August 14th
In the cabin not a hiker was stirring, so we all slept in. I guess no one wanted to be first up. We knew that Sheppard and Little John were planning on a zero day. We weren’t sure what Tremor or Zigzagger were planning. We had hoped for an early to mid morning start, but were also happy to sleep in and go with the lazier flow. Often it is best to take what the trail offers. And Jen was making breakfast burritos. Along with coffee it was a nice way to kick off the day, even if we didn’t hit the trail until 1pm. Everyone else stayed to take a zero day at Diamond Lake. It was tempting but we wanted to stay on track to make Timberline Lodge on the 24th and we had no “extra” time to spare.
On the trail we had a long gradual ascent up the flank of Mt Thielsen. Occasionally Diamond Lake could be seen through the trees gleaming like a gem. Nearing the top of the highest ridge we had stunning views of Mt Thielsen with its harsh volcanic rock spires. A storm front moving in brought dramatic skies and lots of rumbling. Mt Thielsen, called the “lightening rod of the cascades” lived up to its name today drawing many lightening strikes from the storm.
Our unusual stop and return to trail timing has left us in a void – we saw no other hikers, only Ruths’ footprints until the rain started. Every hiker leaves unique footprints and after awhile you can tell the one or two or three hikers who are immediately in front of you.
Shortly after leaving Mt Thielsen we crossed a shallow fairly nondescript pass, the highest point on the PCT in Oregon or Washington, at a little over 7,000 ft.
When the rain clouds burst in the late afternoon we hiked in the rain until it turned to hail and then we took shelter under a tree. After about an hour the hail ceased and the rain lightened up and we moved on. But, the delay and thick clouds meant we would be hiking in the dark for sure and possibly in the rain if we continued all the way to our goal of Maiden Lake. We took inventory of our water situation and decide that if we rationed it we could camp somewhere short of that. When the rain let up we took advantage of the break to set up our tent and make dinner. We had only made 17.6 miles for the day, short of our goal, but not bad given the 1pm start and rain delays.
