Meadow at Mile 2016.94 to Olallie Lake Resort
I awoke just before the alarms went off and couldn't wait to, uh, go. So I jumped out of the tent and relieved myself then returned just as the alarms went off. I gave myself 5 minutes in the warm sleeping bag and then got dressed and packed up my stuff. It was a cold and breezy morning so I wasn't thrilled about getting outside, but I did. I ate breakfast and was ready to hike just after 7:00 AM, but Share Bear and Brad wasn't. Share Bear finally was and we waited on Brad till we were all ready to hike at 7:40 AM.
Ready to hike
I scolded Brad some for taking so long and threatened to banish him from the morning picture, thus his face.
Today we confound hiking through Mount Jefferson Wilderness Area and have the longest climb we have had in a while. It is 8.3 miles long and 3,223 feet of climbing...woohoo. I just keep telling myself and Share Bear sometimes that the climbing is good for us and good training for the Cascade Mountains ahead of us...in case we need more training.
While headed to the start of the climb we had some great views of Mount Jefferson:
Today we confound hiking through Mount Jefferson Wilderness Area and have the longest climb we have had in a while. It is 8.3 miles long and 3,223 feet of climbing...woohoo. I just keep telling myself and Share Bear sometimes that the climbing is good for us and good training for the Cascade Mountains ahead of us...in case we need more training.
While headed to the start of the climb we had some great views of Mount Jefferson:
Great view
Today's trail was mostly marked with wooden squares with the PCT emblem embossed on it:
PCT sign of the day with Share Bear
Our notes warned of a possible dangerous river crossing of Russell Creek. The crossing wasn't too bad, but the river was pretty cool. It came from way up the mountain and was somewhat milky white that is caused by glacial silt.
Russell Creek
Another great shot of Mount Jefferson:
Self-portrait "Mount Jefferson"
We were 1.5 miles from the top of the climb. This is where the climb got the steepest. We talked to a couple that just came down it and they pointed at the saddle we were about to climb up. Just like the Sierra Mountains, I am able to point out where we are climbing to:
We are going way up there
It was pretty cool seeing Mount Jefferson getting further and further away as the day went on.
Self-portrait "Getting further from Mount Jefferson"
At the top we were rewarded with an incredible view with the highlight being Mount Hood:
The incredible Mount Hood
Also seen, but not in the picture was Mount Adams and possibly Mount Saint Helen. We will be entering the Mount Hood area in 36 miles and the Mount Adams area in just under 200 miles. It is cool to see the future.
Our goal for the day was to make it to Cigar Lake to camp, but just 2 miles further is Ollalie Lake Resort that is very hiker friendly and it has picnic tables and a bathroom. If we make it there it would be a total of 26.2 miles...another marathon. We decided to see what time we make it to Cigar Lake and determine then if we should hike the 2 more miles to the resort.
We left the top of the climb at 4:15 PM with 9.64 miles to go to get to Ollalie Lake Resort. At this point we didn't think it was possible to make, but we hiked as fast as we could to try. At 6:50 PM we were just over 3 miles out from the resort...we might be able to make it before the store closes at 8:00 PM, but we will have to hike 3 miles per hour for the next 3 miles to do it. We made it to Cigar Lake at 7:15 PM and actually couldn't find the campsite, so we pushed on for the last 2 miles. The trail was pretty rocky and it got pretty dark with just 0.5 miles to go.
We arrived at the store at 7:55 PM and found it still opened. We bought some junk food and was told we could set up our tents in the day-use area. We quickly set up our tents and sat at the picnic table and cooked and ate dinner...how nice. We then used the bathroom...very nice...and headed into our tents. As I type this I can barely stay awake after today's monster hike. Overall we hike 26.2 miles, climbed 5,059 feet and descended 6,355 feet. What a challenging and incredibly fun day.
The next 2 days into Timberline Lodge won't be as bad. It is pretty much a roller coaster for the next 50 miles. We are looking forward to that. So, until tomorrow...
Our goal for the day was to make it to Cigar Lake to camp, but just 2 miles further is Ollalie Lake Resort that is very hiker friendly and it has picnic tables and a bathroom. If we make it there it would be a total of 26.2 miles...another marathon. We decided to see what time we make it to Cigar Lake and determine then if we should hike the 2 more miles to the resort.
We left the top of the climb at 4:15 PM with 9.64 miles to go to get to Ollalie Lake Resort. At this point we didn't think it was possible to make, but we hiked as fast as we could to try. At 6:50 PM we were just over 3 miles out from the resort...we might be able to make it before the store closes at 8:00 PM, but we will have to hike 3 miles per hour for the next 3 miles to do it. We made it to Cigar Lake at 7:15 PM and actually couldn't find the campsite, so we pushed on for the last 2 miles. The trail was pretty rocky and it got pretty dark with just 0.5 miles to go.
We arrived at the store at 7:55 PM and found it still opened. We bought some junk food and was told we could set up our tents in the day-use area. We quickly set up our tents and sat at the picnic table and cooked and ate dinner...how nice. We then used the bathroom...very nice...and headed into our tents. As I type this I can barely stay awake after today's monster hike. Overall we hike 26.2 miles, climbed 5,059 feet and descended 6,355 feet. What a challenging and incredibly fun day.
The next 2 days into Timberline Lodge won't be as bad. It is pretty much a roller coaster for the next 50 miles. We are looking forward to that. So, until tomorrow...
Home for the night
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