Mazama Village 8/7

Today we hiked 18 miles in 8 hours. We had to re- supply, shower, wash clothes and eat. FC had the best vegetarian  burger she has ever had. It was homemade and puts all others to shame. TC ordered roast beef. It was tender, quite delicious. Princess had a barbeque pork sandwhich and Mr, sandals had an omelet. Every speck of food was eaten. It was a memorable meal. 

      FC has a painful plantar wart on her right foot. She thought it was a splinter and messed about with it but now she knows it's a wart. She will continue to hike silently in pain. TC's feet are finally perfect but her ankle, the wonky one is is completing its fusion in a completely organic way. Mr. Sandals has a severely pronated foot which has been bothering him since day one. Ibuprofen has kept him on the trail. Princess, aside from being nuts (quite similar to Firecracker ) is physically splendid.

      As we hiked up highway 62 to get back on the trail from Mazama Village (all our chores done ) there was a construction accident. The road is being paved and one of those rolling machines tipped over in the ditch. A worker broke his arm but you would think there had been a 14 car pile up. Princess volunteered her services as a doctor but an ambulance had already arrived. TC and FC were 30 minutes behind and were held up on the highway. There were park rangers dispensing orders which included telling us to stay put. This is the longest we have been delayed on the entire trip. We were 30 ft from the ambulance and they wouldn't let us pass. Princess and Mt S. Made it through. Excitement off the PCT.

       As we were hiking to route 62 earlier in the day a group of firefighters passed us on the trail. When they saw FC the first guy called out "hiker on the trail" and this was relayed back to 12 other forefighters They moved out of the way in a tight line. FC could not resist. She stood at attention, saluted them and called out "At ease gentlemen". She felt powerful. A fire had been sited 2 miles up, just from where she had hiked from. She had not seen it. They were equipped with heavy axes and maybe adzes and they all had heavy clothes on and construction hats. They smelled like oil but maybe that is some kind of fire retardant. She did not envy them. She was dressed only in shorts and her  bra and was sweating like a sailor. These guys had on heavy looking packs and a lot of oily clothes. They had a long way to walk in this gear but she learned later that they get paid well. 

Princess pretending to be a dwarf. 

     Today (8/7) we walked to the famous Crafer Lake. No boats eXcept education tour boats run by the park service, no swimmers, no fishing. Hooray, we finally left something alone. There does not appear to be any easy access, only one way down to the boats. I don't have to tell you it's magnificent. We will be circling part of it today. Right now we are going into the restaurant at the Rim for a second breakfast. 

Map of our path along rim. 

Looking at Wizard Islamd

This is the type of place that attracts a lot of car tourists. People who hop in and out of their cars taking pictures and buy a lot of shirts at visitors centers. FC is a bit of a shopper and made an impulse buy at the Rim store. She bought a new stylish plastic hat. She saw it on her way to the bathroom and bought it on her way out. She only had a few seconds. It's lightweight and sun proof. She threw out her old Solumbra as it was being held together by tenacious tape. This new hat is cool in every sense of the word. TC is a bit jealous. Her present hat is not perfect.

      Crater Lake has had 4 previous names. The Indians called it Giiwass, meaning sacred place or place of power. White men named it Blue L. Then Great Blue L. then Majestic L. and finally Crater L. Tepidly descriptive but devoid of imagination.Indians lived in awe of nature and respected it. Their names are more interesting and thought provoking. Blue Lake...yawn.

      We finished our day at about 6:30 and had walked 24 miles. Half Mile is now being supported by his girlfriend( she completed Ca. And decided she had had enough). She brings him his food sometimes but is definitely not following him everywhere. Their plan is loose. Our day entailed a 27 mile stretch without water but we were saved by Half Mile and Deb when they offered to supply us water at 18 miles instead of 27. There was road access and Deb would drive her car there. When we arrived we saw that something was awry. Deb did not want to see us. She had locked her car keys in the car, broke a window to get them out and cut herself doing so. Dr. Princess offered to assist so did Dr. Firecracker but to no avail. The embarrassment was too great. Half Mile drove her to the hospital. Such are the daily occurrences of the average PCT hiker. We did get our water but it was bitter sweet.