Everything about today's miles felt like a prelude to tomorrow's excitement. One more full day stood between us and the breakfast buffet at Timberline Lodge that so many southbounders have raved about, and when the feasting is all done Emily and my Mom will be there to greet us. I've tried for days to keep a lid on the welling excitement…
Sins of the Virgin Voyage
Early this morning, just before leaving Olallie Lake I stepped out onto the dock to enjoy the view over the lake to Mount Jefferson bathed in the early light of the day. There wasn't a soul stirring anywhere and the lake was glassy with calm. I can't think of a better way to start a day.
Mountain Relay
Today was divided neatly into thirds: 8.5 miles of uphill sandwiched between two 8.5 mile sections of downhill. It's unusual for a day to be carved up like that and for the downhill sections to have very few moments of climbing and vice versa. Regardless, the grade was always pleasant and steady and it made for easy going even for another long day.
2000 Miles
It may have been a meager arrangement of sticks on the ground, but it was meaningful just the same. A humble spot on a trail full of highlights, it didn't quite seem fitting of all that this point represented but it did make for a perfect place to reflect on all the miles that brought us here. 2000 miles.
In the Heart of the Cascades
It stretched into the distance as far as I could see. With my back towards the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington, Three-Fingered Jack, and Mt. Jefferson towered over what looked like a boundless expanse of nothing but volcanic rock. Wave upon wave of fields were piled high with the stuff.
Three Sisters
Out of the trees and into the great wide open. That was the outline of the day as we traversed the heart of the Three Sisters Wilderness. Skirting just to the west of South, Middle, and North Sister mountains, the trail was a front row seat to each of these hulking volcanic peaks.
Land of Lakes
The terrain today was something quite different from anything we'd seen on the trail so far. Like the deep woods of Maine, it was lake after lake after lake of varying sizes all day, with many separated by no more than a tenth of a mile or two. Perhaps not surprisingly, with the advent of so much standing water, swarms of mosquitoes were not far behind.