Day 120

Trail miles: 5.3

Side trail miles: 9.7

Total: almost 1839.2

The campsite I stayed at was very creepy. It was in the middle of the burn section and I was all alone. Plus I hadn’t seen barely anyone all day yesterday so it kind of freaked me out. Especially at 1:00am when I inevitably had to pee. I had to play a podcast to fall back asleep. Mosquito city again when I woke up so I wore my rain suit. Let me tell you, I know I stink all the time, but when I take that thing off when I’ve walked miles in it, it’s horrible. Could probably knock someone out. I got to the road and walked it until I made it to the campsite around 7:30am. I went straight to the shower. I didn’t have shampoo or clean clothes, I just knew I needed to clean my nasty legs. It was a very cold shower yet again. They don’t get any better. I was able to do some chores like sink laundry and clean my spoon. It’s nice when it’s not all crusty after 3 days of dinners. I do my best but sometimes I leave it too long before I wipe it clean and it’ll be there until I use soap. The general store opened at 9:00 so I couldn’t go to breakfast because I needed to pick up my package and repack my bag. I got some souvenirs to send home along with some extra food I had. I ended up sending the whole thing to my aunt and uncle who live near here because my microspikes are also in the package. I might need them in Washington. The hiker box in the post office was the jackpot. I snagged two peak refuel meals!! And a large Gatorade. I probably should have kept the bottle because I need more water capacity and all they sold at the rim valley were sparkling waters in a weird tin bottle. Brad and I caught the 11:00am shuttle to Crater Lake. It was amazing. I probably use that word too much, but this really deserved it. The reflection of the mountains on the lake was beautiful. We found the early breakfast goers in the lodge sleeping. Then plan was to wait out the heat until 4:00pm and hike to the Grouse Hill campsite. I would have bought more stuff from the visitor center and gift shop but I had no way of sending it home. Maybe I have a problem. Oh well I can’t wait to see the pile of clothes I sent home after this is all done. And stickers and magnets. I got my permit stamped at the visitor center! One more added to the collection. We left late, which is good because it rained on everyone who left early. We could see it coming over the lake in the distance but somehow never reached us. Everyone at camp was complaining how all their things were wet.  All I have to complain about it how my group must be talking about me behind my back because all three of them came up to me on separate occasions today to tell me to send my camera home. I don’t have a problem with taking more breaks if that means I get to enjoy taking pictures on trail. Especially after a day like today. But it seems to be effecting their day more than mine. Well I can try it out when I get to the next post office which may be in Bend. I’ll send it to my aunt and uncle so I can get it back at trail days. Makes me sad since taking photos is what makes me happy. That’s a big part of this journey for me. Being able to bring home my adventure and post it on my walls.