A chill and often smoky night as the wind shifted. I suppose I should be grateful for what respites from the smoke there have been, but then that is like being grateful for a pause in one’s daily beatings, isn’t it.
However, the morning was mostly clear and brought views of the isolated conical peaks of the Oregon Cascades. These mountains are very different from the ranges I know best – the Rockies, the Sierra, the Coast Ranges of California, the Sky Islands of southern Arizona. Sharp volcanic peaks rise out of a skirt of rolling forested hills. They seem scattered about more or less at random within a north-south corridor that must be a tectonic plate boundary.
There are plenty of lakes, but running water is rare. The volcanic soil must be more porous than granitic ranges like the Rockies or Sierra, and water must just filter down until it hits a basin and fills it up.
The day’s highlight was a walk along Summit Lake, a large lake that breaks up the forest and opens up long views. I stopped at a cove and waded in but did not swim. Although the water was warm enough, cold winds raked the lake and clouds blocked the sun. The dry-off would have been brutal. I’m glad for the cool weather but it is hiking weather not swimming weather.
Otherwise the hike was mostly ridge line walking today, views opening and closing as the smoke blew in and out. My left knee has been getting a bit more sore lately, taking a couple of miles in the morning to relax and loosen up. I stopped a few miles short of the side trail to Shelter Cove, my last resupply stop.
My camp tonight is a fine ledge site, exposed but with good views. The wind is still blowing cold so I put up my tent, and sipped my whisky carefully. It might be my last. Oregon does not share California’s philosophy that liquor should be sold at every gas station, convenience store and roadside stand. The resorts near the PCT have plenty of beer but no whisky for sale. I didn’t do my research and uncover this state of affairs when I packed my resupply boxes and now will have to suffer the consequences.