There's no reliable water on the trail in the 26 miles between Thielsen Creek and the water fountain at Crater Lake Rim Village, so for the first time we pump our absolute maximum capacity: four liter bottles, one 2.5-liter bladder, and a 1.8 liter bag I'd salvaged from a carton of
Ozeki Hakono Saké and sent in our package to Shelter Cove with this very day in mind. We're definitely not going to be dry on this leg.
Before we zoom off with our giant sacks of water, though, there's the little jaunt up Mount Theilsen still to do. It's shown as simple side trail on the map and described as a 2-3 hour detour including the short scramble to the top. We find the trail up and it looks like a fair number are making the ascent today, obviously a popular day trip for a warm and clear Saturday. Despite the crowd, the trail's pretty hard to follow, and quits entirely about halfway up, giving way to random scrambling up the scree and talus. Ultimately we don't make it to the actual peak -- folks with real climbing gear have strung a rope up the route to the summit, and so many mountaineers are in line to use it that it would be a long wait. The views from the waiting room, though (about 9100 feet up), are profound: Tipsoo and Diamond Peak (which we'd missed up close) with the Sisters far in the distance to the north, Crater Lake, McLoughlin, and finally Shasta to the south. It's a great day to be up high!
It's way past lunchtime when we find our way back down to the PCT, no short morning detour after all. The trail's very easy today though, and we saunter through 17 miles despite the late start and heavy load, hopefully giving us more time to enjoy the wonders of Crater Lake tomorrow.
Before we zoom off with our giant sacks of water, though, there's the little jaunt up Mount Theilsen still to do. It's shown as simple side trail on the map and described as a 2-3 hour detour including the short scramble to the top. We find the trail up and it looks like a fair number are making the ascent today, obviously a popular day trip for a warm and clear Saturday. Despite the crowd, the trail's pretty hard to follow, and quits entirely about halfway up, giving way to random scrambling up the scree and talus. Ultimately we don't make it to the actual peak -- folks with real climbing gear have strung a rope up the route to the summit, and so many mountaineers are in line to use it that it would be a long wait. The views from the waiting room, though (about 9100 feet up), are profound: Tipsoo and Diamond Peak (which we'd missed up close) with the Sisters far in the distance to the north, Crater Lake, McLoughlin, and finally Shasta to the south. It's a great day to be up high!
It's way past lunchtime when we find our way back down to the PCT, no short morning detour after all. The trail's very easy today though, and we saunter through 17 miles despite the late start and heavy load, hopefully giving us more time to enjoy the wonders of Crater Lake tomorrow.
Nice spot to spend 9/11.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for rest of the day reports.