Not much new to report I'm afraid. I set an easy pace today because I was anticipating a lot of elevation gain. Early in the day I ran across 5 or 6 elk. That was exciting because they were pretty much the first big animals I've seen since southern Oregon. And boy were they big! They ran off before I could get close enough for a picture, so I got a shot of one of the many trailside flowers instead.
I passed a lot of wild huckleberries early on in the day. Despite their abundance, though, I only allowed myself a few choice berries per hour. I wasn't sure how my body would react to wild berries. If I suffer no ill effects by tomorrow, I'll give myself a little more latitude to enjoy these trailside treats.
Around noon I found a rock shelf high above Trout Creek. It had a nice view so I stopped there to eat. I managed to get a couple pictures as well.
After lunch I crossed the creek, and shortly thereafter crossed the bridge over Wind River (pictured). From there the bulk of the day's climbing began. I had 3100 feet to climb, which brought me to well over 4500' for the day, and believe me it was slow going. So by the time I reached a spring near the top of Big Huckleberry Mountain I was ready to call it quits. I enjoyed a nice view of Mt. Adams (pictured) and then found a place to camp. That marks 30 miles for the day. It also means I've crossed the 2200 mile mark.
At the spring I ran into the hiker "Carrot," whom I have been following since before my break in Bend. On the rare occasions when I saw footprints in the snowy sections of Oregon, they were his (he has shoes with a unique waffle shaped tread). He is an interesting guy, and apparently the PCT is the second leg of a larger journey for him. He started by biking from Seattle to Baja, then decided to walk back. We chatted a bit, but it was getting late and cold, so we both turned in. It gets cold here at night, which is actually a good thing because it means almost no mosquitoes. This is the third night in a row I get to cowboy camp, which makes me happy.
Even though there has been a lot of climbing yesterday and today, I have enjoyed several days now without snow or bad mosquitoes. So I am feeling somewhat better about my chances. I met some locals today who said the snow is pretty hairy around Goat Rocks, but also that it is melting fast. They did also mention that there is an effort to increase the populations of certain animals north of here. Most notably these are wolves, lynx, wolverines, and grizzly bears. Apparently a lot of wolves have been recently re-introduced, so I am to keep an eye out for them.
Well, about two weeks to go, I can't wait to see how it all plays out!
