PCT Day 43: Crescent Lake (8/5)

Today’s Miles: 22

Total Trip Miles: 735/2660

I head out in the morning and walk the remaining 5 miles to Crescent Lake Campground without drinking anything. I was camped next to a lake, if you could call it that, last night. It looked like some algae was emerging at the surface of the water and the idea of drinking the foul substance, even filtered, sent my stomachs in knots.

I arrive at the Crescent Lake campground and after a little wondering, find the camp hosts trailer. The hosts names are Jim and Terry and they have magnificently done up their RV and camping space. There are bird feeders everywhere, lights hung up, and wooden signs announcing their names. I wonder over and Jim calls out “Get ya a cup of coffee?”

I say yes and he tells me to sit down and fires up the Keurig that is on a folding table out front. He hands me a cup of black, steaming deliciousness and then produces an apple to go with it. Another hiker joins and at some point, Jim tells us we are welcome to charge our devices on the extension running from the RV. I reach into my pack and realize I forgot my iPhone cord and charger at Shelter Cove. Shit. I immediately realize how dependent I am on my phone for navigation and info on water caches in this section. I have paper maps but they don’t list info on the water caches that are being maintained by a trail angel. I’m at 30% battery and can probably make it another 1-2 days on that charge, not nearly enough to Crater.

Me and the other hiker come up with a plan where he will take my charger that’s sitting at Shelter Cove, since he is heading there, and I’ll take his charger. It’s really generous of him but Terry hears the predicament and waves us off. “Nonsense. I have an extra charger. Take it.”

I try to protest but she tells me not to be silly. After all, she says, who knows if my charger will still be at Shelter Cove. I accept the charger, feeling instant relief. Without either of these offers for help, I seriously may have backtracked the 10 miles to pick up my charger and then done the 10 miles back. Backtracking may be a hiker’s worse nightmare.

I leave Crescent Lake thanking Jim and Terry profusely. A little route finding later and I rejoin the PCT at midday. It’s getting hazier, with what seems to be smoke, but there’s not much of a scent coming with it. It blocks some of the ridge walking views but it doesn’t feel like it really has had an effect on me yet.

I stop for lunch at a water cache that is maintained by a former hiker named trail Devilfish. He incredibly maintained the caches in the Southern CA desert in April-May and now he is up here in Oregon in the month of August doing caches. The caches are pretty incredible also, as he has included extras like a huge box of portable chargers to get a charge for your phone while you fill up on water and break.

I plug my phone in and break for lunch, joining 3 other NOBO hikers. One of them is somewhat antagonist and grills me about leaving updated comments on Guthook. “Are you going to count how many filled jugs there are and post it on Guthook?” he says to me.

I shrug and he comments to one of the hikers next to him something about entitled southbounders. “Always relying on the NOBO’s comments and not making any themselves.” He says it with kind of a laugh, like it’s something of a joke, but there’s some type of edge in his voice. He finally leaves back on trail and after a bit of time, I ask another hiker if it was just me or did he have something against southboudners. “Definitely not just you,” the other hiker says. “That was weird.”

I keep hiking to the next water source, 8 miles away. It seems to be the name of the game in Oregon. You plan your stops around water. This next source is a spring .3 of a mile off trail but it’s a very steep trail down. I ditch my pack at the top and fill 3L of water from the spring. I’ll be dry camping tonight.

I pull off at something of a makeshift campsite at 6 pm. After I eat, I take care of everything to get me ready for the next day. I always do this for the next day. Specifically, I take everything I will eat the next day and put it in my hip belt for easy access. What I eat in a day changes, but very generally I may eat:

Breakfast:

⁃ Coffee with protein and heavy cream powder (200 calories)

⁃ Wildway Cereal with granola, 1 nut butter, and bar mixed in (700 calories)

⁃ Snack:

⁃ Homemade trail mix packet with some combo of macadamia nuts, almonds, cashews, coconut flakes, 85% dark chocolate, coconut oil baked chips, cacao nibs. (1,000 calories, I have these packed individually and are dense)

⁃ Lunch:

⁃ Usuallu some protein, salami or tuna, with i some cheese I packed out from town (if I’m lucky). I’ll often throw this in a tortilla wrap and add some mayo (600 calories)

⁃ Afternoon snack:

⁃ A nut butter and a bar (400 calories)

⁃ Dinner:

⁃ Next Mile meal, which is a dehydrated backpacking meal. My favorite dinners from them are marina, tacos, and chicken curry. I add chia seeds and a packet of olive oil for extra calories (750) calories)

⁃ For dessert, may do a protein cookie or a whole bar of 85% dark chocolate (400-500 calories)

– Very approximately, calories I may eat in a given day: 4,000

I’m also wearing a fitness monitor called WHOOP which measures heart rate and sleep. Below is data on calories burned during ok my hike during the week of July 18th-24th. WHOOP claims to be accurate within a 200 calorie range.