Katy Dockter, James Lowry and I planned to do an 8 day adventure, averaging 6-8 miles a day from Fish Lake to Crater Lake. Due to the low amount of snow, we started our trip early in the season. We stopped for a quick pic of Diamond Lake en route to Crater Lake. There were clouds of mosquitoes, so we hurried back to the car. I hoped they weren't a sign of bites to come.
We set up camp at Mazama campground, then drove out to Sevenmile TH to stash our cache of food and water near the PCT, a 3 mile hike. We camped overnight in Mazama Campground (first come, first served), then got picked up by my favorite shuttle driver in the morning (Sue O'Daley, formerly of Ashland Shuttle 831- 233 -1435). Sue drove us to Fish Lake Lodge where we caloried up before hiking 6 miles in 70° temperatures. This was not a good idea! Our first camp near Freye Lake was a welcome rest.
We encountered quite a few log crossings along the trail after Freye Lake. Christy's Spring was well signed and had a good flow of water.
After camping at Christy's Spring, we took a lunch break among the burned trees along the PCT. We then left the PCT, heading down the Sky Lakes Trail to Deer Lake. The water at Deer Lake provided a lovely swim and clean up (don't worry, we didn't use soap in that pristine lake)! We made camp between Twin Heavenly Lakes. The Sky Lakes was better prepped for hikers than the PCT--fewer blow downs, more living trees. The trail was actually lined by rocks on either side--talk about trail maintenance!
In the morning, we took the Sky Lakes Trail to the Snow Lakes Trail up along Cherry Creek to camp at a snow lake below the PCT. The wind had started to kick up at lunch, but settled down overnight. The ridge above our camp also provided some shelter from the wind. I realized that the only sounds I'd heard of civilization was the occasional plane overhead. No traffic, no trains. Just birdsong and the banter of my hiking buddies.
Heading out in the morning, we were treated to gorgeous views as we approached the PCT, with Four Mile Lake in the distance well below us and sparkling snow lakes at our feet. Wildflowers bloomed along the trail--Indian Paintbrush, phlox and Kinnikinnick. As we approached Devil's Peak, the views opened up even more to show Upper Klamath Lakes all the way south to Mt. Shasta. As if to say hello, Mt. McLoughlin also came out of the clouds. I couldn't believe we had started our trek on the other side of McLoughlin Peak, it looked so far away! As we ate lunch, we saw our first people in 2 days: 8 guys on their way up Devil's Peak who'd begun their journey along Sevenmile Marsh Trail. They planned to camp down in Seven Lakes Basin, where we were headed for the night. We wished them a great hike. I thought we'd been past the sketchy part of the hike, but as we rounded the northeast side of Devil's Peak, snow crossed the trail. We could've gone back down via the Seven Lakes Basin Trail, but Katy was already making perfect tracks in the snow for James and me to follow. I was terrified, I'm not gonna lie. But I figured that if I fell I probably wouldn't die--it wasn't that far down below that the snow stopped. And Katy was confident of our abilities. I gazed up at the beautiful, rocky prominence of Devil's Peak and saw movement--the guys' heads were coming into view as they peeped over the edge. After a few more snow crossings, we left the snow and found more views to the west this time. Once in Seven Lakes Basin, we tried to find a campsite by North Lake, but there were too many downed trees. So we pressed on to Grass Lake where we found safe camping. The temperature dropped to 28° that night. Katy reminded us to protect our water filter and batteries, thank goodness. James' water bag froze!
The next day we returned to Sevenmile Marsh to find our cache. Our jugs of water had been drained, full of tooth marks! Our bear cannisters were smothered in mud, but not harmed. I blamed raccoons. We started to have lunch and were contemplating our options, when 2 women rode up on horseback. They assured us that there was plenty of water at Ranger Springs. I was so relieved! We had 6 liters of water inside the bear cannisters that we didn't have to carry. They assured us that there was plenty of water along the trail. After lunch, we filled up on water near Ranger Springs then made camp by Big Bunchgrass next to the PCT. We saw 13 people that day, including the 8 guys heading back to Sevenmile. The weather called for rain and wind gusts of up to 35mph the next day.
The next day in the Oregon Desert began a little damp, but not too bad. We hiked with views of more dead trees, like black candle sticks, as we passed Lone Wolf. Low clouds lifted a bit to reveal a valley west of us.
It was drizzly and cold. We stopped for water at a pond just above the PCT so we didn't have to search for Jack Springs. Although the water was yellow, it was better tasting than the stuff in my Hydropak. We had lunch under some living trees and pressed on, finally passing the 'trail' for Stuart Falls (on the south approach from the PCT). Previously, this was going to be our option for water, but I'd heard the trail had too many blowdowns. It was sadly obliterated here. I found cougar tracks on the trail! I'd hoped to find a safe campsite by Goose Egg after our 8 mile trek, but dead trees were everywhere and the wind was rising, coming in gusts. Of course, I bonked here and had to suck down some electrolytes. Katy and James waited patiently for me. We pressed on for 3 more miles. I hoped to find shelter from the wind at Pumice Flats. Arriving there, we found a small campable site. The trees were still alive and young. More importantly, only their tops seemed affected by the wind. We were all too tired to make dinner, so we ate candy bars. We tried using my Tyvek to shield the person setting up their tent, since the rain really came down with the wind. We all climbed into our tents and tried to sleep as the wind roared overhead like I'd never heard it before. It sounded like someone throwing pebbles over our tents with every new gust. During the night I decided we'd road walk the next day rather than dealing with the dangers on the PCT. The wind gusts were to be 40mph.
In the morning, I boiled water for Katy, but she declined. James and I drank it, to our relief. I told them of my plan to hike along the Pumice Flat trail to the highway. It wouldn't add any more mileage and we wouldn't have to deal with as many blowdowns, let alone having a tree fall on us. Not surprisingly, they were ok with the plan! I also said I wanted to get a warm room for the night. Katy said she'd be ok with camping. We made it to Mazama Camp in time for a hot shower, lunch and lots of hot tea. And pie. And coffee. After lunch, I inquired if there were any cancelations at the hotel. We lucked out and scored a room with 2 queen beds. To top off our day, Katy drove us around Crater Lake for some pics.
The weather improved as the day wore on. We got lucky again at dinner--though we had no reservations, they had room for us to eat like pigs at the lodge! Well, James and I pigged out. Katy just had spicy peanut Thai soup. James and I had soup, salad and an eggplant tower of cheesy goodness. We all slept well that night, though Katy camped on the floor.
In the morning, we packed up and drove to Sevenmile Marsh TH to get the remnants of our cache. There was evidence of trailwork getting done. Before too long, we ran into the crew. The U.S. Forest Service had one employee, Ian Stone, overseeing the work of 4 volunteers, one of whom, Heather, was a retired forest service worker. It turned out there were at least 15 more trees down along the trail than there had been the week before when we'd hiked it. The Klamath Trails Alliance was helping the U.S. Forest Service clear the trail all the way to Ranger Springs. Ray, Daryl and Ryan all volunteered with Heather to help Ian get the trail cleared.
They said it was easy work, because the saws are sharp. We watched them work for a few minutes, then got tired. We collected our empty water jugs and bear cannisters and fawned over the crew a bit more before heading back to the car. We made it back into town exhausted and happy.