Day 10: Making Miles

PCT Mile 1906 – 1930

Miles Hiked = 24 + 1 road mile

Last night I camped at “Gimme Shelter” Cove. It was nice to have clean clothes again even if it’s only for a few hours. It was also awesome to have taken a shower, eaten a hamburger and enjoyed a couple beers. But it was time to get back on the trail. As the saying goes, “If you’re not moving forward, you’re not making progress”.

Today was a day to make miles so Rex and I were both up before 5am. It usually takes 45-60 minutes to tear down camp and get everything into the backpack. This morning we were leaving “Gimme” Shelter Cove at 5:45. We had about a one mile road and side trail walk before rejoining the PCT.

It was foggy this morning which was a change from the normal blue skies and sunshine. Shortly after reaching the trail there was a short side trail to an overlook of Odell Lake where “Gimme Shelter” Cove was located. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see anything except the fog.

It didn’t take long, however, for the fog to burn off. Soon we crossed over Highway 58 at Willamette Pass and reached Middle Rosary Lake where we collected and filtered water. The next water source would be in fourteen miles at Charlton Lake.

As I collected water a Mamma Duck and her Duckings kept a close eye on me.

The first seven miles were uphill and gained about 1500 feet. Rex is a strong hiker and sets a fast pace. I go at a little slower pace and slowly fall behind. As I neared the top, I had a nice view looking back at Odell Lake in the distance and Lower, Middle and North Rosary Lakes in the foreground.

Flower of the Day: A lot of the trees in this area have this light yellow mossy stuff that hangs from the branches.

Obviously this isn’t a flower – it’s actually a lichenized Fungi called Ramalinaceae and it occurs primarily on trees in temperate climates like Oregon that are windy, exposed and well-lit.

Finally after many miles walking through the forest on a smooth dirt trail including another 1500 for elevation gain

we reached our next water source at Charlton Lake.

Charlton Lake was near a trailhead off a paved road so we saw quite a few day-hikers and mountain bikers enjoying the area around the lake.

Later in the day, we hiked through another burn zone with hundreds of downed trees and more Dwarf Fireweed wildflowers.

As we reached the northern end of the burn zone we started to get views of The Three Sisters – three volcanos in close proximity to each other in central Oregon just west of Bend. They are named South, Middle and North Sister.