PCT Section Hike 2022 – Day 16 – Wandering the Earth

Goal for the Day: Lost Lakes

I awoke and enjoyed the light from the rising sun.

Based on distances, I targeted the Lost Lakes for a stopping point for the day. Water, a chance to swim, and what looked like some nice views added to the decision to target Lost Lakes. First I’d have to climb up that seemingly impossible cliff that I saw the afternoon before.

Fortunately, the actual trail climbed gently up from the creek instead of using the dreaded switchbacks that I had first feared I’d have to climb.

In the end, it would have been pretty easy to continue the day before, although the next water on the trail was almost 2 miles from the creek. So, it was good that I had decided to stop where I had.

I made my way down to the Wet Meadows area, which was a very lush area with lakes, ponds and reservoirs. The first creek I came across had some kind of bubbles drifting down with the flow of water and forming into little pockets of foam. Needless to say, I didn’t refill at that creek. Definitely saw a lot of signs of human alterations to this area as I went. No wonder it wasn’t marked as ‘wilderness’ on the map.

If did fill up at the outflow from Tamarack Lake before heading up a long stretch of trail that didn’t seem to have any water sources until Lost Lakes (which was one of the main reasons I had targeted Lost Lakes for this day).

Unfortunately, I found out a bit later that the water from Tamarack Lake tasted a bit metallic, even after filtering it. Doubling back to the last water source before Tamarack Lake was too far, so I’d have to live with the taste and hope it wasn’t toxic.

After crossing Blue Lakes Road and resisting the urge to flag down a car to either get a Diet Coke or a ride to civilization (or both), I continued up the PCT towards Lost Lakes.

As usual, it seemed to be taking me longer than it should have to make progress. As I neared the last camping spot indicated on my maps before a long hike across a very exposed and treeless area, I decided that going all the way to Lost Lakes was not going to be possible that day.

It was a hot afternoon, so finding someplace with some shade to camp was a good idea, so I started looking around a tight bend in the trail for a good campsite.

I found some nice spots with views near the trail, but every time I started to put down my pack (and once after I had put it down) I saw what looked like a better spot further along the ridge I was on top of. I had basically gone as far as I could go on that ridge before settling on a spot.

It had an amazing 270 degree view of the area that I had just hiked through and of the Blue Lakes below me. Little gems like this are hard to come by, but if you spend a little time looking you can sometimes hit the jackpot.

Once settled in, I took the time to re-filter all the water I had gathered at Tamarack Lake and found the bad taste was gone.

The sunset was amazing to see from there. There was no doubt that I had chosen wisely.