I woke up refreshed this morning worship did my soul good.
We hiked out of Big Lake and continued North paralleling the PCT for about a mile and then reconnected with it. The trail today started off fairly clear. However, as I continue blow downs are increasing.
We arrived at Santiam pass highway 20. Just passed the highway is a short connector trail to the PCT trail head. At the junction a Ángel left some water and snacks.
There is a cool flat top Mesa to the left of the trail that we can see
The trail passes by another neet geological feature with this rock and the trees that grow on top of it.
This section of Trail right now has a lot of fresh cut logs that used to be blow downs. It appears a Trail crews have been working this area which we are super thankful for.
If you remember Three Finger Jack, it is the peak between Washington and Jefferson. Yesterday we went around the west side of Washington peak, today we are going around the west side of Three Finger Jack.
Incredible views from the side slope I am on. In the picture the gray mounds in the center are Santiam pass. The lake at the top is Big Lake where we camped last night.
Down below us in the valley is a thick green forest that runs into a significant fire burn scar. There are multiple lakes shimmering in the sunlight.
We have reached, and now are crossing the western slope of Three Finger Jack. Standing with my back to Jack, there is a wide open view in front of us complete with Meadows, Lakes, Hills, and peaks.
I believe this cinder cone is known as middle pyramid
As we come over the saddle and around the bend on the north side of Three Finger Jack, we have a clear view of Mount Jefferson.
We now have a view of the northside of Three Finger Jack. The red colored bands going through the rock are especially cool. Another picture from the top of the saddle shows the valley off to the north side and the third shows a meadow with a small cinder cone in the center just above a spring.
After continuing our jungle gym adventure over blow downs, we’ve come to this small pond for a water refill.
Next to the lake where we are getting our water is this bush with the pink flowers, called the Mountain Spirea. It seems to be a favorite flower of the Yellow Face Bumblebees.
We have traversed down from the saddle below three finger. Jack through this match stick forest over many blow downs. It’s slow going, but most of these blow downs are branchless trunks. They allow you to climb over them easier than any of the other sections we have had with multiple blowdowns.
This is the trail directly in front of me each, and everyone of these logs need to be navigated over or around
After literally miles of climbing, over and around blow downs, we’ve reached a section of trail that seems to be free of them. We are on our last mile before arriving at Rock Pile Lake, which is our chosen campsite for tonight.
Our last mile indeed, was blow down free. We arrived at rock pile lake and selected a campsite along the shore. Once my tent was set up, I took a quick dip in the lake and then made dinner.
Today’s PCT miles hiked 20.3
Total PCT Miles hiked to date 1475.1
PCT mile marker 2015.4
(Flipped over 542.8 miles)
