PCT 2015 Day 106: A “rest” day?

• Start: 1,774.2
• End: 1.800.3
• Miles: 26
• Camp: Small stream

I definitely needed rest after the tough end to yesterday so a lie-in was in order. Leaving camp at 8:30 aiming to get to a creek 26 miles away seemed pretty reasonable. Thankfully the early part of the day was fairly forested with lots of shade, and we took lots of breaks to eat and drink, ensuring we didn’t make the same mistake as yesterday.

We stopped for water at Christi’s Spring, one of only two water sources all day. It was wonderfully cold, but swarming with wasps. Oregon seems to have more wasps than anywhere else I’ve ever seen. Including that time we had a nest in the garage. At the water we met Mr Fixit, travelling ultralight temporarily in the hope of finishing the trail by mid September. He had also spoken to Mr Poppins yesterday so has been encouraged by his account of finishing by September 19.

In the afternoon the trail yielded some smoky views out over distant lakes, which made a nice change, and the terrain remained gently rolling which helped with the leg and foot fatigue. At the end of the day we had a steeper climb up an intriguingly rocky mountain. Whilst I don’t usually like the rocky trails, this was pretty short and had open views upwards to keep me occupied. However my feet were still tired and sore at the end of the day. Nowhere near as badly as yesterday, but the rest isn’t returning them to full strength any more. I think it’s the worn out shoes which mean I feel all the rocks and have little support. I have new shoes in a couple of days and I’m hoping it makes all the difference. I can’t be getting tired doing 25s!

The sun was glowing red as we made camp by a small creek, indicative of the increasing smokiness as we near Crater Lake. I can’t help wondering how the fire is doing. It was projected to deteriorate 48-72 hours after I last had updates, but there’s no way of finding out until we hit Mazama Village.