Frustrating Fire Closures & Shelter Cove – PCT 2017: A Hiking Story [41]

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Part 40 ‘A Hike of Ice and Fire’

Day 123 (11/08) – Summit Lake

Not far into the morning’s hike, Rattler caught up to me, and we hiked together again. The day was relatively uneventful and easy hiking. We ended up hiking quite a big day!

Rattler and I found a nice spot at Summit Lake to camp, a little peninsula sticking out just above water level. It was beautiful, and the water was super warm.

Distance hiked: 28 miles

Total PCT hiked: 1886 miles

Day 124 (12/08) – Shelter Cove and Diamond Peak

Rattler and I hiked at 5:20am from Summit Lake, and pushed uphill toward the first water source – a creek running from Diamond Mountain. We met up with Bobby Hill and 3G along the water, and we all synced up there. There were some sections of snow crossing that reminded me of being back in the Sierra, bringing back memories.

Snow near Diamond Peak (photo credit: Rattler)

We aimed for Shelter Cove (a holiday park), and arrived shortly after midday for some lunch. We then decided to stay as it was quite pleasant at the campground resort. I went for a swim off the boat ramp and talked to other hikers there – most of whom were there to pick up resupply packages.

We got news there was now another fire just ahead near The Sisters – a famous mountain group in the area, and that we’d have to hitch around them. The problem was that now it meant it was almost not worth doing that whole section. Jefferson National Park was also a massive fire complex, and closed too (which had been burning for ages now). There was only a small section in between that we could actually hike.

Rattler had hiked every mile until the Crater Lake hitch, but we had accepted that inevitable one as unavoidable. Now he suddenly had to skip a huge chunk. I was also annoyed, as it meant skipping The Sisters and Obsidian Falls. Nature sucks sometimes!

Sisters NP closure – one of the best areas in Oregon to hike

…and then after that closure, is this one… another iconic NP!

I ended up drinking beers with two other hikers I hadn’t met before, and sharing stories. It was a nice evening.

Distance hiked: 19 miles

Total PCT hiked: 1904 miles

Day 125 (13/08) – Trail Magic and Brahma Lake

Rattler and I left Shelter Cove at 5am, and retraced our steps back to the PCT. I was feeling a little less down today and wasn’t pondering over having my camera stolen as much as the past few days. It’s done… not a lot I can do about it now, it was time to be optimistic again!

We planned on hiking to Elk Lake Resort which was two days away, and then hitching to the large town of Bend for a break and hopefully where I’d wait for a new camera, depending on how long it took.

We met up with a Czech guy and a German girl hiking together named Keeper and Torpedo respectively, and briefly hiked with them. I needed to have a toilet break, and wearily dug a cathole behind trees, making sure to check the visibility angles. Rattler and I had previously just had a conversation about awkward moments when taking shits on the trail, where you weren’t as discreet as you thought. Shit conversations are actually the greatest thing ever! Try it sometime – everyone shits, after all!

I had lunch by Charlton Lake and when I regained the trail I noticed a pink sign in the distance – ‘could it be…. is it…. yes…. yessssss! Trail magic!‘ “Sparkles Trail Magic – 0.5 miles”. When I arrived I saw Rattler, Torpedo and Keeper all eating freshly cooked burgers and hotdogs on some chairs near a car. I met Sparkles, a 57-year-old PCT hiker from Portland who has done most of the trail this year but is finishing the rest the year after. She was super nice and had help from a young girl. I had two burgers, a can of Heineken and a can of Mountain Dew. What a fantastic idea for trail magic! I’d love to come back to the US and do trail magic like this.

Sparkles trail magic! (Left to right: Keeper, Me, Sparkles, her niece, Torpedo, Rattler)

We hiked the final 7 miles to Brahma Lake where we camped for the evening. It was a charming enough lake, but the air was too cool for a swim. It was super cool and overcast all day, actually making for comfortable hiking conditions. I made sure to zip my sleeping quilt into a cocoon again and was happy to just relax in comfort before sleep took me.