Start point
Maiden Peak Shelter, mile 1915.4
End point
Pond and tentsites at mile 1939.3
Miles hiked
23.9
Wilderness area
Willamette National Forest
Three Sisters Wilderness
Deschutes National Forest
People I met
Factor and her partner
The day on trail
As much energy as I had yesterday, today is a drag. I’m definitely having a caffeine and sugar hangover from everything I ate last night that got me up this mountain. It’s okay though. We work with what we have, not with what we don’t. I can push and I know I’ll rally…sometime today.
I started off by checking out the log book in the cabin. There were a few people I knew in it. Ranger and Karma I met in Ashland
Nonny and I had a nice chat about how much it sucked to hike at night through that area. There was some large creature making noise — I think it was a deer or elk. I don’t think it was a bear. But it was so freaky sounding.
I’m fairly comfortable hiking at night. Nonny isn’t. She wants to stick to only daylight for hiking. I’m happy to make that concession to keep her comfortable.
She took off and I stuck behind a bit to take photos of the cabin and do my morning things.
There was one photo I missed that I’m so bummed about. There was a tree with a sign that read “this is the pee tree.” Brilliant.
A little ways into my hike I ran into Blaze, whom I met in Kennedy Meadows South!
We spent a couple minutes catching up, but both had too many miles to really spend much time. I really like her — she’s compassionate and driven and an obviously wonderful person.
There were some trail signs ahead.
It was a slog to hike with the caffeine crash. I hate how it makes me feel now, after. The sugar crash is fine, whatever, I can cope. But the caffeine withdrawal that fast is miserable. I don’t even have a headache; I just can’t move at my normal speed or think clearly. My head feels boggy.
I pushed to get to the lunch spot at a little lake. Nonny and a bunch of guys were there. They took off shortly after I got there because they’d been there for a bit already.
I spent a good chunk of time eating, recuperating, and watching a striped ground squirrel enjoy a piece of pasta someone dropped.
Lunch and a little down time helped me feel a lot better. I had my normal spring in my step and I started back out.
There was a bench. It’s interesting how many memorial and project structures are benches. This one had been signed by a bunch of hikers.
After that was a lot of burn area. You could see the entrance to it. Where there was foliage and then it just… stopped. This was that spot looking back after crossing into the burn zone.
And the burn was extensive. Savage. Horrible.
In the middle of it was a little seep where life was pushing through.
And others had written their names in the dirt.
And the burn continued.
Finally I was through the burn. After miles and miles and miles of it.
Camp was soon.
One of the scariest things about burn areas is that if something happens and you need to set up camp, it’s just not safe to. Every dead tree is a fall hazard and can crush you, so if you’re not in a big clearing, you’re out of luck.
I got to camp and Nonny was there already. We talked about what we wanted to do the next day. And we’re a couple days from Bend! This progress is incredible.