Day 13 (August 29)

One impetuous pine in the lava field

Rainy night, clear morning -- wet tent, boots, socks, etc. We proceed through yet another burn zone, though this one quickly gives way to a vast field of lava rocks, courtesy of the craters Belknap and Little Belknap on either side of the trail.

If you think Oregon's nothing but a dewy green paradise, you're wrong. I may have mentioned the dust, the acreage of dead pines, the frequent fires and charred pines sticking up like a forest of toothpicks. Now the lava -- Oregon's got active volcanoes and lava seeps too, and the trail goes right through. This stuff looks pretty dormant thought.

Approaching the observatory

We reach highway 242 at McKenzie Pass -- this road goes right over the lava field, twisting around the big mounds of black rock.  Just down the road is the Dee Wright Observatory, where we stop for lunch. A strange site, at first glance it looks like a medieval ruin.  It's a little tower made from the volcanic rock, with windows for observing the mountains, not the stars.

From 242, one can go west to Eugene or east to Sisters -- except not Eugene because the road is blocked with a fire closure about 100 yards west of the trail. As the ranger had told us, the PCT is out of this closure zone, but just barely.

Luckily we're well supplied and don't need to go to town at all, so we plunge right back into the lava on the south side, which before long reverts to the dewy green paradise we all know and love. We camp above South Matthieu Lake, in a spot with some shelter from the wind. Delicious pad-thai-with-chicken-something for dinner, refreshing despite the chill and wind.