Day 5
Jeff Creek
to Un-named Lake
Trail mile 2038-2048
10 miles
Jeff Creek to un-named lake |
I told
Aimless that intended to start hiking at 6:30 in the morning because I wilt in
the heat and I wanted to make the 2,000 foot climb over the shoulder of Mount
Jefferson before the worse heat of the day hit.
Aimless said that she was “on vacation” and she would start at
9:30. My intention was to take a three
hour siesta and during that time I thought that Aimless would catch up to
me. Just in case we did not meet up on
the trail we agreed ahead of time to camp at a nameless lake at trail mile 2048. We looked at our maps and decided that the
un-named lake was Upper Lake, but we were wrong. No matter, neither of us made to Upper Lake.
Solorina crocea found at about 4,000 feet in elevation this lichen is new to me and might even be a little bit rare Page 313 in Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest |
I was on the
trail at 6:30; the first water on the trail would be Russell Creek 1.5 miles
from camp and then another creek 3 miles from camp. It looked like there would be plenty of water
on the trail, so I left camp with just one liter of water in my side pocket.
Before I
knew it I had arrived at Russell Creek and what I saw surprised me. The creek was flowing quite fast due to being
on a very steep slope. This was a milky
white glacial creek too. I was not sure
how I was going to cross it; I also wondered how Aimless was going to
cross. I decided that the water looked
too deep where the trail crosses the creek so I opted to go upstream until the
creek split into a few braids and did not look so deep. I did not try to keep my feet dry for the
crossing. Gingerly I stepped into the
stream. I could not see where my feet
were going to land; there was no way to know just how deep the creek would be
so I was a bit scared. I kept three
points on the ground at all times and slowly inched my way across the
creek. Whew! I was glad when that was over.
Looking back at Russell Creek after I crossed it |
After taking
a short break to drink water and wash my feet, I worked my way back down the
far side of the river until I regained the trail. Next my hike took me into Jefferson Park
where I met a hiker named “Bookworm”. I
chatted with Bookworm for a bit and I told her that Aimless was behind me and
that she had an ace bandage on one ankle but she wanted another one for her
other ankle. Bookworm said she was
suffering from bad knees and hiking very slow so Aimless was sure to catch up
to her and when she did catch up she would give her the ace bandage in her
first aid kit.
Wild flowers at Jefferson Park just before I met Bookworm |
At about
10:45 I reached the highpoint and headed down the other side of Mount Jefferson’s
shoulder. I thought about taking my
Siesta there at the top, but the air was not yet hot and I don’t feel well at
7,000 feet, so I opted to go down a bit before I took my break.
Near and just over the high point |
I continued
down until I reached a breezy pass at 6,100 feet. The timing was perfect, it was high noon and
this was a nice cool place to take a break.
I peeled off my wet socks and laid them on a cairn to dry. I stayed there for almost three hours resting
and eating and trying to sleep and asking passing thru-hikers if they had seen
Aimless. Strangely none of them had seen her.
Then Eric, the section hiker who had camped with us at Jeff Creek came up the trail. He said that he had seen Aimless ½ mile past Russell Creek and he stopped her to tell her that he had found her trekking pole in Russell creek, so she was going to back track to get her pole. I thought it was very odd that Aimless would have lost her pole in the creek and not known it. The entire story seemed quite odd so I pressed Eric with more questions but he was tired and in a hurry so I never was totally satisfied with the answer.
I was glad to know that Aimless had made it across the creek safely but I knew she was going to be running really late with having to backtrack. I was looking forward to hearing from her and learning what had actually happened to her pole.
Admiring my blister during my break, it had already gone down some. I treated it with mole foam with a hole cut in the center |
Then Eric, the section hiker who had camped with us at Jeff Creek came up the trail. He said that he had seen Aimless ½ mile past Russell Creek and he stopped her to tell her that he had found her trekking pole in Russell creek, so she was going to back track to get her pole. I thought it was very odd that Aimless would have lost her pole in the creek and not known it. The entire story seemed quite odd so I pressed Eric with more questions but he was tired and in a hurry so I never was totally satisfied with the answer.
I was glad to know that Aimless had made it across the creek safely but I knew she was going to be running really late with having to backtrack. I was looking forward to hearing from her and learning what had actually happened to her pole.
At about 3pm
I started my 4 mile hike down to the un-named lake. I might have stayed and waited longer but I
was out of water, so down I went in search of water. It took a while before I found water and the
temperature was quite high at this point.
I was hot and thirsty and tired.
The heat really hit me hard, I felt like crap. Oh well, just 4 miles to the lake and I should
get in early enough to rest and eat dinner before bed time.
Saw Pikachu on the way to the lake |
Pikachu lives here |
Shale |
Thru-hikers passed me by all day long, they hike much faster than me and they were hiking extra fast today because they were all headed to Ollalie Lake for resupply and beer. Finally towards the end of my hiking day some of the thru-hikers that passed me said they had seen Aimless and she was way, way back behind them. It seemed odd to me that she would be that slow, but I was almost to the lake and I was eager to rest my feet so I carried on down the trail until I reached the lake.
Marchantia polymorpha liverwort near Breitenbus Lake |
At about 4pm I found the lake at at mile 2048 and then I found a campsite on the far shore and I took a quick dip in the lake so I could cool off. I was so tired that I did not know what to do first, pitch the tent, cook dinner, and change my clothes, filter water, so many choices. I opted to lay out my cellophane and sleeping pad and my sleeping bag and just sit. That is what I did; I just sat there until I had to pee. I even cooked dinner without getting up.
At about
7:30 I heard a voice calling out “Mossy Mom, are you there?”
I called
back “Aimless, is that you?” I was so
happy with the thought that she had finally caught up to me. But it was not to be. It was Bookworm who was calling my name. She limped into my camp with her big heavy
boots and told me that she had not seen Aimless all day long and they she had
even spent a couple of hours waiting for her.
What on earth could this mean?
Bookworm
said that she heard from other hikers that Aimless had made it off the snow
fields and that she was in “good spirits” and planned to stop at Brietenbush
Lake Camp. Ahhh, that eased my mind, she
had made it through the creek and back to the creek for her pole and over the
snow fields and she was doing well.
Maybe she would even make it to our un-named lake at mile 2048.
Just before
dusk a group of Europeans arrived and camped and swam on the far lake shore.
Bookworm
stayed with me and fed me the most wonderful junk food.
Night fell
and Aimless did not arrive, so I knew she must be back at Brietenbush Lake
Camp. I cowboy camped on the lake shore and Bookworm
hung her hammock in the bushes. Bookworm
was quite the character, filled with manic energy and with almost no sense of
boundaries. I enjoyed the company of
Bookworm, but I could sense that one might easily feel totally overwhelmed by
her given enough time.
To tired to pitch my tarp |
I knew that
cowboy camping would mean getting my sleeping bag covered with condensation,
but I did not care. I was so tired and
my sleeping bag is somewhat waterproof.
I got cold in the night so I made hot chocolate without getting up |
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 6:
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