Miles Hiked 309.0
PCT Mile 815.1
Elevation feet 6,499
Miles Hiked Today 17.4
August 1, 2026
I didn’t sleep well last night, which was kind of surprising considering the amount of miles that I did yesterday, I should have climbed into my sleeping bag and gone right to sleep. Part of the problem was my calves were sore from the big climb to the trail high point. I applied a little cream that is cooling and that seemed to fix the problem. Still, it’s going to be an interesting day on very little sleep.
So, I was up and on my way at 6:20 a.m. . But first I need to get more water. I checked the water sources ahead on the trail and except for one cache, which I really can’t depend upon, there is no water for about 20 miles. When I arrived at the creek where I got water last night, I filled up with a total of four liters of water. I haven’t carried that much water since the California desert.
The extra ten pounds of water weight and I hit the trail. Of course, there was a big climb to start out, but I really can’t complain. After the climb, the trail smoothed out and was level or short ups and downs.
At noon, I ran into trail magic. A couple of guys and a woman were hosting. They had hot dogs, beer, soda, cookies, candy and apples. They made me a hot dog and I was chowing down on the cookies while waiting for the hot dog to cook. It was great to eat something other my trail food of protein bars and freeze dried meals.
After leaving the trail magic, I got serious about making miles. The Crater Lake alternate route was just ten miles away. This route goes along Crater Lake and is said to be very scenic. I’ll hike that tomorrow. In the meantime, I made the miles to the alternate route, and I was able to secure a tentsite in the Grouse Hill Campground, which is only ,4 mile from the trail start point.
Tomorrow, Crater Lake.
