PCT 2008 South of Crater Lake

(Hwy 140 to Hwy 62)

Our first Grandchild was born July 20^th. She is a healthy girl named Sonja. Several weeks after this special event I began packing for the PCT.

August 8, 2008; Friday. I was able to hitch a ride with my brother (Al) and his wife to Portland. On our way down we visited my brother Bob seeing his daughter and his two granddaughters. He gave us a tour of the garden and I also picked up my UV light water purifier. They took me right to the Bus Depot where I purchased a ticket to Medford Oregon at 1:50 pm but the bus was not scheduled to leave until 4:40 pm. I took the time to have a hamburger dinner at the depot and start a book called the Northponte Chalet by Debra White Smith.

I took a walk over to the train station and around several blocks while waiting for the bus to leave. Two men hit me up for the rest of their bus fairs. One wanted to get to L.A. to visit his 11 year old nephew who was in intensive care. I gave him $6. The other needed $3 to get a ticket. I may have been just a mark for them - maybe not.

The full bus pulled out late at 5:20pm. At 12:11am we had a 35 minute dinner break at the town of Central Point where I had 2 bear claw pastries along with an orange juice. I found out from the driver there is a shuttle to Kettle Falls which crosses the PCT. The shuttle leaves from Medford Oregon at about 3pm each day. A kid in the seat ahead was reading a book with Chinese letters. We arrived in Medford at 1:20am and I walked 2 blocks when I met a guy in a wheelchair who I asked if there was a park nearby. He gave me directions to one 4 blocks further. It was Hawthorne Park and some of it was under I5 with a river passing through it. It was at least a block square and all level with lots of grass and some nice trees. The sprinklers were running but I found a place near the pool I thought I could sleep until daybreak. I got out the sleeping pad and the sleeping bag and slept for a short time when the sprinklers cycled to a new section of sprinklers which just reach me. On the second pass I got up, slightly wet and moved over 10 feet to a dry spot and fell back to sleep. After maybe ½ hour this happened again and again I moved over 10 feet to a dry spot and fell back to sleep. The moving did not seem to effect me much and I did get enough rest.

August 9; Saturday. I got up at 6am and walked back to the Greyhound Terminal which was now open and confirmed there is a shuttle that leaves from there at 3:30pm and crosses the PCT on highway 140. So by 6:40am I was back at the park on a picnic table reading my book in the warm morning air. It was real pleasant. I watched as maybe 10 motorcyclists and a few cars gathered, all men, and they all headed across the street to the Parkside Café. Then a groundskeeper came by and I asked him where a good place to get breakfast was and he pointed to the same café. I read my book until the motorcyclists were finished and then enjoyed an omelet at the café.

After eating I headed to the mall next to the Sears and called Linda. I stayed at the park all day and had croissants from my pack for lunch with cheese and lunch meat. After lunch I realized I did not have my walking stick so backtracked and found it in the café. The waitresses there remembered me and happily brought it to me. They seemed so pleasant. I caught the shuttle ok and it was only $25. There were maybe 8 passengers with room for 20 or so.

The driver knew where the PCT crossed highway 140 and let me off right at the edge of the highway without any warning. I am glad I had my boots on by then! It was about 5:30pm. By 6:40pm I reached the Mount Mcloughlin trail. By 7:00pm I had found the faint trail to Fry Lake and was at Fry Lake. The sun was just setting behind Mount Mcloughlin. I cooked a fancy mix of mashed potatoes in which I added my dried vegetables. I also had a cup of cocoa. The mosquitoes were rather hungry so I headed to the tent by 8:30pm. It was 52 degrees and I observed no one either on the trail or at the lake. I carried enough water to have a dry camp so only used the lake water to wash the spoon and pot. I did notice how quiet it was, no cars, no sprinklers and such blue sky overhead.

August 10; Sunday. I got up at 7:15am after a great sleep with the temperature at 48 degrees. For breakfast I made Zoom with raisins and brown sugar with dry milk on top. I cleared camp at 8:12am with moderate mosquitoes present. I feel real good. By 10:18 I was resting at the trail junction to Squaw Lake. Vegimatic and Marian were there and he went down to Squaw Lake to get some water. They left Mexico about April 27^th and pack about 2 liters of water a day. They cover about 22 miles a day and try to have 10 miles complete by 10am! She has been having trouble keeping weight on while hiking but her feet are never a problem. I waited until they headed up the trail knowing their pace would be faster than my own. We also had another group of 5 or so come from Squaw Lake and head north up the PCT while we were resting. They were spread out a little and one of their group was heading down the wrong trail until he was called back. At 12:50pm I caught up to Vegimatic and Marian again at Christi’s Springs. They remembered there were about 450 that signed up to walk the PCT this year which is way up. Again Marian went for water 100 yards away and he offered me a left-over liter of untreated water which I accepted. I had a little effort to get my UV light purifier working and since he had the same one asked for a little help. Turns out I was in so much sun I could not see the light was on. It is quite visible in the shade. I had my 2 little bagels for lunch with my boots off.

