Crater Lake - Mile 1854 - 8/31

I woke up and to my surprise, IT WASN'T COLD! Sign of a good day. The three of us ate breakfast while watching the sunrise over the foggy Crater Lake. It was a beautiful moment even with the bit of fog and the day was setting up to be a great one. The rim trail along the lake was very steep for PCT standards and with 6 1/2 days of food and 10 miles worth of water, my muscles were feeling every step. Unfortunately, the smoke/haze filled the crater so that you could barely see the other side but the entire area was still as majestic and surreal. Hiking around the lake a curious chipmunk, who was very well fed, ate food strait from my hand which was was novel. Past the lake Spins and I ate lunch at the water cache and filled up 4 1/2 liters (9 lbs!) of water for the next 17 miles of waterlessness. I hiked in a pretty heavy meditative zone for the next eight miles until I crossed highway 138 and took a break. Another, unknown to me, water cache was there. DAMNIT I had to carry all that extra water weight for nothing. It was funny to watch a few other hikers arrive there and see the same frustrated look when they saw cache. My feet held up surprisingly well for how heavy my pack currently is. Another two miles and I set up camp a little early but I put in good time considering how much I hung around Crater Lake in the morning. Hopefully tomorrow morning is as warm as this morning was, it makes it so much easier to start the day earlier.