After yesterday’s steep climb to camp, I had a very flat day today. I spent most of the day walking along ridges and sidling around small peaks, with just a couple of moderate descents and ascents. The trail took me over Lolo Pass, around Hiyu Mountain and Sentinel Peak to Salvation Spring. I stopped at this spring for nearly an hour and spread out my tent and jackets to dry in the sun. From there, I climbed between Preachers Peak and Devil’s Pulpit to follow the tops all the way past Bucks Peak and Indian Mountain to camp on a spectacular spur. I covered 15.9 miles today, 25.6 km.

I packed up a wet tent this morning and headed down the ridge towards Lolo Pass. Early in the descent I had the chance to look out through the trees and I couldn’t see anything through the cloud. The trail remained high in the clouds for several hours before emerging into sunlight near Salvation Spring.

When I got to the spring, the sun was shining and another hiker, Daniel, was already there drying out his gear in the sun. I joined in and before long we had covered the whole area in soaking wet equipment and clothing. A third hiker showed up, added to the scene, and we all had lunch at this spot while our gear dried.

After lunch, I kept walking along the ridgetops over Blue Lake and down past Buck Peak. Finally I was lucky enough to get a good view of Mt Hood with less cloud blocking the way. It was a bit of a shock to see how far from the mountain I had come already.

As I continued along the ridges towards my planned camp site, I had views towards the mountains in Washington, Mt St Helens stood out from the rest with it’s flat top. Just before reaching camp, I stepped onto an exposed volcanic ridge and knew I was about to find an epic spot to wrap up my time in Oregon.

When I got to camp, I was greeted with an amazing landscape and panoramic views. I had bratwurst left from last night, and fresh onion; a perfect send off for a whirlwind trip through Oregon. The sun went down shortly after I finished dinner and clouds immediately moved in through my camp. I knew I was about to test my gear in exposed conditions.