One Weigh Ticket: Journal Entry: Wednesday, 7/27/2016

Day 11 of 15

Stats

11.3 miles (plus 0.8 other miles from Crescent Lake campground)
About 1,000' elevation gain
4.5 hours hiking
2.69 hiking mph

Photos

Link to all photos from Day 11

Journal Entry

italics = original journal text
regular = added during transcription

There was no journal entry from this day.

Despite wanting to delay my start, I woke up around 6:30 and was hiking by 7:30. This was the day that I would get to Shelter Cove, where Kylie was picking me up. With only 12 miles remaining, I knew I'd arrive hours before her 6:00pm ETA.

The morning started with a brief walk through the campground at Crescent Lake. After finding the trailhead and crossing the highway, I was back on the OST alternate trail. Once again, I lost the trail within the first mile due to poor signage and my own complacency. I backtracked for 10 mins until I rejoined the trail where I knew it crossed a road. I then continued on with more vigilance, eventually finding the junction I had originally missed.

I continued on through Whitefish horse camp. The campground had fenced-in stables and large camping spots to accommodate the large horse trailers. As the trail traversed the camp along its west edge, I was fascinated by the equine hobby in general. It seemed so similar to my childhood hobby of dirtbiking, except on an animal.

Shortly thereafter, I crossed into Diamond Peak wilderness, filling out a backcountry permit at the trailhead kiosk. This began the 4-mile, 1,000' climb to Diamond View Lake. The mosquitoes were out in force for these 4 miles, likely the worst that I encountered on the whole trip.

After arriving at the lake, I quickly donned my head net and filtered 1 liter, just enough to get me the remaining 5 downhill miles to Shelter Cove. Hardly getting a chance to enjoy the view of Diamond Peak, I hiked on, anxious to leave the bugs and join Kylie.

Only a few minutes down the trail, I came upon a pair of hikers resting near the shore. I joined them, noticing that the mosquitoes were (for some reason) much lighter where they were just 1/4 mile back. I basked in this brief respite while enjoying the pair's conversation.

I headed out with them 15 minutes later, starting in front because I knew I'd be too anxious to follow if they were slow. The trail lost 1,000' on the way, so the pace was fast despite the surprising number of blowdowns. Once adjacent to Trapper Creek, the forest became more dense and jungle-like. It was cooler, more scenic, and more bug free than the rest of the OST alternate, so I was a happy hiker.

Luckily, Shelter Cove was the easiest resupply to find: cross the railroad tracks, then simply follow the signs along the road to the snack shop only 1/2 mile away. When I arrived, I saw the tarp shelter designated for PCT hikers that was beside the shop. There were about 8 hikers and I recognized most of them (Lance, Blowout, Irish, and a couple I met at Mazama). I also met Mr. Elusive, Mud Guts (thru hiker from Russia, hiking over 35 miles per day) and a mother-daughter pair (Dusty + ??).

Everyone was in good spirits, having just arrived earlier that day (except Lance, who arrived the day before). I bought 6-pack to share and a frozen pizza for myself.

We all hung out, discussing the only things hikers like to discuss: food, shoes, and other hikers. I found out that the couple from Mazama has been grabbing my extra condiments (individual packets of olive oil, parmesan cheese, hot sauce, and salt) from hiker boxes, which was awesome!

Time flew by, and before I knew it Kylie was pulling up in Luna (trusty blue 2007 Kia Optima). She whisked me off to LaPine where we stayed the night in comfort, enjoying the Chinese take-out and hot shower water.