August 9.
Cowboyed at the lake on a sandy beach with a bunch of other sobos and nobos. It was okay except they were all smoking weed and I felt kinda bad because I knew I was gonna wake up earlier than most of them.
It was a 14 mile stretch from big lake to Mathieu lake, all of it dry through mostly burn area and lava fields! I had heard about the lava fields yesterday from some of the nobos. Heading into big lake a nobo asked if there were any more lava fields and happily fist bumped me when I told him no. That was my first warning that they were going to tough. So I loaded up with 4 days of food and almost 4 liters of water which was one of my heaviest carries so far. It didn’t feel too bad except for the initial climb out of Big Lake.
Hiked through more dry burn area before making it to the lava fields. The lava fields were intense. They started off easy though uphill but then turned into straight up lava fields with miles and miles of dry exposed lava rocks. Hiking early wasn’t too bad though I wish I had done like BK and started earlier. It was around 10 when I hit most of the big fields and I definitely felt the heat already. Got my first view of the Three Sisters mountains though it was very hazy from all the fires.
The lava fields were just that, long fields of lava rocks that shifted and crumbled and moved around under you. They were rough and jagged and pointy and rolled your ankles. They also kinda massaged my feet. I started to feel some plant fasciitis settle in, probably mostly from worrying about the condition of my shoes, but walking on the lava rocks seemed to help. Like foam rolling my feet for a few miles.
After some very pretty but very dry hiking, I made it to the lake. The whole lava field section actually wasn’t that bad. It probably helped that the fear mongering made me more paranoid and carry extra water.
Also people are nice. On the way down to the road a group of day hikers/climbers passed me and one guy asked me where I was going. I told him Mexico and without breaking his stride he handed me a candy bar! It wasn’t vegan but it was still an awesome gesture.
The Kid was at the lake. He had been there for a few hours chilling out. We hung out for a bit and talked to a nobo who stopped for a swim. The three Belgiums also showed up though they were on the other side of the lake next to a group of female overnight hikers.
A wilderness Ranger showed up carrying a huge pack and a big shovel. He asked us a few questions, the usual Ranger stuff about where we were camping and how long we were gonna be in three sister wilderness. He was really friendly and seemed like a good guy. The kind of Ranger I would want to be if I ever became one.
The Kid took off before me. Dipped my legs in the water and had lunch before taking off. In that time it got so hot. It must have been in the 90s when I started hiking and I definitely felt it. It took me from 6-12 to hike 15 miles in the morning but then took me 5 hours to hike another 5 miles.
Made it to a little spring that had some delicious cold water. The Kid and a nobo was there. There were also a ton of little butterflies flickering about. We were joined by a few other nobos, some funny old white guys, and eventually by Pigeon. He had stayed for lunch but still caught up to us. Being from Hawaii, he was used to hiking in the heat through lava fields so he didn’t have much trouble hiking through that.
The friendly Ranger showed up again and did his Ranger thing. Turned out he had also served as a Ranger in Hawaii and knew a lot of the same people pigeon knew. Small trail.
We stayed for a while, letting it cool down, before heading off. The kid and pigeon went off to smoke a bowl and right as I was heading out poker face had shown up. Talked to her for a bit before heading out.
Hiked through another lava field though this one was much easier since it was shorter and later in the day. It was also so gorgeous. Looked like another world.
Made it down into shaded forest finally and then into the obsidian limited area. It was a 1.8 mile stretch of area that oct hikers can’t camp at. It was very beautiful but I couldn’t tell why it was limited until I saw the flakes of obsidian and fields of it everywhere. It was amazing.
I stopped at little stream and the kid and pigeon caught up. We hiked together and camped at the southern limit of the obsidian area. We talked to some weekenders and a nobo showed up and yogid some water and food from them ha.
The kid and I are cowboy camping and plan to get up at 4am tomorrow to hike early and beat the heat.
It turns out im an idiot and left my polycro at the lake when I tried to dry it out. After the talking to we got from the Ranger I feel like such an asshole. I still have trash bags I can use and I’m getting my other polycro at in ashald from mup but I feel like such a dick. I hope someone finds it and takes it. Oh well.
Plants Outside 