The End of Phase Two: Backpacking in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness and the KDT

It was the end of July, two months into our adventure and the time had come to see if we were ready for the Pacific Crest Trail. After a month of long, uphill, hot and amazingly beautiful dayhikes; were we strong enough, fit enough to shoulder a thirty pound pack and hike off down the trail for days at a time? The only way to find out was to give it a shot.

View of Lake Harriet from the rim

For the trial we picked a leisurely three day loop into the Mountain Lakes Wilderness of South Central Oregon. The Mountain Lakes Wilderness surrounds a very old volcanic caldera. A caldera so old that four different streams have breached the rim and eroded the sides into several peaks leaving only small pristine lakes and an undulating rim.

The loop along that rim and into the bowl, promised great views, wonderful campsites beside clear lakes and had the added benefit of optional side-trips. If we felt up for it we could hike up the five rim peaks and cover 25 miles. If things didn't feel so great, or if something unexpected happened, we could complete the loop in 14 miles.

Packs loaded and shouldered, we left the Clover Creek trailhead at 10:00 am. Exactly 24 hours later we returned to the car. The hike had been great, the campsite beside Lake Harriet beautiful and quiet. We didn't however, end up taking any side trips and hiked only the minimum 14 miles. By the time we had hiked the first 3.7 miles to the old caldera rim we suspected the answer to the backpacking question.  By the time we got back to the car we knew. It was time to move on to phase three.

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And so it was that we have decided against thru hiking the PCT. From our previous 9-5 lives back East backpacking the PCT had seemed the best way to explore the West. Hiking from Mexico to Canada thru California, Oregon and Washington would get us in shape, and get us into the outdoors that we loved. The last two months on the road, however, have significantly changed our perpective of the PCT, our appreciation for the vastness of the West and our concept of time and how best to spend it.

Quiet camp site by Lake Harriet

If you only have a limited time to hike, you want to optimize your time on the trail, and you want to see some really great places, we still feel that the PCT is the way to do it. From talking with various thru-hikers over the last two months however, we learned learned that it does get boring. Over two-thirds of those we talked to listen to i-pods. They also noted that they can get jaded to the very beauty they are out to enjoy. They often pass by tremendous views and the little side trails to the really good spots. They're either in a rush to get to the next drop, town or campsite, or they're just no longer interested. Additionally, this year especially, the trail is crowded. With so many folks out hiking, and limited camping options, many sites are crowded. Hard to believe but in just one day we saw over 45 thru-hikers. All headed to the same campsite 12 miles up the trail. Hiking the PCT is also physically demanding, especially so for folks who already have some miles on. And most of all, thru-hiking requires total drive and focus.

Simultaneous to learning more about the PCT I realized that for the first time in my life (not so sure about S.D's), I don't Have to do anything. I don't have to be driven.  I also realized that I don't want to set a goal that would require that kind of drive. It's exhausting, and it's not fun. Back East, I thought the solution would be to just hike, or as I told myself, "not hike the trail, but live on it." Good thought, but not really practical. Even the most relaxed hiker has to get to the next water source, food drop or town within a set time period. It's a physical limitation of the trail and the climate.

Early morning - time for introspection and a selfie

Meanwhile we've noticed that there are soooo many fantastic places out west that we want to see, an unlimited number of excellent hikes, and backcountry camping opportunities far away from the PCT. The Mountain Lakes Wilderness hike was just one! Enough that it will take years to enjoy them all, so long as we stay healthy enough. The first half of phase two, hiking around to get in shape for backpacking, and then phase two, the Mountain Lakes trip showed us that we probably could backpack. We're not quite ready yet but with a lot of pain, and a lot of vitamin I (thru-hiker name for Ibuprofen) we might be able to do it. But we wonder about the long term effects of all that pounding at our age. We don't want to merely get in shape for six months, we want to be healthy for a long time. Subjecting our bodies to all that weight and pain for a thru-hike, just doesn't seem the long-term healthy option. If we only had six months off before we had to go back to work, we might consider it, but we have years and years that we want to be out here hiking. Doesn't seem a good idea to risk the injuries for a short term gain.

And so, while in many ways the decision makes me sad, and this whole post seems, even to me, to be a weak rationalization, we will not be thru-hiking, or section-hiking the PCT. At the end of phase two we came to a fork in the path, and we chose not the path less traveled (although the PCT is getting really heavily traveled itself), but rather to bushwack. We're going to try something new. We're going to find a way to live that lets us explore the west for the next three, five or ten years, stay physically healthy, enjoy some quiet trails and live outdoors. Think of it as a more relaxed, less linear, less demanding but more sustainable and open KDT (Kelly Dave Trail).