I spent the weekend packing around the Indian Heaven Wilderness Area in the shadow of Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Ranier, and Mt. Jefferson.
We camped on Blue Lake Saturday night, after hiking four miles through fir trees and past a number of smaller lakes that are drying up in the summer heat. Our tent was placed on a tent-sized flat spot on the end of a small peninsula sticking carefully out into the lake. Our view was 300 degrees lake and 60 degrees peninsula and forest.
Indian Heaven has been aptly nicknamed "mosquito heaven" by past summer visitors, and though we saw the potential of mosquito hell, a lucky wind blew in as the heat faded, pushing the flying menaces into less windy parts of the forest.
It doesn't matter anyway. I am dealing carefully with the last effects of a short-lived but long-suffering tangle with a number of poison oak bushes. It's the price you sometimes pay.
I spent three long days away from email and from my computer and I didn't miss any of it in the least.
Paul and I threw together what we could of dessert using a couple of apples, two energy bars, a bottle of water, and hot chocolate powder. What we ended up with was something resembling apple crisp, without the crisp. It turned out very tasty.
The lake, like all of the lakes in the area, is slowly drying up. All of the water sources have dried up. Because there is no sediment pouring into the lake, and because Blue Lake is actually pretty sizeable, the clarity is amazing. We could see the entire bottom of the lake. I kept on wishing I had a snorkel with me. It was cold, but I would have gone diving anyway.
Today, Lars and Anne left for a three week vacation.
They bought an amazing '72 VW camper-top bus. They are driving down to Smith Rocks to climb for a day. Then on to the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree National Park, LA, Yosemite, San Francisco, the Redwoods, and the Oregon coast.
It's going to be quiet in trinity place for a while.
Time to wish you all well.
