PCT 23 – mile 2048, Olallie Lake resort

I slept in until the shockingly late hour of 7am. I am getting more used to sleeping on a thin foam pad on the ground. This is an important step in attaining the feral state that is so helpful in long distance hiking.

There had been a few sprinkles and it was still cloudy so I got moving quickly. Also, I wanted to hang out at Olallie Lake resort, which has resupplies plus snacks and cold beer.

Although it was cloudy, the clouds were much higher and Mt Jefferson was fully in view. The view expanded even more as I climbed the ridge, which attained treeline at a mere 6500 feet.

More gratifying was the view to the north – Mts Rainier, St Helens and Hood were visible, although their tops were cloaked in clouds.

I had service on the ridge and checked the forecast- 0% chance of rain according to the internet.

There was an immediate bolt of thunder. In 10 minutes I was being pelted by cold slushy wind-driven rain. It lasted half an hour, then began to clear.

After a few miles the trail re-entered the Lionshead burn. I can see why the PCT was closed for 2 years here, the level of destruction is extreme. I’ve walked through a lot of burn areas on the PCT. All have been partial. There were always a few surviving trees and a lot of the dead ones still had needles on them.

Here many trees were burnt to a small blackened core. There were no live or partially burned trees. I t had got so hot that even the soil burned away, leaving nothing but rocks. The burn extended all the way to the resort, stopping just a hundred yards short.

The resort is pretty basic – no phone, no electricity, no running water save a single spigot. But the store was well-stocked, and I was able to get supplies to last me to Cascade Locks. I pitched my tent in the nearby camping area and spent the rest of the day snacking, reading, drinking beer, playing music and chatting with the other hikers. But not swimming, despite the warm weather. Swimming is forbidden on the grounds that this lake–despite being several miles across–would thereby be excessively contaminated for use as drinking water downstream.