August 9th
I got up this morning around 7:30am, had breakfast and after checking the map, decided I had time for a short walk to the Dee Wright Observatory before Elizabeth arrived to hike with me.
As I walked the red gravel road past the trailhead, I could see hikers slowly filling up the parking lot on this soon to be warm Saturday morning. I didn’t carry much more than a water bottle and my phone/camera, and wore my camp shoes to give my feet a break.
The road soon met HWY 242 and it was a brief (thankfully) road walk up to the observatory. There isn’t a shoulder and the road goes through the lava bed as it approaches the summit, so I was glad that there was but a few cars this early in the morning.
The stone tower of the observatory was in stark contrast to the azure sky, and there was just one car leaving the parking lot as I arrived. The steps wound up to a circular shelter and inside there are labeled view holes that allow you to peer out knowledgeably at the features in the area. After climbing to the top of Little Belknap, it was nice to know for sure the mountains and peaks I had seen.
You can continue climbing around to the top, where a large dial points to the geographical markers in the area. And, you have cell reception! This was a bonus since the camp area didn’t and I wanted to confirm with Elizabeth where I was and her arrival time.
Making my way down from the tower, I proceeded to complete the half mile interpretative walk around the immediate area that described the lava features and gave history to the area. My geeky science and history loving side was happy. I could not imagine wagon trains trying to make it over this land!
I returned to camp around 10 and went down to the lake with thoughts of taking a swim as it seemed to be the popular thing to do. As I approached the “swimming” part of the lake (it had a drop off), I noticed a sheen of grease (maybe sunscreen?) on the water that had not been there when I arrived yesterday. Yep, gross. After much debate with myself, I went over to another side of the lake and waded in enough to get wet, then went back up to my campsite to dry off.
Finding a comfortable place on the picnic table and along with my solar charger, I let the sun’s rays recharge me. A chipper little chipmunk bravely scampered between a nearby tree and the picnic table while I was laying there. He even brazenly hopped up on top to check out what I was eating, startling me at least twice. He’s lucky he’s so cute.
Elizabeth arrived around 11:30 am and brought my resupplies as well as nice big salads for lunch. She had dropped her car off at Shelter Cove this morning and her husband Craig brought her back up to meet me. I took what I needed from the bags they brought and sent home some things I didn’t need anymore.
The bad news? She brought me my resupply for the following section (Shelter Cove to Crater Lake) instead of this next section to Shelter Cove. The bags were labeled but she was confused by the “Crater Lake” label versus Little Crater Lake earlier on. I guess I should have stuck with Bag #1 and Bag#2. Anyway, food was not an issue, but the maps were. I had taken enough maps out of the hiker box at Big Lake to get to Elk Lake, but wouldn’t have them again until Shelter Cove. But more importantly, it meant that I would not have the pages from Yogi’s guidebook that shared tips on water sources. In addition, I had my water canteen in this bag because of the 27 mile dry stretch before Crater Lake. I would have to carry it now, oh well.
We rolled out at 1pm with the goal of making it to the boundary at mile 1979.5 for the Obsidian Limited Entry Area where you can hike through but not camp without a special permit. This area continued the lava but the flow was of an older age, much more vegetation except for a few cones that starkly rose up with barren rock. The hike was relatively flat but hot and dry. We passed day and weekend hikers for most of the afternoon.
Around 5:30pm, we arrived at the Minnie Scott Spring and the reward of cold, clear water literally bubbling out of the ground and a large campsite with a beautiful view prompted me to say, “Let’s stay here!” It was a gift from God after the nasty water at Lava Camp Lake.
We relaxed our feet in the water downstream from where the earth gave up its liquid bounty and fought off the mosquitoes the best we could. We set up our tents on a flat spot that looked down into the valley and after dinner watched the sun begin its slow descent.
Around 7pm, we heard footsteps approach our tents and we were heralded by the local forest rangers out doing permit checks. It was the weekend, after all. After he joked with us about having to move so they could have our mighty fine spot, they set up their camp further on the ridge in some trees. I could hear them going back and forth, either to get water or to possibly check on last minute hikers setting up too close to the spring? There was even some late evening hammering. Anyway, I slept extra well knowing they were on duty.
Today, there are many more options for trail and outdoor knowledge than I had when I hiked the PCT in 2014. Apps like Peak Finder and Far Out share names of surrounding peaks and important information like water sources. Cal Topo has layers for wildfires, cell coverage and snow levels. Of course, most of this can be found on standard maps but if you want to know if a spring is still flowing, crowd sourced apps are the way to go.
In the time since writing this, I have done some research into the history of the road and land. Of course, I know now that the only way that “settlers” were able to cross the Cascades here was because First Nation People had been doing so long before they invaded and an existing “road” was used to create the highway. This website, McKenzie Highway History, has some good info, albeit from a watered down historical perspective.
For the continuation of this journey, visit Snuffy’s 2014 Pacific Crest Trail Journal-Oregon Day 16
To start at the beginning, head over to Snuffy’s 2014 Pacific Crest Trail Journal-Oregon Day 1
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