Today was the inverse of yesterday – a terrible start and fine finish.
Although it did not rain much more last night, a wet foggy wind swept through the camp, ensuring that every wet thing stayed wet. That included my clothes which were very much still cold and soggy in the morning. I considered hiking in my baselayers. But if they got wet then I would be in a miserable condition indeed, with nothing dry to wear at the end of the day. Always best to put limits on your suffering. If you can.
I put off the start of the suffering as long as I could, eating breakfast and packing up before changing back into my wet shirt, pants, socks and shoes, and then heading down the trail.
The fog was thick, visibility down to a few yards at times.
It made for a spooky hike. I mistook a lake for a dropoff from the ridge — there was no distinction between water and sky. Small islands in the lake seemed to float in a void.
I hiked fast, trying to keep warm and dry my clothes with body heat. Other hikers were talking about walking the whole 32 miles to Olallie Lake resort and getting a cabin to dry out in.
But despite the cold and damp and wind, there was no actual rain. I warmed up, my clothes dried, the hiking was good. Good enough, anyway.
The trail finally dropped off the high exposed ridge. It cruised for miles through an impressive forest of huge trees, green undergrowth and moss covered rocks.
It finally got below the clouds, and by late afternoon a bit of sun came out.
After a slog through a corner of the Lionshead burn, the trail entered Jefferson Park, a level basin of wildflowers, lakes, glacial streams and clouded views of Mt Jefferson.
The beauty of the place resolved me to make an early day of it, hiking 0.2 miles off trail to Russell Lake. I’d already hiked 20 and the next stretch of trail was a steep climb through another burn.
I still had the beer grabbed at Santiam Pass yesterday. Last night was definitely a whisky-drinking night, not a beer-drinking one. But a beer would go down just fine this evening. I stashed it in the lake to cool down, and enjoyed a very pleasant stay in this very beautiful place.
