After our near-zero day at Crater Lake, we were back on the trail. We took the Crater Lake Rim trail alternate for a few miles until it got so snowy we bailed out onto a road walk, which still had gorgeous views. Trying to avoid the icy passes at Mount Theilson with our lack of snow equipment, we walked about 18 miles on the road to Diamond Lake Resort, where we had heard on Facebook that they were running shuttles for PCT hikers to and from the trail head. We decided we might spend the night at Diamond Lake before rejoining the trail at mile 1875.

 When we got to Diamond Lake, it first seemed like a quaint RV park/swimming hole, with a bunch of cute gophers in the yard, but soon we started to get creepy Shining-esque vibes and decided to just try to force down a hot meal (chicken pot pie) from their restaurant and hail a ride from maintenance back to the trail. There was a group of older guys doing the PCT as well, who were waiting at Diamond Lake for their traction and ice axes to arrive before attempting Mount Theilson. We rode with them once they got their Amazon boxes and had some great conversation (including how to train young goats to carry all of your gear and supplies) with Mr. Walker, an Australian who wears a kilt and completed the thru hike a few years ago.

When we got to the trailhead we found a group of hikers sitting around a fire, looking exhausted. They had just pulled a 23-mile day around Theilson and were happy to have us join them. We met Bato, Squirrel, Professor Scratch, Chef/Burning Man, Gilligan and Skipper. About half of them were continuing a hike from Campo after skipping the Sierras and a few were starting section hikes similar to ours. We had dinner and decided to take an early night before taking on the Oregon Skyline Trail together.

The Oregon Skyline Trail, or OST, is a PCT alternate that runs about 1,000 ft lower than the trail, which pretty much guaranteed there would be no snow on it. We struggled through the hot dusty desert for 20 miles until we arrived at Shelter Cove Resort at Odell Lake.

The lakeside RV resort was charming and hiker-friendly. We picked up our resupply box and gratefully took our $1.75 3-minute showers.

We grabbed a dinner and a beer with some other hikers and then retired to our campsite across the tracks from the resort - they were going to charge $10 a head to camp there - made a fire to avoid the bugs and woke up to another zero day.

We had amazing breakfast burritos, hot coffee, and enjoyed some beers on the "beach" of the lake before renting a canoe and playing around in that. We even did laundry! Our microspikes and resupply arrived and we re-packed our bags.

he next day we rejoined the trail and did about 20 miles to Lake Charlton, a gorgeous campsite on a swimming lake. The spot was perfect, but I think a little critter made its way into my opsak bag and helped itself to a little bit of my peanut m&ms...

After waking up at Charlton we planned another 22-mile day to Lake Dumbell where we were blessed with yet another picture perfect campsite, set above a little peninsula jutting into the lake. 

Hiking with Bato and Gilligan and Skipper (two German brothers who bicker constantly) has been a riot. Their energy was infectious as were their two-hour swimming lunch breaks  they were so fond of. I also really enjoyed having another girl around, Scratch, who's constant optimism and knowledge of the trail and environment was always welcome and informative. 

The next day we planned a 19-mile day (putting us around Mile 1965 on the trail) where we camped by a snow-covered pond. This day was absolutely beautiful despite running into snow. Our campsite overlooked a glacial lake with a perfect reflection of the Sisters, and despite waking up with dots of condensation frozen on our tent - looking kind of like it had been bedazzled - it was a great night.

Waking up in the cold was tough, and we strapped on our microspikes for the first time to take on the now frozen snowfield we were camped in. Today was pretty much snow covered and we checked off 23 miles on a hard but rewarding day - finally we got some well deserved views and perhaps our most rewarding day after leaving the lake dotted forest.

We climbed up endless switchbacks on a volcano, walked through the Obsidian forest and over a stunning waterfall. After doing some of our highest elevation climbs of the trail yet, we capped off the day with miles and miles of endless lava fields. These rocks are tough on the feet! We settled into a campsite after the lava field and watched bats fly overhead as we drifted into a deep sleep.

Sadly, the next day was our last day hiking with Bato and the Germans as they got off trail to hitch hike to Bend (and indulge in a buffet located conveniently in a strip club). Burning Man and Hannah planned to stick around with us after Big Lake Youth to Timberline Lodge.

The next day we hiked into Big Lake Youth Camp to pick up our next resupply box. The hiker hospitality was very strong here and I got a nice shower and picked up a clean t-shirt from the hiker box (a hiker box is a "leave what you want, take what you need" kind of lost and found box. Normally I wouldn't just pick up a used T-shirt from a stranger but I was happy to have a new shirt to put on after my shower). Everything at this Seventh-Day Adventist church camp was free and donation-based, and we filled up on a vegan lunch before heading back out on the trail. Not half a mile later we ran into some trail magic run by a retired county sheriff Mike, who made us root beer floats and told us about the time he went to Burning Man with two lesbians. Not the small town Oregon cop you typically think of!

 Unfortunately the bugs were back with a vengeance (my trail name is Bites and I earned it) and hiking the rest of the day was slow going and hot. We ran into a little more snow at higher elevations above the highway and enjoyed yet another picture perfect camp site where we watched the sun set over the past several mountains we climbed to get here. It's extremely satisfying to look back and see all the ground covered in a day, a week, and we couldn't even see beyond that. Our next resupply would be in Timberline Lodge in just about 100 more miles.