Miles Hiked: 22
Start Location: Mile 1870
End Location: Oregon Skyline Trail, Diamond View Lake
End Location GPS: 43.52839, -122.07062
We slept in today until 6 AM and started hiking by 7:30- a pretty late start for us. The first 6 miles were pretty easy through tall pine forests and buzzing in your ear mosquitos. Their back!
We took a left on forest road 60 which is the start of the Oregon Slyline Trail (OST). It was nice to get off the PCT for a little while. The trail was flat and easy through rolling hills. We eventually emerged near a serene lake and went swimming- which is something that hardly happens. The water felt cool on my skin as I rubbed the dirt and grime off my week-without-a-shower body. I felt somewhat cleaner as I exited the lake, like getting one of those baptisms where they dunk your head in the water.
A mile before our campsite two distressed women on horseback came barreling down the trail towards us. One woman had blood on her face and her left arm was in a sling. The other lady had blood on her forehead and gloves. They were volunteers for the Forest Service on their way to deliver supplies to a trail crew when their horses got spooked and sent one of the women crashing into the ground. She got kicked in the ribs and elbow by the horse and three of the horses ran away into the woods with all the gear. Sleeping bags and food and camp stoves and water disappeared into the thick pine wooded forest like a fart in the wind.
They were both incredibly startled and were rushing back to the road. They asked us to take a left at the next intersection and walk two and a half miles to a pond where the trail crew was camping for the evening. This was in the opposite direction from where we were going and we had already hiked 21 miles for the day and were very tired. They wanted us to tell the forest service at the pond what had happened and let them know the horses (and a dog) were loose and all the gear was gone with them.
I agreed to do it, even though it was late and the thought of hiking 5 more miles was in no way what I wanted to do. It seemed as if I didn’t really have a choice. Sometimes you just have to do things.
We got to the intersection and I ate something quick, took my headlamp and some water and started running through the woods to deliver the message. The trail was easy and the running came naturally as I hopped over logs and navigated rocks and roots. After 30 minutes of running I finally ran into the forest service trail crew. They were just making radio contact with someone when I arrived. I told them what happened and where their horses might be and they were thankful for the message. I then had the priveledge of running back to Carolyn at the intersection.
When I got back we spotted the horses and dog in a meadow eating the grass and drinking water. We left a note at the intersection for the forest service saying where we saw the horses and at what time.
We finally made it to Diamond View Lake and set up camp late. The OST was surely an adventure. I hope the women that got hurt are okay.
