July 15, 2016

Diamond View Lake (OST mile 15.7) to Lower Rosary Lake (mile 1908.3)

Miles: 8.9 (4.9 OST miles + 1 mile road walk + .5 mile hitch + 3 miles on PCT)

Last night was cold. We opted to sleep without the fly so we could admire the stars but Laurie tossed and turned all night trying to get warm.

She was too lazy to sit up and rummage through her backpack for her beanie so instead she kept sinking lower and lower into her sleeping bag.

Eventually she took apart half of her pillow (a down jacket and fleece rolled up in a Buff) enough to stick her head inside. Instantly she felt warmer and was able to fall back asleep.

As the name suggests, we camped at a lake with views of Diamond Peak. We decided to get up early to admire the morning light on the mountain while drinking hot chocolate and tea. Hot beverages are a great incentive to get out of a cold tent.

It was cold but there weren’t any mosquitoes. We took our stove and Talenti containers down to the shore and sat on a log watching steam rise from the lake. Diamond Peak basked in the early morning light and the reflection on the lake was similarly beautiful.

We had agreed to hike into Shelter Cove with Speed, Boone and Katie. Our proposed departure time was 7 am but at 6:50 they were all packed and ready. They started down the trail with the expectation that we would catch them, but we never did.

Others think we hike fast. Maybe we look like it, but we don’t. We joke that our couple trail name should be Start and Stop since we constantly stop to take pictures, admire rivers, soak in the views and take breaks.

We got to Shelter Cove Resort around 9:45. We immediately started charging our phones while sorting through our resupply boxes.

It is always difficult to estimate how much food to bring. Andy is definitely more hungry now and Laurie’s appetite continues to fluctuate. For this 85 mile section we settled on 4 breakfasts, lunches and dinners with lots and lots of snacks. So far we haven’t run out of food and often give a lot away.

Shelter Cove has 2 picnic tables designated for PCT hikers. We spent 7 hours there writing, editing and uploading our blog posts as well as responding to emails and calling family. We also chatted with other hikers, snacked out of the hiker box and relaxed.

Laurie stretched and elevated her legs too. Unfortunately this doesn’t happen as often as it should. Her knee is feeling much better today – who knows if it was the swimming or the 20 mile day, doesn’t really matter though – she is happy to be pain free.

We hiked out around 5:20 with Just Karen and Derek. We opted to walk up the road to the highway rather than retracing our steps 2.1 miles to the PCT.

But after walking about a mile, we had enough and stuck out our thumbs to any car that passed. About 5 whizzed by before a nice couple (Don and Kay) stopped.

We climbed into the bed of their truck, squeezing in around the 5th wheel receiver. By that time it was only half a mile up to the highway but it was uphill and twisty.

Successful hitching experiences are always fun!

We left the trailhead around 6 pm and hiked gradually uphill to Lower Rosary Lake 3 miles away. It was a beautiful Oregonian lake – clear, warm water surrounded by trees.

The best part was the breeze.

The wind was the strongest and most consistent we have experienced in days which meant few mosquitoes!! Laurie almost squealed with delight.

We found a spot big enough for 3 tents and set up home. Andy cooked dinner and chatted with Karen and Derek while Laurie curled up in the tent. She was full from snacking all day and didn’t have room for any more food.

The temperature dropped significantly after the sun went down. We again toyed with the idea of sleeping without the fly (we apparently don’t learn very well) but ultimately decided to put it up to protect against the cold wind. Hopefully it helps and we sleep well.

Tonight we are grateful for wifi that allows us to publish our blog posts and morning alpenglows.

Due to inconsistent service and slow wifi we were unable to include some memorable pictures from the past few days, so here they are!

Enjoy ☺

July 14, 2016

Six Horse Springs Junction (mile 1869.6) to Diamond View Lake (Oregon Skyline Trail mile 15.7)

Miles: 21.8 (6.1 PCT miles + 15.7 miles on the OST)

Our campsite was in a little fortress of trees and logs. While it was cozy, the probability of rodent visitors was high. We both slept with ear plugs to drown out noises of critters that live in, under and around logs.

We woke up at 7 am. We felt like we were living in luxury, waking up naturally and taking our time to get ready. These are some of the perks of hiking alone. We are not accountable to anyone other than ourselves.

The night before we had decided to dial it back a bit. Our bodies were not liking the 24 mile hiking days and we constantly felt tired. We opted to slow down to 20 miles per day and take the Oregon Skyline Trail today, which would take us directly to Shelter Cove, provide more frequent access to water and save a total of 10 miles.

