Day 139 (5 September) - Mile 1845.42 - 1869.61

North Crater Trailhead to Campsite by Six Horse Spring Trail

Another cold night but I slept very well. I heard alarms go off at 6:00  but didn't hear anybody moving. I gave it 10 minutes and then started getting ready. Some mornings it takes one of us to start making noises for the others to decide to get moving. The good news this morning is that there is a pit toilet here, so no digging a cat hole this morning. The bad news is that it is freezing outside. 


We all moved slowly thanks to the cold. We had to sort out food for the today and the next 2 days to get us to Shelter Cove Resort where Tim will be meeting us next. It was so cold that when I put some water in my cup it started freezing within a few minutes. Also, as Share Bear tried to fill her water bottles, the water started freezing in the neck of the bottle. It was so cold our fingers and toes hurt. We needed to get moving to get warm, so Share Bear, Indra, and I quickly got our bags on and were ready to hike at 7:48 AM.

Ready to hike

It was so cold we had to leave Brad who wasn't quite ready yet. We told him we would meet him a few miles up trail when it got warmer. It was so cold we actually hikes with our puffy jackets on which is a big no-no in the hiking world. It is important to keep the puffy jacket dry so it can be put on to get you warm. If you hike in it, it will get moist with sweat and then you don't have something dry to wear to get warm. At this point we didn't care...we were freezing and the puffy jackets were not coming off. 


Within 30 minutes of hiking we entered Mount Thielsen Wilderness Area.

Mount Thielsen Wilderness boundary

Two hours later we got a great view of Mount Thielsen:

Mount Thielsen

When we arrived at the trailhead that summited Mount Thielsen there were 7 day hikers all going for the peak. I guess it is a common Labor Day activity around here. 

We stopped for lunch in a sunny spot, but was still chilly when we were ready to hike on. One-third mile later we made it to the Oregon / Washington high point. This is the highest point on the PCT in Oregon and Washington. It is kind of surprising that when we enter the Cascade Mountains we won't be any higher than the stated 7,560 feet. I guess it is all downhill from here.

Oregon / Washington high point marker

I don't know what these peaks are, but it made a good photo:

Nice photo

As we hiked along we met Loner, a southbounder. He planned on thru-hiking from Canada to Mexico but his foot is hurting him too much so he is hiking to get off trail tomorrow. Too bad for him, but his spirits were high. What a great guy!

Loner

Check out this photo of Miller Lake, or as I called it, Pac-Man Lake:

Miller (Pac-Man) Lake

It was now around 5:30 PM and we still had 6.16 miles to hike to get to our planned campsite. We started pushing ourselves to hike harder so we could get there before dark. The trail has had a lot of ups and downs today but has been clear of trees and rocks. Of course, towards the end of the day we have a section of rocks...it never fails. 

Typical section of rocks towards the end of the day

With about 1 mile to go we met up with Indra and the three of us pushed for the last mile. Oh yeah. Brad was having a strong day so he presses ahead earlier. 

Share Bear and Indra hiking through a forest of very large trees

We made it to camp just after 7:30 PM. We hiked just over 24 miles so we had a great day. Tonight is supposed to be another cold one, but hopefully the morning won't be as cold as today. We will see tomorrow..

My home for the night