Snuffy’s 2014 Pacific Crest Trail Journal-Oregon Day 13 and Another Zero

I am awakened this morning by the hum of a different kind, a boat on the water. Being that it is 6:30am, my first thought is fishing. It isn’t long before I realize that the boat is moving much too fast for that, its water-skiers.

Breakfast isn’t until 8:30am, so I get up slowly, admiring some baby ducks and their mother in the cove next to my tent. As the sun comes up, the mist is clearing off the lake. Big Lake is well-named, with what appear to be several resort areas and the camp has many water activities staged off the docks, including inflatables.

I decide to head in to camp a little early, and wait at the hiker hut to see if anyone rolled in off the trail. To my surprise, Susanne is still here and plans to enjoy breakfast before taking off. Susanne comes from San Francisco but isn’t sure she will return, possibly moving onto something new after the PCT. She quit her job at REI and may go back to school eventually. Her phone did not have service, so I let her call her boyfriend before getting back on the trail. Breakfast was pancakes and phony bacon, so I ate my own granola, enjoyed hot water for my coffee and dined on blueberries, applesauce and peanut butter.

After Susanne left, I must admit I had no other plans than to park myself on a couch and write journal entries. I got one of those things accomplished.

Soon after 10am, a series of thrus came in to keep me entertained and conversations engrossing. They could not believe the size of the hiker box, many scoring gourmet dinners and new fuel canisters. I myself found a set up maps left by a northbound hiker to get me to my next resupply, since I was early and had originally planned to meet Elizabeth here. Now she was going to meet me at HWY 242.

When there were just three of us, a young lady from the camp came in with a camera and said they were starting a fundraising campaign to make this hiker hut friendlier, with its own shower and bathroom, a kitchenette and places to store packs. Would we mind posing for a picture? I tried to get the other two to pose, but guess what? You will see just me and the retired doctor in those pictures. Slow Bro (Mark, a retired family doctor from San Antonio, but not FROM San Antonio), Matthew (who didn’t like his trail name enough to tell me), 3Cs, Solitude, Brunch, Salsa, Southbound Beach Buddha all filled the cabin by dinner time. Several of these were thru southbounders like Susanne, and it was interesting to hear their tales of making through the North Cascades when there was still so much snow. I must admit, it is usually the older hikers that have the most interesting stories. 3Cs has been hiking the PCT in large sections for a period of years, during which he has fought 3 different cancers (prostate, throat and another I can’t recall). He had a feisty positive attitude, but he admitted a tendency to get lost on the trail.

Lunch was what they called vegetable stir fry and spring rolls. I was excited until I saw it was leftover rice with egg and a meat substitute and frozen vegetable medley. Don’t get me wrong, it was filling. It was just a liberal interpretation. Camp food, right? Dinner turned out to be a different affair, and I can’t tell you how excited the hikers were to hear we were having pizza, salad and Italian sodas. A few more hikers had streamed in just in time for the dinner bell.

Thursday nights have a theme night at camp and tonight was “90s”. They decorated the camp festively and music was playing on the PA system. Not sure it was exactly all 90s (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts playing “I Love Rock and Roll”?) and Weird Al Yankovic stood in for music deemed inappropriate for church camp. They set up tables in the main area of camp, and we anxiously awaited, well, pizza. I was awaiting the humungous bowl of delicious looking salad that I was sure many of the campers would not be fighting me for. I even indulged in two Italian sodas.

A few more hours relaxing on the couch, listening to stories (and “Dr. Mark” who consulted another hiker about the red rash on his feet) and I was ready for bed. Tomorrow will be a day of lava beds and little water (again).