23 Miles
We were the last ones to leave camp, which meant we had the whole place to ourselves as we packed up in the morning. The side trail back up to the PCT was gradual, which was true of almost all the trail today. Also, dusty. It gets caked on your skin throughout the day and you can feel the grit on your teeth. Between the dust and smoke, I will need to apologize to my lungs after this. Water today came from the lake in the morning, and then from another Devilfish cache at lunch. We’ve been leapfrogging with a younger group since Crater Lake and they also took the alternate route to Whitefish Horse Camp. The camp hosts are Jim and Jerry (though Jerry wasn’t there while we were) and they love hikers. Today was Jim’s birthday and he felt bad that he wasn’t cooking us all dinner, there were 12 of us. He was a great guy and loved to talk with us all. He gave us an introduction to where to go around the campground, then passed out ice cream sandwiches to everyone. We sang him happy birthday and then we all gathered at the big picnic table to cook our dinners. Each hiker was boiling water, rehydrating their meal, then eating with unending hunger. Afterward, we all turned in. I’m excited for tomorrow because it’ll be a short, 10- mile day to Shelter Cove where showers, laundry, and resupply await.
PCT Hike 