady spot

Obsidian... can you see it sparkle?

More obsidian

More obsidian

Obsidian falls

Middle and South Sisters

As I hiked around the mountains toward south sister, there was less lava and more mosquitoes.They made me grumpy... grumpy and tired. I was also a little stressed because I had hoped to get off trail and climb south sister at this point but there were changes to the trails and they did not match the info that I had.

South Sister, here I come!

So close yet so far!

I finally reached a gigantic plain SW of south sister where I took a trail around to the SE side of the mountain. I really wanted to climb the mountain and camp at the top but I arrived at the trail head around sunset and talked with a woman who was very discouraging of the idea... in fact it was a little stupid to climb a mountain for the first time in the dark after a 40 mile hike. In the end I chose, a little disappointed, to camp at the base of the mountain at Moraine Lake.

Cool glacial plain

Hiking around the south side of the mountain

These plains are sooooo big!

As I approached the lake, I saw three guys camping next to it. With their permission, I camped in the same area, the only spot right next to the lake. I learned that they were three college buddies who were out for a "man" adventure while their wives were going for a girls night. They planned to climb the mountain the next morning before sunrise, an idea which sounded great! Even though I was invited along though, I was too tired to imagine it. I would try to get a full night of rest and climb the mountain a little later in the morning. I had hikes about 35 miles on the trial and about 5 miles to Lake Moraine, a total of 40 miles! That was a first for me and I went to sleep feeling tired but pretty proud of myself! 

Heading down to Lake Moraine

Dirty legs

Sunset over Lake Moraine