Day 131: (20.5 miles)
mile 1866.5 – 1887

Lately the trail has flattened out a bit. Trees and other green growie things everywhere. Nothing else can be seen and it feels claustrophobic walking in a forest corridor. The trail usually gives you some awesome views of the horizon, mountains, and valleys. I think if I closed my eyes and spun around I couldn’t tell which way to go. It just all looks the same mile after mile. So we walk and walk and walk. In the afternoon we walk out of the green forest and into the black forest. A recent burn removes all green growth above five feet, but we can see! Off in the distance are tall mountains covered in green trees. One mountain range after another. They seem to go on forever and ever.

Traveling through this burn is eerie and we spotted and old trail emblem posted on a burned tree.

First of many old emblems we saw over the next three miles. Back into the trees we went and before long we reached Windigo road where a water cache was left. We took a short break with a hiker named Fresh who also was planning to take the alternate route, Oregon Skyline Trail (OST) to Shelter Cove. After comparing maps we set off down the trail for about 4 miles before making camp along a small lake. Fresh went on his way saying he had enough daylight for more miles and a chance to reach
Shelter Cove for breakfast, laundry and a shower. We made camp along the shore of a small lake, alone, quite, and comfortable. Good night.