Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - August 11th
Day 110: Sunday 11th August Cascade Canal – Upper Snow
Lakes
It only took me 30 minutes to reach Four-Mile Lake with magnificent views of
Mount McLoughlin, the first of Oregon’s big volcanoes. The shore of Four-Mile Lake
was cluttered with old fallen tree trunks, which suggests that the reservoir is relatively
recent. For some reason, when reservoirs in this part of the world are built, it appears
that they don’t completely log the area before filling with water, so trees, called snags,
are left standing and it takes decades for them to die off, fall down and rot away.
The trail continued through undulating forest past the shallow Woodpecker, Badger
and Long Lakes before rejoining the PCT. The PCT took an uninteresting route along
the wooded viewless ridges avoiding all the lakes and staying away from water sources,
so I left it again for the Sky Lakes Trail. I had an early lunch at Natasha Lake where I
managed a swim and then continued to Isherwood Lake. The rocks on the east shore of
the lake made a superb diving platform and I couldn’t resist a brief stop for another
swim. Trapper and Snow Lakes were passed before starting the climb up to the ridge
where I would rejoin the PCT. Just below the ridge were the Upper Snow Lakes and I
camped early beside the upper one, as it was going to provide the last water for a long
way ahead and I might not be able to find campsites on the rocky ridge. As usual there
were a lot of ants around the camp. These were now becoming more of a problem than
the mosquitoes, which were still around, but only in small numbers.
Day 110: 18.3 miles 7.27 hours Camp: Upper Snow Lakes
Lakes
It only took me 30 minutes to reach Four-Mile Lake with magnificent views of
Mount McLoughlin, the first of Oregon’s big volcanoes. The shore of Four-Mile Lake
was cluttered with old fallen tree trunks, which suggests that the reservoir is relatively
recent. For some reason, when reservoirs in this part of the world are built, it appears
that they don’t completely log the area before filling with water, so trees, called snags,
are left standing and it takes decades for them to die off, fall down and rot away.
The trail continued through undulating forest past the shallow Woodpecker, Badger
and Long Lakes before rejoining the PCT. The PCT took an uninteresting route along
the wooded viewless ridges avoiding all the lakes and staying away from water sources,
so I left it again for the Sky Lakes Trail. I had an early lunch at Natasha Lake where I
managed a swim and then continued to Isherwood Lake. The rocks on the east shore of
the lake made a superb diving platform and I couldn’t resist a brief stop for another
swim. Trapper and Snow Lakes were passed before starting the climb up to the ridge
where I would rejoin the PCT. Just below the ridge were the Upper Snow Lakes and I
camped early beside the upper one, as it was going to provide the last water for a long
way ahead and I might not be able to find campsites on the rocky ridge. As usual there
were a lot of ants around the camp. These were now becoming more of a problem than
the mosquitoes, which were still around, but only in small numbers.
Day 110: 18.3 miles 7.27 hours Camp: Upper Snow Lakes
Mount McLoughlin
from Four-mile Lake
from Four-mile Lake
Long Lake
Trapper Lake
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