At 1:27pm I was at Red Lake Trail. At 2pm I was at Island Lake and at 2:45pm reached my Dee Lake campsite and had a protein bar. I set up the tent and crawled in for a brief rest and to get away from the flies and mosquitoes. My feet are sore but not blistering or damaged. I then sat on the lake’s edge reading my book until I finished it. Such a perfect sunny day! I am alone on this lake. Most of the time there was just enough breeze to keep the bugs away but I am having to deal with a few ants. I checked to see if the cell phone worked but it said there was no service. Later in the hike this occurred but there was extended service which worked fine. This was likely true here also.

At 6pm I cooked Fettuccine Alfredo and added 1 powdered egg, and some of my dried vegetables. It cooked for 10 minutes and was very good. At 7:15pm the sun was setting behind the mountain and I started reading a Louis L’Amour book called Lando. I found this book at the park while I was waiting for the shuttle and kept it when I realized I would finish my first book early. It was slightly wet from the sprinklers but was dry now. I burned the pages after I read them to keep the pack as light as possible. I also listened to Fiddler On The Roof on my MP3 player. Such good sound and so light. My earphones broke but I held it together with a rubber band. I crawled in the tent at 8:22pm as the bugs returned. I am all organized with the mini-flashlight ready, the radio handy, the pack hung in the trees although my rope is 15 feet too short to get the pack good and high away from mice and bears. At about 2am I heard maybe a deer walking near camp. It is a brilliant starry night.

August 11; Monday. I again had Zoom with a powdered egg mix added, for breakfast. Broke camp at 8am and met an older (probably) father and daughter at Island Lake. They started at Fish Lake and were headed to Crater Lake. I reached the PCT by 9:05. At 9:40 I was at the Sky Lakes Trail #3762 which indicated ½ mile to Deer Lake. By 10:00 I was at Deer Lake and there was a little wind and few mosquitoes. At 11:13am Paranoia a through hiker visited. He is from Bellingham and recently from Longview. We talked a bit. He covers 27 miles a day eating tortillas with cheese. He does not carry a stove. At 12:05pm I met five 20 year olds, 4 guys and one girl along with a dog which was caring a pack. I missed any signs of how to get to Sonja Lake. I would have liked to go there as it is the name of my new granddaughter. But after I passed it by some distance I did not think it wise to retreat that much. At 1pm I had the usual lunch at Trapper Lake and left a phone message for Linda. At 1:30pm I was at the Cherry Creek Trail. By 2:00pm I was at a campsite at Margurette Lake and can smell a little smoke from the California forest fires. My feet are tired and hot. I cleaned up by taking a swim washing my hair, socks and briefs. I should have washed my cotton T shirt but thought it still clean enough for the trip home. When I pulled it out later it was not of a quality one could wear. I climbed up on a ridge between the lakes and read my book in the warm sun.

By 5:45pm I finished the rest of last night’s box dinner. A female voice yelled something from across the lake were the trail approached the lake. I answered with a “what” and she repeated something unintelligible. I answered with “I am at the end of the lake” and then never heard anything more. It is still plenty warm. The bugs are present but not bad. A doe passed between camp and the lake, maybe 20 feet away and then 10 minutes later passed on the other side at the same distance. I did not have quite enough time to get a picture but did try. I noticed my very small radio takes a “AAA” battery of which I do not have a spare. Need to remember that next time. The battery never failed though.

I phoned Linda at 9:03pm (it is cheaper after 9:00 I think). I had to sit up in my little tent to get better reception but she came through well. It was great to hear her voice and find out all is ok at home.

