Pacific Crest Trail: Ashland-Crater Lake

Day 55

1739-1764.68 (26.07)

Our morning routine is become later and later as the sun begins to rise later; however we still made our 10 miles before 10 o'clock today. We took a nice break at a water source and then moved on for another 4 before stopping for lunch. Feet were especially sore today for whatever reason so we weren't moving as quick as we hoped but in the next 8 mile water less stretch we heard of trail magic up ahead. Two places back to back! One was a storage shelter that was stocked with food and the other was a group of 2014 thru hikers that were camped out and trail Angeling. I enjoyed a delicious grilled sandwich and helped revamp their menu before heading back to the trail. We hiked until we found a reasonable camp sight and then called it a night.

Day 56

1764.68-1793.51 (28.4)

The morning walk felt the same as the evenings walk from the night before and continued to feel the same throughout most of the day. It got pretty trippy really. I was losing track of time and losing track of miles because I felt like I was walking in the same exact place the whole time. Some 4 mile sections felt like 10 and some felt like 2. By the afternoon the scenery began to change a bit and we sat by some water to fill up for the rest of the day. While at the source we looked at our options and discovered that we could walk 11 more miles to a camp that had a pond .2 off trail. Since water sources have been scarce this section we opted to go for that. We made it to the 11 miles COMPLETELY exhausted and moving very slow by the end. Both of us had about a half liter left of water and did not even make it down to the water source .2 miles away. We plopped down on some uneven grown and didn't get up.

Day 56

1793.51-1818.43 (24.9) plus a .8 highway walk

The sun and some very obnoxious birds woke me up early this morning so I began my walk with some very sore feet. The ridge line was beautiful and eventually came around a corner to overlook some mountains that Kay have been part of Crater Lake National Park (CLNP). I met a man named Iceman there and chatted with him about mt. Shasta finally appearing farther away. I made my way down the mountain to the last water source of the day and loaded up with 4 liters for 19 miles. My pack did feel heavy and I was nervous after how the last dry section went but I kept calm and tried to treat it like a normal day. I rested on a nice log for break and then continued on to a nice view for lunch. I stretched quite a bit trying to ease my tightness but noticed little effect 8 miles later. We made it to the highway around 6pm and wandered down the hill to crater lake mazama village for the night. We ate a nice dinner and showered then socialized with some hikers on the store porch. I rinsed my clothes in the bathroom sink and hung them on a nearby tree until after dark. The hiker campground was way on the other side of the village so we packed up our packs and walked on.