Day 23: Up & Up

PCT Mile 2183 – 2201

Miles Hiked = 18

Sydney and I spent last night in a campsite at the Panther Creek Campground. I paid $10 – quite a good deal for a picnic table, water pump, trash bins and vault toilets!

This morning we were awake at 5:30am and walking out of the campground by 6:45. It took about 10 minutes to walk through the campground and get back on the official PCT.

We immediately walked across the Panther Creek Bridge.

The next nine and half miles were uphill. We gained over three thousand feet in altitude.

The trail was in forest and switchbacked up the side of an unnamed mountain in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

After about three miles we popped out onto a ridge that had a great view looking back at Mt. Hood in Oregon.

Mt. Hood

The low level fog in the above photo is hanging above the Columbia River which separates Oregon from Washington. Sydney and I had walked across the Bridge of Gods just two days ago.

We passed through the Wind River Experimental Forest.

Apparently the US Forest Service has used this area as an ecological research site since 1908. The site is best known for having a 285 foot freestanding tower crane that allows scientists to view and study the forest from above. Sydney and I, however, didn’t see the crane☹️.

In a little while we enjoyed another view back at Mt. Hood.

After four and one-half hours of uphill climbing we reached the top and had our first view of Mt. Adams to the north!

Mt. Adams

Sydney was quite excited about seeing both Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. We are heading in the direction of Mt. Adams and will hike around its western flank (left side) in a few days.

This morning we each left camp with about two liters of water. That would be enough to get us to our only water source for the day – a piped spring. At that point we then collected almost three liters of water each – enough to get us through the rest of the day and night and to another water source tomorrow morning.

We had more forest walking in the afternoon.

Nice to have signs to keep us headed in the right direction!

Flower of the Day:

Western Thimbleberry

I passed a number of these red berries today. They are called the Western Thimbleberry and grow in moist shaded forests. The berries are edible and taste like raspberry flavored candy.

Another flower I’ve been seeing is the Rose Spirea

Rose Spirea

The Rose Spirea is native to North America and, as the name implies, is part of the Rose family.

We set up camp next to Sheep Lake and enjoyed a nice sunset.

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