Our Ritual of the Packing of the Llamas
Jul. 28: I write to you from the comfort of the Best Western in John Day. We hit the trail toward Halfway around 11am. Even with an early bird group, it takes about two hours to gather and saddle up and pack the llamas.
Our route out from Crater Lake involved mostly retracing our steps except for a small stretch on a parallel trail. As breathtaking as the views were, I held back from taking pictures. I knew in the end, they’d all look the same as the ones on the way in. Needless to say, we all were relieved to get to the spring that bubbled out of the side of an otherwise arid and hot mountain side. There were dozens, if not hundreds of butterflies fluttering around. It was obvious that they loved the moisture as well and told their friends and family about it.
The hike was hot and rugged and often involved hopping from rock to rock. This being said, we hiked an extra mile more than we did day one and it took us about half an hour less. The hike was mostly a decline in elevation, but there certainly was some up and down.read more…
As you could imagine, the scenery here is something to behold. After inserting pictures into my writing, I simply ended up with a lot more pictures that deserved to see the light of day. I could describe them all, but in this instance words won’t do them justice. So here is an Eagle Cap Wilderness photo album and some gems that will simply speak for themselves.
Ah, yes. You have dreamed about what it will like to set foot in a new place, a place where the people and foods and landscape are not what you are used to seeing every day. But there are so many places to visit and you are not sure where to go first. I have been here. And I continually revisit this place, because after all, there is only so much time and money to travel. I know I want to travel, but don’t know where.