August 12; Tuesday. Up at 6:30am after a good night’s sleep. I saw several shooting stars in the night. I was on the trail by 7:30am after having Zoom again. I really like that stuff. I hiked past Trapper Lake and took the Donna Lake trail at 8:38am. I passed Donna Lake and passed Snow Lake and was on the ridge above Snow Lake at 10:00am. I was getting close to the PCT again. It was a nice day and high enough to have nice views to the south and some to the east. At 10:15am I met the PCT again. I met two couples my age day hiking together from Cliff Lake up ahead. They thought they might head toward Snow Lake and then turn around. I also met Johnny Cash from Boston, a through hiker. He hikes 25 miles a day. We had a nice chat. He uses a 1.5 pound tarp tent that has mosquito netting but no double roof so it does sweat some. My tent is a good 3 pounds. He recommended a Henry Sires tent for a super light tent. His pack is 9 pounds without food or water counted in. He was 18 just graduated from High School and works for REI in Boston. He tore his knee ACL two times while skiing and is using the PCT to strengthen his knee again. It still hurts some. We met several times on the trail. Later I joined him for lunch shortly after cresting Devils Peak as he had stopped by a nice stream and was waiting for his partner. While we were lunching, 2 gals with a friendly Doberman dog came through heading north. He was eating fancy cereal which had dried peaches and dried strawberries and mentioned it was light and good. At times, on the trail, I could see Mount McLoughlin to the south. Today the trail climbed high onto Devils Peak and dropped quickly down as it headed north.

By 3:00pm I arrived at Grass Lake and set up camp at a recently reconditioned horse camp. Some of the packed soil had been fluffed up and the camp was spotless. Actually the whole trail and all the campsites were spotless. There wasn’t even a single cigarette butt on the whole hike. I quickly set up the tent and crawled in for a moment of rest and bug relief. I popped a small blister on my 3^rd toe of my right foot. By 6:30pm I was finished with my dinner of potatoes, rice and vegetables. I followed that with cocoa. The mosquitoes are not so bad at the moment. I studied the map and finished reading my second book, which was rather enjoyable. The mosquitoes returned so I hung the pack high from a limb on a tree and crawled back into the tent. I am observing 23 miles out is too far for me especially with out water.

August 13; Wednesday. I listened to my MP3 player a lot during the night and the battery finally died. Suspect it lasted about 6 hours total. I slept solid when I slept. I crawled out of the sack at 6:30am. Water was hard to get to at Grass Lake. The first effort was across the grass bog at the edge of the lake which was 100 yards or so. I crossed it with sandals on but close to the lake it was getting rather wet and boggy. I finally found one place where it was far easier to get to the water’s edge. The water was clear but one had to scare the frogs out of the way. I was alone at this lake also. I did have very strange dreams at night while hiking maybe because I was so physically tired.

Left camp at 8:30am and met Moonpie on the trail at 9:20am. She was having breakfast just off the trail so I set down my pack, visited and rested. Her basic pack was 18 pounds. She was able to hike 35 miles one day! Moonpie is from North Carolina and was working in Outdoor Adventure prior to hiking the PCT. Last winter she was caretaker for maybe Goldmeyer Hot Springs up on Snoqualmie Pass. She said winter brings a normal 2 feet of snow but they had 16 feet last winter! Earlier I passed Odie, a rare through hiker from Canada heading south. 2 more through hikers came by but my pen didn’t write clear enough to get their names properly recorded.

I hiked hard all day and did not detour to Stuart Falls for water. I started at Grass Lake with 3 liters of water which equals about 6 pounds. After a full day of hot hiking I reached the Crater Lake National Park “Welcome” sign which said something like “Wilderness Camping Permits required to camp“. One is not greeted well coming from the trail! Especially since I did not mail for a permit which is doubly hard as you likely need to know when you will be there and which hiker knows exactly how far they will get each day. It should be noted back country campers leave imperceptible damage to flora and fauna these days. Never is garbage left. It is a new day in that regard. I pushed on even though tired and reached the road at 6:30pm with little water left.

I tried to hitchhike at a road turnout that had a nice sign describing the trail. After 1 hour of no response I headed the 0.8 miles east to Mazama Campground and paid my senior ½ price rate of $10.50 for a campsite to set up my tiny tent. The smallest site they had left was an RV campsite with a nice car pull through. It felt good to get washed and also purchase a large Gatorade at the store. The juice was consumed rather quickly as I was really hot and thirsty. I met 4 or so of the PCT through hikers at the store post office as some were getting there food and supply boxes. This was the first time I used the rain fly on the tent and I used it for privacy rather than rain protection. I got the tent set up just at dark and ate and washed after dark using my mini-flashlight. I had no book to read but did listen to the radio. I also called Linda to check in and keep her up to date on my whereabouts. All was fine at home.

August 14; Thursday. Up at 6am with a good nights sleep once I got to sleep. Although again I had a powerful dream which was not really bad, just intense. This kind of dream is unusual for me. Lots of people-noises and I was overtired and dehydrated some. I finished my supply of Malt-O-Meal for breakfast and left camp at 7:30am. I mentioned to a few who were up that I was looking for a ride to a Greyhound bus as I headed out of the campground. I continued up the highway to where the PCT crosses the highway. At 7:45am I passed maybe 7 through hikers all heading to the post office and store for supplies. I suspect they camped up the trail a little and waited for morning to get supplies. Lorenzo, from Italy, was one of them. I again tried hitchhiking without luck. I noticed most cars had couples or families and could understand why they did not offer a ride. After an hour or so I just began walking highway 62 going west as I thought I read there was a campground 2 miles west. Well I never saw it. After a couple hours a young couple had stopped and were looking at the deep barren ravine along side the road that a river had eroded out. I asked them what was ahead and they said not much at all. This was probably 10:30am or so and it was starting to get very warm.

