Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - August 21st
Day 120: Wednesday 21st August S. Mattieu Lake – S. of Highway 20
“Sumara” went through while I was still in camp, again rushing to meet his wife. It
was still cloudy with dampness in the air. The route to the road crossing at McKenzie
Pass was through contorted lava fields, which were old enough for the trees to get a bit of
a footing. McKenzie Pass was named after Donald McKenzie of John Jacob Astor’s Fur
Company, who explored the area in 1811. In 1862 Felix Scott and 250 men chopped the
“Old Scott Trail” over the pass to cross with their 106 ox-hauled wagons. I should have
been getting views of the next big volcano, Mount Washington, but it was hidden away in
the mist. At McKenzie Pass I was surprised to meet Mary, who was waiting for “Billy
Goat”. I chatted with her for an hour while having my second breakfast. I had thought
that “Billy Goat” was ahead, but he had missed out the section from Crater Lake, and
gone on ahead to the Oregon/Washington border, because he hoped there would be less
smoke later. He wasn’t in luck as the smoke in Southern Oregon was still bad. In fact
the Florence Fire in SW Oregon was now covering an area of over 400,000 acres and was
still not under control. Mary was very sensitive to the sprays that were widely used in the
USA to control mosquitoes and she had spent a week at the McKenzie Pass because it
was well away from any inhabited lakes, which tend to be sprayed. She believed that the
health problems that “Purboy” had been having were due to the spraying around the
Mammoth Lakes area, but I suspect it was more to do with an inadequate diet. It is
difficult to get a good diet when backpacking and I had been supplementing my food with
vitamin tablets. Mary had left a supply of vitamin and other pills for “Purboy” at the
pass, but she had just missed him when she had visited some hot springs yesterday.
Section hikers Matt and Amy passed through.
It was still cloudy when I headed up the lower slopes of Belknap Crater over a vast
area of black unvegetated lava. The lava that had been extruded from the Belknap
Crater 1,500-3000 years ago and had flowed around two areas of older glaciated granite
leaving two “forested islands” in the sea of lava. Around Little Belknap Crater, I caught
up with Carla, who had also passed through McKenzie Pass while I was with Mary. She
lived in Southern Oregon and was hiking from home, near Crater Lake to the
Washington border. The lavas in this area looked as if they had only cooled a few years
ago, but they had actually flowed about 2,900 years ago. Glaciation helps break down the
rocks and provide the topsoil necessary for vegetation to get a foothold.
It began to clear around lunchtime and I started getting views back towards the
Three Sisters and forward to Mount Washington and Three Fingered Jack. The trail
eventually dropped down into thicker forest as I approached Big Lake. I deviated down to
the shoreline and found a lovely sandy beach with beautiful views across to Hayrick and
Hoodoo Buttes. I attempted to have a swim, but the water was only shelving very gently
and by the time I was in deep enough water I was encroaching on an area that was being
used by water-skiers, so I decided it would be safer to make do with a bath. I then went
on to the Seventh Day Adventist Youth Camp further along the shore, where I had left a
supply bag. They were busy welcoming new arrivals for a course lasting to Sunday. They
asked me to stay for dinner and spend the night there, but it was rather early to stop.
In the woods in the evening I saw a lot of Red-Shafted Flickers, the commonest of
the woodpeckers I encountered on this trip.
I camped in the woods about a mile south of Highway 20.
Day 120: 20.1 miles 8.10 hours Camp: S. of Highway 20
“Sumara” went through while I was still in camp, again rushing to meet his wife. It
was still cloudy with dampness in the air. The route to the road crossing at McKenzie
Pass was through contorted lava fields, which were old enough for the trees to get a bit of
a footing. McKenzie Pass was named after Donald McKenzie of John Jacob Astor’s Fur
Company, who explored the area in 1811. In 1862 Felix Scott and 250 men chopped the
“Old Scott Trail” over the pass to cross with their 106 ox-hauled wagons. I should have
been getting views of the next big volcano, Mount Washington, but it was hidden away in
the mist. At McKenzie Pass I was surprised to meet Mary, who was waiting for “Billy
Goat”. I chatted with her for an hour while having my second breakfast. I had thought
that “Billy Goat” was ahead, but he had missed out the section from Crater Lake, and
gone on ahead to the Oregon/Washington border, because he hoped there would be less
smoke later. He wasn’t in luck as the smoke in Southern Oregon was still bad. In fact
the Florence Fire in SW Oregon was now covering an area of over 400,000 acres and was
still not under control. Mary was very sensitive to the sprays that were widely used in the
USA to control mosquitoes and she had spent a week at the McKenzie Pass because it
was well away from any inhabited lakes, which tend to be sprayed. She believed that the
health problems that “Purboy” had been having were due to the spraying around the
Mammoth Lakes area, but I suspect it was more to do with an inadequate diet. It is
difficult to get a good diet when backpacking and I had been supplementing my food with
vitamin tablets. Mary had left a supply of vitamin and other pills for “Purboy” at the
pass, but she had just missed him when she had visited some hot springs yesterday.
Section hikers Matt and Amy passed through.
It was still cloudy when I headed up the lower slopes of Belknap Crater over a vast
area of black unvegetated lava. The lava that had been extruded from the Belknap
Crater 1,500-3000 years ago and had flowed around two areas of older glaciated granite
leaving two “forested islands” in the sea of lava. Around Little Belknap Crater, I caught
up with Carla, who had also passed through McKenzie Pass while I was with Mary. She
lived in Southern Oregon and was hiking from home, near Crater Lake to the
Washington border. The lavas in this area looked as if they had only cooled a few years
ago, but they had actually flowed about 2,900 years ago. Glaciation helps break down the
rocks and provide the topsoil necessary for vegetation to get a foothold.
It began to clear around lunchtime and I started getting views back towards the
Three Sisters and forward to Mount Washington and Three Fingered Jack. The trail
eventually dropped down into thicker forest as I approached Big Lake. I deviated down to
the shoreline and found a lovely sandy beach with beautiful views across to Hayrick and
Hoodoo Buttes. I attempted to have a swim, but the water was only shelving very gently
and by the time I was in deep enough water I was encroaching on an area that was being
used by water-skiers, so I decided it would be safer to make do with a bath. I then went
on to the Seventh Day Adventist Youth Camp further along the shore, where I had left a
supply bag. They were busy welcoming new arrivals for a course lasting to Sunday. They
asked me to stay for dinner and spend the night there, but it was rather early to stop.
In the woods in the evening I saw a lot of Red-Shafted Flickers, the commonest of
the woodpeckers I encountered on this trip.
I camped in the woods about a mile south of Highway 20.
Day 120: 20.1 miles 8.10 hours Camp: S. of Highway 20
Matt and Amy
Carla near Little
Belknap Crater
Belknap Crater
Ancient Brit below
Belknap Crater
Belknap Crater
Mount Washington
Middle and North Sisters
Hayrick and Hoodoo
Buttes from Big Lake
Buttes from Big Lake
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