August 3rd, 2022 by Jon
When we woke, everything was damp. But I guess that’s what we get for sleeping so close to the water. It’s still quite humid, and most of Southern Oregon and Northern California were supposed to get rain yesterday and last night as well. We packed up and got ready, enjoying a nice breakfast with our backs up against some logs like a little chair. At 6:30, we left the reservoir and began hiking. We had a gentle climb up a grassy slope and moved through small and medium pine trees as we made our way north. The ground held fog in some places, and the ground was damp and smelled of wet earth.
Singsong and I hiked together; the others had left about 5 minutes before us, although Tits was still sleeping. We only walked about a mile and a half before reaching a paved road. From there, we could walk down to the entrance of Hyatt Lake Campground and use their pit toilets before continuing along the trail. We filled up water from a faucet fed by a long tube from a building near the campground, and it was potable! Yay for not having to filter. After filling up, we had 8 miles to the next source. The trail began climbing a ridge, and we followed it upward. We passed through a pine forest, broken into pieces by meadows that separated its different parts. We had views of Hyatt Lake down below through the trees and could tell it was much larger than the reservoir we had camped by last night.
The climbs in Oregon so far have been pretty gentle, and this one was no different. The climb was fairly straightforward, and when we got to the top, we traveled along a plateau for a while, enjoying views of the surrounding valley. At the top, we weren’t quite halfway to the water, so I continued downhill a ways before stopping. I had service there and was able to check on the fires between here and Crater Lake. Thankfully, none of them had grown beyond 0.1 acres, and there were notes from the forest service indicating only mild concern about these small spot fires. Hooray!
Missile and Stealth passed me in order to go find a flat spot to take a break while Singsong texted me that she was taking a break with Rune, Wilco, and Bouge, who all stayed at the campground last night. I hiked onward and downward, the trail taking me across 4 or 5 paved roads as we passed by another lake. There was some wayfinding to do as we crossed roads and came to large intersections, where I had to find the trail again, but none of it was too bad. Eventually, I began a steep descent along a ledge and came to a small bridge over a stream that flowed from the lake. There were warnings not to drink this water, but to continue across a few bridges that took us over a marshy area, then stop on the other side and fill water from a small stream there. Everyone else but Biscuit came shortly after that; she must have been far ahead by now. We chatted and caught up with Wilco, Rune, and Bouge, which was nice. There were probably about 15 other hikers there, filling water. This section has been incredibly crowded, which has been a bit frustrating for finding any sort of solitude while on the trail or while camping, with lots of people around. Hopefully, that will clear out a bit as the bubble gets more spread out the further we get from Ashland.
We hiked up the rest of the climb, which would be the last one of the day. We had left the stream around 11:00 and made it about 2.5 miles in 50 minutes before a drink of water gave me heartburn because I was so hungry. That’s my queue to stop and take lunch, so we found a shady spot near a dirt road and began to dig in. We packed out a couple of sourdough rolls to have with cheese and avocado, and I ate my last one today. For the rest of this stretch, it will be back to tortillas, but it’s been a nice change. Everyone else caught up and joined us for lunch, and we goofed off, razzing each other for a while, and talked of fire closures and contingency plans. After 45 minutes, Singsong and I set out to complete the rest of the climb. It was longer and steeper than this morning’s, and it had a lot of blowdowns. We switchbacked a bit, but mostly just went straight up since it was fairly gradual.
After 4 miles of climbing through grey and green forest, we came to the top of the climb and were rewarded with the Rouge River Wilderness sign. We took a break there before making another 6-mile push to a small cabin just off the trail, where we could find a hand pump to draw water from the well. The trail here was mostly flat with a few small bumps to climb over and down along the way. These 6 miles were mostly a green tunnel of trees with no views to speak of. It was quiet, though, and the first was bright and tranquil. It was still quite humid, but all I could think about was that I hoped it would help the fires go out.
Eventually, we came to a trail junction, and I walked about 300 feet off-trail and saw the cabin, a picnic table, and Biscuit! She apparently had been there for more than an hour already. We talked about the day for a bit and considered potential camping spots. We wanted to go a bit further, but not too much further. Biscuit was considering the same, but probably a bit further than us. Then everyone else showed up, and Wilco declared he was going to hike all the way to the road 10 miles away and get to Fish Lake Resort so he could sleep in and get breakfast there when they opened at 9. Although we had camped a bit behind Wilco, Biscuit and Missile decided to go for it as well and attempt the 32-mile day. That’s a long one!
Per usual, Singsong and I preferred to keep things consistent, and we wanted to go about 3 miles farther and set up camp at a slightly more reasonable time. We were shooting for 7-8 easy downhill miles to the road where we would hitch in for a 2nd breakfast as well. We all said we would see each other in the morning, and we set out to hike along a hillside through dense forest with lots of bushes everywhere. After 2.5 miles or so, we came to a dry creekbed and found a tent site about 3 feet off the trail just past it. We called it camp, set up our tent, and made dinner. We ended up eating inside our tent because, as it got later, the mosquitoes came out in force. We got to spend some quality time together before putting the rain fly on and heading to bed. Around 8:30, two people arrived and set up tents near us. And by near us, I mean one that was 5 feet away and one that was 2 feet away. I know it’s been crowded, but it was kinda lame. Ah well. Tomorrow I’m dreaming of warm food and maybe a milkshake for breakfast if I can get it.
