The Where's Waldo 100K Ultramarathon is sponsored by the Willamette Pass Ski Patrol. Starting with a run up to the top of the ski area at 4 a.m., 172 crazy people, from all over the world, actually attempt to run 100K through the wilderness, at 5,000 ft in altitude and higher, up and down 5 mountains, in less than one day. I go into the wilderness with all my comfort and survival gear. They wear shorts, socks, shoes and little else. They only carry a minimal amount of water. The patrol provides aid stations about every 6 miles where the runners can grab a bite to eat and hydrate.
Eight years ago someone moved our trail direction signs sending the lead runners miles the wrong direction. When we were having our debriefing meeting, the race coordinator speculated that it would be hard to find someone to sit all day in the middle of no where. My hand was up before he finished his sentence and the Bobby Lake junction has been my spot ever since.
In the past I have camped at the trail head and hiked in very early in the morning. In need of mountain therapy, this year I decided to pack the extra 1/2 mile from the junction to the lake and spend the night there. I took Koyuk with me.
The trail was hot and dry but...
the sky was clear and deep blue unlike the forest fire smoke filled air we left in the valley.
Bobby Lake has an enormous, office building size, boulder at the south end. The boulder extends into the water making for perfect swimming. Both of us were ready for a swim. Koyuk was in the water as soon as I took her pack off.
I had been dreaming about this campsite all year. I hauled our packs up the rock and was starting to set up my tent when a
really rude couple came over the top of the rock and told me I could not camp there.
Koyuk checking out our campsite.
I repacked my tent and pack and loaded up Koyuk. We went in search of another campsite. Unfortunately the one we found was 1/4 mile away. Except for the boulder, the shoreline was a jumble of downed trees and lava rocks. Not wanting to leave my gear so far away and really wanting to swim, we hiked back to the boulder and both went swimming.
Until I looked at the pictures, I didn't realize Koyuk had splashed my lens when she joined me in the deeper water.
Cooled and tired, we packed up again and hiked back to our campsite.
I had the towel out for damp, dirty Koyuk to lie on, but she commandeered my pad.
During the night we had probably a dozen Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers join us at our campsite. These people had hiked, mostly solo, from Mexico. They get up at sunrise and hike to the closest waterhole at dark. They don't cook their food and unless necessary, don't even bother to set up their tents. Koyuk alerted when each one came in, thus my sleep was quite broken up.
I have to tell on myself. During the middle of the night, both Koyuk and I had to pee. We headed for a grouping of trees, skirting and trying not to wake the sleeping hikers as we went. Koyuk and I found our spots. After going, I grabbed the small tree in front of me to help get my trail sore body back up. Immediately I knew I was in trouble. Both hands became covered with pitch. The temperature was still in the 80's so it was runny and sticky. Not wanting to get pitch all over my pants as I pulled them up, I wrapped my hands in TP. A good but temporary solution. There was no way I was going to crawl into my down sleeping bag with pitch covered hands. The TP would not last. It took a bit of prodding my half awake brain, but I finally remembered I had hand sanitizer in my pack. I wrapped my hand in my ever-ready bandanna and dug for the bottle. In the dark, I managed to clean most of the pitch off and confine it to the bandanna.
The next morning, Koyuk and I packed up and went to our trail junction station. I put on my race official shirt and Koyuk wore her Ski Patrol kerchief.
We were at our junction from 6:30 a.m. until 6:10 p.m. 172 racers went by us in the morning at their 22 mile point and those still running went by us again at their 50 mile point. We also saw close to 100 thru-hikers. A forest fire at Crater Lake had bunched them up. After busing around the fire they were now a large group. By the afternoon, both Koyuk and I were feeling the heat and fatigue. I kicked back in my chair with my cowbell and she crashed on her towel.
It was almost dark when we finally got back to the trail-head. Though not ideal, mountain therapy was a success.
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