I awoke this morning with the faint smell of smoke in the air and the sunrise obscured by smoke in the distance. I packed and eagerly hit the trail – it was only 9 miles until I reached the junction for Shelter Cove and I had town food on the brain.
Diamond Peaks in the Morning
The path continued to follow the alpine loveliness of the Diamond Peak Wilderness for a few miles, and then crossed a small stream before heading downhill towards Willamette Pass. I paused at the stream to assess my water supply and was dismayed to discover that my pee rag was gone. I had been using my PCT Class of 2017 bandanna as my pee rag for the last couple of months and it had some sentimental value for me. I earned my bandanna, as all PCT through hikers do, by dancing for it at Casa de Luna. That seemed like so long ago.
Huckleberries!
I was plodding downhill with my headphones in when I heard another hiker behind me. He had my pee rag! I was so happy that he rescued it for me. The hiker’s name is Jim and we ended up hiking the rest of the way into Shelter Cove together. He’s a section hiker this year, but he through-hiked both the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail in the 1980’s and had a lot of interesting stories to tell. We chatted amiably and the miles flew by.
Junction to Shelter Cove Resort
Shelter Cove Resort reminded me a lot of Fish Lake Resort – a small community in the woods primarily geared towards families that want to fish in the lake while they’re on vacation. Amenities include camping, cabins, a restaurant, small store, bathrooms, shower and laundry.
Welcome to Shelter Cove Resort
My first order of business, after parking my backpack in the PCT hiker area and charging my external battery, was lunch. Shelter Cove offers a Hiker Special that changes daily. I ordered the special – which today was a plate of ribs with potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, a roll and watermelon – and could not eat it all. I spent the afternoon sorting through my resupply box and trying to work on my blog, but the wifi was too slow for me to get much done. I was also pretty sleepy after my lunch and had a hard time focusing on blogging so I decided to nap instead.
The Hook and Talon – Restaurant at Shelter Cove Resort
I ate a cheeseburger for dinner and hit the trail again a little after 5:00 pm. I wanted to get a few more miles in today so that I could start the trail tomorrow morning and get in a full day. I hiked the 1.5-mile side trail back to the PCT and did a few more miles before stopping at Lower Rosary Lake. Wow! What a gorgeous view. I was sold.
Lower Rosary Lake
As I set up my tent, a gentleman hiked by with a parrot on his shoulder. Ok I’m not exactly sure what kind of bird it was, but it was an exotic colorful bird of some kind. He had wavy white hair and an impressive curled white mustache. I didn’t get a chance to talk with him long but I wished that I had. He seemed like an interesting guy.
I was glad to be back on the trail. I enjoyed the view of the lake as dusk fell. Life is good.
Camping by the Lake
PCT 2017 Stats
PCT Day 131 – Tuesday August 22
Mile 1895.3 to Lower Rosary Lake Mile 1908.3
PCT Miles Hiked Today: 13 + 3.5 miles road walking
Total PCT Miles Hiked: 1439.4
Feet Ascended Today: 1325
Feet Descended Today: 2545
Current Elevation: 5721
Steps: 46481
For more on my experience hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, visit my Pacific Crest Trail 2017 page:
0 Comments