Day 120: Mile 1820.9 - 1823.0 and 1839.2 - 1848.4

So today I hiked my first alternate. In various spots on the PCT, there's the opportunity to hike alternate routes: for example, at Crater Lake you can hike the PCT proper--which goes far enough west of the Lake that you never see it--or you can hike the alternate, which is the Crater Lake Rim Trail. The two diverge at Dutton Creek, then eventually reconnect at Highway 209. The PCT is slightly longer, by a mile or two, but very flat; the Rim Trail is slightly shorter, but much more rigorous, with a lot more steep ups and downs. For my part, my initial inclination is to do the PCT, but everyone seems to be doing the Rim Trail--everyone wants to actually *see* the Lake--and I've *never* seen the Lake, so I opted for the Rim Trail Alternate. Plus Double Snacks was absolutely going to do the Rim Trail--she's driven around the Lake on family trips but never hiked around it--and given that I had no strong preference either way, that also entered into my decision. 

The Rim Trail Alternate starts at Dutton Creek, from which it promptly climbs up to the Rim Village Cafe, and I promptly wonder whether I made the right choice. Because the climb is long and, while doable, much steeper than what we'd been experiencing in Oregon up to this point. We got to the Rim Village Cafe at the top around 9am, and promptly learned that the Cafe doesn't open until 10am, so we skipped getting any food and continued along the Rim Trail, which now followed the caldera, tracing along the side of Crater Lake proper.

Because while the day had started overcast, the smoke was still around, and everyone noted that the smoke tended to clear a little in the morning, but return in the afternoon. So we wanted to get to the Lake early before the smoke. And when we got there, the smoke wasn't too bad--we had heard that we wouldn't be able to see the far side of the Lake, but I could see the far side of the Rim--granted, it was hard to distinguish the shore due to the smoke, but I could see the far side. And so we started around the Rim Trail, which turns out to be a pretty rigorous trail as well: it has a lot of short but steep climbs. Luckily the day was overcast, so we weren't climbing in the heat (although at one point the skies did open up and it did sprinkle on us for a bit with big fat drops), but still, the sudden change to steep climbs and descents did catch me by surprise and was tougher than I expected. (And, yes, I know, you're asking, then how are you going to get through Washington? Jump off that bridge when I get to it!) But the Rim Trail did afford views of the lake, and from what I could see, the lake was pretty impressive. Especially the rocks and cliffs of the caldera. And while the smoke did make everything hazy and obscure details--so that magnificent "Grand Canyon Effect" couldn't play out--still what I could see was pretty fascinating. Just the shapes of the cliffs, their stark drops, their rocky outcroppings that just breathed heights and danger, so dramatic to see, so wondrous to think of how they formed. And even Wizard Island in the lake itself: so appealing to dream of going there--and aren't those little white rectangles down there a dock of some sort?--and climbing up to the top of that, just to see what it's like.

The trail followed around the western edge of the lake, intermingling with the road that does the same, and we got to talk with some tourists. Double Snacks had visited Crater Lake before, driven around the lake, and said that hiking around it was a much different, and much superior, experience. Because you got to see so much more of the lake this way--huffing and puffing up slopes notwithstanding--and I think we also got to see some more breath-taking vistas--literally, because they were at the edges of drops with no sort of rail, so my acrophobia kicked in! Overall, even though it was an overcast day, and still a smoky day, we did get to see the lake and that was a plus: we had feared the whole thing would just be a sea of smoke (as it likely would become in the afternoon), but no, we got to see the water!

After Crater Lake, we walked through a bunch of woods, including one section of pine woods (I think), where the ground was fairly flat and the landscape was pretty open and uncovered. Lots of green needles up top, but nothing dense enough to really grant shade, lots of white on the bottom with the ground littered with fallen tree trunks everywhere. And I noticed that many of the fallen trees had these bulbous growths on them--some very large--that almost looked like tumors, and conjectured a connection between the growths and the fact that the trees were dead. But this section was actually pretty disorienting: pretty featureless and flat, just these thin trees everywhere, and they tall enough that I couldn't see anything above them or through them either. On this section, Double Snacks and I discussed a variety of things, like her upcoming wedding plans (on 4/23/2022, and much has been planned already, it seems), the PhD experience and whether it was worth it (it was, for her, mostly for the opportunities that subsequently open up), and even resupply strategies for Washington (in which it seems a lot of the places Crunchy said you could resupply if you weren't particular were basically gas stations--and I think I'm a bit more particular than that!). The discussions did make the miles melt away more quickly, though, and we got to the water cache at Highway 209 and she went ahead while I paused to dig a cathole.

But that was ok: the next section was more flat lands with pine trees, all the way up to our campsite, by the side of a dirt road, right next to a (generously provided by a trail angel) water cache. And over this section, my stomach started acting up again--I was digging a cathole every hour on the hour and setting my watch by it. This had happened when I left Seiad Valley too, and there I had thought it was the sad salad. But the salad here wasn't that sad. So I'm thinking it's maybe the cheese on the salad--which was also present on the Seiad Valley salad--invoking my lactose intolerance. Because the symptoms seem very reminiscent of lactose problems, and because I'm not going to blame the ice cream because it's ice cream and I'm going to eat it anyway because it's ice cream and I refuse to let lactose intolerance or guilt or any other possible drawback sully that glorious experience. I don't care: I'm eating it anyway.

