Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - August 22nd
Day121: Thursday 22nd August Highway 20 – Trail 3,493
The clear weather had returned, but now the end of august was approaching the nights
were becoming longer and it was getting quite chilly at night. I was taking another 25-
mile detour along the old OST, which goes past many lakes and looks as if it will have
better views of the Three Fingered Jack and Mount Jefferson than the PCT. My first
stop was at Santiam Lake after three hours. This was a lovely spot at the foot of three
Fingered Jack. There was just enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay and little
sandy beaches from which to swim. There were what looked like Common Sandpipers
darting around the shore of the lake, but since these European birds are a rarity in
America they are most likely to have been Spotted Sandpipers. I was missing my bird
book but was relieved that I wasn’t carrying the extra weight.
I was surprised such a lovely lake with many good camping sites was deserted, but
soon found the reason. Just after the lake was a tape across the path and a notice lying
nearby saying that the area around Duffy Lake and adjacent lakes was closed due to
fire. I imagine I must have missed a notice at the trailhead on Highway 20 giving details
of the closure. I remembered that a fisherman at Sisters Mirror Lake had told me that
they had intended to go to the Eight Lakes Basin, but couldn’t because it was closed by
fire. Duffy Lake was one of the Eight Lakes. I was already a couple of hours off the PCT
and didn’t want to retrace my steps so I ignored the sign and continued along the trail.
Further on there was a rather better sign listing the paths that were closed, which
included the route I was intending to follow. There was no sign of smoke and after the
recent rain any small fires should have been extinguished so I again ignored the
prohibition signs. I passed the “John Swallow Grave”, a single burial site in a small
clearing in the forest. I’m not sure who John Swallow was, but there were both a small
lake and a trail named after him. The trail dropped down to the deserted Mazama
Campground, before climbing steeply back towards the PCT. By now it was clouding over
and there was some light rain, but it didn’t develop into anything serious. On the climb I
came across thousands of tiny toads on the path, trying to escape from my footsteps,
together with several snakes that were getting an easy meal. A little later I saw my first
people of the day camped by another “Lake of the Woods“. After an early dinner, I had
a tough evening session, with a long climb up a slope with numerous windblown trees
across the trail. There were trees up to 6ft in diameter and on the steep slope they were
serious obstructions, making progress extremely slow and very tiring. It was 7.45pm and
getting dark when I eventually found a flat enough spot to camp. By then I was
exhausted. Unlike the other detours I had made through Oregon, this one was obviously
a mistake.
Day 121: 19.4 miles 9.03 hours Camp: Trail 3,493
The clear weather had returned, but now the end of august was approaching the nights
were becoming longer and it was getting quite chilly at night. I was taking another 25-
mile detour along the old OST, which goes past many lakes and looks as if it will have
better views of the Three Fingered Jack and Mount Jefferson than the PCT. My first
stop was at Santiam Lake after three hours. This was a lovely spot at the foot of three
Fingered Jack. There was just enough breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay and little
sandy beaches from which to swim. There were what looked like Common Sandpipers
darting around the shore of the lake, but since these European birds are a rarity in
America they are most likely to have been Spotted Sandpipers. I was missing my bird
book but was relieved that I wasn’t carrying the extra weight.
I was surprised such a lovely lake with many good camping sites was deserted, but
soon found the reason. Just after the lake was a tape across the path and a notice lying
nearby saying that the area around Duffy Lake and adjacent lakes was closed due to
fire. I imagine I must have missed a notice at the trailhead on Highway 20 giving details
of the closure. I remembered that a fisherman at Sisters Mirror Lake had told me that
they had intended to go to the Eight Lakes Basin, but couldn’t because it was closed by
fire. Duffy Lake was one of the Eight Lakes. I was already a couple of hours off the PCT
and didn’t want to retrace my steps so I ignored the sign and continued along the trail.
Further on there was a rather better sign listing the paths that were closed, which
included the route I was intending to follow. There was no sign of smoke and after the
recent rain any small fires should have been extinguished so I again ignored the
prohibition signs. I passed the “John Swallow Grave”, a single burial site in a small
clearing in the forest. I’m not sure who John Swallow was, but there were both a small
lake and a trail named after him. The trail dropped down to the deserted Mazama
Campground, before climbing steeply back towards the PCT. By now it was clouding over
and there was some light rain, but it didn’t develop into anything serious. On the climb I
came across thousands of tiny toads on the path, trying to escape from my footsteps,
together with several snakes that were getting an easy meal. A little later I saw my first
people of the day camped by another “Lake of the Woods“. After an early dinner, I had
a tough evening session, with a long climb up a slope with numerous windblown trees
across the trail. There were trees up to 6ft in diameter and on the steep slope they were
serious obstructions, making progress extremely slow and very tiring. It was 7.45pm and
getting dark when I eventually found a flat enough spot to camp. By then I was
exhausted. Unlike the other detours I had made through Oregon, this one was obviously
a mistake.
Day 121: 19.4 miles 9.03 hours Camp: Trail 3,493
Santiam Lake Trail
Three-Fingered Jack
from Santiam Lake
from Santiam Lake
Creek crossing
John Swallow Grave
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