Bunny and Double D woke up to the smell of smoke. The other couple in camp were smoking first thing in the morning. Of course, I thought it would be the type to mellow you out, but they both said it was just cigarettes. I didn’t bother to try to bum any (for inflammation relief!). We were fed, packed, and hiking by 9.
DD’s husband had texted that we were about to come to a geological formation, today, that we should not miss—Little Crater Lake. I had already been checking Guthook for significant sights along the trail, and several hikers had said this feature was worth the side trip. It was only a quarter mile off the trail. Bear and I had already decided we were going to make the side trip, but when Greg told DD to go, all of the women were in. Just as in civilized life, a random stranger’s opinion matters more than a present husband’s does.
It was a magnificent shocking blue artesian pond (not to be confused with the artesian pit latrine Bear discovered on the AT in 2018). This was clearly visible 45’ deep where we lost visibility after only 2’ in the latrine. The pond water also smelled better. Even though we were only 4 miles into the day, we decided to have a snack on the viewing platform.
For the next 6 miles, we walked along Timothy Lake. This was clearly a tourist area because the trail was wide enough to walk 2 abreast and there were long sections of boardwalks installed in swampy areas. We couldn’t always see the lake from the trail, but when we did, it had that same fluorescent blue water that Disney water rides have. After 5 miles of this, the temptation was too great. We decided to stop for a lunch break on the shore. Bunny and I opted not to take the chance of being bitten by water snakes or get bled by leaches, but DD, Bear, and Sassy were more adventuresome and soaked their feet in the pond. The leaches would probably be beneficial to DD’s big toe.
We waited to get water from a fork of Oak Grove Creek which feeds into Timothy Lake. We’ve got about a 7 mile dry section of trail so we waited for the last possibility to filter water. Part of DD’s badge requirements are to do everything for herself and she is doing an excellent job. She retrieved the water and filtered it for herself. She even properly closed her bladder so the water will not drain through her pack and down her legs. Grasshopper has come a long way.
Not even 2 miles later, Sassy decided we had to stop. I don’t know if the has cooter lock at water stops, but we tend to have to stop quite frequently after a water stop for a pee break. Women think they can do anything that a man can do, pee standing up with your pack on (this doesn’t apply to DD who regularly poops with her pack on). Knowing Sassy is not as fast as DD when it comes to peeing, I headed for a log to cop a squat. I checked to make sure it was long enough that there was enough mass to counter lever my weight. Apparently, I haven’t lost as much weight as I thought because the tree tripped up and I went down.
We took one last break at 5p to compare how we were doing vs yesterday. At this time yesterday, we had 3.9 miles to go and today we only have 3.6 miles to go. We are ahead of yesterday and have hiked an extra 3 miles. DD’s foot is bad. She described it a bit until I couldn’t take it any more. At one point in my youth, I wanted to be a surgeon, but that ship rightly sailed on by. One time at CrossFit, a friend missed a box jump and scraped the front of her shin. I went to get her a glass of water, took a look at her shin, drank the water, and sat down before I fainted.
Bunny, Sassy, and Double D started talking about treating the blister under the nail of her big toe and I had to cover my ears, chanting “lalalalala” until they stopped. I heard DD say “I don’t want to do that because my nail will come off and I’ll be dealing with an open would.” “Lalalalala” don’t count on me when blood is involved.
The final 3 miles were all downhill. I just wanted to be done, but I didn’t want to say anything about my feet hurting after hearing about DD’s big toe. I heard Bear say we only had a mile to go. I started to run to get this day to end. I rounded a turn in the trail to see nothing but downed trees. Damn, we had an obstacle course to go through…ABC Wide World of Sports Celebrity Challenge Special Olympics.
The obstacle course was only a half mile long. Just as we’re getting near the end, Sassy said she was hearing voices. This is nothing unusual as she often hears voices—it’s a coping mechanism from living full time with Bear. But I started hearing them, too. This is not good. There was already a group of hikers in the spot we wanted. It was a group from San Francisco that was hiking from a Olallie to Timberland. They had hiked 19 miles today to get to this spot.
When they found out we had started at Cascade Locks, they asked if this was our 3rd or 4th night. I immediately hated them. It’s our 7th. I explained that we are a geriatric group of hikers taking our time and savoring the trail. BTW, HIKE YOUR OWN HIKE (the hiker way of saying FU if said with enough snark—I think I nailed it).
Even though we were in a low lying area next to a river, the mosquitoes weren’t bad. We decided to eat supper together around the campfire ring. Bear was so tired, he had to be forced to eat. Sassy even told him to go ahead and go to bed while she cleaned up after supper. Bunny, you need to spend more time with Sassy. She could be a good influence.
EFG