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Ok, so it's hardly a complication, but it does slow me down. The past two nights have had pretty bad thunderstorms whip through the areas I'm hiking. Two nights ago I ran a mile to Breitenship Campground and JUST beat the rain and lightning by seconds - the campground has lean-tos for shelter. That storms reportedly set a few wildfires, and now that I'm above treeline ON Mt Hood (at Timberline Lodge) I can see two large plumes of smoke right near the PCT just north of Mt Jefferson. It's hard to tell exactly where they are since it's 50-60 miles away. Last night's storm woke me up with the boom of thunder long before the rain hit, so I was able to set up my tarp (first time since the desert!!!) in time AND dig a trench around me to channel the water away from me... turns out this was a very smart thing for me to do as the rain came fast and heavy.
And so, here I am at the Timberline Lodge during the start of the Hood to Coast relay race (tents, vendors, music, etc) and I have a great view of all around me. Mt Hood still has lots of snow on it and the snowcats are out plowing it to form a long chute for people to ski/sled down for the relay. The lodge was used for some of the exterior shots in the movie, The Shining (like when the little boy is shoved out the bathroom window to slide down a large bank of snow to "safety"). But, alas, there is no giant labrynth of bushes.
From Crater Lake to here, I have been passing volcano after volcano and walking through lava flows, boulder fields, dense forest, burned forest, exposed ridges, and passing many lakes. I have taken A LOT of photos in the past 200 miles. :)
Mckenna says "Mmmmmm!" about the blueberries. I hope you have a great rest at the Timberline, it certainly looks fantastic. Wishing you fast feet through Washington, take care.
Ken---we look forward to seeing your pictures. We survived Irene---not much damage in our area but further east in NY they REALLY got hit.Also, covered bridges in Vermont were swept away, along with a hundred years of history. Take care.
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