Mount Hood

PCT 2018 Day 87, July 18, Wednesday

Start mile 2062.1, campsite near a creek

End campsite near Timberline Lodge, mile 2094.4

Miles walked: 32.3

The plan is to camp near historic Timberline Lodge, ready for their breakfast buffet the next morning. I did not met a long distance hiker where that was not the plan. The morning passes through more green tunnel, perhaps at lower altitude with more moisture, so moss grows over rotting logs. Trees often grow tall in Oregon. The route passes by large and popular Timothy Lake. A small detour reveals Little Crater Lake, deep and blue. Later I pass Amanita (mushroom) and Hun (likes putting honey on food, from Germany) pausing for lunch, and we chat.

After starting a long gradually climb, Mount Hood comes into prominent view, without the haze of yesterday. Amanita had to leave for a music concert, but Hun and I hike together the rest of the day. She is quite fast, even though only starting hiking at Ashland. Horses come down the trail a couple of times. Hun’s friend Kodak has stopped on the trail to snack on cherries someone gave her, and offers us some. We get closer to the summit of Mount Hood, realizing it is mostly loose gray sand, not rock. Our path is on the same type of sand, tough to go uphill. Hun and I go to the parking lot where a hiker shower is provided from a converted port-a-potty. The water is cold, and you have to hold the faucet on with one hand while soaping up with the other. Hun and I take turns, then go visit the lodge briefly as newly clean hikers. While in the lodge, Hun greets Jocelyn and Braydon, who she met at Olallie. They have taken a room at the lodge. On the way back we meet Kodak, who just showered. She allows me to take a reaction shot. Kodak shows us a closer camping spot to the lodge, and we pitch tents to get ready for the morning feast.