Day 81, Walupt Lake Trail Junction to Killen Creek

By the time I was dressed and crawled out of my tent, they had finished their second chorus and were leaving the shore of the pond. I was unable to get a photo of them before they left.

I said goodbye to Bird as I left the campsite at 6:45 a.m., but I knew it wouldn’t be long before I saw him again. He was a fast hiker and I knew he would soon catch up and pass me.

That happened about 30 minutes later.

For the next ten miles, the trail was filled with mosquitoes. There were so many of them hovering around me I had to put on my bug net. This was the first time bugs were so bad I needed to wear the net while walking.

The trail wasn’t difficult and I didn’t have trouble walking. Still, I was not feeling well.

I couldn’t figure out why I was ailing. It was a vague, achy/nauseous/sluggish a sort of feeling. It didn’t seem to be related to a lack of calories, so I didn't know how to treat it.

Maybe this was what the Yakama meant by being attacked by wild dogs?

My ailment also wasn't bad enough to make me want to stop, which was just as well with so many mosquitoes around. It would not have been a good time to take a break.

There were several ponds near the trail in this ten-mile path of mosquitoes. They were the obvious source of what buzzed around me.

I finally decided to stop at 11 a.m. to take a break and eat my second breakfast with coffee. I also took some ibuprofen and Pepto-Bismol.

The break helped only a little, so I continued on through the mosquito horde.

By the time I reached a marker indicating I had walked 400 miles since leaving the Canadian border, I was beginning to feel a little better. I was also past the worst of the mosquitoes.

At 2:30 p.m. I came to a long pile of rocks stacked 20 to 30 feet high next to the trail. The trail followed at the edge of these rocks for about a half mile. The wall was so large it looked as if it had been pushed in place for a dam or other large construction project.

These were no ordinary boulders, however. They were part of a large lava bed. The trail ran along the edge of the bed where the hot magma had stopped flowing as it cooled and became basalt.

The lava had flowed from one of Mt. Adam’s more recent eruptions, though by recent I mean roughly 3,000 years ago.

In a few spots where the line of rocks dipped a little, I caught glimpses of Mt. Adams. This was the first time I saw the mountain today and hadn’t realized until now I was getting so close to it.

A small pool fed by a spring was located near the end of where the trail followed the lava bed. Not surprisingly, this was called Lava Spring. The water flowing from it was clear and very cold.

I sat on a rock there for a long time, drinking water, eating a snack, and just relaxing.

Before long, a man named SOBO Hobo arrived. He was part of a volunteer trail maintenance crew. Other members of the crew soon followed. SOBO Hobo stayed to chat, but most of the others only stopped long enough to refill their water bottles from the spring.

A couple hikers also stopped while I was there, including Bogwitch. After a break of about an hour I was ready to leave and I was feeling back to my regular self.

Just then, Dave showed up. I was startled to see him because I thought for sure he was well ahead of me. He told me that he had stopped last night a couple miles before where I camped.

We agreed to stop and camp tonight at Killen Creek.

Just beyond the spring was a small stream. A short distance farther was Muddy Fork, which was fed by the first stream. Both were murky brown with silt runoff from the lava bed.

Seeing this water made me glad for the spring where I stopped because I wouldn’t have wanted this to be my only source for drinking water until I reached Killen Creek.

The trail the rest of the way remained easy and smooth. I only had 5.1 miles to go from the spring to the campsite and I made good time.

Along the way, there were more brief views of Mt. Adams.

Dave and I could not have picked in a more scenic spot for camping tonight. It was located in a clump of trees next to a meadow, with an up-close view of Mt. Adams.

Killen Creek ran through the meadow, with a waterfall and small pool at one end. When I arrived, a hiker named Muffy Davis was already there, as was a hiker from Taiwan who didn’t know English well.

A few minutes later, Dave and Bogwitch arrived, followed by Carrot Quinn. I had not met Carrot before, but I knew who she was. Reading her book, Thru-hiking Will Break Your Heart, was one of the reasons I had wanted to hike the PCT.

I had hoped to tell her that, but she seemed to be in a bad mood and may have been quarreling with Muffy. She soon retreated to her tent and I never got the chance.

Dave and I walked over the pool by the waterfall to soak our feet before dinner. I found the water so extremely cold I couldn’t keep my feet in for long, but he didn’t seem to mind it.

I had to fight today through an ailment of indeterminate origin, but overall it was a good day, especially in the way it finished in a peaceful setting.