By about 12:30pm I reached a snow park in which snowmobilers had built a good sized building for their winter recreation. There was no insulation but there were benches and a large wood stove in the center. The front door was just the 6 inch plastic strips to hold the heat in. I took advantage of the building so was able to get some shade. I took my boots and socks off and had lunch and laid on a bench with my head resting on my sleeping bag, cooling off. I was sweating quite profusely. I ate lunch and changed socks and felt immeasurably better. Afterwards I headed back to the road to try and hitch a ride some more. I noticed along side the road was a creek 75 feet down a steep bank and being almost out of water I climbed down and got 2 more liters of good looking water. Finally I headed down the road hoping to get to the next intersection where I thought I might have better luck catching a ride. (Highways 62 and 230) I probably walked 12 miles total and 20 minutes from the snowmobile cabin when at about 2pm an older gentlemen stopped, backed up and offered me a ride. He was a semi-retired college English Professor. All he wanted from me was a good story! He was heading to Medford also so we had good conversation the whole way. He admitted at one point although he had read many books he had never read a Louis L’Amour book and he continued he never likely would read one! I admitted, I enjoyed just finishing one! He had to slow down to let a bear cross the road shortly before picking me up. He also said I was the first hitchhiker he had picked up in 30 years. He was just starting a vacation and had flown to Portland from New Jersey, rented a car and had enjoyed Crater Lake National Park that morning. He (Art) insisted he drop me off right at the Greyhound Station and did not want gas money! He was talking on the phone to an Air Force buddy of 30 years ago who lived in Medford. Art was going to see him after he dropped me off. Using his cell phone his buddy helped guide us to the bus station.

He dropped me off at about 2:50pm and the bus left at 3:30pm. While at the station one of the workers was of local Indian descent and when I came through purchasing the shuttle ticket at the beginning of the hike he made a big deal of how to pound on the trees to bring in Bigfoot. He recognized me and asked how it all worked out. I let him know the one night something was wandering near camp as I could hear the footsteps and I suspected it was Bigfoot. He smiled.

The bus driver lived in the area and was a great tour guide. There were some very interesting stories from people on the bus also. One 20 year old had a college scholarship for playing baseball and the team had been in Canada all summer playing baseball. They were returning to north of LA. Then two 19 year olds apparently hitched a ride in a train boxcar from Vancouver, Washington and rode the train down through central Oregon with adventure along the way. They used their last dime to get bus tickets back to Portland. The bus was totally full and at one point the driver noted the outside temperature was 103 degrees. I had a 30 minute layover in Portland but the café was closed. We left there at 9:25pm and arrived early in Seattle at 12:50am. There were only about 10 on the big bus for that part of the trip. I quickly hiked to the ferry terminal getting there 10 minutes early. I caught the last ferry at 1:35am Friday morning and called Linda telling her I made the ferry. She stayed up waiting my call. She met me at the Bainbridge terminal just after 2 and she drove me home arriving at 2:30am. She went to bed and I took a much needed shower then climbed in the sooo comfortable much needed bed.

I did not see lots of wildlife but did see 2 fawn the last day on the trail. They looked to be a couple weeks old and later I saw a doe.

My pack started out at 34 pounds with food except for water, cheese and a little package of lunch meat. When I returned it weighed 28 pounds. I lost 8 pounds on the hike but half of that came back in a couple days. This means on the last day I was carrying 14 pounds less weight!

I roughly calculate I covered 55 miles of trail and 12 miles of road for a total of 67 miles. It was a very scenic and enjoyably hot hike. All worked out as good as can be expected and my energy was as much as in years past. I may be satisfactorily finished with the PCT. Other than 30 miles of boring terrain at the south most part of the trail in Washington and Oregon along with a 4 mile stretch of trail of Crater Lakes PCT from highway 62 to the Rim Village I have completed both Washington and Oregon. There remains a lot of hiking in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness among others areas I can enjoy hiking.

Someplace on the hike I heard that there were 389,000 deaths caused by smoking in a year and 44,000 deaths from traffic accidents in a year. Now how many deaths from war in a year? I suppose, to be reasonable we should stop smoking and driving along with pulling out of the war! Now why did I add this?

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PCT Crater Lake South 2008.wps August 27, 2008