PCT Day 39: Lava Fields (8/1)

Today’s miles: 24

Total Trip Miles: 632/2660

I’m planning on meeting up with Rhea today at 11:30. She’s driving from out from Bend to the Dee Wright Observatory, which runs right next to the PCT. It’s perfect in terms of timing, as it gives me the morning to do 12 miles from where I camped last night to meet her.

A few miles into hiking, I begin to run parallel to rock lava fields. This terrain is like nothing I have seen on this trail and I love the change of scenery. It’s not long before the trail turns into the lava fields and I’m walking on top of the loose and sometimes jagged rocks. I walk on top of the lava rocks for a mile or two, get a little break into the forest with a nice dirt path, and then I’m back on the lava fields. I don’t mind the heat or the rough terrain- everything feels fun and new this morning.

I get to my destination a little earlier than anticipated, arriving a few minutes before 11. It’s hot and I want shade, so I beeline straight for the observatory. The observatory is a small hut constructed out of rock and features little viewing holes that tell you what landmark you are looking at. In somewhat of thru-hiker fashion, I plop down in the hut and make/eat breakfast. It’s Sunday so there’s a decent crowd of people coming in and out, and a few people chat with me about my hike and the surrounding scenery.

Right before 11:30, I drop my pack outside the bathroom and step inside. When I come out of the bathroom there is…. A new pair of socks and a bottle of gatorade laying on top of my pack. The most epic and mysterious trail magic! It’s somewhat beyond belief to receive new socks as trail magic and how, why, and who they came from will forever remain a mystery. But the new socks will be deeply treasured.

The great day continues as Rhea shows up and she has brought me a delicious wrap, kombucha, a bunch of cold water, and a chess set for a game later. We do a little walking around at the observatory and then head out to Lava Rock Lake just down the road. Rhea rummages up some floating tubes in the back of her car and pumps them for use. I bring out the wrap and kombucha into the tube out on the lake and it’s as relaxing as can be.

Eventually, I take a little swim and Rhea and I head to a picnic for two games of chess. After we play, it’s time to depart and I give her a hug and thank her a million for everything she has done in the past 24 hours. She drives away and I watch her car drive off in the distance…. And remember I left my trekking poles in there! I try to wave my arms and shout but she’s already around the corner. Well, I think. At least Oregon is flat, or supposed to be.

An hour goes by and I solve my lack of trekking poles by breaking off a branch for an awesome hiking stick. It actually works super well and I kind of dig walking with only one support in hand. Also, the bark of the branch feels smooth in my hand and it feels natural walking with this stick through the woods.

I enter into Three Sister’s Wilderness in the afternoon and the scenery is amazing. All 3 of the Sister mountains serve as a backdrop for the varied trail, as it switches between?lava fields, meadows, and woods. I come across a spring in one of these meadows that is bubbling up water out of the lava pebbles. The pebbles bounce around frantically, moving chaotically but going nowhere.

In the evening, I come across a little girl hiking with two adults, presumably her parents. The girl has a little satchel around her body and her parents are carrying small and dirty backpacking packs. “Out for a little backpacking trip?” I ask the parents.

“We are thru-hiking,” the man replies.

It takes a moment for this to sink in. I glance down at the little girl, who is now crouched to the side and is playing with rocks. “How old is she?” I ask, nodding towards the girl.

The girl looks up at me and tells me she’s 5 years old. Holy crap. A 5 year old has walked from the Mexican border to Central Oregon. The dad says they skipped a little section in the Sierra that they plan to make up, and they plan to end at the Canadian border.

I ask the girl, who has a little dirt smudged on her face but overall looks healthy and happy, how she likes thru-hiking compared to being back home. “Well, I’m just a kid,” she tells me. “So at home I like to play in the house.” The mom reminds the girl she can play out here and the girl nods, and goes back to playing with the rocks. We exchange trail names, and the mom tells me she goes by Yogi Bear and the little girl goes by Littlefoot. I want to ask them a million questions but they must get a lot of gawking, so I reluctantly say goodbye. Here is a short little news video with Littlefoot.

I end my day of hiking at 8 pm, finding a nice camp spot just off the side of the travel. Today really was a perfect day on trail. Between the lava fields, sock trail magic, floating in the lake and playing chess with Rhea, meeting an extraordinary child, and the epic backdrop of the Sisters, you really couldn’t ask for much more. And also, there were no mosquitos.