July 11 Howard Prairie Lake to Barton Flats Rd (PCT mile 1749 to 1759)

After an awesome breakfast, Rob and Alice drove me up to Howard Prairie Lake and dropped me off. Thank you so much Alice and Rob for being such good friends!

And so I hit the trail where I exited last year.

I hiked no more than 100 yards before I was passed by Bubbles and Hoarder from Santa Cruz, PCT through hikers. Although she does have a bubbly personality, Bubbles’ trailname is due to the increasingly number of blisters she has encountered on this trip. She carries a full roll of Leuko Tape on the trail and there is very little of her feet exposed. I’ll spare you the photo…

The wildflowers are great – many I do not know the names of

I came across one patch of Lilac that had large nests of caterpillars

Some had fallen from the bushes and were being overrun by hungry ants.

Water spots are less often in Southern Oregon, so I had to load up at the last stream and hiked over a hill and down to my camping spot.

I fell asleep by 7pm but was awoken by the sound of a bear tearing up a nearby dead tree. He/she visited several other downed trees but luckily didn’t come too near me.

Thanks for reading!