August 14th, 2018
Diamond View Lake, Oregon Skyline Trail Alt. to Maidu Lake mm 1866
Distance: 12 PCT miles, 15.5 miles on Alt trail, 1 mile to lake; total 28.5 miles
0620-1700
I learned a couple Finnish words last night. Suvi noticed my Fjallraven trekking tights and remarked that I have kettu housut (fox pants). A fox is the symbol of the company (I think raven is the Swedish term for fox) and the brand is naturally very popular throughout Scandinavia. Apparently they are a bit of a status symbol because the line is generally pretty pricey. My tights were received for gear testing via Trailspace.com and I got to keep them.
We were also discussing cat hole strategies (a favorite topic of thru-hikers) and I said that I had been perfecting the art of using fallen logs as a seat. She explained that the Finnish army is very fond of this method too and even have a term for such a privy: a riuku. Oh the interesting things you learn on the trail.
It was another cold night, so I slept well. The morning wasn’t as pleasant. It is so hard to get out of a warm sleeping bag. It took me a long time to warm up on the trail. I almost had to put my gloves on.
The remainder of the alternate trail was unremarkable, except for that I had an early lunch at lakes called Nip & Tuck. Back on the PCT, I started wondering when I might expect to pass my friends Sunshine and Trailmix (Abigail and Cody) from Florida. I checked to see if I had reception and saw that there was a text from them. As I deciphered their plan, I realized with a sinking feeling that we must have already passed each other. They had just gone by the junction for the alternate this morning and I had just returned to the trail in the early afternoon.
Oh man, what a bummer. I had been looking forward to meeting them since I started. I walked on disappointed and passed about a million NOBOs, just not the two I wanted to see. I had chosen a lake to stop at for the night, but it was almost a mile off the trail. I got there by 5 pm and had lots of time to relax, even go for a swim. I was happy to see Suvi turn up a few hours later. I didn’t think she was going to do such a big day the way her foot was hurting. I’m glad she is coping.
We watched another sunrise over a lake and it was so nice to be out in nature. There were millions of Mayflies, dragonflies, and frogs hovering over and around the lake, all caught in a struggle for survival. A few mosquitoes were about, too; but nothing like it was back in WA. Just as I was wondering who eats so many little frogs, a gray jay swooped in for a kill. Luckily our only predators this night were the mossies.