Dave’s PCT & Other Adventures: Day 112 10x10; 20x2

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Day 112 10x10; 20x2

I woke up in the Maiden Peak Cabin. Sleeping here sounded like a good idea when I first got here, and was by myself. Shortly before I went to bed two more hikers arrived one of them ironically was part of the Trail family from the injured hiker that I dropped off in El Dorado Hills. She had met me when she picked him up. As I was trying to go to sleep in walked another, followed shortly by three more hikers, then a sixth and a seventh for a total of 9 additional hikers. One of them did not understand the concept of a mosquito free area and came and went through the door eight times each time bringing in a couple mosquitoes with him. Nice place for lunch or break, but I don’t think I’ll sleep in shelters anymore.

I hit the trail at 10 to 6 feeling good with a quick pace. I bypassed a lake that was a quarter-mile away and a minute later I came to a pond where I was able to refill some water and continue on.

I’ve been walking along in pretty much just forest and then all of a sudden these rock formations pop up out of the earth.

I’m walking through a burn scar from last year. It is a fire that closed the trail for a period of time. This area had heavy involvement. All of the trees are burned and the soil is a powdery ash. It’s almost like you are walking through a big pile of talcum powder.

Here you can see that the fire made a hard run up this hillside I’m guessing it was being pushed with some heavy winds and high heat, drawing it up the hill side.

This next area is also what we called “nuked” everything is burned to bare soil.

Oregon is known for the Three Sisters. They are 3 mountain peaks and 2 are visible in front of me. The one on the left is Middle Sister, and in the forefront to the right is South Sister.

I’ve been walking through the burned area for about 6 miles. I think I am finally through it and back into some un-burned forest. The burn area is arid and barren like a desert. The temperatures are noticeably cooler back in the green.

This is a neat lake with the island of trees in the middle

The trail passes right by Brahma lake, another gorgeous lake here in Oregon.

I am not sure why I push myself; is it ambition, pride, boredom, or desire to test myself? Today I did my 10 x 10 and then decided to keep going with a quick pace and ended up with 20 x 2. I won’t lie, my feet are sore, I’m tired, and I still have 4 miles to go to my campsite for tonight. But onward I’ll walk, maybe a little slower.

I passed another few lakes/ponds and arrived at my camping location. It is next to this unnamed “pond“. I set up my tent and then headed down to the water for an afternoon swim. I’m starting to like these afternoon swims. Then filled up my water bottles made my dinner and laid in my tent. The mosquitoes here so far have not been bad and I feel about it around, but I’m not being swarmed and I was able to eat outside. I will probably sleep with my vestibules open again for the gorgeous view.