The next couple of days in the Three Sister Area (I hear there is a “Little Brother” , a “Wife” and a “Husband” somewhere near-by), I planned to hike two sections of the Pacific Crest Trail. I retrospect, my “excellent planning skills” were questionable. My first hike would start at Devil’s Lake, where I’d pick up the Wickiup Trail which would connect to the PCT in about 2 miles. The second would begin at the Lava Camp Trailhead. I had assumed these trailhead were close to Lava Lake. They were not. Devil’s Lake 15 miles and Lava Camp 75 miles and a 1 hour and 45 minute drive. I felt quite smug though because I learned that hiking in the Central Cascades Wilderness required a permit which went on sale at 7:00 am 2 days prior to hiking date. So I was online at 7:00 am and got my permit and within a couple hours the 90 permit were gone. Clearly I would not be hiking in solitude and I expected crowded trails and plenty of company.
When I arrived at Devil’s Lake parking lot, the lot was packed. Confirmation of my expectation. I set out toward the Wickiup Trailhead expecting a couple mile walk to the PCT (per AI). The hike itself turned out to be as challenging as my questionable planning. From Devil’s Lake Trailhead I used a highway underpass on the Elk-Devil’s Trail to reach Wickiup and hopefully eventually reach the PCT. This is an important fact to remember this as I complain later about distances!!!!
Starting at an elevation of 5460’ the trail climbed gradually, gaining elevation through a Douglas fur and hemlock forest over a surface that alternated between dirt, rocks, roots and occasional stretches of loose sandy pumice soil. At 82, with osteoporosis and asthma along for the adventure, I had to negotiate the trail somewhat differently than I might have in my younger years. No plodding straight up one foot in front of the other but frequent pauses to catch my breath and thus telling myself I am stopping to admire the scenery. This was not a trail however with views to admire, hence few photos, I kept having this conversation between my legs, my lungs and my brain about what I was doing —- with my brain suggesting that perhaps I had made a serious error in judgement. I kept checking the distance traveled: 2 miles, 2.25 miles, 2.5 miles, and finally at 2.75 I finally realized there had been a serious miscalculation and that the estimate was seriously wrong. And the trail was changing its personality! Less forest, more exposure, serious sand, and dust with the sun operating at full capacity. At this point I made the highly strategic position to turn around. I found a shady log sat down, ate my lunch and ruminated over the turn of events.
The return trip was easier in theory since it was mostly downhill but it was still long and hot. Eventually I reached the junction of the Wickiup Trail and the Elk-Devil’s Lake Trail and with supreme confidence turned right and felt elated that I was on the final downhill mile to the parking lot. About a mile later I wondered why I had not yet reached the parking lot. It slowly uncomfortably dawned on me that I had just hiked a downhill mile and would be climbing it back up to the junction that demanded a left turn. I was increasingly clear that navigation was not one of my core competencies. I would have preferred to make this discovery earlier.
By now my “quick five-mile hike” was something closer to 7.5 and never having reached my destination. But I was relieved to be on the correct path. I later came to discover that both Claude and Chat GPT were relying on outdated information when estimating the mileage. After confronting Claude about this error, it researched a bit deeper and found that the path to the trailhead had been rerouted to a new underpass shared with the Elk-Devils Trail replacing the original highway crossing thus adding meaningful distance before intersecting the original 2 mile Wickiup Plains Trail. Claude was not apologetic. Also, as I looked more closely at the Trail head sign at Devil’s Lake today, it indicated that the distance to the Wickiup Trail was one mile!
The first thing I did when I reached my car was open my cooler, retrieve a caffeine-free Diet Pepsi – my most dependable vice— pour it over ice and drink it far too quickly. Also, by now I also realized my assumption about the crowds was confidently wrong. I saw only four people the entire time and later realized that most visitors were there for the lake, paddle boarding and swimming. Though hot and tired I was curious about this lake, took a brief stroll to it and discovered all those recreational enthusiasts. Perhaps they had the better idea!
Hot, tired and thoroughly humbled by both distance and directional challenges, I still felt satisfied . I had managed a 7.5 mile hike in the Three Sister and returned without incident, injury, or any further directional challenges. After driving by the Newberry National Monument to scout out some challenges for the following day, it was back to camp for dinner, another magnificent sunset, and a rock solid nights sleep in my cozy little base camp tent with such amenities as a cot, a camp chair, and a jug of water.
Uniquely Theo 