Day 123 : Crater Lake

20th August 2013
Mile 1824.5 to mile 1837.5 : Stuart Falls trail junction to Crater Lake Rim
Mileage : 13

Average mileage since day 101 : 21.8

Lisa. I had planned to arrive at Crater Lake, where I'd be picking up a resupply box, with no food and that included that mornings breakfast. With a light packed, and spurred on by the thought of a real breakfast I covered the miles into Crater Lake's Mazama Village at speed. Mazama Village is located at the southern base of the fomer Volcano known as Mazama by the indian peoples that used to live in the area. After picking up 2 resuply boxes containing 6 days worth of food from the store, being charged way too much for breakfast, taking a cold shower at the campground, and speaking to Sophie for the first time in ages, I headed up the hill to the crater rim. I'd forgotten what 6 days worth of food feels like, and it wasn't pleasant. The trail up the the rim was steep and hot, and I was hot and sweaty by the time i got up there. Although impressive, I wasnlt blown away by the view due to the fact that the prevailing westerly winds were blowing huges amounts of smoke from the fires i'd been smelling up to the lake and was so think tat I couldn't see the other side. I contemplated my next move sitting at the rim cafe eating an overpriced icecream, and finally decided that I had come a long way to get a good view of crater lake so would stay until I got one. With that decided I headed across to the Crater Rim Lodge to find out if I wanted to be fleeced some more before heading back to the trail and bumped into Puppy again before even setting my rucksack down. I was surprised not to see her at Mazama, but had rightly guessed that she had just continued straight up the trail to the rim, and sort out resupply stuff from there. I sat down and managed to get some a plate of very english looking chips and struck up a conversation with Lisa, who was sat opposite us on the other side of a small coffee table. Lisa was very interested in our experiences as she had a friend who was contemplating the trail, so Puppy and I, entertained her with trail stories for an hour or two we tried hard to put off our chores, mine hiking, and Puppy's resupply. I had been assured that the smoke would clear up as the night drew on Puppy and I waited until dark before heading back to the trail to camp on the rim. Camping on the rim of Crater Lake is mildly illegal, but I am used to stealth camping by now and so wasn't worried about being caught. Besides, although the rules apply to us, the no cmaping rules I feel are mostly there to deter non hiker campers from camping there, and don't really apply to us. I know that isn't a very good attitude to take, but I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to see the sunrise over crater lake, a sight every thru-hiker should see. Puppy and I finally got up to leave, and as we were about to settle our bill's discovered that Lisa had covered it for us. Neither of us were expecting it and so were very grateful for the hospitality shown to us both by this impromptu trail angel. If you're reading this Lisa thankyou very much, those chips were much needed and greatly appreciated! Puppy was heading down to Mazama in the morning to do her resupply, and I was continuing around the lake to the western most point in order to get the best view of the sun rise, so we parted ways in the dark. It's unlikely I'll meet up with Puppy again on the trail but you never know with the PCT anything can happen. I carried on in the dark for a few miles along the rim looking for somewhere to stop right on the end of the almost sheer clifs down to the lake below. The trail was surprisingly difficult here with several steep ups and downs, exacerbated by my heavy rucksack with my 6 days worth of food, and also by 4 litres which I would need to cover a 27 mile dry stretch I would have to cover tomorrow. I had orginally planned to head up to a fire tower on a peak called the Watchman, but stopped just short right on the cliff. I made camp quickly and set my alarm early in order to be sure of seeing the dawn the next morning.