Day 20 (September 5)

Cold morning at Taylor Lake. Lots of vacationers out for the holiday weekend, and still a few through hikers.

We pass the terminus of the Eugene-to-PCT Trail near Waldo Lake. Never heard of it, but what a great idea! I love it when cities are connected by trail. And by the way, anyone hiking by on September 22 should buzz into Eugene to catch my brother's show at Sam Bond's Garage at 9pm.  It's only 108 miles from the PCT, definitely worth the detour for you crazy through hikers.

We take a much smaller detour to see the Maiden Peak Shelter, one of the very few shelters along Oregon's PCT.  There used to be a fair number of three-sided lean-to type shelters scattered around, but they've gradually been removed in accordance with a revised wilderness ethic.  Probably they got trashy from too many careless campers. The Maiden Peak Shelter is lovely though, with a big wood stove for heating and cooking, and solar-powered lights to reduce the fire risk of candle burning. It's primarily for cross country skiers -- a sign inside says "the snow is your water source, don't pollute it."

No snow here today though, and we're low on water, so we have to move on. We make a blessed cold camp on the rise above Upper Rosary Lake, in the shadow of Pulpit Rock.