COOL CHANGE

​PCT Day 131:  Mile 2226.5  – Mile 2251.2  Monday August 22, 2016: 24.7 miles  (39.5km)

During the night it became apparent that the temperature was dropping and I snuggled tighter in my sleeping bag. It was one of the coldest mornings for sometime and I started walking with gloves, beanie and down jacket and it still took sometime for my fingers to warm up. I was wondering how some of the ultralight hikers were faring with the sudden drop in temperature. 
The trail entered a section of forest that had been burnt in 2012 and the area burnt was quite extensive. It is always fascinating to see how whole stands of trees have been burnt and killed and a couple of trees nearby have survived and are green and healthy.

The trail was heading towards Mount Adams and appeared to be going South which led me to think that we were going to go behind the mountain when a sudden switchback kept the trail on the western side and close to the mountain slopes. This enabled great views of the glacier and since I have a soft spot for glaciers I took many pictures.

At one point looking South I could see Mount Hood, to the West was Mount Saint Helens, to the East and looking large was Mount Adams and a little later looking North was Mount Rainer and accompanied by the North Cascade Range. This truly is a magical part of the world to be blessed with such significant mountain scenery and a crisp beautiful day to take it all in.

I came across a trail crew doing there thing and thanked them for the work that they do.

In the late afternoon I had my dinner which was a couple of tortillas by Lava Springs which is basically a wall of larval rocks about 40 feet high and from the base flows this crystal clear water which is cold and delicious. No need to filter as it appears tons of larval rock has already done the filtering.

From here the trail follows along the larval flow wall which is about 30 feet high and goes for a considerable distance. It is quite impressive.
I camped with a young German guy with the trail name of JD. He had just finished high school and as he was unsure of his next step decided to hike the PCT. It was all going well for him until he developed a sore foot which progressed  to a stress fracture and 4 weeks off trail. So he has only just returned to do Washington and hopes to complete Oregon and Northern California next year.

I am presently 3 miles from the beginning of the Goat Rock Wilderness Area and I am quite excited as I remember that Trail Angel Jan, who drove Corky and I to Campo, said this was her favorite section of the trail. Another lady I met today from Brisbane who was hiking south said her favorite part is the North Cascades. So there is much to look forward to.