7/28/17 – Shelter Cove and Beyond

Day 96
Miles: 11.43 on OST alternate plus

1,904.15 to 1,908.21

Total miles hiked: 1,312.06

(+2.11 from Shelter Cove back to PCT)
The trail treated us kindly today with uphills not too steep, downhill gentle on the knees, and only few small obstacles along the way as we hiked the Oregon Skyline Trail alternate towards Shelter Cove. I had to stop several times to shake sand from my shoes. It was an arduous task due to the amount of mosquitoes that swarmed me immediately after I stopped but it was necessary if I didn’t want to develop any new blisters.

I wanted to be upset with my shoes at first for the little holes on their sides that let the dirt in but then I realized they have already carried me over 550 miles of which many were rocky and hard on any footwear. They did their job well, and they only have 4 more days to go until retirement.

Shelter Cove was a fun experience. We got to the restaurant and ate immediately. Dave remained faithful to a burger while I went with hiker special which was chili dog today. It was a good amount of food for $6.00. Really a sweet deal.
We scavenged the hiker box for few extra supplies we needed to get to our next stop at Sisters/Bend area and bought the rest at the store. We still even had some leftovers so we didn’t need that much.

Afterwards it was time to chill and have a drink and chat with other hikers. It was hard to leave the place but we wanted to put few more miles in still tonight and so at 4:15 p.m. we were back on the move.

Short climb reconnected us with PCT and then we started gaining little bit of elevation to Rosary Lake where we planned to camp. 

We were the second party to set up at the lake. It was breezy on that side and the breeze kept mosquitoes away and so this piece of real estate became very popular with coming hikers and the shoreline filled with tents.

Dave and I spent the evening talking to Tomáš and Lenka, Czech couple we first met at Mazama Village. Their pace feels like a run compared to ours and they will pull ahead of us tomorrow but it was nice to have their company for tonight.