Day 101, 24.5 miles

Wow what a day!! The first thing I noticed when I woke up to my alarm at 5:00am was how cold it was! I decided to stay in the tent and my warm bag for awhile longer, I was freezing! During this sleep in time I heard a large animal walking slowly towards the tent, crunching twigs and breathing heavily. I was sure it was too big to be a deer, and it was much noisier than a mountain lion, but when I sat up suddenly to see what it was, it ran away super quickly, making a lot of noise as it broke sticks and branches in its escape! Big ol’ scared bear? I can’t say for sure as it wasn’t quite light out and I also didn’t have my contacts in. 

I waited until after 6am and decided it wasn’t getting much warmer very quickly. I reluctantly packed up and started the rest of the steep climb up to the Crater Lake Rim in my puffy. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, and soon I was coming across a road. I could tell I was close to the rim, what I wasn’t prepared for is what I saw!!

Crater Lake in its early morning glory

The wind had changed direction overnight and I could see perfectly! The water was so deep and blue and there was absolutely zero smoky haze to block my view! I talked to a local at a lookout, and he said that yesterday you couldn’t even see the other side of the lake! My mom was here two days ago, and this is a picture she took.

See Wizard Island in the middle? She’s looking directly into Crater Lake and can’t even see the water!

Some fun facts about Crater Lake that I learned from the fun information boards along the trail:

• Deepest point: 1,943ft (592m)
• Widest point: 6.1 miles (9.8km)
• Surface temperature: 32°- 60°F (0°-16°C)
• Temperature beneath 260ft (79m): 38°F (3°C) 
• Visibility/clarity: world record of 143ft (44m)
• Stocked w/ Kokanee Salmon and Rainbow Trout
• Was once a 12,000ft mountain (Mazama Mountain), which blew up in 5 different places to create Crater Lake.

There was lots more to learn but that’s what Google is for! I filled up with water st the bathrooms, then started going clockwise around the west side of the rim. The trail had a surprising amount of loss and gain in elevation, and the deep sand actually made it a pretty tough day! So well worth it though! 

About half way around the west rim there was a high point called The Watchman. This was not on the rim trail, and was about an extra 3/4 mile pretty step up to a cool tower on the top. After seeing it from afar I had decided I wanted to make the side trip up there to check out the view. I got to the trail junction for it and set my pack down to have a little snack before heading up. It was then I saw a familiar face!

It’s Jake from day 1!

Since my camera wasn’t working when I saw him coming out of Fish Lake, I thought I’d snap a pic today. On the Appalachian trail his name was Doobie. For a short while he went with Drybite on the PCT after getting bit by a rattlesnake, but now his name is back to Doobie. Doobie is now hiking with a girl named Clean Turkey, who got her name when trying to explain to someone that she quit coffee “cold turkey” but accidentally said “clean turkey”.

I pictured the side trip of Watchman Tower to them and they were down! We left our packs at the bottom and headed up the steep side trail. It wasn’t that bad and we were at the top in around 12 minutes. The wooden structure of the tower itself said NPS personnel only, so naturally, we rock climbed the wall next to it (staying off the tower). Gotta abide by the rules ya know? The view was so cool! Not only was there a crazy high vantage point of Crater Lake, you could also see the fires to the west! 

Doobie staying off of the tower :p

Clean Turkey, Doobie and I

Looking West. That’s what I’d be in if the wind hadn’t changed last night!! Yuck!!

Not trusting the squirrels with our packs for too long, we headed back down to the Rim Trail. We hiked together for the next 7 miles or so, swapping stories from the trail and catching up! We had lunch together and then split up (I was feeling lazy and stayed at the lunch spot longer than them). 

From the bathrooms where I filled up water it’s normally a 30 mile dry stretch along Crater Lake Rim and then a number of miles North on the PCT. There’s an awesome hiker/trail angel named Devilfish who maintains three water catches along the way so we only have to carry ~11miles worth max at a time. I forgot to take pictures of the two I ran into today, but will try and remember the one I will be hitting tomorrow. Thanks Devilfish! 

Peaks in the distance we can actually see now!!

The trail split from the rim of the lake and kept on North. It got very hot once the breeze stopped, but at least the grade was nice and the composition of the trail was mainly soft-packed dirt!

Sweet trail!!

Alright, I’ve found a new food addiction on the trail this year. I cannot stop eating them. They’re so fun and addicting. They aren’t too heavy, and they probably have a pretty good calorie content. They’re Jelly Belly’s! 

Sooooo good!! Need more! What’s your favorite?

I love the dark green and red “Watermelon”, and any of the lighter color ones. (eg. The light green is “Sour Apple”). I don’t know what the light blues and yellows are but I love them too! Now that I’m older, I even like the “Hot Cinnamon” and “Black Licorice” flavors!! 

Well, as much as I could talk about (and eat) jelly beans all day, there was more to the actual hiking day! At the second water cache, I ran into Doobie again, who had decided to hitch into Diamond Lake to eat and get more food. I have plenty of food and am planning to meet Claire in Shelter Cove in 50+ miles, so I just got some more water, rested for a bit, and then headed on. 

The trail climbed up steeply and approached Mt. Thielsen. It made for a sweet picture! There’s a side trail that would get you to the top of the 8,800+ft peak, but the timing just isn’t going to work on this one. It would mean me hiking well into the night and scrambling to find a flat place near the top to camp, or summoning early morning when it would be WAY to cold up there for me not to have pants.. haha. 

I decided to keep on and although the trail was traversing on the steep mountainside, I was able to find a small flat spot just below the trail around 7pm. It feels so nice to actually be able to look and see what’s around me in the distant and actually breathe clean air! It was a struggle there for awhile! 

I really wanted to stop and mention that timing has been amazing this year for me on the trail. I had great, cool weather in the Southern California desert and experienced no 100°+ days there. Then, I missed all the late season snowstorms in the Sierra, but still got through relatively early, without having a SINGLE day of bad, unexpected weather. Fires have popped up behind me near Agua Dulce and a big one in Yosemite. Then, the night before I get to the Hendrix Fire closure, the trail opens back up! And then the night before I get to Crater Lake, the wind changes directions and the lake is visible for the first time in over a week!

I feel really really lucky and blessed at the same time. I don’t know what it is but something is telling me that I can succeed this year! I don’t want to get too cocky or suggest that nothing can go wrong, I just wanted to state how thankful I am for having all these great conditions unfold for me. It’s just more reason to stay positive and keep the good vibes rolling!! 

Thanks for reading!!