Anyway, the multiple catholes did mean that I was late getting into camp--Double Snacks had already set up and was preparing for dinner. So I hurriedly pitched my tent--there are lots of spots here, all pretty widely spaced from each other, and I picked one admittedly closer to the road, but still pretty isolated. And I joined Double Snacks for dinner, now in the dark, and we talked about (among other things) weird foods, like fermented or rotten foods. Like, how did we get around to eating such things in the first place? Who said, hey, I think this has gone horribly bad--it smells terrible--but I think I can still eat it, and then *does*? And I mentioned the herring that the Scandinavians eat, and how I'm pretty sure it came about on a dare. Where one guy forgot about some herring he'd buried under the beach, then found it, and dared his friend to eat it. And his friend did--I mean, a dare had been invoked!--and it *was* gross, so he did the dude thing and promptly made it a double bluff. It's gross, right, said the first guy. No, it's good, says the second guy, still chewing, it's actually really good: you gotta try some. You're pulling my leg! No, I'm serious, it's good: here try some. And the first guy does and of course it's gross, but now he can't say he's been had, so he also says, yeah, it's not bad as he chews away. And then a third guy comes along and they're both like, dude, Sven!, you gotta try this!

And that's how it becomes the food of a people!

Anyway, my intestional discomfort ultimately made for a fun story and some fun discussion, at least. And we finished dinner in the dark and retired to our tents. And I will say that the smoke does seem to be returning: it came up in the late afternoon, around 5pm, started blowing in and I started smelling it on the air. This seems to be the trend though--the smoke blows in the evening, and hopefully it'll clear out by morning! We shall see!

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Some notes:

-- Mazama Village > Highway 62 > Crater Lake Rim Trail Alternate > Rim Village Cafe > Lightning Spring Junction > Watchman Junction > Highway 209 (Water Cache) > State Highway 138 > Campsite (Water Cache)

-- The Rim Trail just goes around the western side of Crater Lake, but I know that it's possible to go all the way around; in fact, this Saturday there's a marathon that basically runs around almost the entire lake (except a bit of the south side). I think *that*, and on a clearer day, would make for a fun hike (or two--it looks to be maybe too long for just a day hike!). And Double Snacks did check her maps, and did see that, yes, there is a dock on the caldera, to the north, and it *is* possible to take a ferry to Wizard Island, and that there's even a trail on the Island itself! Which she so wants to do! So that would be yet another fun thing to do at Crater Lake! Alas, neither available when doing the PCT, but hang those up on the list of "things seen during the Grand Tour worth coming back for!"

-- Oh, and I did technically fall on the Rim Trail, although it was a slow motion thing. I stepped between a chopped stump and it's above-ground root, and my shoe caught. And I pulled at it--usually my shoe will come loose--but here the stump-and-root just wouldn't let go and I found myself slowly falling forward. Luckily the ground here was dusty and I was able to brace with my hands when I got down there, and by then most of my foot was out of my shoe, so nothing got hurt: it hurt my ego more than anything. But still, it was a fall. So I'm thinking that's my fall quota for Oregon!--that's the one!--and no more!

-- While we paused at the Cafe, a bunch of SOBOs came through. And they were incensed that the cafe didn't open until 10am: what kind of cafe doesn't open until that late? But in more relevant news, they had an update on the fire situation. In particular, it seems the section between McKenzie Pass and Santiam Pass is now open: they reopened it just last night. Which means the old strategy of skipping from McKenzie Pass all the way up to Olallie Lake: now we don't have to miss that much of Oregon. Man, and we had just planned out everything yesterday! Anyway, it looks like I should be able to make it by buying a couple extra days worth of food at Shelter Cove: this should get me enough to cover the extra two days or so it takes to get from McKenzie Pass to Pamelia Lake (the southern edge of the Lionshead closure, which they're *not* going to reopen this year). Spielberg had said it yesterday: unlike the AT, this trail is constantly changing, makes it very hard to plan anything. Well, this is just more proof of that!

-- In this section, I've been occasionally seeing these flies that have yellow hindquarters that look almost bee-ish. And I'm wondering if that's an evolutionary strategy to maybe keep them from getting swatted or shooed away as readily?: I'm willing to swat at a fly, but would hesitate to do the same at a bee!

-- So even though I'm not married, I did have one piece of advice for Double Snacks' wedding, and that was to eat a piece of her own wedding cake. And not the ceremonial piece that the groom feeds the bride (or the groom and bride feed each other in these more enlightened times), and not the piece that you put in the freezer and eat a year after, but take a moment to yourselves and eat a full piece of the wedding cake at the wedding itself. I don't remember where I heard this advice from, but it's always seemed sensible to me: watching my friends at their weddings, it seems like a lot of running around for the happy couple, and the idea of taking a moment to themselves to enjoy just seems like a good idea!

-- At the earlier water cache, while Spielberg and Double Snacks were filtering water, I went to dig my (first) cathole. And when I came back and was fiddling with my gear, Spielberg noticed me holding a plastic bag with something rolled up inside it and asked, oh, did you pack out a subway sandwich from Crater Lake? That was a good idea. And it took me a moment, looking at the bag in my hand, before I replied, no, this is my poop bag! Oh my goodness, Spielberg said, and we all got a good laugh. And later on the trail when nature called again and I had to dig another cathole, I just told Double Snacks, I'm going to go use my subway sandwich, and it was good for another laugh!

-- (To be fair, mistaking my poop bag for a subway sandwich makes sense: the bag contains my yellow trowel wrapped around a bag of rolled wet wipes which come in a white and green wrapper. The wet wipes are rolled around my Culo Clean bidet and a bottle of hand sanitizer. So at a glance it's actually fairly reminiscent of sandwiches from Subway--that green, white, yellow motif, and it's rolled up like a small sandwich too. So it's an honest mistake. It just happens to also be a funny one!)