Since we camped out to watch the sunrise, I got to sleep in a little bit. (Usually I start hiking a little before it’s light out)
Our gamble of staying at the fire lookout paid off. It was cold, windy, and some people showed up in the middle of the night, but the sunrise was spectacular.
Speaking of the cold, there was a decent amount of snow today. Nothing that was annoying to deal with, but several patches. This last one was at mile 1857.6.
The snow sort of makes sense, since this is the highest part of the trail outside of California. (Although the crater lake rim trail we hiked instead of the normal PCT goes higher.)
Today was kind of a weird day. It was cloudy and smokey with really cool temperatures. It hasn’t been this cold since the Sierra and it never really warmed up much during the day. This turned out to be a blessing, since there was very little water today. Our first water carry was 16 miles and I barely drank a liter. Then we had another 16 miles until the last water. I only drank about 2 liters for a 40 mile day, which is pretty crazy. It’s not like I’m dehydrated either. I’ve been going to the bathroom all day.
The speed I did these 40 miles was also pretty surprising. My last 40 mile day I started and finished in the dark. Today I made it by 7:40. Guys I’ve been hiking with made it an hour before me. They said Oregon would be easy and I’m starting to believe it.