Day 24 (September 9)

Rain should be stopping but instead it's getting ornery and won't even give us a lull to break camp now. We're soggy and a little on edge, not thriving in these conditions. The mushrooms, however, are having a great time! They're energetically bursting through the soil at every turn as we slog down the trail, and the air is thick with the earthy odor of fungal bloom. Here are some of Deb's favorites:

Around 9:30 in the morning we pass a small crew of northbounders. When's this weather supposed to pass, they ask. Today of course, it's supposed to be warm and beautiful! Ha ha, very funny! It's actually a little jarring to see people on the trail, and counting back we realize we haven't seen a soul since Lloyd Gust, 47 hours ago. People generally don't count on much solitude on the PCT, but if that's what you're looking for, try an early September rainy spell in the Diamond Peak Wilderness and you just might get lucky like us.

We do, in fact, get a little burst of sunlight in the afternoon. Finding a tiny spot of cell coverage on Cowhorn Mountain, we try to celebrate our presumed survival by booking a room at Crater Lake Lodge, which is just a few days away now. This involves a very long time on hold followed by a challenging interaction with a Xanterra reservation center in Denver. The sun is gone again and we're freezing up here. The agent just keeps talking and talking... please, please just tell us what rooms are available! No luck, he won't give a straight answer about anything, just nonsense babbling and upselling. My battery's running low! Crap, now it's starting to hail! Have mercy Xanterra guy! ...After a solid 20 minutes on the phone in the hail, we're finally granted a room. Hope it's worth it.

Marched downhill to Windigo Pass, hail giving way to our old friend rain. Speaking of old friends, here's Gust's advertisement from the Windigo trailhead:

Camped above Six Horse Spring. Tomorrow we'll go over the highest point on our route, on the south slope of Tipsoo Peak, and it better be a clear beautiful day for real this time because if it's snowing or hailing up there Deborah will pout and refuse to move another inch.