Day 7 (23 Miles)

I started the day camped out just beneath the "rim". Crater National Park rangers let hikers pitch a tent anywhere they like so long as they are out of sight of park roads.

During the day I would hike across the eastern span of the rim, following a road that circumnavigates the entire rim. The rim hike was steep in places with some fantastic views of the lake. The lake's surface is hundreds of feet beneath the rim, so getting access to it is impossible (except by an access road at the south end of the rim).

This means, among other things, that water access is a major concern for the backpacker. By days end, I would have to carry water 23 miles between resupply points. I have four liters of capacity, so this translates to 8.8 pounds of water to haul. Did I also mention the trail is hot? That means you must fight the urge to gulp down water, you've got to make it last.

After I descended the rim, the hike became ho-hum as far as scenery goes. In fact I actually hiked about ten miles through the Oregon Desert in my travels today. At least the trail was flat, so I dropped the hammer on my hiking pace. My goal for the day was Diamond Lake, where if things lined up correctly, I would take a "zero" day the next day and get some needed rest.

As I made my way through the desert, I met another PCT hiker headed South. He mentioned that he was picking up from the place in Oregon where he broke his leg on his first southbound attempt from Canada to Mexico. He was hiking in flip flops!!!!! I couldn't believe it and i wanted to ask but I figured he was probably tired of answering questions about it so I let it go.

Before we parted ways he let me know that someone had left a small water cache a few miles ahead. Since I had begun to grow short on water this was good news. I raced ahead to find there was still a liter left. This would get me to Diamond Lake, no problem.

A couple of hours later I did arrive at Diamond Lake. I immediately proceeded to a local pizza shop and ate a monster salad, 3/4 of a pizza, and two pitchers of water. I was also able to get a room at the Diamond Lake Resort for the following night, and found a hiker's camp where I could stay for this night. All in all a good day.