Mark’s Photos #10
“Not all miles are the same,” Spider Woman had told me, and she was right. We all know this, but sometimes it’s good to be reminded. A ten mile level forest walk is not the same as a ten mile march across a treeless volcanic landscape on a hot day. Especially if you were really really counting on a spring that turned out to be dry. But that is where I found myself this hot day in August on the PCT. I was in northern Oregon, in the middle of this cinder field. Cinders were in all directions as far as you could see and I was struggling to get up to the spot where the forest started again. Being pretty thirsty, I was starting to wonder if I could make it. I had another mile to go to get there when this little tree came into view. It was totally incongruous. Other than a smattering of lichens on the rocks, there were no other plants in this hellscape. But there it was, a seven foot conifer growing in the most unlikely of places. This little tree had persisted against the odds. My dehydrated mind even understood the lesson the tree had to teach, perseverance! So I summoned all my reserves and pressed on that last mile to the shade of the forest. And every time since, when my resolve is faltering, I think of this little tree.
You do resemble a small conifer at times…..
I’ll take that as a compliment.😄
“there were no other plants in this hellscape” gives me quite the picture of this field of cinder. And where did you finally find water?
There was another spring two more miles from where I got to the forest, but I just couldn’t go that far. So I set up camp in the shade and was able to find a seep where I collected about 8 oz of water over a couple hours. That tided me over until morning when I hiked to that next spring.
A seep? I don’t know that term. Between two rocks?
“Seep” means to flow or pass slowly through small openings or porous material. Sometimes called oozing, it is an area where small amounts of moisture are coming out of the ground or from a seam of rock. Often a slightly damp or muddy area in an otherwise dry stream bed with a little digging can be coaxed to form a tiny pool of water given time.