July 21
1793-1821

In the morning we climb up Lucifer ridge, and around the summit of Devil’s peak. Those are the actual names. It was actually quite pretty. Devil’s peak is lined with gold looking rocks at the summit.

From the ridge we see the horizon cloudy with smoke. There is another large complex of fires north of us, just past Crater lake.

The mosquitos are much less ravenous today, as we pass out of sky lake wilderness into a much drier area. We have a 15 mile stretch of trail without water where we can choose from a trickle of snow melt turned gray with volcanic dust or a murky pond. I chose the dust, amber with her filter chose the pond.

I get in front of her as she takes a side trail to the pond. We are walking through another burn area and the trail is destroyed with blow downs.

Towards the early evening I cross over the boundary into Crater Lake National Park, and the trail is transformed. A clean path is cut through the blow downs and signs point the way at every trail junction.

It is funny to see the difference in the trail as it passes through land controlled by different governing bodies. The national park service always has the most pristine trail.

I walk by the 1800 mile mark before zipping down to the cafe at one of the park’s entrances. The grill closed at 8pm so I get there quite a bit ahead of amber so we can get hot food before it closes. Financial decisions become a lot more squirrelly when you are in need. Normally I would scoff at 22 dollar chicken strips and fries, but now I need them. The next time you are considering going to a Michelin starred fine dining restaurant, maybe consider instead spending a similar amount on flat bread pizza at Mazama village in Crater lake.

Overhead helicopters carry containers of water to the fires.