2026 PCT Day 12, 26 August 2026 (Wednesday)
Overall PCT Day 128
"Casting A Vote For Fish Lake"
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Start Location: |
Hyatt Lake CG - Mi. 1744.2 |
Destination: |
Fish Lake - Mi. 1774.9 |
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PCT Miles Day 128: |
30.7 |
Cum PCT Miles: |
2328.1 |
|
Non-PCT Miles Day 128: |
1.3 |
Cum All Miles: |
2535.0 |
|
PCT Miles Remaining: |
318.2 |
|
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Elevation Gain Day 128: |
3461 |
Cum Elevation Gain: |
405,312 |
It was a little strange, this morning started off pretty chilly, but within a couple miles, it was warm enough for me to take off my jacket, but then it started getting chilly again.
Today was kind of a hot and cold day for me. I waffled back-and-forth between everything feeling good and having good energy to having my energy flag a little bit and having a few nagging pains. My small right toe has a buster on it—not the worst place to get a blister—and sometimes it feels like it’s getting worse, but when I took my socks off at lunch, it was the same that it’s been; the discomfort level shits back-and-forth. Sometimes I feel it more than other times. In the last couple days I’ve been feeling a strain in my high right ankle sometimes it’s tight enough that it feels like it’s slowing me down, other times it feels perfectly normal. It might be a minor case of the shin splints, but I don’t really know for sure. Well, that seems like a lot of complaining for somebody that racked up more than 30 miles today.
Fish Lake was about 32 miles from where I camped the night before at Hyatt Lake Campground. I thought there might be a slim outside chance that I could get there by the end of today, but I was doubtful. As I was moving a little sluggishly and painfully for most of the first half of the day, the problem is reliable water sources are a few and far between in this part of Oregon, and so are acceptable tent sites. Unless you are willing to carry a huge amount of water, you almost have no choice, but to get down to Fish Lake, which is about 2 miles from the trail, which means a 4 mile round-trip, unless you can get a ride.
During the second half of the day I started moving better, was feeling more energy, and before I knew it I was just 10 miles away, and there were still several hours of daylight. As I was moving well, I decided I was just going to go for it even if that meant getting there in the dark. They have a PCT campground that is free to stay in, and they also have some cabins on site.
When I got within cell phone range, I called the resort to see if they had any availability, and they did. The lady who works there was very nice and offered to come up the highway and pick me up, which also meant that she could close her front office without waiting for me to trudge down there about 30 minutes later than I would get there if she just gave me a ride. It’s a good thing. I decided to call when I did, because she was just about ready to close up. But everything worked out. I don’t have to set up my tent in the dark, or cook in the dark, I get to sleep in a real bed, and I get another shower. I’d heard that Fish Lake was very hiker, friendly, and so far I’d say I have to agree.
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| Typical trail through the forest today |
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| Hand cranked water at the South Brown Mountain Shelter |
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| Brown Mountain |
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| Twilight near Fish Lake |
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