Day 126 Around Fish Lake

Day 126 Around Fish Lake
23.8 miles
From 2/3 Trail Campground (Mile 1768, Elevation 5250)
To continue camp past Island Lake (mile 1790.9, elevation 6095)
Upload 2951
Descent 2107

Early on in my hike, I came across a couple of fallen trees that had been hollowed out. But they still had what looked like wooden spikes stuck in the middle. It seems to me that they are remains of branches, which must have resisted decomposition a little more than the heartwood.

Hollow tree trunk. The inner branches/spikes are very obvious in this case.

I am fascinated by rivers of boulders. It’s as if the valleys are filled with a flow of black lava rocks, many of which are the size of my torso. Why are they in the valleys when the ridge also appears to have these rocks but the gaps are filled with dirt? Could it be that the water washes the soil from the rocks in the valleys but not from the ridges?

A Lava River/Boulder where large lava rocks are found exclusively in the valley, with trees growing on the ridges on either side.

In any case, crossing rivers of rocks was slow, similar to scree fields. The trail creators leveled the large black lava rocks for the trail and then placed smaller red lava rocks to make it smoother. This helps a lot (and the red/black contract inspired my “2/3” marker), but it’s still slower than a smooth dirt road.

Red trail through black lava flow (and Daniel walking the trail)

Red lava rock (the size of gravel) used as a trail through flows of large black lava rocks

Mount McLoughlin (elev 9493) and trail crossing the lava river

Daniel showed me the video he took yesterday expressing his joy for the “2/3” market and how it was made. We talked about dividing things into thirds and how we were now in the home stretch of this walk, even if it is a 45 day home stretch. I thought about it this afternoon when I noticed a seam was coming apart on my hoodie and thought it only needs to last another 45 days.

When the trail crosses Route 140 near Fish Lake, it also meets Billie Creek. There is a large flat area near the road and creek that could accommodate many tents. Daniel was taking a break there when I arrived. Someone had left a half-full milk jug there and we were joking about some trail magic we wouldn’t be participating in.

For the next half mile, the trail paralleled the creek as it rose around the flanks of Mount McLoughlin (9,493 feet at the summit).

Stream near Route 140

Stream near Route 140

My feet got tired at the end of the day. While I was untying my shoes at camp, I guess they may have been tied too tight (due to swelling during the day?)

Camping

I had a strange feeling after digging a cat hole tonight. It was dark and I turned around. I couldn’t see my tent or Ursack reflecting the beam of my headlamp. I ended up using my GPS to get back (I remembered my location on the map). When I saw her on Etna, Brie said that she has a little LED light that she keeps in her tent that turns on in situations like this, so she can find her way back to camp. I never had any problems before. I also have extremely reflective guy ropes attached to my tent (nite-ize), which makes it easier to find in the dark. But tonight, I didn’t see my tent until I was about 30 or 40 feet away from it.

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