Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - August 16th
Day 115: Friday 16th August Tolo Mountain – Diamond View Lake
When I woke in the morning there was a wisp of smoke coming from the ground
outside “Rogue”s tent. He had used a “coke can” alcohol stove last night which was
leaking and caught the forest floor alight. He had thought he had put it out, but now 2 sq.
ft. of ground was smouldering. He built a firebreak around it with his boot, and then
tried unsuccessfully to put it out with small quantities of water. (Water was in short
supply at this dry camp.) A buried fallen branch was burning and did very not want to be
extinguished. After I left “Rogue” took another 30 minutes working on the site to
completely put out the fire. He had done some fire fighting in his younger days and knew
what was needed to prevent a forest fire starting. On the day of the big hail storm (The
day many of Oregon’s fires had started), he had actually put out a fire started by
lightning. Before I left “Sumara” came hurrying through to meet his wife at Summit
Lake.
I had planned second breakfast and a swim at the Nip and Tuck lakes but they were
much too shallow, so I went on to Oldenberg Lake. This was on another detour along the
old Oregon Skyline Trail, which was not only more interesting than the lake-free PCT,
but also shorter. Again this lake was marshy and there were a lot of mosquitoes around
the shore so I went on again until I got to the second of the Bingham Lakes. This was a
lovely little lake with a sandy, but slightly muddy, beach and a grassy foreshore. It wasn’
t deep enough for a swim, but I had a bath and washed most of my clothes and had a
lengthy break while they dried in the sun. As I was packing up a group of horse-riders
arrived. There were three leaders with a group of teenage girls. They intended to camp at
the lake. They were typical of trail riders in that they allowed their horses to pollute the
beach and the lake. Park regulations insist that horses are not allowed within 200ft of a
lake, but this was frequently ignored by the riders.
The trail continued past a series of small shallow lakes including the third Bingham
Lake where I spotted tracks from a Mountain Lion on the muddy beach. At lunchtime I
diverted from the PCT to visit the large Crescent Lake. There were quite a few people
along the shore and boating on the lake, but I managed to find a secluded spot to
sunbathe and swim. There were beautiful views of the volcanoes: Diamond Peak and
Royce Mountain. After lunch I walked along the shore before rejoining the trail at
Whitefish Horse Camp. This was a camp restricted to horses and was filling up rapidly
with cars and horseboxes, with riders coming up for a long weekend.
I had dinner halfway up the dry Whitefish Creek, and was covered in dust from
passing riders. I arrived at Diamond Lake, where I intended to camp, followed shortly
afterwards by “Rogue”. We were given a little stew by two girls who were camped nearby.
They were on a week hike and like many shorter distance hikers were oversupplied with
food. “Rogue managed to sit on an ant’s nest, while cooking his dinner, and was getting
bitten in delicate places. There was a lot of noise from a group camped further round the
lake, which was a popular site at the weekends.
There hadn’t been much smoke during the day, but it returned in the evening,
causing the moon to turn red after the sun had set. I made a cup of tea on “Rogue”s
homemade alcohol stove. I was surprised how long it took to boil a pint of water and
since I was drinking so much tea I was pleased that I was using a proper gas stove.
Day 115:18.4 miles 7.10 hours Camp: Diamond View Lake
When I woke in the morning there was a wisp of smoke coming from the ground
outside “Rogue”s tent. He had used a “coke can” alcohol stove last night which was
leaking and caught the forest floor alight. He had thought he had put it out, but now 2 sq.
ft. of ground was smouldering. He built a firebreak around it with his boot, and then
tried unsuccessfully to put it out with small quantities of water. (Water was in short
supply at this dry camp.) A buried fallen branch was burning and did very not want to be
extinguished. After I left “Rogue” took another 30 minutes working on the site to
completely put out the fire. He had done some fire fighting in his younger days and knew
what was needed to prevent a forest fire starting. On the day of the big hail storm (The
day many of Oregon’s fires had started), he had actually put out a fire started by
lightning. Before I left “Sumara” came hurrying through to meet his wife at Summit
Lake.
I had planned second breakfast and a swim at the Nip and Tuck lakes but they were
much too shallow, so I went on to Oldenberg Lake. This was on another detour along the
old Oregon Skyline Trail, which was not only more interesting than the lake-free PCT,
but also shorter. Again this lake was marshy and there were a lot of mosquitoes around
the shore so I went on again until I got to the second of the Bingham Lakes. This was a
lovely little lake with a sandy, but slightly muddy, beach and a grassy foreshore. It wasn’
t deep enough for a swim, but I had a bath and washed most of my clothes and had a
lengthy break while they dried in the sun. As I was packing up a group of horse-riders
arrived. There were three leaders with a group of teenage girls. They intended to camp at
the lake. They were typical of trail riders in that they allowed their horses to pollute the
beach and the lake. Park regulations insist that horses are not allowed within 200ft of a
lake, but this was frequently ignored by the riders.
The trail continued past a series of small shallow lakes including the third Bingham
Lake where I spotted tracks from a Mountain Lion on the muddy beach. At lunchtime I
diverted from the PCT to visit the large Crescent Lake. There were quite a few people
along the shore and boating on the lake, but I managed to find a secluded spot to
sunbathe and swim. There were beautiful views of the volcanoes: Diamond Peak and
Royce Mountain. After lunch I walked along the shore before rejoining the trail at
Whitefish Horse Camp. This was a camp restricted to horses and was filling up rapidly
with cars and horseboxes, with riders coming up for a long weekend.
I had dinner halfway up the dry Whitefish Creek, and was covered in dust from
passing riders. I arrived at Diamond Lake, where I intended to camp, followed shortly
afterwards by “Rogue”. We were given a little stew by two girls who were camped nearby.
They were on a week hike and like many shorter distance hikers were oversupplied with
food. “Rogue managed to sit on an ant’s nest, while cooking his dinner, and was getting
bitten in delicate places. There was a lot of noise from a group camped further round the
lake, which was a popular site at the weekends.
There hadn’t been much smoke during the day, but it returned in the evening,
causing the moon to turn red after the sun had set. I made a cup of tea on “Rogue”s
homemade alcohol stove. I was surprised how long it took to boil a pint of water and
since I was drinking so much tea I was pleased that I was using a proper gas stove.
Day 115:18.4 miles 7.10 hours Camp: Diamond View Lake
Rogue damping down fire
Nip and Tuck Lakes
Ancient Brit at
Bingham Lake
Bingham Lake
Bingham Lake
Diamond Peak from
Crescent Lake
Crescent Lake
Royce Mountain from
Crescent Lake
Crescent Lake
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