Running into two hikers for the fourth time this year

This morning I woke up nice and warm in the Crescent Lake room. It was really nice to sleep inside last night and have a chance to dry off. Even if my socks and shoes get wet again today. It’s still a relief. I started packing my bags as soon as I could. But it’s always difficult to get out of a warm room and into the snow.

Once I was ready, I met up with Sprinter and he took me back to the trailhead at Shelter Cove. Which fortunately was only a few kilometers away. It looks like my last and only remaining resupply in Oregon will probably be Crater Lake. That’s a couple of days away. And after that, I won’t resupply again until Ashland. Or until I return to the CDT. So I tentatively said goodbye to Sprinter for a moment. I probably won’t see him again until the Crater Lake area. And that will probably be our last resupply together! I am incredibly grateful for all the support you have given me. Especially in these crazy weather conditions on the PCT.

When I first got back on the trail, it was a joy to walk on dirt. I knew I could probably enjoy some reasonable trail conditions for at least the first two hours. Eventually it would be climbing above 6000 feet. Then climbing above 7000 feet later in the morning. I ended up talking to my dad on the phone for a while while I had service. And little by little I ascended a really nice and gradual climb.

There was definitely a lot of snow at times.

I vividly remember being back on the trail section with my 2022 PCT team. I spent much of the day thinking about all of them once again. I swear that group of hikers is what alone has gotten me through Oregon this time, at least mentally. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about all of them since arriving in the Timberland Hostel area.

I really liked this section of the trail that felt very open.

After a few hours, it was high enough that there was a lot of snow. Once I got above 6500 feet, there was about 6 inches of snow pretty consistently. And as it went higher and higher, it piled up even more. There were no clues and everything was going pretty slow. But compared to the conditions a few days ago, things have improved considerably. And I was able to hold on to that. That has definitely changed my perspective a lot and made things a little easier to tolerate. I just enjoyed the beautiful views of the fresh, powdery snow. There’s nothing like walking on snow that no one else has ever touched. This morning there weren’t even a ton of animal tracks.

Beautiful views of a snow covered mountain in the distance.

Once I got up to about 7000 feet, I stayed there for a handful of miles. That was the most time-consuming part of the entire day. When you go up to a higher elevation and come back down immediately, the whole process doesn’t take as long. But staying at about 7,000 feet for four miles was a bit tedious.

The snow was quite deep above 7000 feet.

Sometimes the snow floated far above my sealskin socks. Or at least well above where they would have been if he had used them. For some reason I decided to wear normal socks today. I thought they would dry out much easier if I didn’t constantly walk through the snow. Which is definitely true. Waterproof products don’t dry out, especially when you wear them. But it was crazy to see how much colder the snow and sleet got in my usual shoes and socks. I didn’t even realize how insulated the waterproof socks were until I wore them.

I stayed at this elevation for almost 2 hours as I made my way through the snow.

Fortunately, when the sun came out, I felt very comfortable even without those socks. And I knew that ahead I would go down a hill. So I’d probably have a good chance to dry off and warm up. Although if I had to go through the snow later at night, I would definitely wear the sealskin socks again. It’s incredible the difference they make in the comfort of your foot. The snow really comes through.

A large snow covered mountain in the distance on the other side of this lake.

I finally started to descend once more and emerged from the deeper snow. And it got better and better as I got back to 6000 feet. He would have to go up one more time before the day was over. But hopefully there wouldn’t be as much snow because it was a slightly lower elevation. Also, these things are very hit and miss when it comes to melting snow.

Some of the views as the snow began to clear.

At least I knew that after climbing later that day, it would be the last time I would be at a higher elevation for the rest of the night. And I was very surprised to see that the snow cover at the next high point was much better than the previous one. I was much more melted and was able to keep up the pace the entire time. At this point I was getting pretty close to Windigo’s past. This would be about 30 miles on my day. And I was planning to continue beyond there as long as I could.

An incredible name for a lake.

As I approached Windigo Pass, I found a really cool surprise. Sprinter had run into two PCT hikers here finishing a section from earlier in the year. He walked with them down the path as they continued north. And it turned out to be Twitch and Van Gogh. Two hikers I’m seeing for the fourth time this year. I met them both for the first time at the beginning of the Florida Trail in early January. In fact, they met on the trail in Florida and then ended up hiking the PCT together.

Tonight’s sunset was this perfect cotton candy color.

I ran into them in the desert section of the PCT early on. It must have been at the beginning of May. I then headed back East and returned to the PCT some time later. Where I met up with the two of them again somewhere north of Kennedy Meadows, after the Sierra. I was now crossing paths with them for the third time on the PCT this year. That seems like some kind of record!

It was great to see them again and chat with them and Sprinter. Apparently they’ve been hanging out by the van for a few hours, which is really nice. I know it must be amazing for Sprinter to have the opportunity to bring trail magic to other hikers. I swear I must be the most boring person to give trail magic too. Because I’m always on a hike and I never go out. And when I’m not hiking, I’m probably sleeping or editing. I always think that when I meet Trail Angels. There certainly have to be hikers who are much more fun to spend time with than I am. At least that’s how I feel sometimes this year on this mission!

Van Gogh, Twitch and me (from left to right).

I talked to them for a while before continuing north. And then I walked back south towards Windigo Pass with Sprinter. I hadn’t planned to see him again today, but he surprised me here. And he actually brought a hamburger! I ended up sitting in his car, eating a burger and drinking some caffeine. It was already very late, but I hoped to cover another 10 miles during the day. That would prepare me pretty well for tomorrow. Or at least today I could go as far as possible.

Watching the sunset as I headed towards the Windigo Pass.

I spent a while in the van with Sprinter before continuing. But I knew I really had to get going soon. He had eaten a lot of delicious food. I felt absolutely terrible leaving there. However, the best thing about long-distance walks is that once you get moving again, your body digests everything right away. I gave it about 30 minutes and then I felt good again.

This section of the trail was really nice and didn’t have much snow either. It would gradually climb for part of the afternoon, but other than that it was really easy terrain. Time passed surprisingly quickly as he walked into the night. When I got out of the Sprinter van it was already dark. But I expected to spend a few hours before calling it a night.

I wanted to get as close to the alternate route to Crater Lake as possible. Because it would be really nice to see Crater Lake during the day. At this point, if I don’t go far enough today, I will definitely go to the lake tomorrow after dark. So I tried to incentivize myself to push further into the afternoon tonight for a chance to see Crater Lake at sunset tomorrow.

I was feeling pretty energized from all the caffeine I’d had earlier. So I didn’t really have much trouble continuing in the dark. I ended up walking until just after 10pm. At that time it was 31 miles from the Crater Lake alternative. So it still wasn’t looking good in terms of being able to see the lake before dark. But maybe tomorrow I’ll have the energy to get up early.

Finally, I found a nice enough flat spot and decided to spend the night there. I certainly got further today than I expected, which was great. And in fact, I even had on-site service at my store, which was even better. That meant I was able to edit a bit and upload some things. I stayed up a little later than I probably should have. And I finally called it a night.

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