Start point
Large Pond and Tentsite, mile 1893.5
End point
Maiden Peak Shelter, mile 1915.4
Miles hiked
24.3 including 1.2 mile round trip off trail to Shelter Cove
Wilderness area
Willamette National Forest
Deschutes National Forest
Diamond Peak Wilderness
People I met
Aliya and Dan
Double Check
Nubs
Clouds
The day on trail
Ketchup got to my site around 6:30 this morning. We talked a bit and planned our day out. We decided to stop at Shelter Cove for lunch, a hot meal, and then to make up the lost mile of trail the next day. She really needs the morale booster today and I wouldn’t mind a beer and some town food.
The pond I camped next to had this magical mist on it.
Getting ready, the campsite started out chill but soon became overridden with mosquitoes. It was absolutely brutal. I had to pace around while brushing my teeth just to not get swarmed. Picaridin helped a little bit, but they were relentless. I tried spraying some Deet on my gaiters and my kilt, because I didn’t want it on my skin after how it made me feel the other day. That also helped a tiny bit. But really I just needed to get moving to keep them away from me.
I broke camp without eating, because of the mosquitoes, and headed down the trail. I always feel like I’m making some sort of progress when I see trail signs.
I ate one protein bar while walking slowly, and when I found a spot with few mosquitoes I sat down for the rest of my protein bar breakfast.
I’m tired of protein bars for breakfast. I need to find something nutritious that sates me, and is easy to cook and doesn’t upset my stomach. Maybe when I get to Bend I can sort it out with the aid of real grocery stores. I liked my granola with Carnation Breakfast Essentials, but the dairy in them messed me up.
After eating I continued on and found this cute little mushroom.
Shortly after that I came across a view with Crescent Lake to my left and Summit Lake to my right. It was too expansive to capture in one frame and I have a panorama to stitch together when I get back.
Just past that viewpoint there was an expanse of mountains to my immediate left. I heard crashing and thuds and realized there was a small rockslide on them.
While shooting in this little area, a family of three with two medium sized dogs came through. We chatted a bit and they asked me the usual questions about where I started and if I did the Sierra. I just wanted to be around their dogs.
Past that, I hit a marker saying that I was at trail mile 1,900. Bonkers. I still haven’t calculated how many miles I’ve had to skip this year, but I think it’s about 400-450 miles. That would put me around 1,500 miles hiked. I still feel like that’s a crazy accomplishment.
Sometimes the trail throws surprises at you. Today I was delighted to meet Aliya. She was hiking the opposite direction as me. She commented on my chai and I asked if she was a member of the tribe. The instant we both learned we were Jewish we started playing Jewish geography and found out not only is she from Tucson, she went to Congregation Bet Shalom! We took a selfie to send to Rabbi Avi. She’s currently in school in Portland, and we’re hoping to grab lunch when I’m on my journey back to Tucson.
She was hiking with a guy, Dan, and I gave them the requisite warnings about where they could expect the mosquitoes to be bad. We went our ways and I went into a path surrounded by trees with knees.
This happens, as Ranger taught me, when trees are growing and the soil is unstable. The soil will shift and the trees will adjust to continue growing straight up. It’s so cool to know these things!
I walked on, as the vast majority of my days consist of. There were trail signs, meandering trails, and mushrooms. All things I love to see and share, but nothing to write about separately.
I caught up to Ketchup at an intersection with a dirt road. This was the turnoff to get to Shelter Cove. I took it with Ketchup a bit behind me. The dirt road crossed some train tracks then connected with a paved road which went to the campsite.
The paved road was amazing, though. I got to snack on all the delicious berries!
Blueberries!
Thinleaf huckleberries!
Wild strawberries!
Oh it was delightful to enjoy those coming into a spot!
Arriving at Shelter Cove, I ran into Swifty, one of the two who gave me a ride to Diamond Lake. We caught up a bit and she lamented on how she didn’t have her trail legs yet.
I got to the main patio where I saw Slaphappy and a bunch of other hikers. Minnie Mouse, Yoga Bear, By The Way and his crew, Corn Lily, Yard Sale and a bunch of others came in about 30 minutes after I got there. Ketchup surprised me by meeting me there — she got a ride on the paved road.
Our girls, Eva and Swiss Cheese were there, too! And we got to catch up. Eva is trying out the trail names Honey and Beekeeper because of when she got stung by a bumblebee, which don’t often sting. I recommended Bumbles or Bumblez, which we all liked so she decided to try that one out too.
I met Clouds, Nubs, and Double Check and we started bonding over trail stuff. It’s always nice to talk with chill guys over trail things.
I ordered a burger and chicken strips, got a can of beer (Pilsner), and eventually got a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream (6 lactaids needed). I plugged a bunch of my electronics into a charging station to top off. All the things you do when you have access to these things.
While we were talking a woman overhead Ketchup’s name and asked if we were the ones from the paper. Indeed we were! It was fun to be recognized by someone out in the wild, especially in front of other hikers.
A lot of time passed, about four hours. Devices were topped off. I’d had a latte to fight off food coma, and we had to go.
Just back on trail, someone had left a can of PBR for someone. I decided to pass on it — someone else could use it more than me.
Holy cow did the latte hit me hard. I was flying the last eight miles. I was having all the thoughts. I was thinking it’d be fun to go back to school and get a degree in exercise physiology, then get my certified personal trainer, and start teaching people how to fall in love with movement and prevent injury instead of trying to fix them after they’re injured. I was dreaming of getting my DPT (lol no). I was thinking of so many things and just flying down (up) the trail.
The sun was setting and I found the pinesap plant (I think it’s a fungus) and was loving the lakes.
The moon was rising but there was too much haze to navigate by moonlight.
I tried to take some self portraits with my headlamp lighting me but they just weren’t coming out well. I was also hearing an animal calling out, a deep grunting, and wanted to get to the shelter. I think it was a buck, but it could’ve been a bear. These aren’t noises I’m familiar with.
I crested the ridge and descended down the other side of the mountain, sweeping my headlamp back and forth to see any potential critters. There were lots of flickering pale purple flecks of glitter: the eyes of arachnids hunting at night. I’d seen and heard two deer galloping through the forest. But otherwise no other large animals.
I got to the shelter after a few miles in the dark. There were two people inside, Stats and Gets There. Both were still up. I let them know Ketchup would be behind me.
This shelter was so cool. There were hooks to hang things on so rodents wouldn’t get them, there was a table, chairs, benches/beds, an entire loft/attic, and a wood stove. I claimed the loft so that Ketchup and I could basically room together.
Ketchup got there about 45 minutes after me, visibly exhausted. Night hiking, especially with the calls of large mammals in the soundscape, is not her thing. She cleaned up, brushed her teeth, set up her bag, and nodded off. I was still pumped on caffeine so I edited photos and worked on catching up on my journal until I was spent.