August 29th
The morning was cold and damp, as we knew it would be at our camp tucked into the trees beside a creek. We are firmly in the northwest now, with many wet type forest habitats filled with mosses and ferns which seep water for days after any rain.
Crossing the Sandy River was wet for the feet but otherwise not a problem. It was down from last night. We paused at Ramona Falls to take photos and enjoy the sparkling waterfall as it danced in the morning light. We also reminisced about our first trail camp, 10 years ago, beside these falls. The trail past Ramona follows the creek after the falls. The guidebook recommends this as an alternate route, the signs on the ground call it the hiker PCT. Either way its a lovely walk through a moss covered world.
The climb out of this valley ascends over 1,400 feet in less than 2.5 miles, steep by PCT standards. Once back on the crest the trail follows a ridgeline down, away from Mt Hood, to Lolo Pass. Along this trail we encountered very unusual trail maintenance – a small bulldozer tearing up perfectly good trail leaving a swath of dirt and mud about 2 1/2 feet wide, full of lumps and debris. I am not convinced that this act of maintenance/destruction was anything “official”.
After Lolo Pass the trail followed a long ridge with small ups and downs and occasional views back at a very “stately” Mt Hood as it retreated into the distance and first glimpses ahead at Mt Adams and Rainier and again at Mt St Helens. Washington, here we come!
We passed two southbounders, Alex and Mogley, and stopped to chat for awhile comparing notes. Between this delay and the guidebook for once under-estimating miles we arrived at Indian Springs Campground later than expected. We decided with darkness falling earlier each night we would wait until tomorow to descend into Eagle Creek Gorge. It will put us into Cascade Locks later in the day than we had hoped, but we should still have enough time for all our tasks. Tonight we fix our dinner under clear, but cold, skies.
