I try to delay getting up in the morning because there are two hikers that are camped right next to me. I’m really not very good at waiting. I try to pack up with minimal noise and I don’t do my usual breakfast in camp but wait till later to avoid waking anyone up.

The smell of smoke is pretty heavy in the air but it is still dark. By the time it lightens I can see that there is a lot of smoke in the air. Still figuring it just blew in from the other fires. It is just that the smell is a bit heavy and that makes me wonder.

Around 11:30 I enter into the Indian Heaven Wilderness within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The Indian Heaven Wilderness is 20,784 acres and has over 150 lakes. It was established in 1984 under President Ronald Regan. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest is 1,368,300 acres established in 1897 under President Grover Cleveland.

There are not any pictures from this day as I was forest most of the day but all the smoke was so heavy that no meaningful scenic photo could be taken. I start of see the toll of the huge wind storm we had over labor day as there are fresh trees down on the path.

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It was a good hiking day. I meet one thru hike named “Prof” who indicates that he is sick of hiking and just wants it to be over. He has to be at White Pass in two days to meet his fiancee and that is pretty much impossible. Indicates he is going into Trout Lake and try to find someone willing to driver him over to White Pass. Near the end of the day I meet another hiker named Paul who is just doing a small section of the trail. Basically the same small section he is doing. We meet at Bear Lake which is a beautiful lake. He is going on to Blue Lake about 3 miles away and I’m going to stop at Junction Lake about 1 mile away.

Both of use are concerned about the amount of smoke and how strong it smells. While I am setting up camp another hiker comes through and he indicates there are two fires that are pretty close. One fire at the Oregon Washington border has the trail closed for 10 miles on either side. There is another fire that he says is visible from Blue Lake. At this point I send a message to Lenora, Martha, and Matt asking if they can find out any information.

Turns out there is a new fire that is about 5 miles west of me. Big Hollow fire that has already consumed 12000 acres. It is almost impossible to get information about these fires in real time. Information is posted every 12 hours and as fast as these fires move, that just does not do any good. Martha and Matt decide they need to head out as it may be necessary to get me off the PCT. It is a 7 hour drive and as they are driving they get to see some fires in action.

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It is a stressful night as we try to communicate what is happening. I’m not sure if I should continue south or go back north. It has been pretty dry up to where I am and so going back north does not give me any escape if the fire moves faster than expected. I can continue south which has a number of lakes for protection if the fire gets to the PCT. Really can’t sleep and keep getting out of my tent to see if I can see any glow. The first time I get out I think my glasses have fogged over but they haven’t. It is just the smoke. Finally about 2 am they have gathered enough information that we decide I should continue south and that the fire is not expected to move any closer to the PCT. At that point I am able to get to sleep and do so until about 5 am.

• Miles: 15
• Steps: 39564
• PCT Mile: 2207
• Elevation: 4748
• Location: https://w3w.co/typically.whisks.diner