8/6/17 – Dozer Loves Thru Hikers

Blog 8/6 – Dozer loves Thruhikers
Day 104
Miles: 2,066.58 to 2,088.97

Total miles hiked: 1,447.93
We continued hiking through the green tunnel today and the one time a view of Mt. Hood peeked through an opening in trees, it was so hazy I nearly missed it.
Good things happened today, though. I think both Dave and I would agree that as number one would rank the trail magic we received shortly before arriving at Timothy Lake. 

It was time for a snack, or second breakfast as Dave often calls it, when we walked past a sign suggesting magic was at a designated camp site just 0.1 miles away. Of course we had to check it out.

Once we walked into the camp site, we were greeted by an enormous Mastiff called Dozer and his owner who took a month off work to offer magic at this location. 

Dozer was the sweetest dog ever, he would lean on me, which nearly knocked me over, and waited for petting, and once I petted him, he was my best friend for our entire stay. I have a feeling he loves thru hikers at least as much as his owner.

After an hour, we had to say good bye. Our plan was to hike to Barlow Pass which is about 6 miles from Timberline Lodge, just at a base of the final climb. It’s a good location of ones wants to catch the famous breakfast buffet the next morning. But many miles separated us from Barlow Pass and even though we both slept good, we felt tired and sluggish.

Timothy Lake we walked by would make an excellent camping spot. Many of the sites we saw were directly on the shore, and within a walking distance from parking lot, I assumed by the number of people camping here with large coolers and tents suitable for car camping only. Every spot seemed to be taken after Saturday night.

Little Crater Lake was another highlight of our day. It was deep but perfectly clear and the color was just amazing. My cell phone photo could never do the lake a justice, hopefully my big camera captured the beauty.
After a very late lunch, we loaded on water and continued towards Barlow Pass. It was still 9 miles away at 3:45 that was not a good sign. Especially since we had to climb over 1,000 feet along the way. We started considering alternate sites such as those around Twin Lakes. 

But the afternoon surprised us. I did not feel much stronger, yet the miles went by faster that either of us expected and we strolled to Barlow Pass at 7:20 p.m. which gave us enough time to set up and eat dry dinner before bed.

Hope we have restful sleep. We are going to need energy for the pre breakfast climb tomorrow.