Start point
Mazama Village, mile 1821.9
End point
Diamond Lake via Crater Lake Rim alternate, Hwy 138 and PCT intersection, mile 1848.8
Miles hiked
22.7
Wilderness area
Crater Lake National Park
Mount Thielson Wilderness
People I met
Lady
Schwift
Paige
Fireball
The day on trail
CRATER LAKE CRATER LAKE CRATER LAKE
We all woke up excited to finally see Crater Lake. This is one of the most anticipated stops along the PCT, and it’s not even on the official PCT. The reroute off the trail to walk along Crater Lake is more popular than the actual section of trail.
Nonny and I camped next to each other and made plans to meet up around the lake. We were expecting service and didn’t expect any issues coordinating things. Luckily there were some areas with service.
She took off early, as usual. I hit up the general store in Mazama Villiage to find a Benadryl stick to deal with some mosquito bites. I also got a few bites of my own while in there. A cup of fair decaf and a microwave burrito — perfect t breakfast. There was, indeed, a stick for my mozzie bites and it was fairly priced, for trail, at about $6.
I chatted up a few hikers. Some recognized my chai and were happy to see a fellow Jew. Others I just chatted with.
Soon I was off though. I had a lot of miles to cover and a town to resupply at. I had 22 miles to go and a huge freaking lake to distract me from my destination. And a notoriously rough hitch to get to that town.
So off I went.
It wasn’t a hard trail at all. It was well marked, but there were just so many distractions.
Some blowdowns.
And a really cool lake!
I took so many photos there. Too many. I can’t wait to edit them.
I made my way along the lake, hoping to catch Nonny. I’d heard from her in our sporadic spots of service but didn’t quite catch her.
I stopped at a few lookouts and talked to some people. There were two young women making TikToks about national parks. There were lots of travelers who wanted to know about the Trail. And there were a few dogs.
I miss Rye.
I kept going along the trail, making my way north. Enjoying the sights.
And stopping for informational signs, of course!
Then, BOOM!
Nonny and I ran into each other.
She ended up scoring a ride and a night. So she was exiting for the day at the parking lot. I was going to be rolling into Diamond Lake solo, which was fine. I had a lot to do to resupply and send some stuff back. Plus she was excited for her company and I was excited for her!
We hugged our temporary goodbyes for the day and the next, and I went on my way.
The hike away from Crater Lake was really pretty, and turned into a little more desolate of a trail pretty quickly. Water became scarce almost immediately. And I was feeling in a mood to listen to some musicals. So I put on Les Mis in my headphones and tromped along, pondering my identity and role in the world.
Shortly after going into the woods outside Crater Lake, I met a bit of a hiker celebrity, Fireball. It was so cool to meet her and she was so nice. She was heading SoBo and we stopped and talked for about 15 minutes until we had to continue on.
The trail was a little…plain at this point. Of course, when trail gets “boring” you’ll find more marked up blazes.
I also passed a tree with an interesting parasitic kind of growth, I think.
There was a water cache, and I took a moment to fill and snack. Then took back off.
I ran into another hiker from Arizona and the people she was hiking with.
Then I got to the glorious road! I was losing sun fast, and the esteemed pizza joint would be closing in a few hours. I put my thumb out, hoping for a ride. I also used a bar of service to try and summon an Uber and a Lyft, but both those timed out and couldn’t find rides.
I was getting a little desperate. Then a jeep pulled up! They asked where I was headed and I told them Diamond Lake. They said they’d give me a ride, but they needed to scout out a campsite for one of them — she was a hiker from the year prior who had to bail because of fires and they were getting her on trail the following day. Lady and Schwift. Absolute scholars of women.
It was perfect. They got me to Diamond Lake and I hobbled into the pizza joint there, ready for wings, pizza, and beer.
A local bought me a beer. I complimented another local’s dress, and she ended up sitting with me. Her name was Paige. She had her chihuahua Moonshine with her in a basket. Moonshine warmed up to me pretty quickly.
Paige and I hit it off fast. We shared some food, then she invited me to her favorite local hot springs. I bought a six pack of cider to bring. It was getting dark.
It was a fun little hike to the springs with my headlamp and her cell phone light, and we got into a hot tub of natural mineral water. There were a bunch of other people there. One of them joined us in our pool and we got to chatting. He asked me some stuff about trial then speculated about what he’d see along it and how he’d do on it, if he ever went.
Paige slipped and cut her toe, and I helped clean it up. We got out of there and she showed me a local campground with free showers. We each took one to clean up, and get the unfiltered water off.
She also showed me a local park where you could camp as long as you were out before the rangers came by. We set up our tents and crashed.
What a full day. I’ve never had one like this.