I’ll be at Trail Days in Cascade Locks from August 17th to 19th, if you’re in the area and would like to come say hi message me on Instagram @kaymkieffer so we can meet up!
Olallie Lake (mile 2046) to Joe Graham Horse Camp (mile 2073)
There are fires in California. Fires in Washington. Fires in Oregon. And no matter how far we hike north the smoke from those fires finds us. When we leave Olallie Lake this morning the looming shape of Mount Jefferson is barely visible on the horizon; the white of glaciers blending with the hazy sky, as though the formidable peak is being erased in sections.
We hike into the forest where, unable to see beyond the trees to track the daily migration of the sun we are thrust into a scene of perpetual late afternoon. The light cast through the haze is so red that the shadows appear like blue stains upon the ground. A forest reduced to the crude color drawing of a child, red light and blue shadows imposed on a forest of endless green.
The smoke reaches all the way to Colorado, less thick I‘m sure, but you cannot escape it – so hike on!
Great post.