Start point
Site at 1778.8
End point
Stock holding area at mile 1801.9
Miles hiked
23.1
Wilderness area
Rogue River National Forest
Winema National Forest
Sky Lakes Wilderness
The day on trail
Big day. Beautiful day. Wonderful day.
Not a damp morning, it was pretty dry as far as Oregon goes so far. Easy to pack up when it’s not gross.
Of course Ketchup took off first and I was behind. That’s the rhythm. We decided to meet up as close to a trail junction. There’s beta that there’s space for some tents at the junction, and there’s a horse camp off trail if that doesn’t pan out. The beta about the horse camp is a little iffy, but it’s enough to know that we can make some room for tents, even if we have to squeeze in.
It was such a pretty day, and the mosquitoes thought so too. The air is getting thick with these bastards. People are saying they mostly clear up after Elk Lake, a good bit ahead. I’m hoping that’s the case.
I’ve been resorting to wearing my head net, but I get too hot to wear my rain gear. Deet makes me feel like garbage. Luckily Sawyer’s picaridin seems to do the trick, doesn’t make me feel like two week old unrefrigerated gas station sushi, and keeps the skeeters from biting me. They’ll land, then say “no this one’s spoiled” and take off.
And it smells pleasant. Hooray Sawyer! Not just water filters!
Signs right after camp always delight me. It’s a reminder where I am and where I’m going. Sure, I know where I’m headed, but it’s something else to see it written in official wood on posts and trees.
I saw this tree falling apart soon after.
And a wonderful reminder of the critters I’ve been missing along with some fungi. Two things I can’t get enough of and that always delight me. That pinacate beetle was just munching on wood. What a champ, eating vertically and head down.
I took a small detour to get water from Christi’s Springs.
The water was good but the mozzies were so bad. I filtered as fast as I could and got out of there to find a place away from water (and blood suckers) to eat lunch.
Continuing on, I found a PCT sign getting swallowed by a tree.
The trail wants to consume the trail.
There was an old state highway crossing with some people camping near there.
And a classic wooden sign.
I’m on the PCT! After all I’ve had to do, I’m still here. Now swatting mozzies instead of fighting traffic in some city.
I’ll take skeeters over traffic.
I’ll take mushroom spotting over either of those, though.
The first one is some coral mushroom, the second is probably an amanita pantherina, a panther cap, named for its spotted pattern and color. Also it’s super toxic.
And some flower spotting.
Walking along, I ran into Ranger. She was having a rough day, having had her trail family dissolve.
We ended up accidentally walking together because our paces were similar. I broached the awkwardness of walking in close proximity without really knowing each other. At first she thought she wanted some space, but she started opening up and we ended up walking together for a while.
She works for NPS as a ranger working on geologic surveys. We’re both Jewish and have a lot in common, culturally.
It was a joy to walk with her. We both had some good crying moments digging deep into our experiences. It was a beautiful shared catharsis and I was so lucky to share it with her.
She showed me what grouse whortleberries were, but none that we found had berries to try. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for ones with berries down the trail.
After a while we came upon these white pasqueflowers. They look like tiny truffula trees from The Lorax. I love them.
They’re so delightful. Like the ground kidnapped some clouds for its own decoration.
And there was the cutest little frog.
Actually there were oodles of frogs, but they moved too fast to get photos. This guy barely say still long enough to snap this one.
After a bit we got to where the beta showed some tent availability. The sun was going down and the mosquitoes were terrible. Terrible.
Ranger and I were walking together still, and we decided to make our way to the Horse Camp, per the plans Ketchup and I made earlier. I was half expecting to see her there.
It was a slog through overgrown brush, around trees, over logs, but we eventually found it. Ketchup wasn’t there.
I sent Ketchup a Garmin message letting her know where we were. We set to work making a fire (legal, safe) in a fire ring to drive some of the mosquitoes away. Blessed smoke giving us some peace.
I broke out my journal and poured some tequila to enjoy while I wrote, but the cap had broken, so we had to finish the bottle.
Ketchup made her way in, set up, and we all sat around sipping Hornitos reposado catching up while we made our dinners.
After dinner, of course, it was hiker midnight and time for bed.