The PCT option near Diamond Peak was supposed to be covered in snow for 3 to 4 miles. At this point lakes sounded better than snow covered trail.

The mosquitoes were out and waiting for us to emerge from the tent. Andy’s clothing is baggy but since women’s clothing is more form fitting, Laurie gets bitten through her bug shirt and pants.

She put on rain pants and her raincoat to add another layer of protection for the 10 minutes it took to disassemble our home.

Just before we left Laurie took off her rain pants and rain coat and started wiggling around while telling the mosquitoes to stay away. No bites, wahoo!

We started walking at 8 am, one of our latest starts on this entire hike. The mosquito swarm followed us as we hiked. We attempted to eat breakfast (a bar) and drink water as we walked since movement seemed to be the only thing that kept them at reasonable levels.

Within 10 minutes of leaving camp we encountered about 15 down logs in a half mile segment. Some of these trunks were so large we couldn’t straddle them.

This is thru hiking.

No matter the trail conditions or weather, you just keep hiking.

These days it never feels like simple backpacking. There is always some added challenge – whether it is snow, heat, mosquitoes, rain, blowdowns or a combination of two or more.

We miss the simple trail in the desert. At least there the challenges (lack of water mostly) were predictable.

We suppose these lessons in living and continuing despite discomforts is good practice for life. As we all know, life doesn’t go as we plan, despite our wishes that it would.

We wandered six miles through the forest, catching brief glimpses through the trees to other ridges and some snow capped mountains.

When we are not dodging blown downs or swatting at mosquitoes, the walking is pleasant. The ground is soft and the bird songs are calming. The monotony of the forest offers time to look within for entertainment.

At one point Laurie stopped to go to the bathroom. The mosquitoes swarmed so badly that Andy had to come over and rub her legs to keep them from biting as she wiped. Now that is true love!

At Windigo junction we veered off the PCT for a 20 mile alternate on the Oregon Skykine Trail. We walked down a forest service road for 0.6 miles before cutting off on a string of trails.

Immediately the density of the forest decreased. With the increased sunlight, the number of mosquitoes decreased. For the first time all day, we walked without our headnets.

By the number of tire tracks, the trail appeared to be a popular mountain biking route. This worked in our favor since all the down trees had been cut. It was glorious walking 9 miles without the start and stop required to step over, under or around logs.

Around noon we took a short side trail to Oldenberg Lake to get water. With one glance at the lake Laurie decided she was going for a swim.

The water was surprisingly warm and felt good on her aching knee. Andy waded in to clean himself off. It was very refreshing and lifted our spirits.

We ate lunch as we dried off, watching dragonflies fly around us.

We cruised along, enjoying the clear trail and mostly downhill and flat walking. As we neared Cresecent Lake we left the trail in search of a spigot.

We first went to a group camp but there was no faucet. We continued on the road to a day use picnic area. Unfortunately there was no faucet there either, but there was a huge lake staring at us we could get water from.

Andy got water from the shore as Laurie went swimming, again. The beach was sandy and the water clear. It looked almost like a tropical beach, minus the palm trees.

Crescent Lake was so pretty it was hard to leave. So we didn’t. We had cheese, crackers and lime flavored water for happy hour and then dragged ourselves back to the trail around 5pm.

The first 3 miles were nice. Again the blow downs had been recently cut and the walking, although uphill, was easy. After 3 miles though, the trail became a maze.

“Maybe these trees blew down after the trail crews had gone through” Andy told Laurie.

We wound our way around and over logs, slowly making our way to camp.

As we neared Diamond View Lake we ran into Derek, the first northbound hiker we have seen in 2 days. Ten minutes later we approached a campsite with 3 tents, one of which we recognized.

It was Speed!

He crawled out to give us each a hug and hung out as we made dinner. It was nice to see Speed again. We had become a trail family and it had felt different these past 4 days hiking alone.

The mosquitoes were fiesty. There were less near the lake so we stood on the shore to eat. It wasn’t very comfortable standing to eat but we didn’t want to lift our headnets anywhere else.

We chatted with Speed, Katie and Boone (Speed’s friends) and made a plan to hike out to Shelter Cove together in the morning.

We all retreated to our tents to get away from the mozzies. The moon is bright and the air is getting cooler. Today turned into an awesome day with two dips in Oregon lakes and reuniting with friends.

Tonight we are grateful for clear trail and swim-able lakes.