We made our way deeper into Three Sisters Wilderness. As I was looking forward to the resort of the day, Elk Lake Resort, and I wanted to minimize any further ravaging by mosquitoes, I went ahead of the others and raced to the branch in the trail that led down to Elk Lake. I wasn’t really feeling like hiking in the morning, the grind of constant and everyday movement weighing me down.
Ahead, two elderly people waved at me. At first I thought them to be dayhikers, until I saw their US Forestry Service outfits. While they checked my permit, they asked me a bunch of questions. Not the interrogating kind, but purely out of interest. They were such warm, wholesome people that it instantly cheered me up. Story and Bright were their names and they hoped to see me again at trail days, which they would also attend. What a nice encounter.
The resort itself didn’t disappoint either. To my surprise, the resort people had put out a box with free day old chicken wraps and sandwiches. I had two delicious chicken wraps. Ghost, who I’d met in Belden, and Moxie, his wife, were sitting at one of the picnic tables outside. Ghost, being the intense guy that he is, never stopped talking for more than a couple of minutes, no matter if anyone was listening or not.
A filling lunch and beer later, Lucky Charm and I took a refreshing dip in the lake. The sun felt nice as we lay drying on our groundsheets on the lakeshore sand. As if we hadn’t had enough luck with everything yet, a man came by offering us bags of grapes, apples, oranges and nectarines. What a day.
I didn’t want to leave the resort, but the miles weren’t going to walk themselves. Luckily, the next stretch was amazing. I finally got a good view of the Sisters mountains while walking in a meadow with flowers. Just like I imagined it!
Lucky Charm and I planned to drink a massive amount of water at camp so we’d have to wake up to pee and gaze at the stars. It probably wont’t work though.