Photo 6. I noticed a collapsed cairn beside the trail and decided to recreate it. My stack of rocks was wildly precarious and probably didn't last the day but I loved that it balanced and held for the moment. I loved the meadows today, the trees, the mountains. At times it reminded me of Yosemite, but without the fanfare and crowds. I cannot get over how beautiful and moving Oregon is. I love seeing so many Oregonians hiking and camping. Many families. Clearly a culture in this state of love for the land and spending time with loved ones out of doors.
Photo 7. Meadow, trees, middle Sister, Southern Sister.
Photo 8. Middle Sister suddenly not looking like Southern's little sister but like a towering presence in her own right.
Photo 9. My tent with Southern Sister in the background.
I spent some of today wondering what it would be like to do a through hike. To be out here for five or six months. I am stunned, as I am out here longer than ever before, by the difference. Somehow a longer spell in the outdoors changes things in a way that is not just quantitative but qualitative. Even as I fantasize relinquishing the trail, letting my hike be complete incomplete, with a hike in the middle, I also fantasize a through hike. Discovering I could do a 25 mile day made me wonder ... Maybe I could do a thru-hike?
Thanks and love.
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