We made our way around Mt Jefferson today. The trail circled around the mountain all day, dropping into Milk Creek along the way. Just before reaching Jefferson Park, we met two trail angels, Fancy Ramen and Knorrmaster, who were hanging out and giving away snacks right in the middle of the trail. One of them was headed up past Seattle and offered us a ride to Timberline Lodge, we took the offer to get up to Mt Hood/Wy’east a day earlier than planned. Before we knew it, we were at the Timberline Lodge, about to start the last Oregon section. Today was a short day, just 9.4 miles covered, 15.6 km.

This morning, everything was still soaked from yesterday’s storm. It was a cold start to the morning, and once we got moving we could see that everything on the trail was still dripping. The valley below us held a layer of fog at the bottom like a river of cloud.

We walked around Mt Jefferson, above Pamela Lake. The trail gave us good views of Grizzly Peak on the other side of the valley as we passed. The traverse took us through Milk Creek which was a good spot to collect water and dry out our soaked gear in the sun.

After a quick stop at the creek, we continued around the mountain. We had views up the valleys to Mt Jefferson, and soon we had climbed up into an old burn zone. This area would have been quite nice just a few weeks ago, there were rhododendrons along the trail which had just finished blooming.

In the middle of this burn zone, we met Fancy Ramen and Knorrmaster handing out trail magic. Seeing this right in the middle of the trail, with barely enough room to get by was a genuinely awesome surprise. They offered us a ride to Timberline Lodge which we happily took, buying us another day to catch up with the bubble.

We arrived at the Lodge after dark, set up tents just a few hundred meters up the hill from the main lodge and headed to the bar. It was so cool to stay this close to such an iconic lodge, and enjoy the food and drink available. The entire lodge, campsite, and mountainside was lit up by full moon, adding to the beauty of the evening.