Day 18
Today’s Miles: ZERO
Total Miles: 211
Family Day at Odell Lake and Crescent Lake
My very first real-deal Zero Day, and the 3rd section of Oregon now complete.
It was nice to catch up with Carl on life, and everything back home. He has had his hands full for sure! I appreciated him every single day during my journey. I honestly don’t know how I would fare if the roles were reversed.
He made us a breakfast feast of pancakes, hash browns and eggs, then Hux and I spent some time at the lake playing with his “magic” pumice rocks. We did float or sink experiments. If something sunk, he would exclaim, “Sinkaroo!” The pumice rocks were a big hit – he was amazed a rock could float.
Wanting a little adventure, we drove to the Odell Lake Lodge and Resort (where I first my parents yesterday), and ordered Deschutes brewery beers (the only thing they had on tap), and a marionberry cobbler. We sat on the beautiful patio facing the lake with no one else around. Hux mostly chased chipmunks, and it was the nicest feeling to just relax.
Odell lake had a wild algae bloom, and we definitely didn’t want to swim there.
We were advised the best option was Crescent Lake, so that is where we spent the afternoon. We all swam, played in the sand, and relaxed in the sun.
My little one really enjoyed swimming. I was looking forward to him taking swim lessons this year, but all the classes were cancelled because of the pandemic. None of the pools were even open. I worry he will be far behind, but I guess most kids will be behind in many things in the coming years…
We made a stop at the Shelter Cove Resort on our way back to the campground. I decided to take a shower. I almost didn’t thinking, “I’ll be in Bend in 3 days,” but I was beyond happy I changed my mind. It was the nicest shower I’ve ever taken in a campground. It seemed new, was very clean, and they even had soft fuzzy towels for us to use. Thinking back on it, I can’t believe I would even consider not showering if one is available on the trail.
Always take the shower!
Leaving the shower facilities I saw Thomas (my fellow Oregon section hiker I met near Callahan’s Lodge, and saw again at Fish lake and Crater Lake). He took another zero day, so I caught up to him. However, this was the last time we saw each other.
Back at camp, we started hearing thunder, and watched the sky change dramatically. There was no way to know for sure if it would hit us, it never did yesterday, but we started to batten down the hatches just in case.
We wandered to the dock to watch the storm, and I wish we had gotten there sooner; it was fantastical. A couple from Colorado was also storm watching. Two big rainbows greeted us, and the sky looked eerie (pictures on my phone didn’t really capture it).
Here Comes the Rain!
It wasn’t long before the rain started traveling over the lake toward us – then it was time to RUN to our tent. It poured down rain for 45 minutes while we played games waiting for it to pass.
We emerged at sunset, and walked down to the boat dock again. The lake was clear, all the algae was gone, and leeches were on the dock, which provided some interesting science talk.
It was a pretty epic storm. I was BEYOND happy (and super duper lucky) I got to experience it safe, dry, and with my family, and all my backpacking gear stayed safely dry as well. Most things really did always work out for me on the trail…so far.
Environmental Communications 